Before being named CEO and launching Transcend, Oliver was the Strategy and Transformation Director at Tesco, one of the largest retailers in the world, recently reporting sales of £61.5bn, employing over 330,000 people and trading in five countries.

Oliver has many years of experience in the Fulfilment, Distribution and Supply Chain space and his passion lies in the eCommerce aspect of customer fulfilment and in grocery more specifically – known for its huge complexities.  His customer first approach focusses on creating future-proof businesses, which balance automation with humans, and efficiency with safety and sustainability, and puts the customer experience ahead of everything.  Oliver played a leading role in Tesco’s Covid response, in which Tesco were able to double the size of their online business in just six weeks, responding to the crisis at pace, ensuring Tesco’s customers, especially their most vulnerable had access to groceries.

Oliver has previously held several leadership roles in Amazon in Fulfilment, Operations and Supply Chain.  He studied Economics and Business in Germany, his home country, and holds a PhD in Statistics.

Mike Schneider was appointed MD of Bunnings ANZ in February 2016 & the wider Bunnings Group in May 2017. After joining Bunnings in 2005, Mike previously led various operational teams across ANZ. Building on Bunnings’ proud history as a pure home improvement & outdoor living retailer, Mike is evolving the business into an integrated group that spans the full needs of
consumer DIY customers through to end-to-end solutions for trade & commercial customers. The group employs more than 50,000 team members & generated revenues in excess of $18.9bn & earnings of $2.2bn in financial year 2024. Key to this business evolution is driving a diverse Bunnings’ offering including Bunnings Warehouse, Trade Centres, Bunnings Frame & Truss sites along with standalone brands Tool Kit Depot & Beaumont Tiles. This deep transformation has also seen the evolution of the group’s online & marketplace offers as well as significant enhancements to technology & the digitisation of the business to boost customer experience. Mike’s overarching priority as the organisation grows & evolves continues to be preserving & enhancing the unique
Bunnings culture which plays such a vital role in the organisation’s success. Prior to Bunnings, Mike had a diverse career across retail & financial services holding senior roles in operations, human resources & strategy.

With over 20 years’ experience in the home furnishing retail sector, Mirja’s journey at IKEA began in 2011 in Germany.

She relocated to Asia in 2014 to take up a management opportunity with IKEA Japan, before returning to Germany as Country Deputy Retail Manager, while also leading the transformation process of Service Office corporate services for IKEA Germany.

Moving to Australia to step into the role of CEO in September 2021, with leadership experience from the biggest IKEA retail market globally, Mirja’s focus has been on accelerating the transition as an omni-channel retailer and increasing accessibility for more Australians, and now New Zealanders, to shop with IKEA, wherever and however they choose.

Mirja also leads the integration of the sustainability agenda into the core of the IKEA business in Australia and New Zealand.

With more than 20 years of retail and consumer goods executive experience, Richard is recognised for leading complex transformations driven by a new consumer purpose. Richard joined Wesfarmers Health in 2023 and oversees the Retail division, including Priceline Pharmacy, Priceline corporate stores, eCommerce and Sister Club. Prior to this, Richard was the Managing Director of Target Australia and has worked at other Australian retailers including Coles, Caltex and Mecca.

Daniel “Pancho” Gutstein has worked in consumer products across strategy, brand, digital, product and commercial leadership for more than 20 years. Born in the United States, Pancho studied at Princeton University and upon graduation, with no clear career ambitions, moved to New York City to pursue acting, at which he failed miserably. Pancho then joined Doublespace, a NYC boutique brand and digital agency and began his career in brand and consumer marketing. He has held senior roles at Graco Children’s Products (A Newell Rubbermaid Company) and PUMA, where most recently he was the General Manager of PUMA Oceania. He left PUMA to join Forty Winks as their CEO in January of 2024. Driven by learning and problem solving, Pancho enjoys working with others to help them in their pursuit of better. In 2025 he has committed to his two young daughters, Isla and Flo, not to eat sweets and to his wife Kay to improve his active listening. Both will be challenging.

Kyle is the CEO of the PepsiCo ANZ BU leading the strategic agenda across both the food & beverage businesses, & the CEO of the PepsiCo Indochina Foods BU. He is passionate about developing teams, driving transformation for positive purpose & winning in the market.​

Kyle has a wealth of experience in the FMCG industry. He joined PepsiCo in 2007 & has a variety of end to end experiences of increasing responsibility across field operations, strategic account leadership, field GM, go to market design, sales strategy & enterprise customer leadership.​

With a keen focus on the customer and the consumer, Kyle’s previous position as VP & GM for Frito Lay–Walmart (a $4 billion annual business), led to his appointment as PepsiCo ANZ CEO in January 2022. In this role he established an Omni-Channel team, creating breakthrough innovative solutions for the retailer & their consumers to strengthen PepsiCo’s position as Walmart’s leading supplier, which led to the team being awarded Walmart’s prestigious Supplier of The Year award in 2021.

Kyle is passionate about driving sustainable growth & steering PepsiCo toward its vision to: ‘Be the Global Leader in Convenient Foods & Beverages by Winning with PepsiCo Positive’. He believes a strong customer & human-centric strategy that executes innovative solutions will position the ANZ & Indochina businesses as indispensable in the marketplace. ​

Kyle is a purposeful leader who intrinsically fosters a people-first culture to inspire both joy & professional fulfillment in the workplace. He sees diversity as a competitive advantage & is inspired by his ANZ executive leadership team who come from a range of backgrounds, nationalities & are 60% female.​

Originally from Missouri, USA, Kyle & his husband currently live in Sydney. Fans of travel, being outdoors & on water, they enjoy spending time traveling & experiencing the amazing sights of Australia & New Zealand.

Brooke’s 20+ years of retail experience has included Aussie brands growing their footprint globally (read: Boost Juice), as well as global brands strengthening their position in the Australian market (read: Adidas). Her roles have taken her to various corners of the globe, from Chile to Estonia to Kuwait, as well as two years living in China while with Adidas.

Brooke loves working for brand-led businesses and has been fortunate to be mentored by some of the best brand brains in the country.

Over the last two years Yo-Chi has provided her with a playground of high-speed growth, a team of phenomenal people, and more frozen yogurt working lunches than would be deemed acceptable.

Ben Morawetz is the General Manager of Enforcement Southern in the Consumer and Fair Trading Division of the ACCC, where he leads the branch in investigations and litigation in relation to breaches of consumer laws. Prior to this, Ben was a solicitor in the litigation group at Freehills in Melbourne. Ben holds a Masters of Law (LLM) from the University of Melbourne and is currently an editor of the LexisNexis legal publication, In-House Counsel. Ben has published articles in leading Australian law journals including the Australian Business Law Review and Competition & Consumer Law Journal, and has represented the ACCC at network-wide meetings of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN).

Xuanyi (XY) looks after leading brands across APAC, helping them with their personalisation journey to optimise and create the best digital experience. As the Head of APAC, he supports Dynamic Yield’s team to deliver tailored expertise to Digital and Ecommerce leaders looking to foster stronger customer experience and drive revenue.

Tom Gleeson is an experienced global executive with a proven track record in technology sales, business transformation, and strategic leadership. Currently serving as the CEO of Kepler Analytics since March 2023, Tom leads the company’s mission to empower retailers with cutting-edge analytics and insights that optimize performance and enhance customer experiences.

Tom began his career in the Royal Australian Air Force, where he served as a fighter pilot, flying instructor, and executive, including several operational deployments. After leaving the Air Force in 2005, he completed an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) before joining McKinsey & Company as a management consultant. At McKinsey, Tom gained diverse experience across industries and functions, laying the foundation for his leadership in complex global environments.

Since 2009, Tom has held senior executive roles in global organizations, including General Electric, where he contributed to their Aerospace and Additive Manufacturing divisions. Additionally, he has successfully led multiple tech startups in renewable energy and software, demonstrating his expertise in innovation and business growth.

Tom’s leadership at Kepler Analytics reflects his commitment to driving data-driven transformation in the retail sector, combining his rich background in technology, strategy, and operational excellence.

Damien is the Snowflake Retail and CPG Industry Principal supporting the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) market.  He is part of a global industry team who work with Snowflake customers and prospective customers, partners and the Snowflake product teams to get meaningful business value from data.

Damien brings a blend of consulting, technology and industry experience having recently been the Group CIO of the Chemist Warehouse discount pharmacy group, Australia’s largest pharmacy retailer which now operates in five countries and has group revenues in excess of $9bn.

Damien has extensive retail and CPG experience from strategy development to transformation delivery in a number of markets; notably the UK, Europe, Canada and Australia.  He established the Javelin Group in Australia (the digital retail strategy consultancy acquired by Accenture) where he led the practice.  Prior to Javelin, he was the retail technology lead for Deloitte in Australia and previously for Deloitte in the UK.  He is the former Group IT Director of the Selfridges Department Store Group and the former Head of Technology for Digital, Data and Marketing at Coles and brings a balanced perspective of consulting and line roles.  He was the CIO for Officeworks, Australia’s largest office supplies retailer, part of the wider Wesfarmers group.

He loves the pace and ever-changing nature of retail and CPG and has been instrumental in using digital, data and technology to disrupt businesses and gain competitive advantage.  His consulting work has been with SABMiller, Unilever, J&J as well as leading the digital and technology strategy for Sainsbury’s, John Lewis and Waitrose in the UK.

Leading the way for technological innovation at David Jones, Hugh is reshaping the omnichannel experience for our customers and team alike. Hugh has extensive experience in evolving digital-first companies from start-ups to multi-nationals across Australia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, with previous executive-level roles.

Andrea Morgan-Vandome is Chief Innovation Officer of Blue Yonder. In this role she is responsible for industry strategy, product strategy, roadmap direction and acquisition strategy, go-to-market packaging and messaging, and new product introduction. Andrea will also partner with Blue Yonder’s product management team on innovation development and adoption in market.

Andrea has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the enterprise software, supply chain and the retail industry. She previously held executive roles at Nike, IBM Watson, Celect, Oracle, and Retek. Prior to joining Blue Yonder, Andrea was the Vice President of Product Management, Portfolio and Program at Nike, where she was responsible for the digital transformation across all technical products including planning, manufacturing, supply chain, and AI. Prior to Nike, Andrea served Chief Marketing and Product Officer at Celect (an AI/ML supply chain software company), which was acquired by Nike. She also served as Vice President of Product and Design for IBM Watson where was responsible for product strategy, product management, user experience/ visual design, and go to market approach for all Watson solutions. She has also held strategy, product management, consulting, and engineering positions at Oracle and Retek.

Andrea holds a degree in Astrophysics from the University of Cape Town. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband Steven and two crazy border collies, Dax and Jessie. In her free time, she enjoys running, traveling and spending time with family and friends.

Oceane R Meyer is a Senior Account Executive at Intel, spearheading the Retail industry vertical for the APJ region. With over a decade of sales expertise in enterprise technology, she has refined her specialisation in edge computing and computer vision. Collaborating with a global network of partners, Oceane drives impactful, sustainable innovation at scale, helping her customer transform through the adoption of cutting-edge solutions.

Sara is a seasoned technology leader, bringing 20+ years of experience spanning Retail, Tech and Marketing. She joined Bunnings in 2014, assuming the Head of Technology Services role in 2019. Prior to Bunnings, Sara spent 16 years at Marketforce (Clemenger BBDO), where she spearheaded tech-driven business transformations, streamlined processes, and IT operations. In her current role, Sara is an energetic people leader with a team in excess of 140 across AU/NZ, delivering EUC and Support Services. Her strategic mindset, focus on high-value outcomes, and commitment to simplicity drive success in the evolving tech landscape.

Kate Box is Industry Director for Retail at Meta.

She and her team partner with the industry to grow understanding of consumer insights and technical innovations that are fast evolving the shopping eco-system, and develop innovative strategies that grow business.

Kate has almost 30  years of experience working in marketing, media and finance and leading teams.

Prior to joining Facebook in 2011, Kate led the Social Media team at Microsoft Advertising UK and also worked client side for Sensis, McDonalds and Tabcorp.

Kate Blythe joined MECCA in August 2020, braving two weeks of hotel quarantine with her family to migrate from the UK to Melbourne.

Kate was previously the Chief Content Officer at Matches Fashion and has held senior editorial roles at Net-a-Porter and ELLE Magazine. Kate currently serves as an advisor to The Yes.

Kate has a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Leeds.

Co-founder and Director at Quantiful, Jamie brings 20 years of experience managing enterprise products and supply chains worldwide. From Telstra in Australia to VF in New Zealand and Brightstar in Southeast Asia, he has tackled the growing challenges of understanding volatile and shifting consumer demands.

In collaboration with Alan Gourdie, Jamie has invented, built, and deployed one of the world’s most innovative platforms to help retailers optimize resource utilization while adapting to changing consumer needs. Quantiful is redefining the role of supply chains in long-term enterprise planning.

Andy Nicholas is the Vice President of Sales, APAC at WorkJam, stepping into this role after seven years of driving success as a senior leader within the company. A key architect of WorkJam’s global expansion, Andy has played a pivotal role in helping the world’s largest brands enhance productivity, increase engagement and drive operational efficiency. With deep expertise in the Asian and Australian markets, he is now leading WorkJam’s APAC strategy, strengthening relationships with enterprises across the region.

Backed by more than 20 years of global experience at IBM, hybris, SAP, and Sterling Commerce, Andy is an experienced leader in product management, sales, and market strategy. His proven ability to break into new markets and build strategic partnerships continues to fuel WorkJam’s global growth.

Gill is a seasoned leader with extensive experience supporting Australian businesses to power their digital strategies with high quality product data and images.

Christuraj Irudayasamy is an MDM professional with 19 years of experience working in data management, data quality, service delivery and business support across diversified industry sectors from Retail, Mining, Agri-business, Automotive and Industrial Supplies. In his current role as the National Manager – Product Information at Blackwoods, he is responsible for PIM Platform ownership and product master data management.

Rob Peterson is the Co-Founder of XenonLab.ai, the community and collaboration site for XenonView, Outcome-Centric Guidance (OCG). OCG is the evolution of Marketing, DevOps and Product Management, helping businesses overcome the limitations of Marketing results and Observability leveraging AI.
In his “spare time” Rob also leads the Go-To-Market and Value Engineering responsibilities globally for Vimeo’s Enterprise Sales organization, developing business cases for their most strategic accounts. Early in his career he led the Global Resource Planning Group for eBay at the time the world’s largest eCommerce platform.

Martin Young has over 20 years of experience helping organisations solve HRIS challenges and implement the right technology to support their workforce.

As National Business Development Manager at ReadyTech, an ASX-listed leader in workforce management, Martin works with businesses across Australia and New Zealand to streamline HR, payroll, and workforce operations. Ready Workforce, ReadyTech’s next-generation platform, is built for industries with complex workforce needs and strict compliance requirements.

From payroll, time and attendance, and rostering to recruitment, talent management, and rewards, Ready Workforce provides end-to-end solutions to support organisations throughout the entire employee lifecycle