Melbourne Business School Centres Centre for Business Analytics Melbourne Business Analytics Conference

Melbourne Business Analytics Conference

Wednesday 2 August 2023 The Grand Hyatt Melbourne Leading The Way: Navigating Data and Digital Transformation in the Age of AI & Automation

Melbourne Business School and Centre for Business Analytics

Melbourne Business School’s Premier Business Analytics Conference

In today's age of AI and automation, businesses must embrace data and digital transformation to stay competitive. This requires a strong understanding of the latest technologies, trends and applications, as well as the ability to navigate the ethical and societal implications.

The 2023 iteration of Melbourne's premier Business Analytics Conference will centre around the theme of 'Leading the way: Navigating Data and Digital Transformation in the Age of AI & Automation'. Esteemed analytics academics, executives, and practitioners from across the globe will present to over 600 board members, senior executives, and industry professionals during this one-day event. 

The conference aims to help Australian businesses gain a distinctive advantage by harnessing the trilingual insights of business, technology, and mathematics. Attendees can expect to learn about the latest business applications in Machine Learning, AI and advanced Data Analytics. We invite you to join us at the Grand Hyatt on 2 August 2023.

Speakers

Rodrigo | Centre for Business Analytics

CEO

L'Oreal Australia & New Zealand

Sarah Hunter Profile - Centre for Business Analytics

CEO & Managing Director

Officeworks 

Eduard Hovy | Melbourne Business School

Executive Director,  

Melbourne Connect 

Research Professor, Language Technologies

Carnegie Mellon University 

Stela Solar | Centre for Business Analytics

Director

National AI Centre 

CSIRO 

Professor Ian Harper, Melbourne Business School, Business Analytics Conference speaker

Dean

Melbourne Business School

Harleen Thethy | Melbourne Business School

Global Head of Data and On-Platform Distribution 

BBC Storyworks | BBC News International Commercial (UK) 

Stephen Brobst | Melbourne Business School

Chief Technology Officer

Teradata

Karen Vespoor Profile - Centre for Business Analytics

Executive Dean, School of Computing Technologies

RMIT University 

Melina Cruickshank | Centre for Business Analytics

Chief Product & Audience Officer

REA Group

Ben Hassing | Melbourne Business School

Chief Digital Officer 

Coles

Rowena Westphalen | Centre for Business Analytics

Senior Vice President

Solution and Customer Advisory

Salesforce

Yalchin Akcay Profile - Centre for Business Analytics

Director

Centre for Business Analytics and Professor of Operations Management

Melbourne Business School

Naomi Shepherd Profile | Centre for Business Analytics

Group Industry Director

Meta

Phil Noble | Centre for Business Analytics

Founder & Managing Partner 

Strategic Project Partners

Rob Pickering
General Manager Technology

AFL
Amina Crooks | Melbourne Business School

Director, Customer Strategy and Design 

Deloitte

Elisa Koch Profile | Melbourne Business School

Head of Data and Analytics

AFL

Leo Lopes Profile - Centre for Business Analytics

Head of Data Science 

Seek

Maggie Zhang profile | Melbourne Business School

Senior Solutions Architect & Engineer AI

NVIDIA

Glenn Hoetker Profile - Centre for Sustainability and Business

Director Centre for Sustainability and Business and Professor of Business Strategy

Melbourne Business School

Jane Eastgate

Head of Analytics Delivery 

Bunnings

Anthony Ugoni

Chief Data Officer

Don O Sullivan | Melbourne Business School

Professor of Marketing

Melbourne Business School

Anita Arbogast | Centre for Business Analytics

Executive Director, Centre for Business Analytics

Melbourne Business School

Jonathan Cohen | Centre for Business Analytics

Principal

Taylor Fry

Sandra Hogan | Centre for Business Analytics

Co-Founder

Amperfii

Jeremy Hooi | Centre for Business Analytics

Co-Founder

Amperfi

Toby Murray

Associate Professor

School of Computing and Information Systems 

University of Melbourne

Penny Privett Profile | Centre for Business Analytics

Data Visualisation Lead

AFL

David Baker | Melbourne Business School

Technology Strategist

Microsoft

Owen Zhang | Centre for Business Analytics

Acting Director Data and Solutions

Ambulance Victoria

Hugh Miller | Centre for Business Analytics

Principal

Taylor Fry

Louise Turner | Centre for Business Analytics

Analytics Strategy and Projects Manager

L'Oréal Australia and New Zealand

David Ming | Melbourne Business School

Data and Analytics Manager - Optimisation

Downer Group

Laura Dixie | Centre for Business Analytics

Director

Taylor Fry

Elton Shi | Centre for Business Analytics

Strategic Improvements Analyst

Downer Group

Alister Lee | Melbourne Business School

Data and AI Solution Specialist

Microsoft

Joseph Correnza | Melbourne Business School

Principal  and  Design Director

ARUP 

Melissa Monks | Centre for Business Analytics

Senior Executive - Privacy & Regulatory Affairs Legal, Governance and Compliance

MEDIBANK GROUP 

Past Speakers

Ryan Oliver, Melbourne Business School, Business Analytics Conference speaker

Ryan Oliver

Senior Director
Twitter Next

Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, Melbourne Business School, Business Analytics Conference speaker 2021

Kelly Bayer Rosmarin

CEO
Optus

Professor Sinan Aral, Melbourne Business School, Business Analytics Conference speaker 2021

Professor Sinan Aral

David Austin Professor of Management, IT & Marketing 
MIT, Sloan School of Management 

Christelle Young

Chief Strategy & Analytics Officer
L'Oréal 

Professor Raghu Iyengar, Melbourne Business School, Business Analytics Conference speaker 2021

Professor Raghu Iyengar

Professor of Marketing 
University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) 

Lisa Ronson, Melbourne Business School, Business Analytics Conference speaker 2021

Lisa Ronson

Chief Marketing Officer 
Coles Group 

Jordan Sweetnam, Melbourne Business School, Business Analytics Conference speaker 2021

Jordan Sweetnam

Senior Vice President and General Manager Americas 
eBay 

Professor Oded Netzer, Melbourne Business School, Business Analytics Conference speaker

Professor Oded Netzer

Professor of Marketing 
Columbia Business School

David Koczkar, Melbourne Business School, Business Analytics Conference speaker

David Koczkar

Chief Executive Officer
Medibank

Christine Kilpatrick, Melbourne Business School, Business Analytics Conference speaker

Professor Christine Kilpatrick AO

Chief Executive Officer 

Royal Melbourne Hospital 

Anil Sabharwal, Melbourne Business School, Business Analytics Conference speaker

Anil Sabharwal

Vice President, Product Management 
Google 

Wendy Stops, Melbourne Business School, Business Analytics Conference speaker

Wendy Stops

Non Executive Director 
Blackmores, Coles Group, Fitted For Work 

Harikesh Nair, Melbourne Business School, Business Analytics Conference speaker

Professor Harikesh Nair

Professor of Marketing 
Stanford University  

Jessica Richmond

General Manager, Marketing, Data & Insights 

Officeworks 

Dr Phillip Lowe, Melbourne Business School, Melbourne Business Analytics Conference speaker 2021

Dr Phillip Lowe

Governor
Reserve Bank of Australia

Professor Steve Tadelis, Melbourne Business School, Business Analytics Conference speaker 2021

Professor Steve Tadelis

Sarin Chair Leadership & Strategy 
UC Berkeley (Haas) 

Peter Sauerborn, Melbourne Business School, Business Analytics Conference speaker

Peter Sauerborn

Former General Manager 
Amazon Marketplace

Dr Kendra Vant

Executive General Manager, Data 

Xero 

Glenn King

Chief Executive Officer

Property Exchange Australia Ltd (PEXA)

Lisa Buckingham

Deputy Secretary

Jobs Victoria, Secure Work and Inclusion Group in the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions

Conference Partners

NAB

AustralianSuper logo

Suncorp Logo

REA Group

SPP logo

Biarri logo

Amperfil

The Centre for Business Analytics Practice Prize

Established in 2022, the Centre for Business Analytics Practice Prize recognises the best applications of advanced analytics that have resulted in significant and measurable organisational impact with a $10,000 honorarium.

Established in 2022, the Centre for Business Analytics Practice Prize recognises the best applications of advanced analytics that have resulted in significant and measurable organisational impact with a $10,000 honorarium.

The work must be analytically sound, innovative (either in terms of a new methodology or application in a new problem context), and appropriate to the problem and organization. The work is also expected to provide evidence of verifiable and quantifiable impact on the organisation’s performance. The implementation of the work should be completed within the three-year period prior to the year of the competition.

The competition welcomes successful advanced analytics applications in business, government, healthcare, education, and non-profit.

Finalists 2023

Downer

Loreal logo

Taylor Fry Logo

Judging Panel

The judging panel for the Melbourne Business School’s Centre for Business Analytics Practice Prize includes industry leaders and prominent scholars. 

 

Tava Olsen

Tava Olsen

DEPUTY DEAN, ACADEMIC, MELBOURNE BUSINESS SCHOOL

Jenny George

Dr Jenny George

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CONVERGE INTERNATIONAL

Nikos Savva

Prof. Nicos Savva

PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE AND OPERATIONS; CHAIR, MANAGEMENT SCIENCE AND OPERATIONS FACULTY, LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL

Natalie Field

Natalie Field

CHIEF DIGITAL AND DATA OFFICER, BUPA

George Saoud

George Saoud

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF EMERGING BUSINESSES, COLES

Huseyin Topaloglu

Prof. Huseyin Topaloglu

HOWARD AND ELEANOR MORGAN PROFESSOR IN THE SCHOOL OF OPERATIONS RESEARCH AND INFORMATION ENGINEERING, CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Previous Practice Prize Winners

In 2022, the inaugural Practice Prize was awarded to Suncorp (pictured) for its use of geospatial data to inform the way property insurance risk is assessed and priced.

Venue

Grand Hyatt Melbourne

Grand Hyatt Melbourne

123 Collins Street, Melbourne

A Melbourne icon, the Grand Hyatt is located in the heart of the city along the prestigious Parris end of Collins Street surrounded by the city’s high fashion and fine dining.

Hotel Policies 

Click here to view all hotel policies.

Getting to Grand Hyatt Melbourne

Click here to view map, parking and transportation information.

 

Conference Agendas

Download the 2023 Business Analytics Conference Agenda.

Track 1 - Leading the Way: Navigating Data and Digital Transformation

9.00am - 9.15am

Welcome

Acknowledgement of Country & Conference Welcome: Professor Yalçın Akçay
Director, Centre for Business Analytics & Professor of Operations Management, Melbourne Business School

Conference Opening: Professor Ian Harper AO
Dean, Melbourne Business School


9.15am - 9.30am

Opening Keynote
AI is only as good as we lead it

Stela Solar – Director, National AI Centre – CSIRO


9.30am - 10.00am (Session 1)

Rodrigo_Pizarro 

Rodrigo Pizarro

Chief Executive Officer,
L’Oréal ANZ



10.00am - 10.30am (Session 2)

sarah hunter 

Sarah Hunter

CEO & Managing Director,
Officeworks

In this session, Officeworks Managing Director Sarah Hunter will be sharing the retailer’s journey to use data, insights, and analytics to create an even more relevant and rewarding customer experience. Through strategic investment in modern data systems, these analytical insights are contributing to Officeworks making bigger things happen in supporting Australia to work, learn, create and connect.



10.30am - 11.00am (Session 3)

Data Driven Storytelling – Crafting Compelling Narratives with Numbers

Harleen Thethy | Melbourne Business School 

Harleen Thethy

Global Head of Data and On-Platform
Distribution at BBC Storyworks,
BBC News International Commercial (UK)

Uncovering key insights is one skill, and communicating them is another; we’ll explore the art of storytelling and crafting together fact with creativity to tell a story with data that captures the audiences attention, and allows you to guide the core messaging behind your data.



11.00am - 11.30am

Morning Tea


11.30am - 12.35pm (Session 4 & 5)

Navigating the Generative Frontier: The Evolution of Decision Making in the Age of AI
Moderator:
Professor Yalcin Akcay – Director, Centre for Business Analytics & Professor of Operations Management
Melbourne Business School


Yalchin Akcay Profile - Centre for Business Analytics 

Professor Yalçın Akçay

Director, Centre for Business Analytics & Professor of Operations,
Melbourne Business School

Amina Crooks | Melbourne Business School 

Dr. Amina Crooks

Director, Customer Strategy and Design,
Deloitte

Eduard Hovy | Melbourne Business School 

Professor Eduard Hovy

Research Professor, Language Technologies Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University & Executive Director, Melbourne Connect

Eduard Hovy | Melbourne Business School 

Associate Professor Toby Murray

School of Computing and Information Systems,
University of Melbourne

Rowena Westphalen | Centre for Business Analytics 

Rowena Westphalen

Senior Vice President, Solution & Customer Advisory,
Salesforce

Join us for an insightful panel exploring the profound impact of generative AI on decision making within businesses. This panel brings together esteemed academics with expertise in AI and cybersecurity, alongside senior business leaders, to shed light on the challenges and opportunities presented by this transformative technology. Gain valuable insights into the implications of generative AI and discover how businesses can navigate its complexities to make informed decisions in an evolving digital landscape.



12.35pm - 1.30pm

Lunch


1.30pm - 2.00pm (Session 6)

Driving Innovation in Retail: Exploring the Impact of Generative AI


Yalchin Akcay Profile - Centre for Business Analytics 

Professor Yalçın Akçay

Director, Centre for Business Analytics & Professor of Operations,
Melbourne Business School

We will delve into the profound impact of generative AI on driving innovation within the retail industry. By exploring the limitless possibilities that generative AI offers to reshape the future of retail, we will uncover the transformative potential of cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies in revolutionizing customer experiences, driving personalized marketing strategies, and improving the supply chain.



2.05pm - 2.35pm (Session 7)

Advancing AI for a More Connected World

Naomi Shepherd Profile | Centre for Business Analytics 

Naomi Shepherd

Group Industry Director,
Meta



2.40pm - 3.10pm (Session 8)

How Digital is Shaping Everyday Experiences in Grocery

Ben Hassing | Melbourne Business School 

Ben Hassing

Chief Digital Officer,
Coles

Digital technologies have redefined the way we shop - what were once physical storefronts, now offer personalised and convenient experiences, anywhere, anytime, and anyhow. Ben will outline how Coles is exploring omni-channel strategies and innovations, as it shapes the future of grocery.



3.10pm - 3.40pm

Afternoon Team


3.40pm - 4.10pm (Session 9)

Marvel Stadium and Amazon’s Just Walk Out Technology


Rob Pickering 

Rob Pickering

General Manager, Technology,
AFL

Marvel Stadium has a vision of being the most technologically advanced stadium in the Southern Hemisphere with a key pillar of this vision being fan experiences underpinned by technology.

The AFL as owners of Marvel Stadium working with Amazon have brought Just Walk Out technology as a first to the Southern Hemisphere, unlocking fans abilities to get their food and drink in as little as a goal break (45 seconds) removing all the friction in a typical concession experience by leveraging the latest in computer vision, machine learning and camera technology.



4.15pm - 4.45pm (Session 10)

Using AI and ML to Change the Way the World Experiences Property

Melina Cruickshank | Centre for Business Analytics 

Melina Cruickshank

Chief Product and Audience Officer,
REA Group

REA Group Chief Product and Audience Officer, Melina Cruickshank will share insight into how Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning power market leading experiences on realestate.com.au and drive the accuracy of Australia’s number one property valuation, realEstimate. While new technologies continue to change the way in which Australians buy, rent, and sell property, Melina will discuss how REA Group's brands, such as PropTrack, were built on innovation, and how the core principles of brand equity and trust remain unchanged in the face of new AI advancements.



4.50pm - 5.20pm (Session 11)

Data and Transparency: Keys to a Sustainable World

Stephen Brobst | Melbourne Business School 

Dr. Stephen Brobst

Global Chief Technology Officer,
Teradata

Creating a sustainable society requires data for measuring KPIs related to consumption and regeneration of resources. Making these measurements transparent through use of open data sets and then leveraging AI/ML to optimize sustainability outcomes is critical for long-term preservation of humanity. The capture of detailed data through use of sensor devices with real-time streaming and automated decision-making enables scalable deployment of “smart” technologies to preserve essential resources.

  • Learn about the application of best practices in activity-based costing for the purposes of measuring KPIs to drive a sustainable society.
  • Learn about the importance of transparency and open data sets to drive continuous improvement toward a sustainable society.
  • Learn about the use of AI/ML techniques to optimize outcomes while considering long-term environmental impacts.


5.20pm - 6.30pm

Practice Prize Presentations & Award Ceremony and Networking Event

Track 2 - AI & Machine Learning - Applications and Implications

11.30am - 12.00pm (Session 4, 30 minutes)

Business Optimisation Showcase


Dave Scerri | Melbourne Business School 

Dave Scerri

CEO,
Biarri Optimisation

Practical and usable solutions to real world business problems often require the application of cross-discipline techniques. In this presentation, you will hear about how approaches from both machine learning and optimisation have been combined to unlock efficiencies in the supply chain and retail industries.


12.05pm - 12.35pm (Session 5, 30 minutes)

What does Diversity & Inclusion have to do with Artificial Intelligence?


Amina Crooks | Melbourne Business School 

Professor Karin Verspoor

Executive Dean, School of Computing Technologies,
RMIT University

This talk explores the proposition: "We must put Diversity & Inclusion into focus when designing, developing, and deploying AI applications." I argue that we must consider who our data represents, what assumptions are embodied in our data sets and our models, the contexts in which models will be used, and how these factors impact the creation and use of AI.


12.35pm - 1.30pm

Lunch


1.30pm - 2.15pm (45 minutes)

Data Ethics – Principles for success
Moderator:
Phil Noble - Founder and Managing Director, Strategic Project Partners


Phil Noble | Centre for Business Analytics 

Phil Noble

Founder and Managing Director,
Strategic Project Partners

Owen Zhang | Centre for Business Analytics 

Owen Zhang

Acting Director Data and Soutions,
Ambulance Victoria

Joseph Correnza | Melbourne Business School 

Joseph Correnza

Principal & Design Director,
Arup

 

Melissa Monks

Senior Executive – Privacy & Regulatory Affairs,
Medibank Group

To successfully navigate the ethics minefield, the support of the whole organisation needs to be enlisted. How are larger organisations tackling this problem? In this segment, Phil Noble will share an approach to establishing a set of organisation-wide principles for handling data-ethics issues. An experienced senior panel will then discuss the challenges faced, opportunities for change, and the hurdles they seek to overcome.


2.25pm - 3.10pm (45 minutes)

Leveraging the Power of Data in Sport


Elisa Koch Profile | Melbourne Business School 

Elisa Koch

Head of Data & Analytics,
AFL

Penny Privett Profile | Centre for Business Analytics 

Penny Privett

Data Visualisation Lead,
AFL

This session will feature AFL's journey to build a data and analytics capability for the AFL and all 18 Clubs. This will include key focus areas for the AFL and how data is enabling those strategies, including an interactive dashboard demo.



3.10pm - 3.40pm

Afternoon Team


3.40pm - 4.10pm (Session 9)

# Building High Performance Data Science Teams that Leverage Generative AI (30 minutes)


Leo Lopes Profile - Centre for Business Analytics 

Dr. Leo Lopes

Head of Data Science,
SEEK

What changes and what doesn’t in Data Science teams with the recent improvements to language models? How do they affect your team’s structure? How should you think of how you add value as an individual contributor and as a manager? We’ll synthesise the emerging trends within a bit of longer-term context.



4.15pm - 5.20pm (Session 10 & 11)

2023 Practice Prize Finalist Presentations


Yalchin Akcay Profile - Centre for Business Analytics 

Professor Yalçın Akçay

Director, Centre for Business Analytics & Professor of Operations Management Melbourne Business School



Automated Scheduling and Routing of Road Network Maintenance


David Ming | Melbourne Business School 

David Ming

Data & Anlytics Manager - Optimisation,
Downer Group

Elton Shi | Centre for Business Analytics 

Elton Shi

Strategic Improvements Analyst - Optimisation,
Downer Group



Project Oracle ML Demand Forecasting for L’Oréal E- Boutiques


Louise Turner | Centre for Business Analytics 

Louise Turner

Analytics Strategy & Projects Manager (Operations),
L'Oréal ANZ



Pathways to Homelessness


Hugh Miller | Centre for Business Analytics 

Hugh Miller

Principal,
Taylor Fry

Laura Dixie | Centre for Business Analytics 

Laura Dixie

Director,
Taylor Fry


The winning submission will be awarded an honorarium of $10,000 AUD.



5.20pm - 6.30pm

Practice Prize Presentations & Award Ceremony and Networking Event

Track 3 - Future Technologies Masterclasses

11.30am - 12.00pm (Session 4, 30 minutes)

CDO Masterclass: Addressing AI Risks – Practical Steps to Manage Disruption


Jonathan Cohen | Centre for Business Analytics 

Dr. Jonathan Cohen

Principal,
Taylor Fry

With rapid changes in AI technologies and new regulations coming here and abroad, many executives are planning for new challenges with governing AI systems. However, nearly all organisations have already deployed AI systems in some form or other. Further, relevant legislation is already applicable and general enterprise risk management frameworks are in place.

In this masterclass, learn from experts at a leading analytics and actuarial consulting firm how to:

  • Understand your obligations from current laws and regulations, and what’s coming next,
  • Assess your existing risk management frameworks and related policies in the world of algorithms and AI,
  • Develop a roadmap for implementing AI Governance,
  • Frame discussions about AI risks with your Board and other stakeholders.


12.05pm - 12.35pm (Session 5, 30 minutes)

CDO Masterclass: Transforming Business Engagement with Data Analytics Teams


Sandra Hogan | Centre for Business Analytics 

Sandra Hogan

Co-Founder,
Amperfii

Jeremy Hooi | Centre for Business Analytics 

Jeremy Hooi

Co-Founder,
Amperfii

There is much to be gained with the coming age of AI and its many benefits to people and organisations. However, to optimise the benefits we need to collaborate across more teams, more than ever. This presentation will look at approaches that can improve business confidence and satisfaction with your Data Analytics program as you collaborate to deliver AI products within your organisation. We will explore ways to promote engagement with stakeholders, how change management plays a role and how to leverage a product management mindset to transform business outcomes.


12.35pm - 1.30pm

Lunch


1.30pm - 2.15pm (45 minutes)

Data Scientist Masterclass hosted by Microsoft:
Generative AI - 5 Myths and 3 Use cases


David Baker | Melbourne Business School 

David Baker

Technology Strategist,
Microsoft

Alister Lee | Melbourne Business School 

Alister Lee

Data and AI Solution Specialist,
Microsoft

With all of the hype around Generative AI (ChatGPT) in this session we will explore the impacts through the use of demonstrations and hands-on use cases. We will review some common myths and get hands-on to learn why spoken language will become the programming language of the 21st century.


2.25pm - 3.10pm (45 minutes)

Accelerate AI applications using NVIDIA GPUs and AI software


Maggie Zhang profile | Melbourne Business School 

Dr. Maggie Zhang

Senior Solutions Architect & Engineer AI,
NVIDIA

Accelerating AI applications demands great computational resources when datasets increase in size and models increase in complexity. This talk will demystify deep learning training and inference using neural networks, as well as introduce NVIDIA’s latest GPU architecture and AI software stack to help you maximize the performance of your AI workloads on GPUs. We will also share some success stories to show you how customers successfully accelerated their AI workloads using GPUs in different domains such as healthcare, financial services, speech and natural language processing, and so on.



3.10pm - 3.40pm

Afternoon Team


5.20pm - 6.30pm

Practice Prize Presentations & Award Ceremony and Networking Event

Contact Us

For all other enquires about the 2022 Business Analytics Conference, please contact us.