Melbourne Business Analytics Conference

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

Chief Executive Officer,
L’Oréal ANZ

10.00am - 10.30am (Session 2)

 

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

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

 

Professor Yalçın Akçay

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

 

Dr. Amina Crooks

Director, Customer Strategy and Design,
Deloitte

 

Professor Eduard Hovy

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

 

Associate Professor Toby Murray

School of Computing and Information Systems,
University of Melbourne

 

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

 

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

Group Industry Director,
Meta

2.40pm - 3.10pm (Session 8)

How Digital is Shaping Everyday Experiences in Grocery

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

Business Optimisation Showcase

 

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?

 

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

Founder and Managing Director,
Strategic Project Partners

 

Owen Zhang

Acting Director Data and Soutions,
Ambulance Victoria

 

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

Head of Data & Analytics,
AFL

 

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)

 

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

 

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

Data & Anlytics Manager - Optimisation,
Downer Group

 

Elton Shi

Strategic Improvements Analyst - Optimisation,
Downer Group

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

 

Louise Turner

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

Pathways to Homelessness

 

Hugh Miller

Principal,
Taylor Fry

 

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

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

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

 

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

Co-Founder,
Amperfii

 

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

Technology Strategist,
Microsoft

 

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

 

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