Conference Day 1 - Tue, 15 Sept
8:50 am - 9:00 am
Chair's Opening Remarks
Future of Finance 2026 Leader’s Morning
9:00 am - 9:30 am
C-SUITE PANEL: Finance’s Role in Enabling Enterprise-Wide Transformation
Rohan Liyanage -
Chief Financial Officer,
OTIS Elevator Co
Amit Doshi - CFO, Sony Australia & New Zealand, Sony Australia & New Zealand
Key Takeaways:
- Positioning finance as the engine behind enterprise transformation
- Funding innovation while maintaining financial discipline and accountability
- Aligning finance, technology, and operations around shared transformation goals
- Measuring transformation success through enterprise value creation
9:30 am - 10:00 am
Future of Finance - Opening Keynote Address
Key Takeaways:
- The CFO's expanding role as enterprise strategist and transformation leader
- Balancing stewardship, performance, and innovation in an era of volatility
- Embedding AI, automation, and real-time insight into the finance mandate
- Redefining finance's influence at the boardroom and enterprise level
10:00 am - 10:15 am
Speed Networking
Fast, focused, and energising — speed networking is your chance to meet fellow attendees, exchange ideas, and spark new collaborations with your Finance professionals.
10:15 am - 10:45 am
EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW: Leading Through Digital Disruption – AI, Automation and the New Finance Frontier
Key Takeaways:
- What digital disruption means for the future of finance leadership
- Turning AI and automation into a real operational advantage
- Navigating governance, trust, and accountability in intelligent finance systems
- Preparing finance teams for the next wave of technological change
11:45 am - 12:15 pm
LEADERSHIP PANEL: From Number Crunchers to Value Creators – Rethinking Finance's Future
Kinjal Mehta -
Business Finance Leader,
Decathlon
Victor Lobé - Finance Director ANZ, Trane Technologies
Brad McCaig - General Manager: Commercial Finance and Operations, IKEA
Key Takeaways:
- Transitioning finance from transactional reporting to strategic value creation
- Strengthening finance's role in business partnering and enterprise decision-making
- Building finance teams with analytical, digital, and strategic capabilities
- Embedding data-driven insights into organisational strategy and performance
Morning Break
11:15 am - 11:30 am
Morning Recharge in the Expo
Interactive Discussion Groups: Unscripted. Unfiltered. Unmissable.
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
IDG A: Modernising Finance Operations – From ERP to Automation
How finance leaders are upgrading legacy systems, automating workflows, and aligning their tech stack to support speed, accuracy, and scalability.
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
IDG B: Finance + AI – Navigating the Agentic Era
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
IDG C: Data-Driven Decisioning – Turning Insight into Impact
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
IDG D: Elevating Shared Services – Service, Scale & Strategic Value
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
IDG E: ESG, Risk & Reporting – Managing Complexity with Confidence
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
IDG F: From Transformation to Execution – Delivering What’s Next
Lunch
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Networking Lunch & VIP Hosted Lunches
Join us in the expo hall for a relaxed networking lunch with the Finance and CFO community—connect with peers, explore the exhibition, and recharge for the afternoon ahead. For invited guests, exclusive VIP lunches will run concurrently—bringing senior leaders and select partners together for high-impact conversations in a more intimate setting.
Early Afternoon
CFO Boardroom
2:00 pm - 2:30 pm Panel Discussion: The Expanding CFO Mandate: Where Does Finance Leadership End and Enterprise Leadership Begin? Samuel Samhan - Chief Financial Officer, BluGlass LimitedAmit Doshi - CFO, Sony Australia & New Zealand, Sony Australia & New Zealand
Francoise Merit - Chief Financial Officer, Endeavour Energy
Key Takeaways:
- How the CFO role has structurally shifted, and what that actually means day-to-day
-Navigating the tension between running a high-performing finance function and being pulled into broader organisational strategy
- Managing board and CEO expectations of the CFO that have outpaced the function's current capability to deliver
- What the next generation of CFO leadership looks like, and whether the pipeline is ready
CFO Boardroom
2:30 pm - 3:00 pm Presentation: Finance as the Most Trusted Voice in the RoomKey Takeaways:
- The deliberate steps taken to reposition finance from a reporting function to a genuine strategic partner across the enterprise
- Building credibility with the CEO, board and operational leaders through commercial acumen, not just financial accuracy
- How the CFO used a period of economic uncertainty to demonstrate finance's value as a decision-making engine
- The internal capability and cultural shifts that made the repositioning stay
CFO Boardroom
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm CFO Think TankTech-Enabled Finance – Data, Platforms & Predictive Power
2:00 pm - 2:30 pm Panel Discussion: From Insight to Influence - Finance as a Digitally Enabled Strategic Partner Yenny Dewi - Global Finance AI Process Integration Lead, SanofiTom Elkins - Finance Transformation & Digital Director, Lion
Amanda Tay - Head of SME, ING
Key Takeaways:
- Modernising finance data architecture and digital platforms
- Creating integrated systems that enable real-time visibility and insights
- Developing digital fluency and technology capability within finance teams
- Leveraging data platforms to support faster and smarter decision-making
Tech-Enabled Finance – Data, Platforms & Predictive Power
2:30 pm - 3:00 pm Rethinking the Budget: Persistent Funding Models and the Move to Agile Capital Allocation Phil Aerdeman - Head of FP&A and Technology Finance, BupaKey Takeaways:
- Moving beyond annual project-based budgets toward continuously funded teams
- How persistent funding models keep projects agile by allocating capital dynamically based on outcomes rather than upfront estimates
- Integrating financial planning to enable real-time reallocation and reduce the cost of change
- Embedding finance as a strategic partner in enterprise decision-making
Tech-Enabled Finance – Data, Platforms & Predictive Power
3:00 pm - 3:30 pm Panel Discussion: Tech x Finance – Orchestrating Analytics, Automation and Strategic Impact Annette Dal Pra - Head of Finance - Cement, BoralKey Takeaways:
- Strengthening collaboration between finance, data, and technology teams
- Translating analytics into actionable insights that provide a feedback loop into influencing strategic direction
- Integrating analytics, automation, and finance expertise for greater business impact
- Identifying high-value opportunities for automation and advanced analytics
Afternoon Break
3:30 pm - 3:45 pm
Afternoon Recharge in the Expo
Late Afternoon
CFO Boardroom
3:45 pm - 4:15 pm The AI Business Case That Didn't Deliver: What went Wrong and How to Course CorrectKey Takeaways:
- The internal pressure to move fast on AI, the board expectations, the vendor promises, and the CFO's role in signing off on a business case that proved overcooked
- What went wrong: data quality issues, change resistance, process gaps, and a technology implementation that solved for the wrong problem
- The difficult conversation with the board and executive team when the numbers didn't materialise, and how trust was rebuilt
- A more rigorous framework for evaluating, approving and governing AI investment in the finance function going forward
CFO Boardroom
4:15 pm - 4:45 pm Panel Discussion: The CFO and the Board: Navigating a Relationship That's Never Been More Complicated Liz Siminsky - Chief Financial Officer, Fisher & PaykelKey Takeaways:
- How board expectations of the CFO have evolved
- Managing the tension between transparency and confidence when the future is uncertain
- What good looks like when it comes to CFO-board communication in a period of volatility and rapid technological change
- Where CFOs feel most exposed in their board relationships right now, and what they're doing about it
CFO Boardroom
4:45 pm - 5:15 pm CFO Think TankFinance Transformation in Action – Models, Talent, Execution
3:45 pm - 4:15 pm Designing the Digital-First Finance Function – Lessons from the Field Joshua Carless - General Strategy Manager, QBE InsuranceKey Takeaways:
- Practical lessons from finance transformation programmes
- Designing finance structures for digital efficiency and strategic impact
- Overcoming legacy systems and organisational barriers to change
- Establishing governance and leadership for successful transformation
Finance Transformation in Action – Models, Talent, Execution
4:15 pm - 4:45 pm Panel Discussion: Agile Finance Teams – Building Skills and Structures for Continuous Change Stephannie Jonovska - Head of Finance Operations and Transformation, BlueScopePrafull Jha - Finance Director - ANZ, Diversey
Shervina Tjawir - Finance Medicine and Health Director, University of Sydney
Key Takeaways:
- Developing agile operating models within finance teams
- Building digital, analytical, and strategic capabilities in finance talent
- Upskilling finance professionals for AI-enabled environments
- Creating adaptive team structures to support ongoing transformation.
Finance Transformation in Action – Models, Talent, Execution
4:45 pm - 5:15 pm Finance Transformation 2.0 – Balancing Structure, Scale, and SpeedKey Takeaways:
- Scaling finance transformation initiatives across large organisations
- Balancing governance, agility, and operational efficiency
- Embedding digital capabilities while maintaining financial discipline
- Sustaining long-term value from finance transformation investments
