Digital Transformation Summit Australia

Huanhuan is a passionate technologist driven by the single-minded goal of seeing more representation in Tech. As the CTO and board director at Super Obvious, she is devoted to building technologies that have a positive impact on the planet. Super Obvious is a VC-backed fintech with the mission of empowering people to make the best financial decisions for their hip pocket – while feeling good doing so.

In her previous senior roles at Thoughtworks, Atlassian and SafetyCulture, she led large teams to solve some of the most challenging problems facing Australia’s biggest tech unicorns. She was included in the Logz.io Top 100 Emerging Engineering Leaders globally in 2021, is passionate about Laksa & Malatang and recently adopted a kitten named Coco.

Nicholas is a seasoned Digital Technology Executive with broad experience spanning digital transformation, leading edge architecture development, program delivery, solution design/engineering leadership as well as global IT & Cyber delivery remits underpinned by a strong customer focus ethos.

He has extensive leadership experience with previous Digital strategy, architecture, execution and product engineering roles at Macquarie Bank, News Corp, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and PwC Consulting with a track record for developing engaged & highly performing internal and external teams.

He holds a Masters in Commerce from the University of New South Wales and is an Air Force Pilot graduate of the Australian Defence Force Academy.

Samuel has 10 years of international banking experience spanning 4 geographies – UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.

He’s held country, regional and global roles spanning Network & Branch, Retail Product, Product Development, API Management and Digital.

With a varied mix of roles, this has helped him develop a strategic, collaborative and solution oriented mindset. Always focused on putting the customer at the centre.

Shamin have worn many hats in his career and have worked in a variety of sectors, from finance and public health, to academic machine learning research. The common thread in all of his adventures has been delivering innovative solutions to wicked problems.

His curiosity, empathy, flexibility and positivity have enabled him to build scalable solutions to insurance underwriting and pricing challenges, show the effectiveness of treatment strategies on preventing the spread of disease, and publish novel machine learning research in top conferences.

His specialties include Data Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Python (machine learning and web stacks). He has a PhD in Computer Science at the Australian National University.

Bora Arslan has decades of global leadership experience in the field of data design and strategies, decision sciences including change management, digital transformations, customer experience, personalization, dynamic pricing, automation, strategy and execution of loyalty programs.

Bora recently was the Chief Data and Analytics Officer at ASB for Commonwealth Bank of Australia, focusing on the data and analytics components of the bank’s long term transformations with concentration on cloud migration, personalisation, and decisioning. Before Bora was the Chief Analytics Officer for Insurance Australia Group, enabling analytics solutioning through Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

Previously Bora was the executive lead for all analytics operations with the focus on digital and retail touchpoints and performance management for Ford Motor Company through its exclusive marketing partner GTB. Bora joined GTB from BGL Group in the UK where he was the executive lead for data informed business transformations.

Bora’s responsibilities were similar to his earlier role at Walmart, where he was the VP of Global Decision Sciences and Analytics Strategy. His main objective with Walmart was to develop and maintain customer focused services and operations, utilizing advance technologies and emerging big data methods across all international operations.

Before Walmart, Bora led enterprise capability development efforts for Walgreens as the Head of Customer Analytics. Prior to Walgreens, Bora provided consulting services to a wide range of leading companies from several industries. 

As Managing Analytics Partner for Peppers and Rogers Group, Bora was especially recognised after pioneering several successful efforts of creating synergistic customer experience infrastructures for large conglomerates.  

Simon has more than 20 years’ financial services experience working in Australia, the UK, USA, and Asia across strategy, digital, open banking, innovation and the application of technology, and sales.  

 He is currently Head of Digital Customer Experience and Innovation for one of Australia’s largest mutual banks, NGM Group Limited. In this role he leads digital innovation to improve customer experience and support customer growth, across the NGM Group retail brands of Newcastle Permanent and Greater Bank.  

At NGM Group, Simon has led teams to successfully deliver transformation through major change projects, including digitisation of everyday banking, delivering both virtual and digital customer experiences focussed on customer self-service, and creating market leading home lending processes.   

Simon holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a CPA. 

Gaston Guernik is an accomplished designer with over a decade of experience in the creative and digital industry. He has lived in three continents and has studied Architecture and a bit of Economy. He holds a degree in Industrial Design and has completed two master’s programs, one of which was completed at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). During his career, Gaston has achieved 13 awards in Graphic Design, Industrial Design, UI/UX, marketing intelligence, a Global CIO award in 2021, and a Hackathon at QBE, among others.

For over twelve years, Gaston developed his digital agency in Barcelona, working with numerous small, medium, and large enterprises, including Audi, Schweppes, and Heineken, as well as some banks and telecommunications organisations. He has led teams to develop design system solutions for stores and furniture, which cut the time needed for construction from months to days for Schweppes and Telcos.
Gaston moved to Australia approximately ten years ago and has worked in various industries, including banking, insurance, energy, news and travel. He is passionate about designing applications for the human experience, with a focus on UX/UI. He adopts an “end-user first” mindset to every project he is a part of, coming up with unique yet practical ways to design an unforgettable and timeless experience.
Currently, Gaston is driving the UI, UX and Design System globally at QBE, a company that operates in 27 countries and provides insurance to policyholders in more than 140 countries. He is dedicated to improving the user experience for customers all around the world.

To connect with Gaston, please visit his LinkedIn profile at au.linkedin.com/in/gastonguernik

Rob is a Data Scientist at Swiss Re, developing and deploying machine learning & artificial intelligence solutions throughout the APAC region for reinsurance clients.

During Rob’s time at Swiss Re, his primary responsibilities have been to assist on large scale projects as a Data Scientist, manage projects as the Lead Data Scientist, and manage junior staff members both on and off-shore. One of his key contributions was the development and deployment of a market-leading insurance policy lapse propensity model, utilising the latest machine learning & big data technologies.

Before his time at Swiss Re, Rob worked in financial advice and accounting for over 6 years at two boutique Sydney wealth firms, Continuum Wealth Planning and Jacaranda Financial Planning. At Continuum Wealth Planning, Rob started his career as an Assistant Account. After moving on to Jacaranda Financial Planning, he worked as a Paraplanning Analyst and then as an Associate Adviser.

Rob holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics & Finance) (Distinction) and a Master of Data Science (High Distinction). He has 8 years of experience across finance, accounting, and reinsurance.