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⌚ 07.45

REGISTRATION & ARRIVAL BREAKFAST NETWORKING

Barista coffee and breakfast items will be served in the networking lounge

⌚ 08.25

OPENING COMMENTS:

James Solomons, CFO & CFO Magazine an/z Host 

⌚ 08.30

WHAT MAKES A GREAT CFO? 

CFO PANEL Moderated by James Solomons, CFO & CFO Magazine A/NZ Host, featuring: 
David Watkins, Co-CEO | JCDecaux A/NZ
Jon Brett, Non-Executive Director & Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee | Corporate Travel Management Limited (ASX:CTD) 

This candid discussion brings together a highly experienced CEO, Chair and a Private Equity lens to explore what truly sets exceptional CFOs apart. Beyond technical mastery, what personal qualities, leadership presence, and
strategic instincts define the best in the profession? Panellists will share first hand perspectives on hiring, working alongside, and evaluating finance leaders and debate what CEOs and Boards truly look for in finance talent and
what separates the good from the great! A highly insightful and informative session for both established and aspiring CFOs. 

⌚ 09.00

Trust Is the Ultimate KPI: How CFOs Can Lead in the AI Era 

KEYNOTE | Darren Heffernan, Chief Executive Officer | Trintech 

The conversation about AI in finance has focused almost entirely on speed: faster close, faster reconciliation, faster insight. Speed is now table stakes. The question that actually determines whether AI delivers sustained value is harder: can your organisation trust what AI tells it to do?

In this session, Darren Heffernan, CEO of Trintech, will share how the most consequential business risk of the AI era isn’t falling behind - it’s building systems your teams, auditors, and boards can’t explain or defend. For finance functions where every number must be traceable and every decision justifiable, the design of AI matters as much as its capability.

Drawing on Trintech’s work with finance teams globally, Darren will introduce a practical trust architecture built on three foundations — transparency, accountability, and auditability — and show why the CFO is the natural owner of this imperative across the business.

⌚ 09.30

CFO Horizons: Leading Through Uncertainty, AI and Beyond 2030  

CFO PANEL Moderated by James Solomons, CFO & CFO Magazine A/NZ Host 
Katherine Nguyen, Group CFO | SKG Group 
Rupa Chopra, Head of Finance - ANZ | pladis 
Jean-Baptiste Naudet, CFO | Australian Red Cross 

CFO playbooks are being rewritten in real time > The CFO role has changed more in the last five years, than in the previous twenty and showing no signs of slowing down in the age of AI.

CFOs are already navigating cost pressures, global uncertainty and increased competition. And then there's AI - moving faster than most executive teams and boards anticipated. This live panel will discuss the further evolution of the CFO role and the short, mid and long-term horizons - from today's priorities to the strategic decisions that will shape their organisations beyond 2030. 

⌚ 10.00

AI AGENTS IN ACCOUNTING: EMPOWERING ACCOUNTING TEAMS WITH AI 

KEYNOTE | Halin Hormozi, Managing Director, ANZ | FloQast & Sophie Gossage, Head of Partnerships, ANZ | FloQast

Move beyond the AI hype and learn where it actually makes a difference. In this session, FloQast will break down current industry trends and provide a practical framework for using AI Agents to handle repeatable financial workflows to reduce manual inefficiencies without adding risk. We’ll show AI Agents in action, demonstrating how to develop, deploy and maintain full control over your processes.

⌚ 10.25

MORNING NETWORKING BREAK

Barista coffee & refreshments served in the networking lounge

⌚ 11.10

beyond borders, beyond control

KEYNOTE | Andy Thiss | VP A/NZ | Eftsure

Cybercriminals are moving faster, hitting harder, and scaling globally. And AI is accelerating the shift. The result: fraud doesn’t stop at firewalls or national boundaries, and neither can your defences. Yet many finance leaders
still lack clear direction on how to secure international payment workflows. Andy will share today’s new threat realities, from AI-driven impersonation to cross-border fraud operations and emerging compliance gaps. Increasingly, when finance teams strengthen their payment processes, they protect the entire organisation. Whether your business operates in one country or twenty, Beyond Borders, Beyond Control is a deep-dive discussion that will help CFOs navigate a world where attacks are automated, threats are global, and financial operations must be more resilient than ever. 

⌚ 11.40

Control without compromise: Enabling agile spend management at scale 

Fireside Chat | Featuring: 
Hamish Tebbutt, Sales Director | SAP Concur 
Oliver Kidd, CEO/Founder | Archa 

Corporate card usage is growing rapidly as organisations seek faster, more flexible ways to manage operational spending. Yet as card programs scale, many finance leaders face increasing challenges around visibility, governance, compliance and control, resulting in fragmented processes, manual reconciliation and greater risk.

This session explores how leading finance teams are modernising spend management through connected technology that delivers greater visibility and control across the entire card lifecycle. Discover how integrated controls and real-time insights can help organisations manage spend before, during and after every transaction, reducing administrative burden, strengthening governance and enabling finance to operate as a more strategic business partner.

⌚ 12.10

Built on Reputation: Why Leadership Is Earned, Not Given 

Lessons in Leadership 

In Conversation | Sam Volker, First Assistant Secretary, Budgets & Financial Services | Defence Australia 

From the London Stock Exchange Group, Unilever and Coles to leading one of Australia's largest finance functions within Defence Australia, Sam Volker has built a career by embracing challenging roles, delivering outcomes and developing high-performing teams. 

As First Assistant Secretary, Budgets & Financial Services at Defence Australia, Volker oversees a finance function supporting a workforce of more than 100,000 people, an annual budget of $61 billion and net assets exceeding $142 billion. 

In this conversation with James Solomons, Sam will shares his insights on leadership, personal brand, building capability, navigating transformation, fostering healthy debate, and why the best career opportunities often come from stepping outside your comfort zone. A practical and engaging discussion on leadership, influence and building a reputation that opens doors. 

⌚ 12.35

Future of Finance: Where AI Is Just a Way of Life 

KEYNOTE Damon Hauenstein, CFO & COO | Weel

The pace of change facing CFOs today is unlike anything the profession has experienced before. Artificial intelligence is rapidly moving from experimentation to everyday application, reshaping decision-making, forecasting, reporting, controls and the way finance teams operate. As AI becomes embedded across organisations, the question is no longer if finance leaders should adopt it, but how quickly they can adapt. In this forward-looking keynote, Damon Hauenstein, CFO & COO of Weel, explores what the future of finance could look like when AI is simply part of business as usual, and what CFOs need to do now to stay ahead of the curve.

⌚ 13.05

NETWORKING LUNCH

Lunch served in the networking lounge with refreshments & barista coffee

⌚ 13.50

CFO Career Horizons: Changing Tracks 

CFO PANEL SESSION moderated by James Solomons, featuring:
Henrik Ekström, Interim/Fractional CFO 
Tochau Nguyen, CFO & COO | TEN Group
Andrew Yee, CFO | 4WD Division | Amotiv Limited

The pathway to becoming a CFO - and the opportunities once in the role - look very different today compared to previous generations. In this session, three established CFOs share how bold career pivots reshaped their professional journeys: moving from private to public markets, from CFO to COO and from Investment Banking to high growth scale up CFO. Explore what drove their transitions, the realities of leading in new environments, and how each discovered renewed purpose and perspective in finance leadership.

⌚ 14.20

THE NEW FINANCE FUNCTION: COLLABORATIVE, HANDS-ON, AI-NATIVE

KEYNOTE | RACHEL WONG, CFO EDSMART & FOUNDER, THE FINANCE HYBRID

Rachel Wong, founder of The Finance Hybrid, argues today’s CFO isn’t sitting behind the numbers, they’re building alongside the business, sleeves rolled up, deep in the AI tools reshaping how finance works. Willing or not, every finance leader is now a builder. Rachel unpacks what that shift demands, and how to lead it.

⌚ 14.50

SELLING FOR CFOS – WHY CFOS NEED TO THE BE THE SECOND BEST SALESPERSON

KEYNOTE Alena Bennett | Award Winning CFO Coach & Author, ‘CFO of the Future’

“CFOs need to be the second best salesperson in their organisation” Alena shared this statement in her most recent CFO Annual Report. Yet, most CFOs will tell you they aren’t great sales people. Many will still profess their dislike of public speaking. However, in an economic environment where there’s a higher bar to access capital, and in an age where investors, shareholders and the ELT need to be brought on the journey, CFOs must have sales capability. To hear what CFOs need to do to become the second best salesperson in their organisation, join Alena in this highly informative CFO session and gain a competitive edge.

⌚ 15.30

AFTERNOON NETWORKING BREAK

Barista coffee & refreshments served in the networking lounge

⌚ 16.00

Inside the Numbers: The Economic Trends Shaping CFO Strategy for FY27

CLOSING KEYNOTE Stephen Koukoulas, Leading Chief Economist & Former Advisor to the Prime Minister

Renowned economist and economic commentator, Stephen Koukoulas explores what lies ahead for CFOs in FY27, unpacking the key economic forces shaping Australia’s financial landscape. From interest rates, inflation, and global influences like Trump to technology-driven disruption, this session delivers practical insights to help finance leaders plan with confidence — in Stephen’s engaging, insightful, and always informative style.

⌚ 16.30

CLOSING COMMENTS

James Solomons, CFO & Symposium Host

⌚ 16.35

END

Tuesday 18th august 2026

Sydney ICC | Darling Harbour

Future Focussed Leadership

towards 2030

CFO Horizons