Scott Farquhar is the co-founder of Atlassian, the Sydney-based collaboration software company behind products used by global enterprises including Costco and Delta Air Lines.

He launched Atlassian alongside Mike Cannon-Brookes shortly after graduating university, funding the venture on credit cards. Together, they helped shape one of Australia’s most successful tech companies.

Farquhar is also a cofounder of Pledge 1%, a global movement encouraging companies to commit at least 1% of equity, employee time, or product to charitable causes.

In September 2024, he stepped down as co-CEO to focus on family and philanthropic work. He remains a board member and strategic advisor to the company.

Emmy® and Golden Globe®–winning producer Bruna Papandrea is the Founder and CEO of Made Up Stories, a development, production, and finance company committed to amplifying distinctive voices and telling unforgettable stories, often centered on multifaceted women on and off screen. 

Papandrea is behind some of the most acclaimed and commercially successful series of the past decade, including HBO’s The Undoing (the network’s most watched series of 2020), Hulu’s record-breaking Nine Perfect Strangers (the platform’s most watched original series of all time), and HBO’s Emmy® and Golden Globe®–winning Big Little Lies. She also co-founded Pacific Standard with Reese Witherspoon, producing the global phenomenon Gone Girl and the Oscar-nominated Wild. 

Through Made Up Stories, she has delivered Netflix’s global hit Pieces of Her starring Toni Collette, Anatomy of a Scandal starring Sienna Miller, Apple TV+’s anthology Roar, Spectrum’s Long Slow Exhale, Peacock’s genre-bending romantic comedy Wolf Like Me, Amazon’s Tell Me Your Secrets, and Binge’s Strife starring Asher Keddie. Most recently, she produced The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart starring Sigourney Weaver, and the Liane Moriarty adaptation The Last Anniversary for AMC+ and Foxtel/Binge. She is currently in post production on US thriller The Good Daughter, starring Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy for Peacock. 

On the film side, her credits include Netflix’s Luckiest Girl Alive starring Mila Kunis, which debuted at #1 globally; The box office hit Warm Bodies; Glendyn Ivin’s Penguin Bloom; Rob Connolly’s box office hit The Dry; Jennifer Kent’s AACTA-winning The Nightingale; Abe Forsythe’s Little Monsters; and the TIFF selections Penguin Bloom and Addition. 

Bruna also produces content for her platform The Brunaverse including her podcast Invisible Roadmap. 

Ben Thompson is the founder and CEO of Employment Hero, a platform that helps businesses manage people, payroll, and compliance. With a background in finance and employment law, and over 20 years of experience, he’s built one of Australia’s fastest-growing tech companies by focusing on practical solutions to real problems in the workplace.

He offers a clear, hands-on perspective on leadership – what it takes to scale a business, build strong teams, and stay focused in a fast-changing environment.

Laura Henshaw is the co-founder and CEO of Kic, a wellness platform that’s redefined how a generation engages with health, movement, and mindset.

With a community-first approach and a sharp focus on trust, Laura has grown Kic into one of Australia’s most recognisable wellness brands. She’ll share how she’s building in a saturated space, what consumers really value now, and why brand integrity matters more than ever.

Robin Khuda is the founder and CEO of AirTrunk, the leading hyperscale data centre provider in Asia-Pacific and Japan.

He built the company to meet the region’s growing demand for cloud and AI infrastructure, with a footprint across five countries. In 2024, AirTrunk was acquired in a record $24 billion deal led by Blackstone and CPP Investments. Robin brings a clear perspective on scaling infrastructure and staying ahead of technology shifts.

Currently Chief Executive Officer of Terrace Tower Group (TTG), Richard leads the privately owned investment group’s operations in Sydney and New York. Richard has spearheaded the expansion of the company’s asset and investment portfolio, evolving beyond TTG’s commercial property legacy to diversify across the capital structure in equity and credit, private and public markets; with a particular emphasis on private-credit investing, and a non-traditional investment allocation.

Co-Founder of production company Karlinberg Entertainment and a founding partner in Hollywood production company Material Pictures. Richard is also an Executive Advisory Board Member of disruptive biotech company Colossal Laboratories & Biosciences and an Angel 8VC Investor with technology and life-sciences firm 8VC Group. He has a Bachelor of Commerce and Law (Accounting) from the University of New South Wales.

Nick Mowbray has quietly built one of the most disruptive companies in the world. As co-founder of ZURU, he’s behind global brands like Bunch O Balloons, MONDAY Haircare, and ZURU Tech — a new venture rethinking how homes are designed and built.

He’ll share lessons from growing across categories, leading with innovation, and thinking long-term in a fast-moving world.

Dr Mary Manning is the NRFC’s inaugural Chief Investment Officer. Mary joined the NRFC in July 2024 after more than 25 years’ experience in finance, economics and investment in Australia and overseas, including in New York, London and Singapore. 

She was previously a Portfolio Manager at Ellerston Capital and Aphinity Investment Management, and also held senior investment positions at Oaktree Capital and Soros Funds Management. 

Dr Manning has an MBA from Harvard Business School, a PhD in Economics from the University of Sydney and has completed additional courses at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership.  

She is a member of 100 Women in Finance and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

Sarah Walsh brings a rare perspective to the business of sport – as both a former Matilda and a leader driving investment and innovation in football.

She played a central role in delivering one of the most commercially successful FIFA Women’s World Cups, securing over $389 million in funding and setting new standards for audience engagement and commercial return. Her perspective reveals how sport, when taken seriously, becomes both a cultural force and a commercial strategy.

Daniel Petre is one of Australia’s most experienced tech investors, founder of AirTree Ventures and former Microsoft exec.

Now leading StartGiving, he brings a clear view of where funding is flowing, what’s drying up, the macro forces reshaping business strategy, and where the smart bets lie for 2026 and beyond.

She is the Founder and Creative Director of ELLE EFFECT.

While she is known for her golden tan and beachy blonde waves, Elle is also one of Australia’s most popular fashion identities and have carved a very successful career both locally and internationally. Spanning a career of 10 years in the business, she has established herself as an inspiring businesswoman, digital creative and fashion consultant.

Steve Baxter is the founder and lead investor of Beaten Zone Venture Partners, a specialist defence technology venture capital firm supporting sovereign Australian Defence capabilities for the allied market.

A former regular soldier in the Australian Army, he went on to a successful career as a telecommunications entrepreneur, founding two businesses and taking both through private and public exits. He is now an active investor in Australia, with over 90 portfolio companies.

Steve is a proud father of three daughters, husband to a gorgeous wife, an avid fisherman, and a passionate advocate for innovation in the Australian Defence sector.

Dino Otranto is the CEO of Fortescue Metals and now leads global operations across iron ore, decarbonisation, and hydrogen. With more than 20 years of experience in the global resources sector, his leadership blends technical depth with a strong focus on safety, culture, and performance.

At a time of rapid transformation, Dino brings insight into leading at scale – balancing operational growth with the push for innovation, inclusion, and sustainability.

Swati Dave is an experienced CEO and non-executive director with an established track record of successfully leading and transforming financing businesses covering domestic and international markets. 

She was most recently the Managing Director and CEO at Export Finance Australia from 2017 to 2022, where she led a significant business and cultural transformation to make the organisation more impactful and inclusive. 

Ms Dave has over 30 years of banking and financial sector experience across a number of sectors, including infrastructure, natural resources, energy and utilities, renewable energy and property. She has held senior roles at National Australia Bank, Deutsche Bank, AMP Henderson Global Investors, Bankers Trust and Westpac. 

Swati currently serves as the Chair of the Advisory Board for the Centre for Australia India Relations, Member of the RBA Governance Board, Non-Executive Director on the Boards of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority and Treasury Corporation of Victoria, and an independent member of the QIC Global Infrastructure Investment Committee.  

She is a member of the Trade 2040 Taskforce convened by the Minister for Trade and Tourism and a Multicultural Ambassador for Cricket Australia. 

Jacqui Lennon is the Chief Technology and Transformation Officer for Zurich’s business in Australia. She is responsible for delivering technology solutions across the organisation as well as continuous improvement in the way we work including the use of enterprise agile within our business. Jacqui moved into this role in March 2025 after being the Head of Retail Life insurance business at Zurich Australia since 2021.  

Prior to Zurich, Jacqui was Head of Product and Customer Experience at Allianz Retire+, a purpose-built retirement product life company, where she was responsible for the design of innovative products and client experience. 

With 20 years’ experience in financial services, Jacqui has also previously held executive roles in product design and strategy at IRESS, as well as roles with Macquarie Group, including as a division director leading client experience in Personal Banking. 

Jacqui holds a Master of Criminology, Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney. She also holds a Master of Business and Technology from the University of NSW. Jacqui attended the Stanford University Customer-Focused Innovation | School Bootcamp and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

Frank Fillman is EVP & GM at Salesforce Australia and New Zealand. Frank’s ethos is to be a life long learner, striving to be better each day. He is passionate about helping business be the greatest platform for change and giving back to the community. Frank is a values-based, family-focused servant leader committed to helping people unlock their full potential to achieve the impossible. He is finding, developing, empowering & celebrating underdogs and every day heroes through disciplined optimism, belief in abundance, and bias for action.

Oleg is an experienced senior executive with a successful track record of rapid business scale-up, including IPO and subsequent growth of DroneShield teams in Australia and globally, and a presence in over 70 countries.

He has fostered organic deep technology development, leading to mass deployment of solutions worldwide in the homeland security, intelligence community, and military segments. Prior to DroneShield, Oleg’s career spanned across Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Brookfield, and ABN AMRO.

He holds a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) from Canterbury University and completed a Columbia University business program.

Sean is one of Australia’s most experienced business journalists and co-host of Fear & Greed, the country’s most popular business podcast.

He was formerly Editorial Director of Fairfax Media and has reported on economics, financial services and superannuation for more than 20 years.

At Aylmer Anderson, Sean works directly with clients to create written, podcast, and video content that delivers results.