Sydney • 21 August 2025
The most important data and AI event of 2025
Explore real-world data and AI innovations, moving beyond the hype to discover trustworthy AI solutions that drive tangible business results. Gain the practical knowledge and networking connections needed to boost productivity and transform your business with optimised technology strategies. Learn how to build organisational resilience in uncertain times.
SAS Innovate on Tour
Sydney 2024 Highlights
What to expect
Join us in Sydney to learn how to boost productivity with data and AI. This complimentary event will provide something for everyone – top executives, IT directors, data scientists, engineers, analysts and SAS partners across industries.
Cut through complexity to get more done
Discover how to simplify processes and enhance productivity using data and AI. Streamline workows, automate tasks and make data-driven decisions that propel strategic growth.
Move beyond the generative AI hype
Explore practical applications of GenAI that deliver real value. Understand AI’s capabilities and limitations and learn how to integrate it effectively into your business.
Realize the potential of trustworthy AI
Learn to build AI systems that are reliable, transparent and ethical. Ensure your models comply with AI legislation. Create models that are fair, unbiased and secure to build confidence with your stakeholders and enhance your AI credibility.
Start developing your blueprint for AI innovation
Craft scalable, sustainable AI initiatives that align with your business objectives. Learn how SAS’ robust AI experience can help you develop a roadmap for AI implementation.
Speakers
Check back often, as speakers will be added regularly.
Keynote Speakers
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Bryan Harris
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Jennifer Chase
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Tracey Spicer AM
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Deepak Ramanathan
Vice President, Global Technology PracticeSAS
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Craig Jennings
Vice President & Managing Director ANZSAS
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Ann Heng
Director Alliances and ChannelsSAS
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Jacky Long
Advisory Solutions ArchitectSAS
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Martim Rocha
Senior Director, Global Head, Risk Banking SolutionsSAS
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Keith Swanson
Director, Fraud and Compliance, Asia Pacific & JapanSAS
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Ian Holmes
Global Lead for Enterprise Fraud Solutions, DirectorSAS
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Yalçın Akçay
Professor of Operations ManagementMelbourne Business School
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Matt Gorringe
Senior Director Data and Research ServicesSax Institute
Agenda
Stay tuned for updates!
8:30am - 9:15am
Registration Open & Networking
9:15am - 9:25am
Conference Welcome
Craig Jennings, Vice President & Managing Director ANZ, SAS
9:25am - 10:00am
Keynote: Outcomes that Outperform
Discover how SAS is shaping the future of data and AI with breakthrough innovations that push the boundaries of what’s possible. From Agentic AI to Digital Twins and Quantum AI, this keynote sets the tone for how organizations can partner with SAS to reduce complexity, accelerate productivity, and deliver outcomes that matter.
Bryan Harris, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, SAS
10:00am - 10:25am
More Productive Data & AI: The SAS® Viya® Portfolio
Explore how the SAS Viya platform — including SAS Models and SAS Solutions — helps teams do more with their data, faster. Learn how organizations around the world are driving productivity and scaling value with innovations like SAS Viya Workbench, SAS Data Maker, and SAS Viya Copilot in Model Studio. This session includes a featured use case from a local customer.
Deepak Ramanathan, Vice President, Global Technology Practice, SAS
10:25am - 11:00am
Morning Tea & Networking
11:00am - 11:30am
Responsible AI Driven Decisions
Dive into how organizations are building AI they can trust — from explainability and governance to real-world results. See how SAS is enabling responsible, data-driven decisions through Intelligent Decisioning and Agentic AI in action, across a range of industries.
Jennifer Chase, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, SAS
11:30am - 12:00pm
AI for Everyone, Everywhere
See how SAS Managed Cloud and our global partner ecosystem are making AI more accessible, scalable, and impactful. This session also features a pre-recorded conversation between SAS Co-Founder & CEO Dr. Jim Goodnight and Microsoft Chairman & CEO Satya Nadella, exploring the future of AI in business, technology, and society.
Ann Heng, Director Alliances and Channels, SAS
12:00pm - 12:20pm
Customer Story: Sax Institute
Matt Gorringe, Senior Director, Data and Research Services
Ann Heng, Director Alliances and Channels, SAS
12:20pm - 12:50pm
Presentations
12:50pm - 1:50pm
Networking Lunch
1:50pm - 2:20pm
Guest Keynote – Man-Made: How to Beat AI Bias
Artificial Intelligence is often sold as the solution to our most pressing challenges—more efficient, more accurate, and more objective than humans. But what if it’s worsening the very problems it promises to fix? In this eye-opening, deeply researched, and surprisingly funny keynote, multiple Walkley Award-winning journalist Tracey Spicer AM pulls back the curtain on the hidden biases lurking within AI systems. Drawing on real-world examples and cutting-edge research, Tracey reveals how AI algorithms—built on flawed data and human assumptions and deepened by machine learning—can quietly embed discrimination into everything from hiring and healthcare to policing and advertising.
From the ‘bodgy bots’ that reinforce stereotypes to systems that jeopardise brand integrity and customer trust, Tracey explains the very real risks that unchecked AI poses to your organisation and community. More importantly, she arms audiences with the knowledge and tools they need to fight back. With a powerful mix of storytelling, practical strategies, and a hopeful call to action, Tracey inspires leaders, professionals, and everyday users to take control of the technology shaping our future. Rather than a dystopia, she presents a ‘protopia’—a more inclusive, ethical, and human-centred vision of AI that benefits us all.
Tracey Spicer AM
2:20pm - 2:40pm
Customer Story: Department of Veterans' Affairs
Regan Lu, Director | Actuarial Analytics Data and Insights Branch, Research Evaluation and Data Division
2:40pm - 3:00pm
AWS
3:00pm - 3:30pm
Afternoon Tea & Networking
3:30pm - 4:45pm
Tailor your experience by attending the sessions that matter most to you.
4:45pm - 5:05pm
Melbourne Business School: SAS Practice Prize
Yalçın Akçay, Professor of Operations Management, Melbourne Business School and Craig Jennings, Vice President & Managing Director, SAS ANZ will announce the three finalists for the 2025 Melbourne Business School–SAS Practice Prize! This year's projects demonstrated the power of advanced analytics to solve real-world challenges and deliver measurable organisational impact.
- Business Science Corporation – for a simulation-optimisation platform that transformed operational decision-making in gold processing
- SEEK – for a Responsible AI Assessment Tool that embeds fairness and bias detection into recruitment algorithms at scale
- Suncorp Group – for an interpretable NLP solution that detects and corrects miscoded insurance claims, improving data quality and pricing fairness.
Co-chairs:
Yalçın Akçay, Professor of Operations Management, Melbourne Business School
Craig Jennings, Vice President & Managing Director ANZ, SAS
5:05pm - 5:15pm
Wrap-Up and Conference Close
5:15pm - 6:00pm
Networking Reception
00:00 - 00:00
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Conference Experience
Bring yourself and your team. We’ll bring the content, inspiration, networking and actionable takeaways.
Keynote Insights
We offer an action-packed day of knowledge and experience sharing during inspiring presentations. Our featured speakers will present strategic guidance and inspiring ideas.
Breakout Sessions
From technical deep dives to business-specific solutions, you’ll find ways to solve your toughest challenges. Expect detailed examples of data and AI projects, based on customer success stories.
Networking Opportunities
Our conference will host >300 business leaders and experts. You will benefit from valuable connections and meaningful discussions that spark new ideas and collaborations.
Registration
It’s free to register for SAS Innovate on Tour in Sydney, however spaces are limited, so register now to request your place.
Thanks to our 2025 Sponsors!
Bryan Harris
Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, SAS
As Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Bryan Harris is responsible for SAS’ award-winning software portfolio that empowers organizations with data and AI. In this role, he leads a global research and development (R&D) organization of nearly 4,000 people focusing on product design, engineering, advanced analytics and AI, industry solutions, modeling and quantum computing.
Under Harris’ leadership, SAS launched the cloud-native SAS Viya platform and unified the entire portfolio across industry solutions and models. He is also known for his dedication to fostering a purpose-driven, inclusive culture within the R&D organization. He has led several initiatives to support professional growth and encourage cross-divisional collaboration, all of which contribute to SAS’ reputation as a top employer in the technology industry.
Jennifer Chase
Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer
As Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President at SAS, Jennifer Chase leads the company’s data-driven marketing strategy, focusing on global brand awareness, demand generation and customer engagement. Chase is a strategic business leader with expertise in building and leading award-winning marketing teams, empowering marketers to be authentic storytellers, and delivering impactful and measurable business results through collaboration. She is responsible for brand strategy and activation, product and industry marketing, go-to-market teams, analyst relations, communications, creative, paid media, digital marketing, events and executive briefing centers.
Her 20-year journey at SAS spans both marketing and R&D. Her hands-on experience using SAS technology shaped her belief that carefully curated data, intelligently applied analytics and curious minds drive the best customer experiences.
Deepak Ramanathan
Vice President, Global Technology Practice, SAS
In his role, Deepak advises organizations who are investing in AI and machine learning projects with an objective of new business models and revenue streams. These conversations are moving from the data science backrooms to boardrooms.
For over two decades Deepak has had the privilege to lead the smartest data scientists across the globe as they unlock the value of analytics for our customers. Together, we have guided customers on creating and measuring analytics-driven business outcomes. With the help of a robust analytics platform, we can show them how to achieve both choice AND control and equip them to achieve a more equitable balance between infrastructure and skill.
Deepak is based out of Singapore.
Tracey Spicer AM
Tracey Spicer AM is a multiple Walkley Award winning author, journalist and broadcaster who has anchored national programs for ABC TV and radio, Network Ten and Sky News.
The inaugural national convenor of Women in Media, Tracey is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers and emcees in Australia. In 2019 she was named the NSW Premier’s Woman of the Year, accepted the Sydney Peace Prize alongside Tarana Burke for the Me Too movement, and won the national award for Excellence in Women’s Leadership through Women & Leadership Australia.
In 2018, Tracey was chosen as one of the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence, winning the Social Enterprise and Not-For-Profit category. For her 30 years of media and charity work, Tracey has been awarded the Order of Australia.
Highlights of her outstanding career include writing, producing and presenting documentaries on women and girls in Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, Papua New Guinea and India. She is an Ambassador for ActionAid, the Ethnic Business Awards and Purple Our World, and Patron of the Pancreatic Cancer Alliance.
Her first book, The Good Girl Stripped Bare, became a bestseller within weeks of publication, while her TEDx Talk, The Lady Stripped Bare, has attracted almost seven million views worldwide. Tracey’s essays have appeared in dozens of books including Women of Letters, She’s Having a Laugh, Father Figures, Unbreakable, and Bewitched & Bedevilled: Women Write the Gillard Years.
The ABC highlighted Tracey’s #metoo work in the three part documentary series Silent No More, which featured the stories of hidden survivors. Her new book, Man-Made: How the bias of the past is being built into the future, was published by Simon & Schuster in May 2023.