Data & AI Architecture Sydney

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08:20

REGISTRATION
09:00

Welcome from Corinium and the Chairperson

Gladwin Mendez - Fractional CDAO - GEC Prudentia
09:10

Speed Networking – Making New Connections!

In this 5-minute networking session, the goal is to connect with three new people. Enjoy the opportunity to expand your network!
09:15

Engineering the AI Flywheel: Integrating AI Outcomes into Your Data Lakehouse for Scalable Intelligence

Steven Mellare - Head of Data, AI and Architecture - Resimac
09:40

MCP: Modernise Data Architecture and Unlock Intelligent Workflows

Ajay Kumar - Head of MCP Services - InfoTrack

AI agents can be impressively capable, and still confidently wrong, when they don’t have the right tools. In this session, Ajay Kumar (Head of MCP Services, InfoTrack) shares how InfoTrack is using Model Context Protocol (MCP) to securely connect AI agents to trusted tools and authoritative data, with governance, permissions and auditability built in. Expect practical lessons on moving from “chatty assistants” to productive operators, plus what it really takes—architecture, patterns, and resourcing—to scale intelligent workflows across teams.
10:05

Panel Discussion: Breaking Barriers, Aligning Data Architectures for Seamless Collaboration and Scalable Insight
- Tackling the challenges of fragmented data ecosystems—reducing redundancy, resolving inconsistencies, and enabling insight sharing across business units
- Exploring integration approaches that bring together disparate systems and teams—leveraging APIs, metadata strategies, and service-based models like microservices
- Recognising that true unification demands more than technology—examining the organisational shifts, cross-team cooperation, and change management needed to make integration stick
Moderator
Dimitri Perdikis Principal Data Scientist Westpac
Speakers:
Vitus Chu Head of Data Strategy and Architecture Resolution Life
Robbie Cook Enterprise Information and Data Architect Endeavour Energy
Akansha Aggarwal Data Domain Architect SA Power
10:40

Morning Coffee and Connect
11:15

Lakehouse in Action: Design Strategies, Common Pitfalls, and Real-World Gains

Talat Nauman - Senior Data Architect - NSW Education
- What architectural decisions define a successful lakehouse implementation?
- What are the most common integration or performance pitfalls—and how can they be prevented?
- How do you measure and communicate the value of your lakehouse investment to the business?
11:40

AI-Powered Data Excellence with Informatica and Salesforce

Jonathon Bowring - Global Field Engineer - Informatica from Salesforce

Discover how Informatica and Salesforce deliver trusted, AI-ready data. Hear real-world insights on leveraging AI innovation to achieve high-quality data that powers smarter decisions in the agentic era.
12:05

Building Knowledge-Centric Architecture for AI Future

Varun Nair - Enterprise Architecture Principal - Telstra
12:30

How to Build an AI-Ready Data Architecture for the Year Ahead

Andrew Foo - VP, Customer Solutions (Asia Pacific & Middle East) - Confluent

2025 saw rapid efforts to adopt AI with sobering number of failures with AI projects. As we enter 2026, the industry is pivoting from "building AI" to fixing the underlying data problems that cause project failure. This session addresses the shift from hype to practical steps how IT leaders can meet demands for interoperability and governance needed to manage the massive system loads of autonomous AI services. We will translate the core predictions of AI in 2026 into actionable design patterns, moving beyond the race to adopt and toward a strategy of architectural resilience.

This session unveils the Architectural Blueprint for an AI-Ready Enterprise, a framework designed for the era of automation. We’ll dive into the essential pillars of success: real-time event streaming, independent data planes, and context architecture layers. Learn how to build serving layers that move at the speed of AI. 2026 is the year to stop experimenting and start architecting—because your AI is only as powerful as the data infrastructure supporting it.
12:55

lunch
14:00

Architectural Trade-Offs: Performance vs. Cost vs. Flexibility

Akansha Aggarwal - Data Domain Architect - SA Power
14:25

The Convergence of Data and AI Architecture: What is Changing?

Samit Chandra - Head of Digital Transformation & Architecture - APM
14:50

What Does a Successful Data Architecture Look Like?

Des Lim - Data Architect - Uniting
- Success story of an Architect
- Who were the key players in the success story?
- What are the key ingredients in the success story?
- How can this be applied at our workplace?
15:15

The Interactions of Data Architecture and Data Governance: Lessons from Practice

Ben Meikle - Lead Data Architect - Anglicare
15:40

Data & AI Architecture Sydney Chairperson’s Closing

Gladwin Mendez - Fractional CDAO - GEC Prudentia
15:45

Afternoon Coffee and Connect
16:15

Close of Data Architecture Sydney 2026

Data & AI Architecture Sydney schedule

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