Advantage Summit

HEAD OF HARDWARE, CREATIVE STUDIO AT OPENAI

Andrew is an award-winning creative leader whose work has a consistent through line: making complex technology human and building teams that deliver distinctive creative work at scale.

At Apple, he became the first writer to co-lead the Design group within Apple Marcom. At Verizon, as the company’s first Chief Creative Officer, he founded and scaled its in-house agency to more than 300 people, helping revitalize the brand through innovation-led campaigns and purpose-driven storytelling.

The work earned hundreds of honours, including Emmy nominations, Cannes Lions Gold, a D&AD Yellow Pencil, and seven consecutive years of Webby wins.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR, NASA

David is an accomplished Creative Director with over two decades of experience in design leadership, brand building, and environmental experiences. As NASA's current Creative Director, he oversees the agency's visual brand and iconic Graphics Standards Manual and is responsible for reintroducing the NASA Logotype (Worm).

Previously, David led teams at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Disney, the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, and the New Museum, and co-founded Weekends, a design studio operating between Paris and Los Angeles.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NASA JPL

Sami spent years at NASA as Executive Producer and Head of Live Broadcasts, leading agency productions for some of the most historic moments in modern space exploration, including the Artemis Moon campaign, OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return, the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse, and the only three commercial lunar landings in history.

Now, as founder of Pale Blue Originals, Sami brings that same passion for space and science storytelling to a broader mission: connecting humanity to the cosmos through compelling, beautifully crafted content. Pale Blue Originals exists at the intersection of science, wonder, and creative excellence, producing work that informs, inspires, and endures.

With a rich background in unscripted television, including ABC's Shark Tank and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and six Emmy Awards to his name, Sami has spent his career dedicated to one thing: making remarkable human achievements impossible to ignore.

KEYNOTE & 2025 CMO OF THE YEAR

Lara Thom began her career in journalism at News Corp, before moving into digital and agency leadership.

In 2016 Lara joined Guzman y Gomez as CMO, and was promoted to Global CMO in 2019, and was with the business for 10 years until stepping down in April 2026. 

She built and led a 53-person in-house marketing team across six time zones, ran a $32M marketing fund structured as its own P&L, with key highlights being the launch of the "Clean is the New Healthy" platform, and was named #1 CMO of the Year at the inaugural 2025 Mi3 CMO Awards.

LEADERSHIP TEAM, TWE Splash

The creative leadership team from Splash, Treasury Wine Estates’ global in-house agency, and winners of the IHAC 2026 In-House Agency of the Year award.

Splash has also been recognised at the Clios, Effie’s, Spikes and other leading award shows - helping demonstrate the growing influence and capability of modern in-house agencies.

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL MARKETING, OPTUS

Philip leads Optus' in-house Digital Marketing team and is a recognised industry leader in digital innovation and AI.

A recipient of the IHAC Leader of the Year 2026, Google Honours Winner AU/NZ 2025, and IHAC Best use of AI 2026 and Innovation 2025, Philip is passionate about empowering teams, driving performance, and transforming marketing through technology and innovation.

EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, IHAC + FOUNDER & CEO, -LUTION

Chris is a senior marketer and business leader with 20 years’ experience across Australia, Asia Pacific and North American markets.

Chris is founder and CEO of -lution, Australia’s leading marketing transformation consultancy focused on in-house and hybrid agency models. Through -lution Chris and his team have built, run and optimised more in-house agencies than anyone in Australia.

Chris is also Executive Chairman of the In-House Agency Council (IHAC), Asia’s leading industry body for in-house and hybrid agencies.

Prior to this Chris spent 13 years on the client side in senior marketing roles for ABInBev, SAB Miller and Carlton United Breweries, leading a multi billion dollar portfolio of iconic Australian brands.

CO-FOUNDER, TIME UNDER TENSION

Tim has spent nearly three decades in Australia’s digital industry.

In 2023, Tim co-founded Time Under Tension, a generative AI consultancy helping leading organisations turn AI potential into practical business outcomes. The company was named AI Company of the Year at the 2024 Pause Awards.

Tim is a sought-after speaker on the practical impact of generative AI. He regularly presents to CEO Institute roundtables and recently spoke across the Australia Post eCommerce 2026 roadshow on agentic commerce and its implications for retailers.

CEO, Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA)

Lizzie is a media executive with 25 years' experience spanning the UK, US and APAC markets. As CEO of Commercial Radio & Audio, she leads Australia's peak audio industry body, driving regulatory affairs, audience measurement, demand generation and digital transformation on behalf of 260+ commercial radio stations nationwide.

VIDEO & MOTION DIRECTOR, SPORTSBET

Over ten years, Harley has moved from video editor to running a production team of designers, motion artists and videographers, and now helps lead AI integration across Sportsbet’s marketing function, building generative pipelines, internal tools and team-wide training.

MARKETING STRATEGY & MEASUREMENT ADVISOR

Working with some of the nation’s leading brands, Rob’s focus is on marketing strategy and measurement.  He says his secret sauce is having spent 20 years in client-side commercial roles including leading Marketing Effectiveness at ANZ Bank Banking Group and Marketing Analytics at Mondelez APAC.

Robert is a published writer, speaker and awards judge in his field. He’s spoken at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity and is an Executive panel judge at the Australian Effie’s. 

PARTNER & CHIEF MEDIA OFFICER, -LUTION

Mike is an experienced, passionate, and accomplished leader in the Media industry with 20+ years’ experience in both agency and client roles.

Most recently he led the creation and transition of the hybrid in-house media team at Endeavour Group. Prior to this he was Managing Director at EssenceMediacom, Sydney’s second largest media agency.

Mike has overseen some of the largest and most complex media accounts in Australia, including running the McDonald’s account for 3 years, and has a proven track record in delivering business growth. Through these roles he has built up a

wealth of experience in managing complex businesses and building world class relationships.

DESIGN TEAM LEAD AT COLES

Mike is a creative leader and systems thinker focused on how in-house teams build trust, influence and strategic value inside large organisations. As Design Team Lead at Coles Creative Services, he works across creative leadership stakeholder relationships and the systems that deliver.

FOUNDER & MANAGING DIRECTOR, RISER

Felicity is an award-winning marketing leader and the founder of Theory Crew and RISER Collective. With over a decade of experience, she specialises in modern PR, influencer marketing, and large-scale social campaigns, helping brands connect with Australian and New Zealand consumers.

Felicity is known for her innovative, results-driven approach and her passion for challenging traditional marketing methods.

PARTNER & CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER, -LUTION

Nick’s background as an international executive has seen him lead marketing, product and P&L functions for big blue-chip consumer brands in the UK and Australia.

His previous roles include CMO RACV, CMO Betfair, GM Consumer Telstra, and Head of Digital & Consumer O2 UK.

With practical experience leading growth and change for some of the biggest consumer brands in the world’s most competitive markets, Nick has also built and led in-house agency teams at Betfair, RACV, O2, and GE Money.

VP OF GLOBAL MARKETING, DEPUTY

Alex’s background spans a number of Australian scale-ups, including Valiant Finance and Employment Hero.

Prior to moving into the world of Tech, he was National Director of Technology, Effectiveness and Data at Maxus/Wavemaker.

Today, Alex leads Deputy’s global marketing across brand, growth, content and customer marketing.

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Dimitri is a creative leader with two decades of experience building brands and in-house creative functions at Tinder, Canva, Apple, and Block.

At Canva he led the development of the company's first global brand platform. At Block he served as Global Head of Creative for Afterpay, building and leading a team of 16 across four markets.

Also a filmmaker and photographer, he is currently developing a near-future satire for television.

FOUNDER & CEO, Exponentially

Leslie Barry helps teams find the ideas worth funding before they build. He specialises in pretotyping: testing ideas with real customers before committing to development or production. His programmes have tested 4,000+ ideas, generated $38M in value and saved $30M by stopping weak ideas early.

A guest lecturer at Stanford, Leslie previously led innovation at Thoughtworks Australia and Sportsbet, and founded four startups, with two exits. He now combines rapid experimentation with AI through Rapidly software, helping teams turn creative ideas into customer evidence and make better investment decisions.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR, BRAND AT BUCK

At BUCK, Emma drives the creative vision and brand direction, leading multidisciplinary teams to build dynamic identities that thrive in both static and motion environments.

A self-proclaimed systems nerd, she built a specialist team to deliver 500-and-counting signs and environmental graphics across the Afterpay Arena.

AGENCY LEAD AUNZ, TIKTOK

Yulia is a marketing strategist who drives strategic partnerships and high-growth revenue across major agency networks.

With an extensive background in digital strategy, including a long tenure as Group Account Director at The Pistol, she also actively supports the startup ecosystem as an angel investor with Flying Fox Ventures and Jelix Ventures.

MOTION CREATIVE DIRECTOR, BUCK

Luke leads motion craft at BUCK. He specialises in on-screen applications, including building a motion system across transparent MUX screens, one of the largest in the southern hemisphere.

By fusing technical precision with high-end craft, Luke empowers the specialist 2D and 3D teams to deliver an experience that is as strong in motion as it is in print.

HEAD OF PRODUCTION, TALENTPAY

Jess brings deep expertise in talent, compliance, and workplace practices. With specialist knowledge across child safety and employment, WHS and the evolving influencer and creator landscape, Jess combines hands on production experience with a strong understanding of the regulatory and practical challenges facing the industry.

Jess was instrumental in establishing Talentpay’s partnership with AIMCO, helping drive industry conversations and initiatives around best practice, compliance and safer working environments for influencers and creators across Australian productions.

GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR, EUCALYPTUS/HIMS

Michael leads the international in-house creative function across Pilot, Juniper, Hims and Hers. He's also the co-founder of Other-Side, a creative and growth production house. 

His path here has been anything but linear — breakfast radio, comedy, helping build Koala's global creative team, launching Hnry and Heidi Health globally, advising at Airtree Ventures, and a stint on Big Brother for good measure.

Michael operates in chaos: a dozen projects in motion at once, most of them somehow working pretty well too.

CLIENT LEAD, IDEALLY

Neville leads Ideally's Enterprise Service Accounts globally, working with senior marketing and insights teams to turn category intelligence into commercial growth.

His perspective is shaped by years spent in some of the worlds leading creative agencies, including a decade at BBDO across Auckland & Melbourne, and client side roles, including Disney-Pixar.

Dublin-born, Melbourne-based, and firmly of the view that modern research should move at the speed of the business it serves.