How Digital Leaders Are Building Successful Agile Teams Today

Kate Carruthers is the Chief Data and Insights Officer for UNSW Sydney and is also an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Engineering. She is a Certified Information Security Manager and is currently undertaking postgraduate studies in terrorism and cybersecurity.

Kate has extensive experience in senior roles in ICT across the finance sector, marketing, data, and digital. She is a member of the NSW government’s Data Analytics Centre advisory board. Kate was appointed to the Microsoft Regional Director program for her work in cybersecurity in 2020 (this is an external advisory role that provides Microsoft leaders with customer insights, real-world voices, and insights). She is currently working at the intersection of data analytics, AI, ML, privacy, cybersecurity, and data protection.

Sachin Sharma is the Chief Product Officer for Standard Chartered nexus, a Banking-as-a-Service proposition. Based in Singapore, Sachin is leading product development for the white-label plug and play banking solution with a vision to redefine the banking experience for customers globally by digitally marrying ecosystems to banks. The first market is Indonesia, where the Bank has announced two partners, Bukalapak and Sociolla, with further plans to expand in the region.

Sachin is a product leader with a passion for driving sustainable and profitable growth by giving consumers an unparalleled banking experience. A competent strategist, Sachin has strong expertise across credit/debit cards, personal loans, deposits, payments, and bancassurance. An innovator at heart, Sachin has also launched several industry-first solutions throughout his career, including Dash, an award-winning mobile money service, Cash@POS with soCash, as well as products such as Bonus$aver and MyWay Savings Account.

Sachin holds an MBA from the Institute of Management Technology, India, and a B.Sc. (Hons) in Physics from Delhi University.

Brett has 20 years of experience in the wealth management industry, working in various roles including product development, UX, finance, and operations. He has deep experience in very large digital transformation programs in financial services from start up, through development to implementation, creating products to scale significantly.
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Brett has worked from initiation phases on Macquarie Wrap, Macquarie Professional Series funds, HUB24, and BT Panorama (all now having billions in funds under administration). He is currently leading the BT Experience Design team where he leverages customer centred design techniques, agile development, and the latest digital technology to drive amazing customer experiences that generate business value. He is running cross-functional teams to build user interfaces using digital strategies including BT's market-leading mobile app. His passion is working in start up businesses and transformation programs developing and delivering digital solutions that will make customers' lives easier and bring about profitability to the business.

Denise leads a cross functional team of 198 individuals from CX, Digital Technology and Marketing and accountable for its strategic partnerships with Accenture and Salesforce, bringing to life simple purchase experiences that are digital first across Optus.com.au, in-store and over the phone. Her second focus area is transforming our digital platforms so to ensure these experiences can be iterated and supported with speed to market and best in class ecommerce functionality that a customer expects from any brand.
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Joining Optus as the Director for Digital Apps and Innovation in 2016, Denise successfully transitioned My Optus App from 2.1/5 to 4.6/5 in app ratings as well as drove down its error rate from 18.1% to 4.5% within 9 months, making it the #2 utility app in Australia. Prior to Optus, Denise was an Executive Manager, Digital Development at Commonwealth Bank where she successfully launched a new Property App and Property Hub online for Home Buyers as well as revamped the CommBank App with financial well-being tools. Denise is a sucker for creative thinkers and gets a buzz from working around self-driven people who only see the positives out of challenges.
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In her spare time, Denise founded Sydney meetup, Product Mavens back in 2008 and spends most of her days balancing the role of mum to 3 boisterous kids, teaching Body Attack and indoor spin at Fitness First on the weekends to keep sane.

Gaurav has more than 17 years of marketing, advertising, and brand building experience in APAC, leading multiple billion-dollar brands in the region like Kimberly Clark and Procter & Gamble. He is passionate about helping brands drive digital transformation and has served as Jury for various advertising and marketing awards in the region. He also advises and invests in early-stage start-ups. He is currently the Chief Marketing Officer and Integration Leader for Kimberly Clark Softex Indonesia.

Abhishek Rathi has close to 20 years of rich and diversified experience, having led industry-first Digital, Digitization and Technology transformation, eCommerce, Digital Marketing, Strategy, Innovation, Analytics and other assignments with several leading firms including Prudential PLC, MetLife and Prudential Financial (US).

In his current role as Vice President, Digital Transformation & Customer Engagement for Prudential Financial, Abhishek is responsible for shaping, directing and executing Prudential’s Digital Transformation Vision & Innovation. He leads setting up of a differentiated “GROW” Business Platform for Customers & Life Planners across Prudential International Insurance (PII) Emerging markets to drive incremental growth & differentiated customer experience.

Alexis is the Enterprise Director for Hire Digital, which connects businesses to on demand teams in digital marketing, software development, and design. She started Hire Digital to address two emerging trends: firstly, companies have been increasingly engaged in digital and workforce transformation, and secondly, the distributed workforce is growing as talents move away from the onsite workplace and the five-day workweek. Alexis has helped hundreds of organizations including Fortune 500 enterprises, growth startups, and government agencies to fulfill their talent needs. Previously a business journalist, Alexis has been featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 for Media, Marketing & Advertising.