Data Science and AI
Major Events
AI Con 2025: Strategic Implementation Over Technological Hype
Actuarial careers
Industry topics
Upcoming events
Lifelong learning
Claim your CPD points
"Successful AI adoption requires organisations to chart their own course rather than follow generic playbooks." This was the message from keynote speaker, Jeremy Howard, creator of the foundational technology behind ChatGPT, at AI Con 2025.
With over 200 practitioners in attendance, the conference tackled the critical question facing Australian organisations: how do we translate artificial intelligence potential into measurable business value?
Opening the event, Actuaries Institute CEO Elayne Grace shared, "We're not just observers of this transformation. We're the architects, the implementers, the critical thinkers who will determine how AI shapes our future."
Despite his extraordinary achievements as Founding President of Kaggle , founding CEO of Enlitic , and co-founder of fast.ai , Howard's candid, down-to-earth approach captivated the audience. Reflecting on his own journey, Howard encouraged the audience to enjoy what they do and make a positive impact, sharing both successes and failures with a genuine perspective.
Keynote speaker Jeremy Howard adressing the crowd.
What made Howard's keynote so powerful was his humble, yet brilliant approach to discussing real challenges and strategic pivots, providing a foundation for the day's focus on practical implementation over theoretical possibilities.
The morning sessions featured four technical leaders sharing perspectives on practical AI implementation, from foundational frameworks to petabyte-scale applications.
Moderated by Fabian Held from the University of Sydney , the panel included John Hawkins (author of " Getting Data Science Done "), Tui Britton (astrophysicist turned data scientist), Victor Bajanov (Executive at Quantium ), and Michael Bewley (VP of Nearmap ).
A snap of Victor Bajanov, Fabian Held, Tui Britton and John Hawkins, prior to their sessions.
Hawkins emphasised that certain themes in AI projects frequently recur: highlighting the importance of finding your scale, knowing your data-generating process, and adjusting metrics to match your business goals. This practical grounding proved essential for understanding sustainable AI implementation.
Britton's session on Data Science as the Engine of Digital Transformation revealed they didn't start their project with technology, but with people, unearthing real challenges and proving that attitude fuels adoption. Her key insight resonated powerfully, as without data science, ideas just stay ideas - but with data science as both compass and engine, digital transformation becomes achievable.
Bajanov delivered a compelling live demonstration of AI transformation in action, noting there are multiple tracks up the mountain to get the solution you'll need for your own problem. Doing live coding in a notebook proved to be a courageous but successful choice, with substantive knowledge beyond superficial trend-chasing.
Bewley's workshop provided a compelling case study in practical AI implementation at unprecedented scale. As VP of AI & Computer Vision at Nearmap, Bewley demonstrated how his team applies AI at a petabyte scale to map evolving urban landscapes across Australia and beyond.
Three Australian AI founders shared brutally honest insights about competing globally during the afternoon plenary, demonstrating how local perspectives - when properly executed - can transform into international competitive advantages.
When asked what it means to be an Aussie competing in the US market, Jacky Koh from Relevance AI said he loves it — American startups are inflated, and noted that as Australians, we can be more nimble and customer-focused in this space. Daniel Slater from Relume agreed that not being part of the echo chamber helps as an Australian, you always have to think globally since our market isn't big enough. Xharmagne Carandang from Lorikeet added it forces you to focus purely on customers.
Jacky Koh, Daniel Slater and harmagne Carandang on stage with moderator, Michael Bewley.
On navigating the crowded GenAI space, Slater emphasised focusing on customer problems while Koh drew from his data science background and suggested seeking case studies and doing your own testing. The session ended with questions from the audience, which ignited a fiery discussion between Carandang and Koh on the advantages of using GenAI agents for everything vs utilising code-based automation wherever possible.
The next session focused on the implementation of AI in complex, established organisations, something many in the audience have experienced and struggled through.
Michelle Bauman, General Manager at wiqLABS and recent "AI Pioneer" winner of the Women Leading Tech Industry Award , drilled down into their ideation process where AI can have a positive impact.
Moderated by Utkarsha Ghule from Quantium, a two-time Women Leading Tech Awards finalist who pioneers enterprise AI solutions, the discussion revealed key insights about organisational change management. Bauman noted the importance of reprioritising the roadmap all the time and the cross-functional involvement across teams, utilising all their skills.
Michelle Bauman and Utkarsha Ghule on stage at AI Con 2025.
Luiz Pizzato, Distinguished AI Scientist at Commonwealth Bank , shared their latest research on LLM personas and how large enterprises can benefit from investing in fundamental research for the benefit of their customers.
A lively reverse Q&A session run by Justin McGee Odger and Anthony Tockar revealed the type of AI specialist in the room:
The day concluded with four industry disruptors who didn't get where they are by following the crowd.
Jeremy Howard joined Eugene Dubossarsky, founding partner at Advantage Data Consulting and driving force behind Sydney's data science community, alongside Greg Schneider, co-founder of Quantium with over 25 years of analytical innovation.
Moderated by Anthony Tockar, AI Con 2025 Organising Committee Chair, the session brought together insights on productive contrarianism and breakthrough innovation from decades of experience. The wisdom shared about challenging assumptions and transforming disruptive ideas provided the perfect finale to an incredible day.
AI Con 2025 demonstrated that Australian actuarial professionals and organisations stand at a critical juncture where practical AI implementation can create genuine competitive advantages through technical competence over vendor relationships, starting with people rather than technology, and embracing the contrarian thinking that has always defined actuarial excellence.
For actuarial professionals specifically, the insights from geospatial AI applications and enterprise transformation provide a clear roadmap for enhancing traditional risk modelling with AI-derived data sources and customer-focused solutions.
