HOW AI CAN PROPEL THE GROWTH OF AUSTRALIA'S UNICORNS
In today's competitive landscape, innovation is essential. AI holds the potential to transform industries and elevate startups to billion-dollar unicorn status.
Join a panel of industry leaders, including Taylor Fox-Smith, Head of Community Partnerships at Airwallex, as they delve into how AI is reshaping the startup ecosystem and driving remarkable success stories.
This discussion offers invaluable insights and actionable strategies for entrepreneurs, investors, and tech enthusiasts on leveraging AI to fuel the next generation of Australian unicorns. Be part of the conversation shaping the future of Australia's tech industry.
This event is presented in partnership with Airwallex.
DATE
03/09/24
TIME
5.30PM - 6.30PM
THE LAUNCHPAD, MELBOURNE CONNECT
WHERE
MEET THE PANEL
Dr Caren Hahn, a leading authority in digital innovation, will be moderating our panel discussion on How AI Can Propel the Growth of Australia's Unicorns.As a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Dr Hahn has produced 65 scholarly works and is at the forefront of groundbreaking research in areas such as graph neural networks, natural language understanding, and mental health detection. Coupled with her deep understanding of the startup ecosystem, her insight makes her the ideal facilitator for this critical discussion.
Taylor Fox-Smith, Head of Community Partnerships at Airwallex is a strategic leader with a proven track record in building high-growth partnerships. Her expertise in cultivating vibrant communities and fostering strong brand identities has been instrumental in driving commercial success. As the architect of Airwallex's new community partnerships and Airwallex for Startups initiatives, Taylor is dedicated to empowering the next generation of Australian entrepreneurs. Her deep-rooted understanding of the startup ecosystem and passion for innovation position her as a key influencer in shaping the future of the industry.
Michael Kron is an Associate Partner at Antler and leads Australia's Antler portfolio and investor relationships. He led the raise of Antler's second Australia fund and global funds and now coaches Antler's founders on growth and fundraising to drive success, with a focus on the first 12 months. Michael is also a member of the Investment Advisory Committee for two Antler funds. Prior to Antler, Michael has 10+ years of strategy consulting experience, has been an independent advisor for CEOs and global startups from seed to Series A, worked at Square Peg and was the co-founder of a renewable energy startup
Early in his career, Michael was an environmental lawyer, environmental engineer and was founder and CEO of an education business for 10+ years. Michael has a MBA from Melbourne Business School and Environmental Engineer and Law degrees from University of Melbourne.
Professor Eduard Hovy, Executive Director, Melbourne Connect. From South African mathematician to global AI leader, Prof. Eduard Hovy's journey epitomises the spirit of innovation.
His passion for knowledge led him to the USA, where he earned a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence from Yale University. Prof. Hovy then went on to lead a research team at the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute for over 20 years. His leadership continued at Carnegie Mellon University's Language Technologies Institute and DARPA, a U.S. government agency known for fostering groundbreaking research.Prof. Hovy has started or served on the Boards of several startups, one of which was sold to Google. Today, Prof. Hovy leverages his extensive experience at the University of Melbourne as Executive Director of Melbourne Connect and Professor in the School of Computing and Information Sciences. He leads a diverse AI research group, exploring cutting-edge areas like deep learning, natural language processing, and machine learning. Prof. Hovy's expertise in building intelligent systems and his understanding of the entrepreneurial spirit make him uniquely qualified to explore how AI can be the secret weapon for creating the next generation of startup unicorns.
Nicola is a Startup Solutions Architect at AWS, empowering startups across ANZ to build and scale innovative solutions. With expertise in cloud technologies and emerging trends across startups, Nicola helps founders and technical teams optimise their infrastructure and streamline operations. Nicola runs regular sessions for startups on utilising Amazon Bedrock, AWS's managed Generative AI service for builders looking to test out different prompt engineering techniques and understand how to easily integrate Gen AI in their own applications. She is passionate about helping startups unlock the full potential of AI to achieve rapid growth and become industry unicorns. Nicola holds a B.Sc. in Biotechnology and a Master of Management from the University of Melbourne, combining scientific insight with business acumen in her approach to startup solutions.