Think 3000 conference

Last week I was invited to give a keynote (TED Talk style) and a panel discussion about generative AI and it’s potential for Australian businesses and education providers.

In partnership with RMIT University, the Just Gold team produced a fantastic event, which explored the future of business, leadership and equity.

Tim O’Neill on the Think Technology panel (centre)

My Tech Talk started with positioning generative AI as a transformative technology, echoing Bill Gates' view that it's as significant as the PC or internet. He highlighted Australia's unique advantages in the AI landscape - our abundant renewable energy resources (which are perfect for powering AI infrastructure), our strong mining and agricultural industries that could be transformed by AI, and our track record of successful tech companies like Atlassian and Canva.

I touched on the numbers too - we have 650 AI companies headquartered here, $7 billion in foreign investment over the past 5 years, and the potential for AI to contribute $600 billion annually to our GDP by 2030.

The core of the presentation walks through our strategic adoption framework for organisations - starting with establishing context and urgency, then moving through leadership alignment, creating strategic foundations, training people, implementing operationally, and finally activating in the market.

I also discussed responsible AI practices (privacy, IP rights, ethics) and looked ahead to emerging trends like multimodal LLMs, AI agents, and hardware developments.

The presentation focused on positioning AI a generational opportunity for Australia to leverage our unique advantages and create substantial economic growth.