8:30 AM – 9:00 AM | Connection Time

Doors open. Coffee flows. Conversations start.

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM | Opening Remarks

Welcome from the ICON President.

9:15 AM – 10:15 AM | Keynote: Finding Focus in a Shifting Market

How can you navigate the uncertainty and complexity of the current VUCA world and find potential for growth, innovation, and value creation? Join us for this inspiring and insightful keynote session, where our speaker will share their perspective on the emerging global trends and their impact on the professional services sector. They will offer practical advice and examples on how to adapt your strategy, culture and skills to a more uncertain environment and leverage your strengths and capabilities to meet the changing needs and expectations of your clients.

• Identifying and anticipating the changing market landscape.
• Adapting to global market trends and understanding their impact on clients and professional services.
• Navigating uncertainty and adjusting strategies in response to economic and other changes.

Anne-Marie Kirkman - Strategic Growth Initiatives, Global Lead, GHD

Anne-Marie is a strategist and foresight practitioner who helps organisations navigate complexity and position for bold, future-focused growth. She leads work at the intersection of emerging global trends, client strategy and innovation - shaping how GHD, a leading global advisory and engineering firm, anticipates change and creates new market opportunities.

Her work spans scenario planning, growth portfolio design, and strategic foresight across themes including AI and technology transformation, climate adaptation, and infrastructure resilience.

She’s committed to enabling teams and organisations to move beyond reacting to change - to actively shaping the future they want to lead.

10:15 AM – 10:45 AM | Tea. Talk. Tactics.

Morning tea and networking.

10:45 AM – 11:45 AM | Session 1: AI and the Future of BDMC: The Conversation We Need to Have

Forget the buzzwords, this session tackles the real challenges and opportunities AI brings to business development and marketing. Moderator Rory Grant (Squiz) will set the scene before leading a dynamic conversation with ACAM and our expert panel on where human creativity meets machine intelligence. Expect lively discussion, honest reflections and plenty of audience input.

Rochelle Tognetti, Co-Founder, ACAM

Rochelle Tognetti is an accomplished marketing leader and the first female Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Deloitte Australia. Since joining Deloitte in 2008 and becoming a Partner in 2019, she has been instrumental in elevating the firm’s brand and market presence. Promoted to CMO in 2020, Rochelle previously served as the Chief Operating Officer for the Marketing, Communications, and Business Development function and held the position of Marketing Director. Before her transition into professional services, she specialised in digital marketing within the B2C sectors of the wine and travel industries in Australia and the UK.

As CMO, Rochelle led a team of around 250 professionals, driving Deloitte Australia's go-to-market strategy and enhancing the brand by leveraging the firm’s capabilities to deliver exceptional client experiences. With extensive experience across consumer and business-to-business markets, she is passionate about building world-class marketing functions. Her innovative and impactful strategies have garnered numerous accolades, including recognition on the 2023 B&T CMO Long List.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Rochelle is a meditation teacher, a casual academic at Sydney University Business School, and a trainer at the Australian Marketing Institute. She is also deeply interested in the intersection of neuroscience and business.

Currently on sabbatical to pursue a Master’s degree in Neuroscience, she is exploring how insights from this field can inform and enhance marketing, business strategy, and leadership.

Rory Grant, Chief Growth Officer, Squiz

Debate Moderator

Rory Grant has spent his career at the intersection of professional services, technology and growth strategy. As former Co-Chief Marketing Officer at Gilbert + Tobin, he led marketing and business development through a period of significant digital transformation, building deep expertise in how knowledge-driven organisations navigate shifting client expectations and market dynamics.

Now Chief Growth Officer at Squiz, Rory partners with professional services firms, higher education institutions, and government agencies to implement digital experience platforms that drive engagement, unlock insight, and empower marketing and BD teams to move faster with less friction. He understands the pressures these teams face: doing more with less, proving ROI in real time, and adapting to AI-enabled workflows while maintaining the rigour clients expect.​

Rory's approach is grounded in practical outcomes, bringing a rare combination of frontline marketing leadership experience and technology platform knowledge, making him equally comfortable talking strategy with CMOs or implementation with digital teams.

Jessamy Field,
Head of Marketing, A&O Shearman

Jessamy Field is the APAC Head of Marketing at A&O Shearman. With deep expertise in legal marketing and client engagement, Jessamy leads a team focused on driving strategic client engagement, cross-border collaboration and unlocking opportunities for the firm in the Asia Pacific region. Jessamy also leads the global marketing function’s AI strategy, innovation and adoption supporting the firm’s ambition to be leading innovator in this space and rethinking what the marketing function of the future looks like.

Jett Potter, AI Consultant and Laywer, MinterEllison

Jett Potter is an AI Consultant and lawyer at MinterEllison, specialising in AI strategy, governance and implementation. He works with ASX-listed and Fortune 500 organisations to develop AI strategies and bring them to life - designing governance frameworks, building training programs, and partnering with technical teams to reinvent business workflows with AI.

Jett recently designed an enterprise AI adoption program that achieved a 27% increase in daily AI use and a 85 NPS score. His approach combines legal rigour with hands-on implementation, helping organisations innovate at pace while managing risk and compliance requirements.

Before joining MinterEllison, Jett spent six years at Microsoft developing marketing analysis tools and optimisation strategies that contributed to Microsoft AU/NZ becoming one of the company's top-performing digital marketing regions globally. He brings that same focus on measurable outcomes and practical execution to enterprise AI adoption, bridging the gap between strategic vision and scaled deployment.

Joanne Arancibia, Head of Marketing and Business Development, Nexia Sydney

Jo is passionate about life and brings that same energy and enthusiasm to her career. Her professional success began at just 23, when she stepped into the role of Acting General Manager for a destination marketing organisation. Over the past 18 years, Jo’s journey has spanned professional services, travel and tourism, FMCG, quick service restaurants, and the not-for-profit sector. She has delivered high-profile consumer campaigns for McDonald’s, including the iconic Monopoly Millionaire, and led the national PR campaign for Australia’s retail travel sector, securing a $128 million Federal Government COVID relief package.

Jo currently leads brand, growth and client retention at the mid-tier firm Nexia Sydney, where she is the recipient of the Nexia Network Excellence in Leadership Award.

She is known for building trusted relationships, leading with integrity, and delivering results under pressure. Her leadership style is collaborative, values-driven, and focused on building engaged, high-performing teams.

Jo’s accomplishments extend beyond the office chair and into the saddle as a Masters Track Cycling World Champion and Australian record holder on the velodrome.

She believes in human beings, not human doings, in the workplace. This conviction drives her belief that human interactions will remain at the heart of B2B and B2C, with technology and AI serving to enhance, not replace, the human touch.

11:45 AM – 12:30 PM | Session 2: CX Programs that Deliver: Driving Revenue, Retention and Growth through Client Experience

A practical, expert-led session on building and proving the value of B2B customer experience programs.

Walk away with strategies, tools, and a clear framework to demonstrate ROI, secure stakeholder buy-in and embed customer-centricity across your organisation.

Facilitator 
Antonia Calvo,
Director & Principal Consultant, ACT XM

Antonia brings over 20 years of experience supporting organisations across the public and private sectors with the design and delivery of customer, employee, and brand experience programs. She is a recognised expert in experience management strategy, research design, and advanced data analysis, with expertise in the implementation and optimisation of the Qualtrics XM Platform.

Antonia adopts a holistic, outcome-focused approach to Experience Management, integrating best-practice methodologies in quantitative and qualitative research, human-centred design, and strategic advisory. She is skilled in aligning experience programs with organisational goals, driving measurable improvements in customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and service delivery outcomes.

Antonia has led over 400 successful engagements across a range of industries including government, education, financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, and professional services. She is also responsible for Act XM’s quality assurance and client delivery frameworks, ensuring consistency, rigour, and alignment with both ISO and government compliance standards.

Gavin Christie, Ex-Deloitte

Gavin Christie is a senior leader in client strategy and growth, with deep expertise in building and leading client experience programs that deliver measurable impact. Until recently, he was Director of Client Strategy and Transformation at Deloitte, where he oversaw national client experience initiatives including Market & Client Insights, client strategy and planning for the firm’s top 250 clients, and client-centred cultural programs. These initiatives were critical in driving Deloitte’s growth over the past decade and translating client expectations into actionable insights that improved retention, unlocked growth opportunities, and fostered a client-centric culture.

Gavin has spent most of his career in professional services, spanning legal, engineering, and consulting. He was also the Principal Economic Policy Advisor to the Treasurer of Queensland, bringing a unique perspective on how economic and social policy drivers influence markets. With over 25 years’ experience, Gavin offers a pragmatic perspective on how client experience can shape strategy, influence outcomes, and prove its value at the highest levels of leadership.

Midday Program

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM | Bites & Banter Break

Lunch and casual networking.

1:30 PM – 2:15 PM | Session 3: Pass the Mic: Real Stories. Real Wins. Real Misses.

When the post-lunch slump hits, we’re doing the opposite of slowing down. This interactive session puts the spotlight on the room - not the stage.

Break out into four groups and dive into the real stuff: lessons, misses, lightbulb moments and practical wins shared by your peers. Whether it's swapping AI tips, dissecting client moments, or increasing your influence, this is where BDMC stories meet reality.

2:15 PM – 3:00 PM | Session 4: Building a Sales Culture: Empowering Teams for Growth

In today’s fast-paced and competitive market, cultivating a robust sales culture is essential for driving growth. But how do you embed a sales-focused mindset and behaviours across your firm, ensuring that every team member is empowered, accountable and committed to continuous improvement?

In this session, you’ll hear from leaders who have successfully transformed their organisations by instilling a culture where sales is everyone’s business. They will explore:

• The key elements that define a high-performing sales culture and why it matters for professional services firms
• Practical frameworks and tools to assess your current sales culture and pinpoint opportunities for improvement
• Proven strategies to design, implement and reinforce initiatives that drive sales action, accountability and collaboration at every level
• Approaches to measuring progress, tracking outcomes and sustaining momentum for long-term success

Whether you’re looking to kickstart a cultural shift or take your existing sales culture to the next level, this session will provide you with actionable insights and practical guidance to help your teams thrive and deliver real results.

Alana Grasso, Business Development and Marketing, Australia Lead, Clifford Chance

Kate Potter, Head of Employee Experience, HWL Ebsworth

Kate Potter is the Head of Employee Experience at HWL Ebsworth Lawyers, where she leads firm-wide initiatives to enhance employee experience, engagement, and innovation. With a career spanning legal operations, strategic consulting, and design thinking, Kate brings a unique blend of commercial insight and creative problem-solving to the legal sector. Her work focuses on aligning client needs with business strategy, driving continuous improvement, and fostering a culture of collaboration and responsiveness. Kate’s experience across both private practice and consulting gives her a broad perspective on how law firms can evolve to meet the demands of a changing market.  

Sally McElhone, Customer Success Manager - Global Accounts, LinkedIn

Sally McElhone is a LinkedIn expert, having worked for LinkedIn for over 10 years. Based in Sydney, Sally helps global organisations succeed through modern selling techniques. She specialises in optimising strategies and guiding success programs to ensure clients achieve their goals with LinkedIn Sales Solutions.

Sian Burgess-Lange, Director of Business Development, BDO

Sian Burgess-Lange is a Director, Business Development at BDO − among the largest audit, tax and advisory firms by revenue in Australia and globally. With a career spanning 16 years in professional services, Sian brings experience in strategic business development and client relationship management and has held senior roles in leading firms including Allens, where she most recently led the firm’s major pursuits program. At BDO, she leads business development strategy for NSW and is spearheading a national pursuits transformation project − uplifting the firm’s resourcing, systems, and approach to support BDO through significant growth where preservation of the firm’s culture is paramount. Sian has postgraduate qualifications in psychology and applied policy, majoring in behavioural economics. She is interested in human behaviour and decision-making including in the contexts of leadership, change, and the client journey, and she is known for her transparent and strengths-based leadership style.

Afternoon Program

3:00 PM – 3:30 PM | Refresh & Recharge

Afternoon tea and final networking boost.

3:30 PM – 4:15 PM | Session 5: Pricing for Impact: Balancing client value and commercial success

How can firms price their services so that they attract and retain clients, while also ensuring they cover costs and generate a reasonable return? This is a perennial challenge for professional services firms, but especially so in a market that is constantly changing due to factors such as technological innovation, client preferences and competitive pressures. In this session, we will explore some of the key concepts and tools that can help firms achieve a balance between competitive pricing and sustainable profitability, such as:

• Understanding the value proposition and key differentiators of your services, and how they align with your target segments and their willingness to pay
• Conducting a thorough and regular analysis of your costs, margins and leverage, and identifying opportunities for efficiency and innovation
• Developing a pricing strategy that allows you to adjust your prices according to changing market conditions and strategic objectives
• Communicating and demonstrating the value and benefits of your services to clients, and building long-term relationships based on trust and satisfaction

The session will provide participants with some useful frameworks and tips to apply to their own pricing decisions.

Mary Flanagan, Head of Clients and Strategic Projects, Grant Thornton Australia

Facilitator

Mary is an experienced business development and marketing leader with a background spanning professional services, financial services and education. She is passionate about keeping clients at the centre of business strategy and driving growth through technology, data and collaboration. As Head of Clients & Strategic Projects at Grant Thornton, Mary focuses on building client loyalty, leading cross-firm initiatives and developing high-performing teams. She is also Chair of ICON’s NSW Chapter and an advocate for mentoring, diversity and inclusion across the BDMC profession.

Emilie Furey, Pricing Manager, MinterEllison

With over 17 years of experience across top-tier and specialist law firms, Emilie brings a distinctive blend of commercial acumen, client relationship expertise, and strategic market insight to pricing management—skills that are increasingly critical as AI transforms legal service delivery. Her career trajectory—from client development roles at Deloitte and Henry Davis York to business development leadership positions at Norton Rose Fulbright, Maddocks, and Wotton + Kearney—has equipped her with deep understanding of client needs, market dynamics, and value-based service delivery. As Head of Clients and Markets at Wotton + Kearney, she really grew her understanding of how law firm's operate and she was able to leverage from this experience to help align pricing with client expectations and commercial outcomes in her role as Senior Client Relationship Manager at King & Wood Mallesons. Now, as Pricing Manager at MinterEllison, Emilie's extensive client-facing background is invaluable in navigating the complexities of AI-enabled legal services. She understands that pricing AI-assisted work requires moving beyond traditional time-based models to frameworks that reflect genuine client value, cost certainty, and the strategic human expertise that remains essential. Her ability to articulate the commercial benefits of AI whilst maintaining focus on outcomes rather than inputs ensures pricing decisions are driven by real market intelligence and client relationships—not purely financial metrics.

Emily Swales, Head of Pricing, Norton Rose Fulbright

Emily Swales is a seasoned pricing strategist with deep expertise in helping professional services firms navigate the complex intersection of client value and commercial success. As Head of Pricing, Emily leads initiatives that drive sustainable profitability while fostering long-term client relationships built on transparency and trust.

With a background in accounting and commercial strategy, Emily brings a sharp analytical lens to pricing decisions, balancing cost structures, market dynamics, and client expectations. Her approach combines rigorous financial analysis with a human-centred understanding of value, enabling firms to adapt pricing models to shifting conditions without compromising on quality or integrity. Emily is passionate about empowering teams with practical frameworks and tools that demystify pricing.

Outside of work, Emily is a four-time Ironman triathlete and a strong advocate for community-building through sport, bringing the same discipline and collaborative spirit to her professional leadership.

4:15 PM – 5:00 PM | Session 6: Evidence of Influence – Making BDMC Results Impossible to Ignore

How do you prove the value of your marketing and business development activities to your stakeholders? How do you align your goals and metrics with your organisation's strategy and vision? How do you communicate your results and insights effectively and persuasively?

In this session, you will learn how to:

• Define and measure the key performance indicators (KPIs) that matter for your marketing and business development objectives, such as awareness, engagement, conversion, retention, and advocacy.
• Use data and analytics tools to track, analyse and report on your marketing and business development impact and ROI.
• Showcase your success stories and best practices using compelling and clear visualisations, dashboards and narratives that highlight your value proposition and differentiation.

This session is designed for marketing and business development professionals who want to enhance their skills and confidence in measuring and demonstrating their impact and ROI to their internal stakeholders.

Chris Barron, CEO, Optimise

Facilitator

Chris Barron is CEO of Optimise Media Australia & New Zealand, where he has led the business for more than a decade. With offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and around the world, Optimise is part of a global team of over 200, delivering performance-based advertising and customer acquisition solutions for leading brands.

Under Chris’s leadership, Optimise has partnered with organisations such as Microsoft, HSBC, Expedia, National Australia Bank and Grant Thornton, helping them achieve stronger ROI through smarter media strategy, planning and buying. Prior to his current role, Chris has worked in varied media businesses across strategy, sales and leadership roles and next month will be 20 years in media and advertising.

Chris has been published in the Journal of Advertising and industry publications such as Mumbrella and Marketing Magazine for his work in advertising measurement. He completed his thesis in marketing on the television series Seinfeld, because he found the faculties’ options boring and not close enough to his passion for advertising.

Outside of Optimise, Chris has served as a Director of the world famous Randwick Rugby Club and now enjoys pretending to be a farmer in his spare time, at home in the Yarra Valley.

Jenny Williamson, Head of Business Development, FB Rice

Jenny has spent longer than she cares to admit in professional services, working in BD and marketing roles in accounting, legal, engineering and now, intellectual property firms, both privately and publicly owned. She also did a stint at ICON (then APSMA) when completing her MBA. She loves the relationship aspect of professional services and seeing successful outcomes as individuals build their BD and relationship skills.

Dan Quinn, Chief Marketing Officer, Gilbert + Tobin

Daniel Quinn is the Chief Marketing Officer at Gilbert + Tobin, where he leads the firm’s client relationship management, business development and marketing functions. Since joining G+T, he has focused on building a high-performing, collaborative team that delivers meaningful client impact and drives the firm’s growth agenda in a competitive legal market.

With more than 20 years’ experience in business development, client relationship management and marketing, Daniel has held senior roles across international professional services organisations in Australia and the UK including Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer and A&O Shearman. His expertise lies in aligning brand, client and business strategy to position firms for sustainable growth and deeper client engagement.

Daniel is passionate about helping partners and stakeholders advance through their most complex challenges – from navigating market shifts and digital transformation to strengthening client relationships through AI, data-driven insight and creativity. He believes in the power of diverse, empowered teams to unlock innovation and performance.

Melissa Gunnsmith, Group Director Markets & Strategy, Urbis

Melissa is an experienced senior leader with more than 20 years in marketing, strategy, client development and corporate communications. At Urbis, she leads the Markets and Strategy team, bringing a deep understanding of how commercial, government and community priorities intersect across infrastructure, energy transformation, decarbonisation and technology. Her background spans leadership roles at WSP, Deloitte and Piper Alderman, where she worked with multidisciplinary teams to drive growth, strengthen client relationships and guide large-scale change and integration projects. Known for her collaborative style and strategic perspective, Melissa is passionate about shaping initiatives that create sustainable business impact and positive outcomes for people and cities.

5:00 PM – 5:15 PM | Closing Remarks

Key takeaways and thank you from the ICON President.

Evening Program

5:30 PM – 7:30 PM | Unwind. Connect. No Slides Required.

Canapés and networking drinks to close out the day at Verandah Bar, 55/65 Elizabeth St, Sydney NSW 2000