Amid growing cost-efficiency pressures under the Albanese government, delivering transformational programs in the public sector has become increasingly complex. This session explores practical strategies for navigating transformation in a cost constrained environment, with a focus on simplification and prioritisation.

Australia’s public sector leaders continue to face entrenched barriers to service modernisation, from ageing platforms and siloed data to inconsistent digital experiences and trust gaps. Yet leading agencies are showing that value-led transformation is possible when modernisation focuses not just on technology, but on the human experience of service—now amplified by AI-driven capabilities.

This roundtable brings together executives to explore how experience-led design, AI-powered automation, and integrated platforms are helping shift agencies away from fragmented systems and toward cohesive, citizen-first delivery.

Discussion Points

• How experience design and AI-driven content automation can unlock trust and usability in digital government services.
• Identifying and addressing organisational and system-level blockers (legacy infrastructure, capability silos, channel duplication).
• Practical steps to shift from fragmented initiatives to scalable, experience-led transformation.

A roundtable discussion focused on leveraging AI to drive efficiency and productivity in the public sector supported by the strategic integration of AI assurance. Ensuring that innovation is matched with governance, transparency, and ethical safeguards across the AI lifecycle.

• Exploring the transformative role of AI in service delivery and outcomes, highlighting how it enables greater efficiency, innovation, and data-informed decision-making.
• Acknowledging the risks that accompany rapid adoption, including legal, ethical, security, and reputational challenges, and the need for proactive management in a dynamic environment.
• Emphasising the critical role of assurance in scaling AI safely, ensuring systems are accurate, reliable, and aligned with both organisational goals and public expectations.
• Reinforcing the importance of human oversight, to ensure technology complements rather than replaces judgment, accountability, and fairness in decision-making.
• Discussing how effective assurance practices build trust, empowering organisations to realise AI’s benefits while safeguarding ethics, safety, and public value.

This roundtable will explore how government agencies can effectively implement Generative AI across their entire software development workflow. We will delve into the strategies for building robust governance and security frameworks that empower teams to innovate and move faster, without compromising on quality, compliance, or public trust. The discussion will also include real-world examples and insights, sharing how other government agencies are successfully leveraging AI to innovate and deliver on their missions.

In a time of rapid technological change, we have a critical opportunity to ensure that these powerful tools amplify our capacity for good, support human agency, and contribute positively to society and the planet.

A human-centred approach is crucial for government and other high-impact services where decisions directly affect people's lives.

What we will cover:

• What is human-centred AI: How we prioritise human needs, values, and wellbeing
• Trends and signals: Looking at where AI is making a difference for the better.
• Practicing Human-Centred AI (HCAI): The art of designing AI solutions that benefit people.

Read more about our approach at https://today.design/approach/ai-for-impact/

As AI redefines the future of government operations, leaders must balance rapid innovation with rigorous compliance, security, and trust. This roundtable will explore how federal agencies can embrace AI-driven automation to transform services while ensuring sensitive data remains protected and compliant with evolving standards. Together, we’ll discuss:

• Embedding governance into AI adoption strategies
• Unlocking efficiency and collaboration through secure automation
• Building citizen trust in an AI-enabled government

In an environment in which more people are using AI in organisations than are disclosing its use, what can leaders do to shape its safe effective deployment? We will explore the knowledge and skills that leaders need to build in themselves and their teams to shape appropriate use of AI capabilities.

We will share a discussion of:

• • • Mindset: What is the mindset that prepares leaders and their teams to respond effectively in engaging with AI in the workplace?
    • Skillset: What are the skills leaders need to build in themselves and their teams to support confident, competent and ethical use of AI?
    • Toolset: What are the tools leaders need to guide and support safe and effective use of AI?

We'll have a frank discussion on the hard truths of moving AI from pilot to production, exploring why many projects get stuck in "pilot purgatory" and fail to deliver ROI. The focus will be on the practical steps needed to deliver real public value, arguing that an enterprise-wide data strategy on a unified data platform is the non-negotiable foundation for effective AI. Discussion Points 

• The Pilot Problem: Why do government AI pilots fail? We'll discuss why many promising projects never make it out of the lab, and what to do about it. 
• The Governance Gap: AI's potential is limited without a strong foundation. We'll explore how to adapt existing data management and governance arrangements and introduce new ones to support the secure and ethical adoption of AI. 
• From POC to ROI: How do you bridge the gap between a successful proof-of-concept and a solution that delivers real public value? We'll focus on how to measure and prove a clear return on investment (ROI). 
• The Full Lifecycle: It's not just about the pilot. We'll discuss the critical importance of effective arrangements for the design, development, deployment, and monitoring of AI models to ensure they are safe, fair, and reliable. 
• The Unified Platform: AI requires a solid foundation. We'll explore how an enterprise-wide data strategy built on a unified data platform is the critical enabler for a secure, governed, and scalable AI future.

Join Salesforce Public Sector Solutions expert Aaron Baguley for adiscussion on what steps you can take to deliver the productivity gains enabled by Agentic AI

The fear is real: will AI eat our jobs? But the better question for government leaders is what would you delegate to AI tomorrow and what would you never let go?

In this roundtable, we'll get practical. How do you put your workforce at the centre of this AI transformation as architects of a better public service? We'll explore how organisations can empower staff to redesign their roles with AI, rebuild trust, and deliver better citizen services.