Where the real intelligence travels

Come and join us at Sydney's most commercially credible gathering championing women in AI, Finance, and Healthtech.

Our Platinum Sponsor for this event is Omnique: Australia’s First Tokenised Diversified Investment Fund

About Omnique:

Omnique Fund is Australia’s first tokenised diversified fund combining property, gold, secured property finance, and venture capital within a single, compliant Managed Investment Trust structure.

Delivered through blockchain enabled infrastructure, Omnique is designed to diversify risk and provide investors with stable, consistent returns across market cycles through disciplined capital allocation, risk management, and governance.

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In partnership with Boss Connect (business leader networking with WOW factor),Konnectile brings together founders, investors, executives, event brings together founders, investors, executives and technology leaders to create meaningful connections and opportunities.

Introducing The Signal: Women in AI, Finance & Healthtech.

The Signal is a curated evening summit for 150 female founders and C-suite executives, men and women, there are at the intersection of AI, Technology, Finance, and Healthtech.

Produced by Konnectile the B2B premium events company behind the Kon Series, this is not a networking night or an inspiration panel. It is a high-conviction, commercially sharp evening designed for the women who are building, funding, and deploying the most significant technology in Australia right now. Many men will be attending to support women successes.

WHAT'S ON THE NIGHT

Keynote Session I & II
Two keynote sessions [men & women] addresses from senior leaders operating at the frontier of AI, Finance, and Healthtech - the leaders that perspectives on adotpion of AI in those industries.

Guest Speaker Sessioadoptionns
Curated talks from the practitioners, founders, and executives who are doing the work — not describing it.

The Konnectile Rising Star Pitch Night - Female Only

10 Female founders. 10 startups and scale-ups. Each with something to prove and a room full of the right people to prove it to. Three to five minutes each. Live Q&A. One winner.

The Rising Star Prize:
→ A featured podcast episode produced with Konnectile's selected technology and media partners
→ Two months complimentary access to Tech Ready Women's July programme: Australia's leading accelerator for women building high-growth technology businesses
→ Recognition as Konnectile's inaugural Rising Star — a founding moment in a programme built to grow with the community it serves

Open Panel Q&A
Moderated by Mirela Xhota, Founder & CEO, Konnectile. No soft questions. Just the conversations this room is ready to have.

WHO IS IN THE ROOM

Founders, CEOs , CMOs, CTOs, CFOs and senior executives from FinTech, banking, SaaS, and enterprise technology.

AI founders who left careers at global institutions to build the products their former employers wouldn't prioritise.

Finance leaders navigating AI deployment in regulated environments where the cost of getting it wrong is not a bad quarter — it is a regulatory action.

Healthtech executives at the intersection of clinical innovation, infrastructure, and commercial growth — building the systems that will define how Australia's health sector uses intelligence.

Investors, advisors, and ecosystem builders who back the women in this room before the rest of the market catches up.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

Mirela Xhota

Founder & Head of Growth, Konnectile · Host & Moderator, · Investor Relations Manager & Advisor , at Planet Protector Group

"Opening, Welcome & Panel Moderation"

Mirela Xhota is the Founder & Head of Growth of Konnectile, a Sydney-based business community and technology partnerships group operating across six professional verticals and an annual summit.

With 18 years at the intersection of media, technology and commercial strategy, Mirela has held senior roles at some of the world's most respected organisations — Financial Times, Thomson Reuters, Freshworks, First Advantage, Decidr and inTruth. Her career has been defined by one consistent capability: turning complex ideas into market-leading commercial outcomes.

As a GTM leader, she has architected and executed revenue growth strategies across international markets, built and scaled high-performing teams, and secured landmark multimillion-dollar partnerships for technology companies navigating rapid change.

She founded Konnectile on a conviction that has only grown sharper in the AI era: that in a world of limitless automation, the scarcest and most valuable business resource is a conversation worth having.

Beyond Konnectile, Mirela is an active mentor and angel investor in the startup ecosystem — providing capital and network access to early-stage founders. She also serves as an expert advisor to Guidepoint, Dialectica and AlphaSights, where she contributes critical insight on technology trends and commercial strategy.

She founded Konnectile on a single conviction: that in an era of limitless automation, the scarcest and most valuable business resource is a conversation worth having.

#Host & #MC Moderator #Konnectile #Founder #Salesleader #AngelInvestor

Keynote presentation

Co-founder and CEO of Omnique

Colin shares an inspiring story that proves anything is possible. From living with epilepsy and undergoing two brain surgeries, to losing 46kg, summiting Mount Kilimanjaro on leap day 2012, and trekking to Everest Base Camp, Colin has turned every setback into a launching pad.

Along the way he became a tour guide in the Northern Territory, founded The Free Soul Society taking adventurers around the world, stood as an independent political candidate becoming the youngest person in Australian history to challenge a state premier and won the NT Pride of Australia Award.

Today Colin is Co-founder and CEO of Omnique Fund, Australia's first tokenised diversified Managed Investment Trust, pioneering institutional-grade investment through blockchain infrastructure. He is also the author of From Shadows to Summits.

Colin speaks from the heart about resilience, goal setting, and bold thinking. His message is simple — write down your goals, back yourself, and get moving.

★ Wendy Mak — confirmed speaker

Chief Marketing Officer, MUFG Pension & Market Services.

Wendy Mak

CMO | Lifestyle Influencer | MC & Speaker

A first-generation Australian who migrated solo at just 16, Wendy now straddles boardrooms and social platforms as both a corporate executive and midlife influencer on Instagram.

Her social community and platform focus on fashion, beauty, and fitness for women over 40 – helping women achieve their “glow up” in midlife. Wendy has also started up her own fashion styling business and published a book, “The Capsule Wardrobe,” in Australia and the US.

In Wendy’s corporate career, she is Chief Marketing Officer at MUFG Pension & Market Services, a division of MUFG, a global financial group. Wendy has also held roles as Chief Product Officer for digital products, running a P&L and frontline business development team, making her a highly commercial and entrepreneurial marketer.

A tech-savvy marketing leader who is pro-AI and pro-robotics, but also pro-consumer disclosure, her expertise spans growth, transformation, digital products, and ESG. Her mission is also clear: champion true cultural and ethnic diversity at the executive and boardroom table - while keeping it real about how we lead, work, and live.

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Jennifer Killian — confirmed speaker

Jennifer Killian is a Fractional Chief Executive and Founder of TrueCalibre.co, which helps CEOs and founders unlock AI-enabled growth, productivity gains, and long-term value creation.

With extensive global experience as a Chief Marketing Officer, Jennifer has guided organisations through IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, international expansion, and high-growth transformation across venture-backed, ASX- and NYSE- listed companies. She specialises in aligning go-to-market strategy with investor expectations, partner ecosystems, and operational execution to accelerate sustainable growth.

Jennifer combines strategic insight with hands-on delivery to advise organisations on AI readiness, growth strategy, commercial transformation, and brand-led valuation uplift.

John Zavaglia -founder of Mind Life Counselling- Special Guest Speaker

John is a public speaker, mental health practitioner, and the founder of Mind Life Counselling & Psychotherapy. Combining expertise in psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and business, he helps individuals and organisations master resilience, emotional intelligence, and human performance. John holds postgraduate qualifications in Mental Health and Neuroscience, alongside an MBA in Managerial Psychology. A columnist for The Post and former Toastmasters President, John specialises in men’s mental health, helping adults navigate stress, anxiety, addiction, and life transitions to build stronger relationships, confidence, and purpose.

Ari Galper- Global Leader In Trust-Based Selling | International Speaker | Award Winning Author

Ari is a highly sought-after international speaker and sales growth advisor to business leaders, entrepreneurs, and sales teams worldwide. His pivotal moment came after accidentally overhearing a conversation where a potentially large client blatantly lied to him just to lead him on. That experience completely shifted his mindset away from "closing the sale" to prioritizing deep trust—the absolute foundation of his unique approach.

Ari’s philosophy is both simple and transformative: if you are trapped in a cycle of endless follow-ups, long sales pipelines, giving away free consulting, and chasing leads who say, "I’ll think about it," you are caught in the Trust Recession—a term he coined to describe the growing scarcity of trust in today’s economy. Over two decades, Ari has refined a unique, trust-based methodology that rapidly collapses sales cycles using his signature "One Call Sale" framework.

Executive Panel discusion discussion

The Human Operating System:

Why AI adoption demands more than a Technology Strategy?

Speakers:

Emily Sauter, Principal Consultant at Bendelta, ex MD, at Accenture
Jennifer Killian, Founder True Calibre
Jennifer Mulherton, Chief Commercial & Strategy & Operations Leader at OnEarly.

MC: Emily Sauter, Principal Consultant at Bendelta, ex MD, at Accenture

Emily Sauter brings two decades of consulting experience at the intersection of technology and human potential. She has worked globally with Fortune 500 organisations and iconic Australian corporate brands, and was closely involved in early AI implementation projects — where she observed firsthand the cost of optimisation without humanity.

That experience led her to build a practice dedicated to something different: helping leaders navigate the AI era with clarity, compassion, and courage grounded in neuroscience, psychology, and mindfulness, not just strategy.

🔗 linkedin.com/in/emily-e-sauter-futureofwork

Steve Torso,Co-Founder and Managing Director of Wholesale Investor and CapitalHQ

Judge for the Konnectile Rising Star: Female Founder pitch night

Steve Torso is the co-founder and managing director of Wholesale Investor, a leading global private capital markets platform with over 45,000 high-net-worth investors, fund managers, family offices, and industry participants.

Steve Torso is a highly respected figure in the private investment space, having worked with a diverse range of companies and governments, including PEP, Alium Capital, Perennial Partners, Apollo Crypto, InvestHK, Flanders International Trade, and the NSW Government. His contributions have helped to shape the private capital markets landscape both domestically and internationally.

Knowledge gained through Wholesale Investor led to the development of CapitalHQ, a capital engagement platform utilised for capital raising, business sales, business financing, secondary sales, and direct investment.

Steve has been a keynote speaker and panellist at a myriad of global events hosted by the Australian Stock Exchange, AusBiotech, CSIRO, Department of Trade and Investment (UK), UTS, Queensland Government, Thomson Reuters, DLA Piper, PwC and e27. His opinion pieces have been shared by the Australian Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald, Startup Daily, Smart Company, Ausbiz TV and Switzer, amongst others.

Judge for the Konnectile Rising Star: Female Founder pitch night

Vivien Wong, Regional Marketing Lead, APAC | B2B SaaS Growth

Vivien is a B2B growth marketer who builds the revenue engine coveted by companies. With more than 20 years across field marketing, demand generation and go-to-market strategy in APAC, she has led regional marketing for global technology companies, owning the full line from strategy to execution, often as a team of one, across some of the most complex and competitive markets in the world.

She is known for one thing in particular: closing the gap between marketing and sales — the place where most revenue quietly leaks away. Her work has turned precise, intent-led targeting into a six-figure enterprise pipeline and closing velocity, and a solo-run regional events programme into a function that outperformed targets.

Sales leaders describe her as the rare marketer who can zoom out to set strategy and zoom in to execute flawlessly, who's equally at home in a boardroom defending spend and on the floor running the play.

Vivien brings a sharp commercial point of view to every room she's in, and her drive is to find that problem and fix it.

Yvonne Hilsz, Founder, Women in Sales, Judge -Founder's Pitch Night & Konnectile Rising Stars

Yvonne Hilsz is an award-winning Sales and Leadership Strategist, speaker, trainer and coach who helps leaders, teams and sales professionals build confidence, lift performance and create meaningful commercial growth.

With more than 20 years’ experience across sales, leadership and business development, Yvonne has worked with leading brands across retail, automotive, professional services, government, wine, luxury and corporate sectors.

She is the Founder of Women In Sales, a movement and membership created to help ambitious women sell more, earn more and impact more by building confidence, owning their value and strengthening their commercial capability.

Yvonne was awarded Coach of the Year in 2025 and Business Services in 2025, recognising her impact as a coach, strategist and trusted advisor to leaders, teams and women in sales.

Known for her commercial sharpness, high-energy delivery and ability to turn insight into practical action, Yvonne helps audiences challenge how they think, lead and sell so they can create stronger results with greater confidence.

Sourav Dasgupta- GAICD, MBA (UCLA), MBA(NUS)

Angel Investor | Business Performance and Commercial Insights | Data and Analytics Leader

Sourav Dasgupta is a senior commercial insights, strategy, data, and analytics leader with over 20 years of experience across technology, financial services, and consulting sectors. He specialises in helping organisations understand their revenue, performance, and strategy execution through a combination of data, analytics, and commercial insight. Throughout his career, he has built and scaled high-performing BI, data engineering, and data science functions, modernised enterprise data ecosystems, and advised executives on monetisation, customer retention, and product adoption. Most recently at Atlassian, he led Business Performance Insights, partnering with executive leadership to provide visibility into revenue drivers. Sourav is also an angel investor with Sydney Angels and Aussie Angels, conducting commercial, financial, and technical due diligence on early-stage companies. He holds Executive MBAs from UCLA Anderson and NUS Singapore, and a recent GAICD. He is passionate about helping enterprises, startups, and boards leverage data, technology, and AI to drive sustainable growth and measurable outcomes.

Vinisha Rathod, Founder & PR Strategist Leader Strategist

Vinisha is a keynote speaker, strategist, and author of The Briefcase Effect. She helps leaders at inflection points turn clarity into competitive advantage. She runs P3 Studio in Sydney and works with founders, executives, and growing businesses ready to get out of their own way. Recently she was the program lead for the Startup World Cup Australia, which is part of the world's largest tech pitch competition, Startup World Cup.

As a fierce advocate for systems that reward merit and capability, she’s driven by a bigger mission: breaking glass ceilings and ending domestic violence through economic empowerment and community. Check her out here - https://thebriefcaseeffect.com/

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Carl Delaney

Carl is Co-Founder of Sydney Venture Partners (SVP), a Sydney-based venture program that turns promising early-stage startups into investor-ready companies. Drawing on its MBA network, SVP connects founders with the operators and capital they need and gets them pitch-ready for the room. Carl leads as a Partner, focusing on operations and external relationships.

A high-level operator, Carl has lived in eight countries and reads people, cultures and commercial context in a way that is hard to teach. He started in management consulting at PwC, spending three years across financial services, fintech and big tech - including a two-year secondment inside one of the world's largest tech companies, where he learned how decisions get made at scale and how to translate between the operator's reality and the boardroom's view. What he does best is pull founders out of the detail and lift the conversation to the bigger picture they are playing for.
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Gunnar Habitz Senior Partner Manager APAC, Active Campaign Judge -Founder's Pitch Night & Konnectile Rising Stars

Gunnar is a partnership leader and published author based in Sydney. He leads agency partnerships across APAC at ActiveCampaign⁠, helping businesses grow through strategic ecosystems, marketing automation and customer experience.

Beyond his corporate role, Gunnar has published more than 30 books and helps experts, consultants, and business owners turn their knowledge into books that build authority, attract opportunities and create lasting impact. He regularly speaks on networking, personal branding, partnerships and publishing.

Having built partnerships across APAC while publishing more than 30 books of his own, Gunnar brings a unique perspective on how professionals can build authority through both relationships and intellectual property.

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Jared Huynh, COO at Eyes of AI, Judge -Founder's Pitch Night & Konnectile Rising Stars

Jared Huynh is the Chief Operating Officer of Eyes of AI, where he leads operational strategy and global regulatory pathways for AI powered dental diagnostic software. He actively contributes to Australia’s MedTech ecosystem, focusing on translating advanced AI into practical clinical tools that improve care and patient outcomes. Jared also strongly advocates for equitable access to technology and its potential to enrich lives, expand opportunity and empower communities.

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Julie Dillon is an C-suite advisor and board director with extensive experience in health and beauty, wellness, pet, consumer brands, retail, strategy, innovation and M&A. In her executive career Julie was responsible for brands and P&Ls of businesses in APAC, US, UK and Europe including Colgate Palmolive, Hills Pet Nutrition and EBOS Ltd

In her current consulting business, she advises Founders, CEOs, Boards, Private Equity, investors and executive teams.

Julie is an Advisor with Metluma, a Senior Advisor with Boston Consulting Group and a Board Director of Key Pharmaceuticals.

Liz Ross, Principal at Tidal Ventures

Liz is an Operating Principal at Tidal Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund backing founders building AI-native Systems of Work across Australia and the US. Liz works hands-on with portfolio companies at key inflection points, shaping strategy, go-to-market, and operating discipline to build repeatable growth engines. Formerly Microsoft and founding go-to-market at Dovetail.

Tidal Ventures is a thesis-led venture fund backing the founders building AI-native Systems of Work. We invest across Australia and the US, leading rounds at the earliest stages and backing winners through to scale.

Event tickets are now live on Humanitix and Luma. 🎟️

Register now to take advantage of our women-only event.

🎬 Curious to see what Konnectile offers?

Konnectile is a global conglomerate headquartered in Sydney, built for the age of intelligence. We exist to redefine how businesses scale -combining world-class technology infrastructure with the communities where the people running high-growth businesses come together, challenge each other, and grow.

We operate across two connected pillars.

We deliver enterprise-grade digital solutions through a curated network of global strategic partnerships -spanning payments, compliance, identity verification, sales enablement, software development, and business operations. Purpose-built for scale. Designed to be secure.

Technology arm: Our partners include Techvify, Nuvei Technologies, Comply Advantage, Thryv, Jumio, Ostride Labs, Relevance AI, Plan and Publish, to name a few.

Events & Community:

The Kon Series is Konnectile's premium B2B events and community platform - curated gatherings, roundtables, awards, and experiences for the professionals powering the next generation of high-growth businesses.

If it resonates, feel free to show the post some love on LinkedIn (like, comment, or reshare).

★ Further speakers to be announced — follow the event for updates

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WHY THIS EVENT IS DIFFERENT

AI, Finance, and Healthtech are not three separate industries in 2026.

The CFO deploying AI risk decisioning is navigating the same regulatory landscape as the healthtech founder building clinical AI infrastructure. The finance executive who stayed inside the institution is solving the same commercial problem as the founder who left to build what the institution wouldn't. The CMO managing an AI rollout across six jurisdictions is asking the same governance questions as the digital health operator deploying diagnostic AI in a clinical setting.

These conversations belong in one room.

The Signal puts them there.

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Event Format:

Doors open: 5:00 PM
Keynote & speaker programme: 5:45 PM – 7:00 PM
Rising Star Pitch Night: 7:00 PM – 7:45 PM
Open Panel Q&A: 7:45 PM – 8:20 PM
Cocktails & dinner: 8:20 PM – 9:30 PM

Date: Thursday, 6 August 2026
Venue: Castlereagh Boutique Hotel, 169 Castlereagh St, Sydney CBD

TICKETS

General Admission — Early Bird: $147

Your ticket includes exclusive access to the full event, featuring a welcome cocktail reception, an elegant three-course dinner, and a complimentary selection of drinks throughout the evening.

Capacity strictly limited to 150 delegates.
Waitlist enabled.

Register now on Humanitix and Luma.

Capacity is strictly limited to 150. Waitlist enabled.

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ABOUT KONNECTILE

Konnectile is a Sydney-based B2B premium events business producing curated executive events — panels, summits, roundtables, and private networking experiences — for founders, operators, and technology leaders across Australia and APAC.

The Signal is Konnectile's second major event, following the inaugural Innovation Uncovered event held at Tank Stream Labs, Sydney, in May 2026.

If you have any questions, please email: mirela@konnectile.com

#TheSignal #WomenInAI #WomenInFinance #WomenInHealthtech #Konnectile #menleadership #VC #ChangeMnageement #Sydney #AIleadership #investment #womensupport

Contact the host of The Signal: Women in Tech, AI, Finance & Healthtech