Session Title: Leading, Not Lagging: Security's Role In AI Innovation
AI adoption is accelerating faster than traditional security and governance models were designed to handle. This session explores how security professionals can move beyond reactive oversight and become active partners in enabling safe innovation. So the real question is no longer “how do we control AI?” - it’s “how do security teams actively enable it, safely and at speed?”
Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions of the speakers and networking drinks with light refreshments will be served after the presentations. This presentation is ideal for anyone working across security, engineering, architecture, data or risk who wants to understand what secure AI adoption really looks like - and how security teams can help innovation succeed, not slow it down.
Speaker 1:
Thomas King - Senior Director, AI & Security - Microsoft (Security Perspective)
Thomas is a senior technology and cyber security leader with more than two decades of experience shaping digital resilience across government, education, and critical infrastructure.
His career includes executive roles at Griffith University, Telstra, AusCERT and as the Chief Information Security Officer for the QLD Department of Education and the Arts supporting a large complex front lined department of over 100,000 staff and 580,000 students, where he led the development of the 2024-2028 cyber strategy, and drove major improvements in patching, identity, privacy, threat and detection capability, and strengthened whole-of-government security governance. His work has been recognised through numerous national awards including the AISA Information Security Professional of the Year. With deep expertise spanning strategy, governance, architecture, cyber, data and information management, Thomas brings a pragmatic, business-aligned perspective on how organisations can reduce risk, accelerate innovation and build secure, future-ready digital capabilities.
In his current role, Thomas leads teams of security architects supporting organisations across ANZ to uplift cyber maturity and reducing risk by working with customers in secure adoption of cloud, security of AI and AI for security as well as practical implementation of modern security concepts such as zero trust.
Speaker 2:
Justin Hennessy - Founder - DrawingHub (AI & Engineering Perspective)
Justin is a builder with more than 25 years in software, spanning hands-on engineering, architecture and technology leadership. His career has covered everything from early web platforms through to large-scale cloud systems, with a long-standing interest and focus on ML and AI, automation and the practical application of emerging technology in production environments and businesses. Today, Justin is the founder and CTO of DrawingHub, an AI platform that extracts, validates and structures metadata from engineering drawings for mining, infrastructure and government clients, with an emphasis on LLM and human-in-the-loop workflows.
Date: Thursday 11 June 2026
Time: 5:00pm - 8:00pm(AEST)
Agenda:
5:00pm - 5:15pm Registration
5:15pm - 6:45pm Presentation & Panel Discussion
6:45pm - 8:00pm Networking and light refreshments
Venue: Microsoft Offices, North Stradbroke Room, Level 28, 400 George St, Brisbane. Take the lift to the 28th Floor. Please ensure you have arrived before 6:00pm as access to the building is denied after this time.
Registrations: Registration is required to attend this event in line with the Microsoft Offices’ entry guidelines. Unfortunately, anyone who has not registered will not be able to attend this event. Registrations will close on 9 June 2026, or earlier if all places are filled. When you sign in on the day, a name badge will be printed for you. Please wear your badge for the duration of the event.
Cost to attend:
Registration is free for AISA members
Non Members: $115.50 (incl GST)
Not an AISA member? Become a member today!
How to register:
1. Members must be signed in to register
2. To register for this event click on the Register Myself button
3. Once you have confirmed your registration, this item will appear in your Shopping Cart
4. Please proceed to the Submit Order button
5. A confirmation of order will be emailed to you once your registration is confirmed OR payment has been made
REMINDER: If you are unable to attend after registering, please send an email to [email protected] advising of your cancellation. This will release your place for another member to participate.
If you have any queries regarding this event, please contact AISA Events Team at [email protected]
Disclaimer:
AISA presentations are intended for educational purposes only. Statements of fact and opinions expressed are those of the participants individually and, unless expressly stated to the contrary, are not the opinion or position of AISA, its sponsors, or its partners. AISA does not endorse or approve, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, accuracy or completeness of the information presented. Attendees should note that sessions may be recorded and published in various media, including print, audio and video formats without further notice.