Consulting Groups Melbourne

Lead With Impact Through Powerful Facilitation

Join us for a hands-on workshop where you'll learn how to design and run workshops that actually move teams forward. Going beyond the standard retro and sticky notes, & drawing on real examples from hundreds of workshops plus grounded in coaching and facilitation practice, we'll cover everything from setting the right goals, to a practical toolkit to design your next workshop with intent, to tips for the messy real-world stuff like handling conflict, getting people to engage, and keeping energy up when things go sideways. You'll leave with practical techniques you can use straight away, tools to help teams go from discussion to real decisions, and more confidence being the person running the room. **Our speaker** [Aseel Hamarneh](https://www.linkedin.com/in/aseelhamarneh/) is a Product lead with over 15 years’ experience in tech, working multiple organisations and countries. Over that time, she has seen a consistent pattern: teams collaborate constantly and run regular workshops and retros, yet often leave potential on the table because facilitation is treated as a format rather than a leadership skill. She has designed and led organisation-wide workshops, large-scale training programs, and numerous strategy and ideation sessions. Her focus is not on running meetings, but on using facilitation to drive alignment, generate stronger ideas, and support meaningful decisions during change and complexity. Drawing on formal facilitation training and executive coaching accreditation, Aseel approaches facilitation as a capability that shapes how teams think and collaborate. Across diverse organisational contexts, she has seen the same principle hold: strong facilitation unlocks the full potential of collective thinking. **Our hosts**: [NV AI Learning Centre](https://www.naturalvelocity.ai/) Directions Natural Velocity Head Office is located on Level One, 9 Star Cres Docklands (inside The District Docklands) next to Melbourne College of Hair and Beauty. By tram: We're at the last stop on tram routes 70 & 86 (free tram zone). Exit the FRONT of the tram, cross the road and enter the left-hand side District Docklands entrance, up the escalator near Penny Specialty Coffee, take a left over the bridge and we're next to Melbourne College of Hair & Beauty By Rideshare: Enter ‘Natural Velocity’ into your App and a driver will drop you off outside The District Docklands entrance. enter the left-hand side District Docklands entrance, up the escalator near Penny Specialty Coffee, take a left over the bridge and we're next to Melbourne College of Hair & Beauty By Car: Park in “the District Docklands East Carpark” above Woolies. From your car exit level one, walk past H&M towards Star Cres, turn left take a right over the bridge and we're next to Melbourne College of Hair & Beauty. NV can discount parking down to $7. By Motorbike/bicycle: Plenty of two wheel parking is available along Docklands Drive Our sponsor: [Pendo](https://www.pendo.io/why-pendo/) Pendo’s mission is to elevate the world’s experience with software. Built on trillions of behavioural data points, Pendo’s product intelligence platform helps companies understand how people and agents use their products and ensure every digital experience delivers real value. And through our Mind the Product and customer communities, we provide education, events, and training to support product and digital leaders everywhere. Pendo is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, with 10 global offices. Learn more at [pendo.io](http://pendo.io/).

Engineering Machine Consciousness Monthly Meetup

The discussion topic for this meetup will be identity and whether or not history is a necessary condition for consciousness as Dretske proposed. James

Product Smells: Clues That Your Product System Isn't Working as It Should

After a 2 year hiatus ProductTank Melbourne is back!! Join us in person at the TeamForm offices in the CBD for the latest in practical insights, great discussions and interesting people. **Product Smells: Clues That Your Product System Isn't Working as It Should** Perfectly reasonable habits we encounter in our day-to-day product work can be clues that something deeper is wrong in the system around you. Are your colleagues a little too concerned with what the director thinks? Have your engineers stopped arguing with you? Is your Q2 plan all locked up nice and neat? This talk looks at those product smells: what they reveal, their root cause, and what you can do when you spot them. **Speaker: Jack Rust** Jack Rust is a Senior Product Manager at SEEK. Before moving into product, he worked as a software engineer — and before that, at a deli. He's interested in products that help people get their jobs done, the systems that help product managers build them, and why some systems make that work so hard. Jack is uncomfortable networking, so he speaks at meetups and conferences in the hope that the networking will happen to him instead. **When & Where** 5:30pm doors open, 6pm start TeamForm — Level 6, 278 Collins St (entrance next to Flight Centre, near Flinders Street Station) **On the night** 5:30 pm - Doors open with pizza provided by our hosts TeamForm 6:00 – 7:00pm: talk + discussion 7:00 – 8:00pm: networking, Come along, bring a friend and/or colleague, and come ready with a product smell of your own — you might just get it workshopped live.

Day of the Dead

Come for a delicious hawker style Vietnamese inspired dinner and settle in for a deep conversation on "Life after Death" as we prepare for Halloween (Oct 31) and Day of the Dead (Nov 1). We start our exploration using short selections from the Bahá’í teachings and other inspirational sources. The aim is to uplift, inspire and motivate; the conversation will benefit from all participants’ viewpoints. Everyone is invited to positively contribute to elevated conversations, inquiry, consultation and learning.

Capability ≠ Capacity: What I wish I’d known about neurodivergence leading tech

Capability ≠ Capacity: What I wish I’d known about my neurodivergent brain when I was leading in tech I was diagnosed ADHD and autistic at 41, following severe burnout at the peak of my career in technology leadership, transformation and digital delivery. I was clearly capable of doing complex work. What I didn’t understand was why things that seemed like they should be easy could sometimes require an enormous amount of effort. In this talk, I’ll explore some of the less visible things that use our capacity at work — and how this helps us to find the right strategies to work sustainably as a neurodivergent leader. **Agenda (time in Melbourne/AEST)** * 5:30pm Networking * 6:00pm Welcome * 6:05pm Main Presentation * 6:35pm Q&A * 7:00pm Networking * 7:30pm Close **This will be a HYBRID event:** **Zoom link -** will be posted 1hr before event starts. **Our Speaker** **Ani Møller** Ani Møller is a neurodivergent leadership coach and ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) who works exclusively with neurodivergent leaders. Before becoming a coach, Ani worked in technology, transformation and digital delivery, including as an Executive Director leading large teams and multi-million-dollar programs. They were diagnosed ADHD and autistic at 41 following severe burnout, and subsequently trained as an ADHD coach. Their work now brings together lived experience, coaching and decades of leadership and transformation experience to help neurodivergent leaders understand how they work and build more sustainable ways of working and leading.

Dee Dee Bridgewater in Conversation

AI Workflows for Lean Product Teams

Lean product teams don't have the luxury of dedicated AI specialists or months to experiment. They need practical ways to move faster without adding headcount or complexity. Hosted by Leading the Product and generously supported by Stone & Chalk at their Melbourne CBD headquarters, this evening brings together speakers for a candid panel discussion. Speakers: * [Emily Mason](https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilymason2/): VP of Product @ The Martec * [Josh Centner](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshcentner/): Head of Product - Platform, Reliability, DX and Quality @ Netwealth * [Vijayan Seenisamy](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijayan-seenisamy/): Author of The Pilot Trap, Enterprise AI Delivery * [Mark Oliver](https://www.linkedin.com/in/markdavidoliver/): General Manager of Professional Services @ Brainmates This session brings together a panel of product leaders and practitioners who've been in the trenches, integrating AI into their day-to-day workflows. Expect candid discussion on topics like: * Where AI genuinely accelerates discovery, delivery, and decision-making, and where it doesn't * Tools and workflows lean teams are using to punch above their weight * The organisational and cultural shifts needed to make AI adoption stick * Common pitfalls, false starts, and lessons learned the hard way * How to balance speed with quality when your team is small Whether you're just starting to experiment with AI in your product process or looking to sharpen an existing workflow, you'll leave with practical insights you can apply immediately, straight from teams who've done the work. Following the panel discussion, we'll open things up for audience Q&A before continuing the conversation over drinks and networking with Melbourne's Product community. **Evening timeline** 5.30pm – 6.15pm: Arrive, grab a drink, and connect 6.15pm – 7pm: Panel discussion and audience Q&A 7pm – 7.30pm: Networking, conversation, and connection A huge shoutout to [Stone & Chalk](https://www.stoneandchalk.com.au/ "https://www.stoneandchalk.com.au/") for their gracious hosting, venue and collaboration with Leading the Product. Stone & Chalk is a purpose-driven not-for-profit and Australia's largest and longest-running innovation community. It brings together top talent to build future-shaping technologies and helps founders and ventures grow faster. Positioned as a catalyst and convenor in the innovation space, it's a trusted super-connector and leader connecting innovators and companies to accelerate business growth. We'll have light food and drinks covered, all we ask is that you bring your curiosity, your questions, and your perspective. Reserve your spot today.

Inaugural Melbourne E&U Data Connect

Welcome to the first Energy & Utilities Data Connect Melbourne meetup! This group is all about bringing energy & utilities professionals together to share real-world data + AI wins, lessons learned, and what’s actually working across the industry. The idea is simple: a regular, in-person evening where people working on real energy and utilities data problems can share what they are building, what worked, and what did not. Expect practical talks grounded in actual use cases (e.g., grid and asset data, forecasting, smart meter and time-series data, field operations, AI on operational data), followed by time to talk to people who understand the problems you are working on. For this first one we are keeping it simple - a short intro to what the group is about, one or two talks, and plenty of time to meet each other. Speakers are being confirmed and we will update this page as the agenda firms up. Who should come: * Data engineers, analysts, scientists and architects in energy, utilities and water * Data and platform leaders shaping strategy in the sector * Anyone curious about how the industry is actually using data and AI (all experience levels welcome) Huge thank you to Thoughtworks for hosting us at their Melbourne office! Hope to see you there!

Women in Cloud - Building on AWS

**📍 Please note: This event will be hosted at the AWS Melbourne office. To arrange office access, please complete this [form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfPM_1FXJVi6R5VkLL6V6pfZNkNYeJyI6N39DECEJNd6G8IYQ/viewform?usp=dialog) by 12pm on 12 October. You must also bring a valid government-issued ID on the day of the event.** Join us for an evening of learning, networking, and knowledge sharing as we explore how organisations build resilient, reliable, and scalable cloud platforms on AWS. First, we will take you through **resilience in AWS**, exploring fault isolation, static stability, multi-Region architectures, and the patterns that help mission-critical workloads maintain availability through disruptions. Then we will focus on **agent design**, using AWS Bedrock AgentCore. Whether you're working in cloud, DevOps, platform engineering or simply keen to expand your knowledge of modern cloud technologies, we'd love to see you there! **Topics:** **1\. Reinforcing Resilience in the Real World with Static Stability\, Fault Isolation and Multiple Regions** At AWS, based on years of working with customers, resilience is viewed as a continuous process. In this session, we'll explore how to design with AWS fault isolation boundaries, building on the concept of static stability to achieve predictable recovery times and high availability. We'll look at how AWS Regions are designed and operated for resilience, as well as key architectural patterns that AWS services use to maintain operations through disruptions. The session will provide practical insights into foundational patterns that enable mission-critical workloads to maintain availability at scale, along with best practices, design principles, and sample architectures to help you meet your resilience requirements effectively. **About the speaker** [Anshika Gupta](https://www.linkedin.com/in/anshika-gupta-18b469148/) is a Technical Account Manager for ANZ at [AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/). **2\. Your next oncall buddy is an agent \- here's how to design it** What if your next oncall buddy could investigate incidents, gather evidence, reason about likely causes, and recommend the safest next step? In this whiteboard style session, we’ll use a familiar production incident to explore how to design an agent’s decision loop: what it should know, remember, do, and when it should stop or escalate. Along the way, we’ll map those design decisions to Amazon Bedrock AgentCore capabilities such as Runtime, Memory, Gateway, Policy, Observability, and Evaluations. The goal is not just to build a smarter agent, but to design its agency deliberately. **About the speaker** [Cathy](https://www.linkedin.com/in/geeklady/) is a Senior Cloud Consultant at [Mantel](https://mantelgroup.com.au/) and and an organiser of Women in Cloud Meetup. **Agenda:** **5:30pm** – Food and networking **6:00pm** – Presentation 1. Reinforcing Resilience in the Real World with Static Stability, Fault Isolation and Multiple Regions **6:45pm** – Presentation 2. Your next oncall buddy is an agent - here's how to design it **7:10pm** – Quiz **7:20pm** – Networking We are incredibly grateful to our sponsors **[AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/)** (looking forward to explore their beautiful Melbourne office), **[HAL Systems](https://www.halsystems.com.au/)** and **[REA Group](https://www.rea-group.com/)** for supporting our community. Join us for an evening of learning, meaningful conversations, and great company. We can’t wait to see you there!

TechWalking - Networking Event for Tech Professionals

**"TechWalking" - Networking + Walking** Are you a tech professional looking to network beyond the screen? Look no further than my upcoming #TechWalking event! ‍ Join us for a refreshing walk around the scenic Albert Park Lake. It’s the perfect chance to connect with industry peers while getting in some steps! Check out the video from TechWalking Birthday: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bPiY9UBOtEw We'll kick things off at **10 am sharp** at the Albert Park Fitness Station. Please, don't be late! We're hitting the trail around the lake as soon as we gather. And trust me, you won't want to miss it – unless you're up for a bit of a sprint to catch up! (we're going anti-clockwise) This event is pet and kid-friendly, as long as your little ones and furry friends can manage a 5 km walk, they're more than welcome to join. Looking forward to meeting you all in real life! **TechWalking is free, and always will be.** But keeping the community going takes time, effort, and a few ongoing costs. If you enjoy TechWalking and would like to help us keep it growing, any donation is greatly appreciated: [https://tech-walking.yanamartens.com/donate](https://tech-walking.yanamartens.com/donate) Join the TechWalking group on LinkedIn! [https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14477058/](https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14477058/) **TechWalking Community page: [https://tech-walking.yanamartens.com/](https://tech-walking.yanamartens.com/)** \*\*\* Follow me on LinkedIn for more information: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/yana-martens/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yana-martens/) Just moved to Australia? Grab your FREE guide to land your tech job! [https://yanamartens.com/first-tech-job-in-australia/](https://yanamartens.com/first-tech-job-in-australia/) Subscribe to YouTube Channel: [https://www.youtube.com/@ITCareerinAustralia](https://www.youtube.com/@ITCareerinAustralia)

GenAI Maturity: From Demo to Reliable Production and Agentic Engineering

The MLAI Meetup is a community for AI researchers and professionals which hosts monthly talks on exciting research. Our format is: * 6:00 - 6:20: Socializing * 6:20 - 6:40: Announcements and AI news * 6:40 - 7:40: Talk(s) and Q&A * 7:40 - 8:00 Networking * 8:00: Head to the nearest pub for dinner **Gilbert Pochet: "GenAI Maturity: From Demo to Reliable Production and Agentic Engineering"** **Talk Description:** GenAI has made it easy to build impressive prototypes. The harder challenge is turning them into reliable production systems. Many projects stall because teams cannot prove business impact or lack the engineering practices needed to evaluate, operate and maintain them effectively. This talk explores that gap, from measurable outcomes and evaluation to production engineering discipline. It then looks at agentic engineering as the next step: using coding agents to accelerate delivery while keeping clear plans, objective verification and human accountability. The goal is to move from “this looks useful” to “this creates measurable value in production” and then deliver that value faster without losing engineering quality. I would structure the presentation around just four sections: * **1\. The prototype trap**: impressive demos are easy, production value is not. * **2\. Prove the impact**: business metrics, baseline, measurable outcome, evaluation. * **3\. Build for production**: reliability, observability, acceptance criteria, deterministic checks, maintainability. * **4\. Scale the engineering team**: agentic engineering, development plans, verification, architecture preservation, faster delivery with quality. **Speaker bio:** After studying Computer Science, I pursued a Master’s degree focused on Machine Learning and AI because early in my career I saw how inefficient and manual many organizational processes still were, and became convinced by AI’s potential to transform industries and solve problems beyond the limits of traditional software. Over the last 12 years, working across North and South America, Germany, and Australia in enterprises, startups, and later as a CTO, I’ve focused on turning complex AI systems into real products that drive growth and impact. Throughout this journey, I’ve contributed to organizations including SEEK, oOh!media, and Mr Yum. Over time, I realised the biggest challenge in AI is not only building the technology, but helping organizations align execution, trust, and decision-making. That pushed me to combine AI engineering with strategic execution, stakeholder management, negotiation, and leadership to move AI initiatives from ideas into scalable production systems.

Innova x DiUS: AI Investment to Commercial Outcomes

Innova Search, in partnership with DiUS, are hosting our first Women in Tech event in Melbourne, and we'd love you to join. The theme is AI Investment to Commercial Outcomes: how technology leaders are measuring commercial results and getting real return from AI investment. Our panel will talk about what's working and what isn't, and there's an hour afterwards to meet Melbourne's tech community over food and drinks. **This is an invite-only evening for senior technology leaders.** If you'd like a place, please message me directly: [linkedin.com/in/mariehiggins-womenintechseniorleadersrecruiter](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariehiggins-womenintechseniorleadersrecruiter/) Thursday 22 October, 5.30pm to 8.00pm DIUS, 3/31 Queen Street, Melbourne **Agenda** • 5.30pm: Arrive • 6.00pm to 7.00pm: Panel and Q&A • 7.00pm to 8.00pm: Networking, with food and drinks Part of the Innova Search Women in Tech community, which supports and connects women in technology and DiUS are kindly sponsoring the evening.