ANZIIF announces first international speakers for 2027 Summit
April Rinne
ANZIIF is excited to announce the first speakers confirmed for the inaugural 2027 ANZIIF International Summit, with US futurists Jerry Michalski and April Rinne to headline the program and leadership strategist Holly Ransom as MC. The Summit will be held at the International Convention Centre Sydney on 11–12 February 2027.
Jerry Michalski is a futurist, technologist and founder of Open Global Mind based in the USA. He interviewed more than 4,000 startups as managing editor of the influential technology newsletter Release 1.0, and has since advised corporations on where to deploy AI and other exponential technologies. Curator of the world’s largest personal knowledge graph, built over 27 years, he brings a forward-looking view of the technology trends reshaping insurance.
April Rinne is the author of Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, ranked by Forbes among the world’s 50 leading female futurists based in the USA. She advises organisations including Airbnb, Nike and the World Bank on navigating uncertainty, and brings insights into the workforce and demographic trends reshaping the industry.
Holly Ransom will MC the Summit. Chief executive of Emergent Global, a Fulbright Scholar and bestselling author of The Leading Edge, she has hosted events across more than 25 countries and interviewed figures including Barack Obama, Hiliary Clinton and Brené Brown.
Drawn from outside the industry, all three work on questions at its centre: how technology is reshaping decision-making, how workforces and customer expectations are shifting, and how organisations perform when both are changing at once.
ANZIIF CEO Katrina Shanks says the speakers were chosen to bring perspectives from beyond the Australian market.
“This is an international summit, so we looked beyond our own market. Jerry and April are among the sharpest thinkers in the world on technology and change, and they bring thinking our profession does not hear often enough,” Shanks says.
“Ours is an industry powered by people and accelerated by innovation, and this first line-up speaks to both. We want delegates to leave with fresh perspective and ideas they can act on.”
The two-day Summit is expected to attract more than 900 delegates and feature more than 20 international and local experts, thought leaders and innovators. The program spans keynote sessions and breakout streams across macro, technology and innovation themes.
Take a look at the speakers and topics confirmed so far and reserve your seats for what promises to be an unmissable two days of insight and connection.
