MFA EX 2026: Line up

Where the Light Gets In: The power of perspective

Sydney Only

Ben Crowe, Professional Mentor, Mindset Coach, Author & Founder of Mojo

Ben Crowe will be taking to the MFA EX 2026 stage in Sydney as a keynote speaker, with thanks to Meta. From marketing at Nike to changing the lives of many successful sportspeople as a mindset coach – Grand Slam champions Ash Barty and Dylan Alcott among them – Ben is the perfect person to help us unlearn the patterns that hold us to the past and unleash new ways of thinking.

Sydney Client Keynote

Sydney Only

Michelle Klein, Chief Growth, Brand & Marketing Officer, Westpac

 

Building Love Brands in Motion: At the speed of culture and at the pace of technology

Melbourne Only

Georgia Hack, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer, L’Oréal Australia & New Zealand

From Country Road to David Jones and now L’Oréal, Georgia Hack has built her career helping some of Australia’s most recognisable brands stay relevant, grow and evolve. As Chief Digital & Marketing Officer at L’Oréal Australia & New Zealand, she brings a sharp perspective on the forces reshaping brands and consumers. Expect insights on emerging consumer trends, the role of technology and what it takes to build brand resilience in a rapidly changing world.

 



The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Melbourne Only

Paul Watkins, Scientist, Athlete, Entrepreneur

In this high-energy session, scientist, athlete and entrepreneur Paul Watkins shares hard-won insights, practical tools and jaw-dropping tales from a career spanning all seven continents. You will leave not with a forgettable checklist, but with big, challenging questions that could rewire the way you live and lead.



Plot Twist, How AI Can Actually Save Your Career

Kellyn Coetzee, Head of Digital, Zenith

AI is already transforming the way we work, build teams and grow careers. But what does that mean for your role right now? In this interactive session, applied AI practitioner Kellyn Coetzee, alongside media and people leaders, will unpack how AI is reshaping roles, skills and career paths. Through live audience participation, you’ll discover the tools and capabilities that matter today, how your role is likely to evolve over the next three to five years, and leave with a personalised Career gAIn assessment and practical 90-day action plan to stay ahead.

Eavesdropping on the Internet: The human truths hidden in the world’s strangest online conversations

Daniel Klug, Head of New Media, Oceania Omnicom
Hayley Saddleton, Country Lead, Business Marketing ANZ, Reddit

What if your best consumer insights are already online? Hayley Saddleton and Daniel Klug have been listening – not through surveys, but by exploring the conversations people are already having every day. In this entertaining session, they’ll reveal how real-time online discussions shape opinions, decisions and culture, and why they’re becoming an essential source of insight for modern media planning. Discover how to move beyond static research, uncover the rules brands need to follow, and learn how real human signals can power smarter strategy, stronger creativity and more effective media.

Rewired for Ad Net Zero

Dan Ilic (HOST), Investigative Humorist 
Phil Benedictus, Founder, Benedictus Media
Nicola Harvey, Head of Strategic Initiatives, The Guardian
Arum Nixon, Head of Ad Net Zero Australia
Emma Grainge, Head of Brand & Communications, Australian Ethical Investments

Join a fast-paced, interactive debate hosted by investigative humorist Dan Ilic that challenges some of the advertising industry’s biggest assumptions about sustainability. Through bold provocations, lively debate and live audience voting, we’ll tackle the tensions between net zero, effectiveness, creativity and commercial reality.

Expect humour, audience participation and fresh thinking as the room decides what needs rewiring most. You’ll leave with a new perspective on why net zero isn’t a constraint – it’s a catalyst for better ideas, stronger results and competitive advantage.

Are we overlooking one of advertising's most powerful agents of change?

Rhonda Locke, CEO of Deafness Forum Australia
Marine Turner, Sydney Head of Strategy, EssenceMediacom
Alice Charlton, Head of WPP Media Partnerships and Addressable Content - National

Are we so obsessed with the next big thing that we’re overlooking one of the most powerful agent of change already in our hands? In this session, Marine Turner, Alice Charlton and Rhonda Locke will challenge the industry to rewire the humble Spec Sheet and make sound-agnostic creative the new standard. Demonstrating the profound impact of the first step they’re advocating for – adding subtitles – they’ll also reveal how greater accessibility can be built into asset requirements from the start to drive greater business impact for all campaigns. Because accessibility isn’t an add-on: it’s a must-have for effective, relevant advertising in modern Australia. You’ll leave with a universal Rewired Spec Sheet designed to make future assets accessible to more people, driving greater effectiveness.

Leaders Unfiltered: What's next for media?

Aimee Buchanan, CEO, WPP Media Australia & New Zealand
Imogen Hewitt, Chief Media Officer, Publicis Groupe
Kristiaan Kroon, CEO, Omnicom Media
Jimmy Hyett, CEO & Founder, This is Flow (Sydney)

The media industry is changing fast – so what better way to understand what’s next than to ask the people helping shape it? Put your questions directly to MFA Board members and industry leaders for fast, candid perspectives on the future of media agencies: the opportunities they’re excited about, the challenges keeping them up at night, what clients will expect next and the skills our industry needs to thrive. No rehearsed responses. No corporate speak. Just honest answers and a rare chance to ask what you really want to know.

Work Behind the Work

Catherine Rushton Chief Strategy Officer & Partner, This Is Flow (EX & Awards Co-Chair)
Chris Colter, Managing Director, Media Strategy ANZ, Accenture (EX & Awards Co-Chair)

Career Coaching with a side of Woo Woo

Pia Coyle, Managing Director, PHD

Need a little career clarity? Let the cards decide. It’s been a tough 12 months in agencies – client pressure, work stress and, of course, the small matter of robots potentially taking our jobs. So perhaps what we all need right now is a little hope, a little perspective – and a little magic.

At MFA EX Melbourne and Sydney, PHD Sydney Managing Director Pia Coyle is bringing together her two passions – tarot and media – for a one-of-a-kind career coaching experience.

Pia will read the cards for selected MFA EX attendees, using tarot as a springboard for honest, one-on-one conversations about where you are, where you’re headed and what might inspire you to fall back in love with your job. This is career coaching with a twist – and an activation you’ll definitely be talking about long after MFA EX.

INSPIRATION X SESSIONS

Monopoly Deal: Are you playing to win?

Sydney Only

Tania Teurquetil, Strategist, Havas Media

Are you playing not to lose... or playing to win? Too often, fear of failure keeps us playing it safe – watering down bold ideas, avoiding tough conversations and settling for what clients ask for instead of what they need.

In this thought-provoking session, Tania Teurquetil draws on behavioural economics and the game Monopoly Deal to challenge how we think about risk, failure and growth. Discover how rewiring your mindset can help you back better ideas and stop playing defence – so you can start playing to win.

What a shitbox taught us about thriving

Sydney Only

Dillon Gibbs, Client Executive
Matt Kuchel, Client Executive, Spark Foundry

What happens when you willingly step into uncertainty? That’s what Dillon Gibbs and Matt Kuchel discovered when they drove 3,700km across Australia in a car that probably shouldn’t have made it out the driveway.

Through stories of roadside improvisation, unexpected challenges and creative problem-solving on their road trip, they reveal how resourcefulness, adaptability and trust become critical when there’s no clear path forward. This session will challenge how you think about resilience, because thriving isn’t about having the perfect plan.

Don’t write the deck, write a movie

Sydney Only

Olivia Hawkes, Associate Strategy Director, Wavemaker

Attention spans aren’t broken – our presentations are. In this fast-paced session, Liv Hawkes reveals why the world’s greatest stories keep us hooked for hours while most strategy decks lose us in minutes. Drawing on the narrative frameworks behind films like Jaws, Titanic and Romeo & Juliet, she’ll share a practical three-step storytelling framework to transform the way you write presentations, proposals and strategies. Forget boring decks – it’s time to think like a Hollywood screenwriter and keep your audience engaged from the first slide to the last.

INSPIRATION X - AI & Journalism: What Happens When No-one Clicks?

Melbourne Only

Jas Kaur, Planning Manager, PHD

AI is reshaping the economics of media, but agencies have more influence than they think. We direct billions of advertising dollars, yet we’re funding a system that undervalues the original content AI depends on. In this provocative session, Jas Kaur challenges the industry to rethink how we define and measure value in an AI-powered world. It’s time to stop rewarding clicks alone and start rewarding creation – because if we only value distribution, eventually there’ll be nothing worth distributing. The future of media depends on it.

 

INSPIRATION X - From Perfect to Real: Rethinking Imposter Syndrome Through Barbie

Melbourne Only

Taleah Brown, Client Director, Spark Foundry

The media industry moves fast. It’s complex, ambiguous and constantly changing – the perfect environment for impostor syndrome to take hold. But what if feeling like an impostor is proof you’re pushing beyond your comfort zone and into growth? Drawing on her own experience, Taleah Brown will challenge conventional thinking about impostor syndrome and reveal practical strategies we can all use to quiet self doubt and create a safe, honest environment where everyone can thrive.

MFA EX MC's

Sydney Only

 

Chloe Hooper, Founder, Bare Feat & Course Facilitator, The Limitless Equation (SYDNEY ONLY)