[MEDIA RELEASE] South by Southwest Sydney® (SXSW Sydney) has today revealed an impressive new round of speakers and sessions, as well as expanded professional development and networking opportunities for its 2024 program. The SXSW Sydney Conference features 300+ sessions with over 1,000 speakers spanning tech, marketing, investing, pop-culture and more, and takes place Monday 14 October–Friday 18 October, 2024.
SXSW Sydney badges are on sale now at sxswsydney.com. The next price rise is August 30, so secure your spot today and save up to $400. Download the SXSW Sydney app and start building your schedule.
As one of the latest program additions, Australian tennis star, Nick Kyrgios will discuss his passage from sport to business through investments in early-stage startups, and what he and other professional athletes look for when seeking to invest. One of the most recognisable figures in modern sport, Kyrgios has won seven ATP Tour singles titles and is the only player to have beaten the ‘big 3’ of Nadal, Djokovic, and Federer in the first encounter. In addition to his successful tennis career, he now has significant interests in various startups all over the world and is a noted sports commentator.
Global CEO of Ogilvy and world-class marketer, Devika Bulchandani, will take to the SXSW Sydney stage to discuss AI’s transformative power in the marketing world, posing the question: Will artificial intelligence overshadow human creativity, or can the two forces combine to achieve groundbreaking results? This fireside conversation will see Bulchandani explore the collaborative potential of this technology, the evolving role of human insight, and how AI can become a powerful ally in unleashing creativity’s full potential. As Global CEO of Ogilvy, Bulchandani is responsible for all aspects of the creative network’s business spanning Advertising, PR, Consulting, Relationship Design, and Health across over 120 offices in 90 countries. Under her leadership, Ogilvy was named Network of the Year at the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, earning this honour by producing work that upended the status quo, altered the conversation, and created meaningful change.
New Zealand-born actress, Lucy Lawless—famous for her role as “Xena the Warrior Princess”—will take part in an ‘In Conversation’ to discuss her directorial debut, Never Look Away, a documentary film about the life of CNN camerawoman, Margaret Moth.
Google Analytics and Google Voice founder, Wesley Chan, joins a panel titled Insider Advice for Entrepreneurs Wanting to Expand to the US, alongside Marisa Warren (ALIAVIA Ventures), Doug English (CultureAmp), and Karen Jacobson (the Australian voice of Siri). Chan, the Co-founder & Managing Partner of FVP Ventures, is an early investor in five $10B+ Decacorns and over 20 $1B+ Unicorns, including Canva, Guild, Dialpad, and AngelList, and currently sits on the board of Canva.
MIT Technology Review CEO and publisher, Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau,arrives on our shores to share the latest tech innovations being developed in the world’s leading labs and research centres so that the SXSW Sydney audience can better understand how their lives will change over the next years and decades. She’ll speak across fields that include AI, biomedicine, climate science, robotics, and more.
Intel Corporation’s first-ever futurist, Brian David Johnson, will show us how to think like a futurist—from AI to safety. Johnson’s work is called futurecasting, using ethnographic field studies, technology research, cultural history, trend data and more to help organisations develop an actionable 10–15 year vision.
Newly revealed podcasts include writer, editor and podcaster Clare Stephens in conversation with Olympic gold medallist Noémie Fox for a live recording of ‘But Are You Happy?’, Lucy Jackson and Nikki Westcott live on stage with ‘Happy Hour with Lucy and Nikki’, and ‘Welcome to the Future with Charles Firth & Dom Knight’, with more to be announced.
Additional speakers added to the lineup include actor and musician Tim Minchin, playwright and librettist, Suzie Miller, Australian boxer Harry Garside, author and campaigner Grace Tame, Intuit Mailchimp CMO Michelle Taite, Co-Founder of HumanRace Rachel Muscat, Australian radio personality and author John Safran, NBA’s head of strategy APAC Rajah Chaudhry, climate leader and political activistSimon Holmes à Court, and more.
Today, SXSW Sydney also expands its professional development offering, with dozens of new workshops, meetups, mentoring, and networking opportunities added to the program. SXSW Sydney mentoring sessions offer badgeholders personalised, 15-minute one-on-one coaching from industry leaders and top organisations designed to accelerate professional and business growth. Advance sign-up is required and space is limited. RSVPs open early September through our website. On top of mentor sessions there will be more than 30 workshops to choose from, including ‘The Power of Stupid Ideas: How to Unlock Creative Brilliance’, ‘Competitive Advantage and Intellectual Property: Protecting Your Investment’, and ‘Cyber Siege: Prepping the C-Suite for Digital Battlefields: Does Your Board Have the Necessary Skills to Respond to a Cyberattack?’. With plenty more to be announced.
Plus, a new wave of Sessions have just been announced, including:
- Securing Your Financial Future in a World Where Wages Won’t Keep Up| Hosted by You’re in Good Company’s Sophie Dicker, this expert panel—featuring CEO of Stake Jon Howie, Senior Investment Specialist at Morningstar Shani Jayamanne, and Co-Founder of Equity Mates Bryce Leske—will explain the importance of building your finance and investing skills to reach (and even exceed) your ambitions.
- Do We Belong in the Mainstream? | Is there a seat in the global market for First Nations content and artists? Dive into the discussion with First Nations filmmakers and artists as they explore how to market Bla(c)k, First Nations stories to the world. With former Artistic Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre,Stephen Page and Australian actor Hunter Page-Lochard.
- Avant-garde AI: Creative Ownership in the Second Wave | As engineers rapidly build the functionality in AI platforms, tuning in to the expectations of demanding creatives, many artists are busy pulling apart the wiring and seeing what breaks first. This panel brings together Head of Research at Leonardo AI Martin Bell, senior creative technologist Jessie Hughes, artist and educator Petr Joura, and Moderator Damian Gascoigne to discuss the genesis of AI image generation and explain how they are getting ahead of the second wave with exploratory, cross-disciplinary work.
- Can Australia be the Energy Superpower that Saves the World? | Australia is poised to lead the global charge into a zero-carbon future. This panel will delve into how groundbreaking digital tools and innovative solutions are helping to accelerate Australia’s energy transition, and how rapid progress will enable us to become a global economic and industrial superpower that helps decarbonise the world.
- The Neurotechnology Revolution is Here: What Do We Do Now? | We are living in the midst of the Neurotech Revolution. Over the past decade, there has been an explosion in the amount of resources dedicated to the development of “neural interfaces,” devices that interact with the brain or nervous system of an individual. Hear from world-leading Australian innovators about their quest to develop a brain computer interface.
- The Habit Revolution: Master the Science of Change | Join Australia’s only habit researcher, Dr Gina Cleo, for a transformative journey into the fascinating realm of habit change. Drawing from the latest research in neuroscience, psychology, and cutting-edge technology, this engaging 60-minute session will offer a fresh perspective on how habits shape our lives and how we can reshape them in turn.
- Can AI Win a Court Case? | In this workshop, Join Australian law firm, Lander & Rogers, for a live mock trial which will see a skilled legal practitioner go head to head with AI in front of a registered judge and see who prevails.
