Stephen Scheeler is Australia’s most authoritative voice on digital disruption, transformation, A.I., culture & leadership. His experience at the heart of Silicon Valley is truly unparalleled, and he has a unique ability to inspire audiences of all kinds with rare insight, humour & humility.

Stephen is the former Facebook CEO for ANZ, where he helped guide Facebook’s unprecedented rise from quirky Silicon Valley start-up to media & technology titan. Stephen’s acclaimed TEDx talk – The Oldest Guy at Facebook – recounts his amazing journey at the heart of one of the world’s most disruptive companies.

Today, Stephen is a frequent media commentator on digital disruption, culture, leadership, technology & A.I. – including TEDx, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, ABC, Sky News, The Project, Sunrise, The Today Show, The Australian & The Australian Financial Review. He is also a member of the Australian Prime Minister’s Knowledge Nation 100, top innovation leaders in Australia.

Stephen is also CEO of revolutionary artificial intelligence start up, Omniscient – the world leader in using A.I. to decode the human brain. Backed by some of Australia’s most iconic business names – including Gina Rinehart, Gretel Packer and Will Vicars – in 2022, Omniscient won the coveted South-by-Southwest (SXSW) Innovation Award for A.I. and Machine Learning. 

Stephen is also founder of global advisory The Digital CEO, and Executive-in-Residence at the Asia-Pacific’s leading business school, the Australian Graduate School of Management.

Stephen is one of Australia’s most sought-after speakers & advisors on digital disruption, transformation, culture & leadership, and the future of technology, data & A.I. 

He has spoken to or advised the likes of Qantas, nab, Westpac, Macquarie Bank, ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank, Bank of Queensland, IAG, Suncorp, Telstra, Optus, Wesfarmers, AMP, CUB, Lion, Brambles, Google, DellEMC, Lenovo, Tanium, Workday, Hubspot, Seven West Media, MCN, QBE, Hollard, CBRE, BAT, LVMH, JB Hi-Fi, Bunnings, Flight Centre, Lend Lease, Mirvac, EY, PWC, McKinsey, Splunk, Gartner, Toyota, VW, Honda, BUPA, Seek and the Australian Government.

A native New Yorker, Stephen has spent over 25 years in Asia-Pacific, with deep business & cultural experience across China, Japan, SE Asia & ANZ.

Speaking Topics include:

The AI Odyssey

Stephen stands as Australia’s premier AI authority, renowned as one of the nation’s most influential voices on artificial intelligence. His hands-on experience in pioneering AI enterprises, including his tenure as CEO of Facebook Australia & New Zealand and his role as Co-Founder and CEO of Omniscient Neurotechnology – often hailed as the OpenAI for the brain – has been instrumental in evolving businesses into robust AI-driven entities.

Through his visionary leadership and direct involvement in cutting-edge AI ventures, Stephen has adeptly steered companies toward becoming stalwarts in AI technology, showcasing his unparalleled expertise and transformative impact in the industry.

Stephen says, “AI is more than just a tool, it’s a creative partner – and with the expansion of open-source models including ChatGPT unleashing AI from the tech bubble, all businesses are now capable of harnessing AI for a multiverse of purposes creating a level playing field”.

However, there’s more to consider than just codes and algorithms. Stephen delves into all areas of our world riding the AI Odyssey.

Walk the Talk: Mastering the Eight Elements of 21st Century Leadership

Amidst the exponential change sweeping business today, one thing is certain: the demands of leadership today are far different than they were in the past. Companies like Google, Amazon, Apple & Facebook are not only masters of technology & business model innovation; they have also reimagined business culture & leadership in the 21^st century. 

In this keynote, Stephen shares insights from his own leadership journey at Facebook, and lessons he has learnt advising the leaders of companies large & small. From vision, humility & curiosity, to speed, transparency, data dexterity & customer obsession, Stephen offers practical advice for every business leader on how to remake themselves from corporate also-rans into leadership rock stars! Also available as a 1-day masterclass, “The Eight Elements of Disruptive Leadership”.

Fear or Fascination?: The Future of Technology, Business & Human Life

The 2020’s are fast-emerging as a key “inflection point” in the history of technology. A.I., blockchain, the metaverse & green tech are but a few of the technological frontiers advancing at lightspeed, underpinned by billions of dollars in investment. But what will the future truly look like in five, ten or twenty years? What should excite us? What should worry us? And what should we – as businesses, individuals & society – do now to prepare for the opportunities & challenges hurtling our way?

After helping to build one of the tech giants, Facebook, and now running one of the world’s most innovative A.I. companies, Omniscient A.I., Stephen Scheeler has insights into the future which few can match. With his unique humour & humility, Stephen debunks myths, inspires wonder and lights a clear path to what the future of technology will hold for all of us, and the practical, actionable things we need to do today to prepare for a better tomorrow.

The Oldest Guy at Facebook: My Journey from Nowhere to the Heart of Silicon Valley

Stephen Scheeler was born & raised in mid-20^th century, rustbelt America, where working the blast furnace at the local steel mill was the pinnacle of career aspirations, and cutting-edge technology was a shiny new fax machine. Fast forward to the 2020’s, and Stephen has a resume of innovative leadership like few others: one of Facebook’s top global leaders, senior advisor to McKinsey, and CEO of revolutionary brain A.I. company, Omniscient. So how did a working-class kid from Buffalo, New York come to be Australia’s leading authority on digital disruption, technology & leadership? It’s a journey that includes hitchhiking across America, riding a horse through Tibet, auctioning off Mark Zuckerberg, stumbling his way on to the biggest TED talk stage, and decoding the dizzying complexity of the human brain. With rare insight, humour & humility, Stephen shares his story of failure & success, all the while learning that the greatest technologies are nothing without the imperfect humans that make the world go round.

Start-Up DNA: How to Bake Silicon Valley Culture & Innovation into Your Business

Data-driven. Agile. Customer-obsessed. These are a few of the buzzwords surrounding the new wave of business innovation coming from the world’s leading tech companies. With deep pockets & cool campuses, businesses like Google, Facebook, Apple & Amazon built more than wildly-successful companies – they built fast-paced, innovative cultures which are the envy of the business world. But, far from the bright lights of California, how can you infuse Silicon Valley culture into the DNA of your own organisation or team?

In this keynote, Stephen shares his essential insights about how the Silicon Valley giants meticulously nurture a high-impact, innovative culture – from their unique approach to leadership & management, to talent development, work-life integration, mission, vision & values…and how all this links back to the strategy, profitability & growth which every company needs to drive.

How Avoiding Cyberattacks has Organisations Racing to Safety

In today’s digital age, where cyber attacks, data breaches, and digital threats are increasingly common, understanding and strategically addressing cybersecurity is essential for every business. In this insightful keynote, Stephen, a seasoned cybersecurity expert, will explore the critical role of leadership in navigating the complex landscape of cyber threats.

This presentation will delve into the latest trends in cyber attacks, highlighting the growing sophistication and frequency of these threats. Stephen will discuss how businesses, with companies like Facebook as case studies, are at the forefront of this battle, facing unique challenges and opportunities in cybersecurity.

Have We Met Before? The Revolution of Trust, Identity & Privacy in a Cyber Unsecure World

In an era where data privacy and protection are at the forefront of consumer concerns, this keynote by Stephen offers a deep dive into the evolving dynamics of trust in relation to data and customer experience. Today, more business decisions are based on data and analytics than ever before – and the rise of cloud computing, unprecedented data sets (eg through the Internet of Things), machine learning and artificial intelligence means that in the future data will be a resource more precious than the gold or oil of previous industrial eras.

In this impactful keynote, Stephen will explore the critical role of leadership in shaping and enforcing data privacy practices that not only comply with regulatory standards but also earn and maintain customer trust. Drawing from examples of companies like Facebook and his current role as CEO at Omniscient, he will illustrate the complexities and nuances of managing customer data responsibly in a digital-first world.