The discussion explored AI’s growing impact on the future of work, with leaders from Fortescue, Telstra and Canva sharing perspectives on how AI was reshaping operational environments, customer expectations and product development. The conversation examined the implications of AI-enabled predictive maintenance, autonomous systems, enterprise services and generative AI.

A key focus was AI risk, ethics and responsible adoption, including the challenges of bias, representation and inconsistent outcomes across different users and contexts. Participants discussed the importance of testing AI against real-world diversity, strengthening governance and assurance, and establishing clear guardrails before deploying AI in operational and customer-facing environments.

The session highlighted the need to balance innovation with cybersecurity, operational continuity, trust and accountability, while ensuring AI systems were deployed safely and responsibly as organisations continued to integrate AI into their core operations.