Georgia Frances King - Publisher, ABC Books (HarperCollins) & former Ideas Editor, Quartz (US)

I'm an editor currently working as the Publisher of ABC Books on Wurundjeri land in Melbourne, Australia.

Formerly the Ideas Editor at Quartz and the Editor of Kinfolk magazine, I bring a quality-of-life focus to the future's most pressing topics and translate dense, academic subjects into engaging content. During nearly a decade living in the United States, I edited New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling books, concepted innovative digital projects, and led award-winning teams of journalists and designers.

In addition to my journalistic work, I was a literary agent with Aevitas Creative Management in New York, where I represented nonfiction books about emerging science and technology, futurism, design, culture, and the arts. I am also a freelance book editor, helping Big 5 publishers make sense of their thorniest manuscripts on topics such as augmented reality, cell biology, feminist economics, and digital democracy.

When I moved back home, I became the Publisher of ABC Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Australia. It’s a classic case of “long-time listener, first-time caller”: I grew up in a household that always had ABC Radio National buzzing in the background and played Mr. Squiggle at dinnertime. As an adult living in New York, the ABC was my main news source for home, and I was even featured in 7.30's Black Lives Matter coverage. I knew I wanted to spend the next stage of my career telling Australian stories, so I'm excited to bring my dual career in news journalism and book publishing together in this role to promote home-grown ideas.

Aside from editing and writing, I'm a public speaker, workshop facilitator, and panel moderator. I’ve spoken about blockchain at the UN, facilitated cross-council sessions on future-proofing technology for the World Economic Forum, MC’d the AI stage at Web Summit, and presented on evolutionary psychology at Creative Mornings. Offstage, I was also a member of the WEF’s Future of Quantum Computing Council, a consulting producer at the Intelligence Squared debate series, and a fellow at the N Square Innovation Network, focusing on raising awareness of nuclear weapon proliferation.

I specialise in making obtuse content accessible and complicated ideas simple. Whether that’s a whitepaper on a new economic theory, a short film on the ethics of gene editing, or a children’s book on the microbiome, I’m interested in using unexpected mediums to bring awareness to the world’s most important issues.

Image: Shannyn Higgins

Paula Bray - Chief Digital Officer, State Library Victoria

Paula has over twenty years' experience working in cultural heritage institutions, including the, State Library of NSW, Powerhouse Museum, Art Gallery of NSW, and the Australian National Maritime Museum. She is currently the Chief Digital Officer at the State Library Victoria where she is leading the Library’s digital future through compelling digital experiences that place the visitor at the heart.

Innovation and experimentation have been at the core of Paula’s work. She set up Australia’s first dedicated innovation lab in a cultural heritage organisation, theDX Lab at the State Library of NSW, where she developed an award-winning team that experimented with technology to build new ways to get access to the collection and its data, both online and onsite. She co-published ‘Open A GLAM Lab’ with 16 peers from the International GLAM, (Galleries, Libraries, Archives & Museums) Labs community, highlighting the benefits of working in an experimental practice.

Scott Rigby - Head of Digital Transformation, Adobe Asia Pacific

Scott Rigby leads the digital transformation practice in APAC for Adobe's Market Development & Evangelism group. He was previously an Adobe Industry Strategy practice lead and led the APAC Digital Marketing consulting team. He has more than 20 years of enterprise experience across digital strategy, transformation and marketing, and has previously consulted to more than 200 clients in APAC such as: Kimberly Clark, Telstra, Citibank, Samsung, Lenovo, Disney & Air China. Scott has experience across retail, finance, telco, media, high-tech, travel and govt. industries.

Claire Evans - Co-founder, Junior Major, collective of artists & technologists creating digital & physical worlds.

Claire Evans is an experienced multimedia practitioner and co-founder of Junior Major, a Sydney-based studio creating distinctive experiences that merge digital and physical worlds. Junior Major’s work spans installations, artworks, and environments designed as canvases for interpretation, imagination, and play. Recent projects include an immersive projection experience for WA Museum’s Terracotta Warriors, an interactive Mr Squiggle installation for the National Museum of Australia, and the redevelopment of the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra.

Known for a playful yet thoughtful approach, Junior Major blends creative vision with deep expertise in technology, engineering, and materials, realising unconventional ideas for the cultural sector and delivering impactful, memorable experiences.

Claire’s background spans digital, film, and business. Before founding Junior Major, she was a Director at Grumpy Sailor (2013–2020), delivering major works for the Australian Music Vault, National Sports Museum and ACMI’s Wonderland. She also produced the feature documentary Kings of Baxter, winner of both Best Australian Documentary and the Audience Award at the Antenna Documentary Festival.

Claire thrives in the formative stages of projects, aligning collaborators, identifying opportunities, and shaping sophisticated digital storytelling from concept to delivery.