Rita Arrigo is a renowned digital strategist with a reputation for her ability lead digital transformation projects in the public and private sector. As well as her deep technical skills, her digital insights and communication skills have made her a sought after digital speaker, commentator, broadcaster and mentor across the IT sector and into the broader leadership community. She is able to communicate complex technical ideas across the “IT divide” to non-geek stakeholders.
Talking Points
Finding what matters in the Age of AI
Rita Arrigo is a pioneering digital strategist who has shaped Australia’s tech landscape for three decades. She co-founded the country’s first internet café, served as Chief Digital Advisor at Microsoft & has led strategic engagement at the National AI Centre. Here, she founded the Responsible AI Network and brought practical insight on generative AI, AI for safety, and AI for climate tech. In this talk “What matters in the Age of AI” Rita shows how AI is having an impact on industry across health, climate, agriculture and can regenerate ecosystems, reconnect communities, and build smarter, stronger, more sustainable futures. This talk includes and Agentic AI Voice Demo.Finding what matters in the Age of AI
Key Takeaway:
- A clear framework for distinguishing valuable AI - Responsible AI
- Executive-level questions boards and leaders should ask before scaling AI
- Practical guidance on embedding trust and human oversight into AI systems
Ideas for using AI for Good
Responsible AI Opportunities and Challenges
Responsible AI is often framed as a constraint—yet organisations that get it right scale faster, not slower. This session cuts through the ethics dilemma to examine how responsibility, governance, and risk management can become enablers of innovation and growth. Using examples from highly regulated sectors, it shows how organisations move from policy statements to operational trust. Attendees gain a pragmatic understanding of what responsible AI looks like in practice.Responsible AI Opportunities and Challenges
Key Takeaways:
- A practical definition of responsible AI beyond principles and policies
- Insight into common failure points when governance is bolted on too late
- How to design AI systems that satisfy regulators, boards, and customers simultaneously
- Reduced risk of stalled pilots, reputational harm, and compliance rework
AI for Growth
AI has moved beyond experimentation—but many organisations still struggle to translate capability into growth. This session explores how AI drives revenue, productivity, and competitive advantage when embedded into real workflows and operating models. Rather than focusing on tools, it focuses on decision velocity, execution confidence, and scalable value creation. Leaders will see how AI becomes a growth engine, not a cost centre.AI for Growth
Key Takeaways:
- How to confirm where AI will actually move the growth needle
- A roadmap for progressing from pilots to enterprise-scale value
- Understanding the operating model shifts required to monetise AI
- Clear signals for prioritising AI investments with measurable commercial impact
Leading Industries in the Age of AI
This is customised for specific industries: Associations, Construction, Finance, HR, Climate, Utilities, Government,Leading Industries in the Age of AI
Different industries face different AI pressures—but the leadership challenges are strikingly similar. This session examines how leading organisations across sectors are adopting AI while managing risk, regulation, and workforce impact. Through industry-specific examples, it highlights the patterns that separate leaders from laggards. The focus is on what executives must do differently to lead confidently in an AI-shaped economy.
Key Takeaways / ROI
- Industry-relevant use cases grounded in real operating conditions
- Common leadership mistakes that stall AI adoption across sectors
- How trust, governance, and capability shape industry advantage
- Actionable steps leaders can take immediately within their sector context
Agentic and Generative AI: From Assistance to Action
AI is rapidly shifting from systems that assist humans to systems that plan, coordinate, and act. This session demystifies agentic and generative AI, explaining what changes when AI begins executing tasks inside workflows. It explores the new trust, governance, and operating model requirements that emerge as autonomy increases. Leaders will leave with a clear mental model for deploying agentic AI safely and at scale.Agentic and Generative AI: From Assistance to Action
Key Takeaways:
- A plain-English understanding of agentic vs generative AI
- What changes when AI moves from “recommend” to “execute”
- How to design human-in-the-loop oversight for agentic systems
- Reduced risk when adopting next-generation AI platforms and agents
Video
Why AI is not your friend | Rita Arrigo | TEDxMelbourne
Rita is a technologist who launched one of Australia’s first internet cafés now helps steer the country through the age of AI. In this talk, she shows how responsible AI, digital “twins,” and agentic systems will soon walk among us and why we must treat AI as a powerful tool, not a trusted friend. Her call: become “parents” to AI, giving it values, guardrails and guidance so it can rejuvenate our societies instead of harming them. Rita Arrigo serves as the Strategic Engagement Manager at the National AI Centre, where she is focused on empowering the Australian AI Industry growth for collaboration across the AI landscape. Her mission is to elevate Australia's global AI adoption and cultivate a responsible AI industry. With a wealth of experience in digital and AI strategy, Rita has delivered thought leadership on topics such as Generative AI, AI for Safety, and AI for Climate Tech. She has launched the AI Industry Connection forum to connect companies interested in emerging AI with the cutting-edge research and the AI Industry. Not a newcomer to revolution, her first love being telecommunications, having launched Australia’s first internet café at it is now recreated at the National Communication Museum as a cybercafé. She is also a Leonardo for Science Gallery. As a renowned digital & AI strategist she cultivates innovation with emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Generative AI, Machine Learning (ML), Mixed Reality (MR). Previously Chief Digital Advisor at Microsoft. She was appointed an AI Ambassador and continues to advocate for ways that AI and XR can build better futures for our work and communities.Latest News
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