Andrew Choat
Head of Security & Infastructure
MTF Finance
Part of TechXcelerate Aotearoa 2027
CISO Leaders Summit NZ 2027
Cyber resilience, board accountability and AI-era defence.
6-7 April 2027 | Pullman Auckland | Tāmaki Makaurau
155
CISOs and security leaders in 2026
86
organisations represented
53%
at senior management level or above
25+
speakers
Overview
About the CISO Leaders Summit
The CISO Leaders Summit is where New Zealand's security leaders work through what the next regulatory cycle actually requires of them.
In 2027 the agenda focuses on the shift from prevention to response readiness: getting ready as New Zealand's Cyber Security Strategy 2026-2030 and critical infrastructure obligations take shape, defending against AI-era and agentic threats, controlling AI sprawl inside the organisation, securing the third and fourth-party supply chain, and protecting operational technology.
It also tackles the conversation CISOs are increasingly asked to lead in the boardroom: how to move cyber from cost avoidance to demonstrable business value, and how to quantify risk in terms an executive team will act on.
Day One runs as a dedicated CISO programme, including breach war stories, crisis communications, legal exposure and cyber insurance. On Day Two the CISO and CIO communities come together.
Attendance is by invitation, weighted to CISOs, Heads of Security and board-level risk owners.
Key CISO themes for 2027
Reporting-ready
Preparing for New Zealand's incoming incident reporting obligations and NCSC-aligned frameworks.
AI-era threat defence
Countering agentic and AI-driven attacks, and controlling AI sprawl.
Supply chain and third-party risk
Mitigating concentration risk across the digital ecosystem.
Incident-response leadership
Crisis communications, legal exposure and cyber insurance.
Cyber value to the board
From cost avoidance to business value, and quantifying cyber risk.
Protecting OT and critical infrastructure
The new critical infrastructure regime and industrial control risk.
Who attends the CISO Leaders Summit
- Chief Information Security Officer
- General Manager, Cyber Security
- Head of Information Security
- Head of Cyber Security
- Director of Enterprise Information Security
- Head of Technology Risk
- Head of Risk and Compliance
- Head of Security Architecture
Seniority
- Executive Level26%
- Senior Management27%
- Middle Management23%
- Team Leads11%
- Specialists13%
2026 CISO Leaders Summit speakers
View all CISO speakers
Adam Ennamli
Chief Risk Officer
General Bank of Canada
Duncan Hills
Chief Information Security Officer
Fletcher Building
Laura Ross
Chief Information Security Officer
One NZ
Lakshya Mehra
National Security Awareness and Phishing Lead
Health New Zealand te Whatu Ora
Richard Harrison
Chief Information Security Officer, Head of Cyber & Technological Risk
Foodstuffs South Island
Alastair Miller
General Manager of Network & Security
Genesis Energy
Josh Schwarz
Senior Sales Engineer
Airlock Digital
Tony Allwood
Head of Cyber Security
Silver Ferns Farms
Laura Marshall
Head of Information Security
Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC)
Eddy Pereira
General Manager - Global Supply Chain
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare
Chris Russell
Area Vice President - Australia & New Zealand
Silverfort
Adwin Singh
Head of Cyber Security
Inland Revenue NZ
Kyle Wong
Cyber Security Technology Specialist - CISO Office
Inland Revenue NZ
Shivali Kukreja
Head of Risk & Compliance
nib NZ
Sukhjit Gill
Head of Risk, Compliance and Regulatory Affairs
Southern Cross Health Insurance
Sam Johnstone
Group IT Security Manager
Fulton Hogan
Sarah Penman
Director of Enterprise Information Security
National Cyber Security Centre
Tony Arnold
Chief Information Security Officer
TSB Bank
Darren Beattie
Head of Information Security
Tower Insurance
Eli Hirschauge
Head of Information Security
ANZ
Nadia Yousef
Country Manager
CISO Lens
Paul Macpherson
Chief Information Security Officer
Reserve Bank of New Zealand
Igor Portugal
Fractional Chief of Growth
Blacklock Security
Matt Ramsey
Senior Solutions Engineer
Wiz
Andrew Choat
Head of Security & Infastructure
MTF Finance
Adam Ennamli
Chief Risk Officer
General Bank of Canada
Duncan Hills
Chief Information Security Officer
Fletcher Building
Laura Ross
Chief Information Security Officer
One NZ
Lakshya Mehra
National Security Awareness and Phishing Lead
Health New Zealand te Whatu Ora
Richard Harrison
Chief Information Security Officer, Head of Cyber & Technological Risk
Foodstuffs South Island
Alastair Miller
General Manager of Network & Security
Genesis Energy
Josh Schwarz
Senior Sales Engineer
Airlock Digital
Tony Allwood
Head of Cyber Security
Silver Ferns Farms
Laura Marshall
Head of Information Security
Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC)
Eddy Pereira
General Manager - Global Supply Chain
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare
Chris Russell
Area Vice President - Australia & New Zealand
Silverfort
Adwin Singh
Head of Cyber Security
Inland Revenue NZ
Kyle Wong
Cyber Security Technology Specialist - CISO Office
Inland Revenue NZ
Shivali Kukreja
Head of Risk & Compliance
nib NZ
Sukhjit Gill
Head of Risk, Compliance and Regulatory Affairs
Southern Cross Health Insurance
Sam Johnstone
Group IT Security Manager
Fulton Hogan
Sarah Penman
Director of Enterprise Information Security
National Cyber Security Centre
Tony Arnold
Chief Information Security Officer
TSB Bank
Darren Beattie
Head of Information Security
Tower Insurance
Eli Hirschauge
Head of Information Security
ANZ
Nadia Yousef
Country Manager
CISO Lens
Paul Macpherson
Chief Information Security Officer
Reserve Bank of New Zealand
Igor Portugal
Fractional Chief of Growth
Blacklock Security
Matt Ramsey
Senior Solutions Engineer
Wiz
Organisations that attended TechXcelerate Aotearoa 2026
- AA Insurance
- AB Equipment
- Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Company
- Airedale Property Holdings
- Air New Zealand
- Amova Asset Management New Zealand
- Ando Insurance Group
- Arvida Group
- AsureQuality
- ATMC New Zealand
- Auckland International Airport
- Auckland Transport
- Australia and New Zealand Bank
- Australian Mutual Provident Society
- Barfoot and Thompson
- Bayleys Realty Group
- Beca Proprietary
- Bell Gully Trustee Company
- Buckley Systems
- Buddle Findlay
- Cardinal Logistics
- Change Financial
- Chemical Freight Services
- Clarus
- Coda Group New Zealand
- Compass Group New Zealand
- Contact Energy
- DB Breweries
- Delta Insurance New Zealand
- DLA Piper New Zealand
- Downer Group
- Electra
- Envest New Zealand
- Enviro New Zealand
- FarmIQ
- FCB New Zealand
- Fertility Associates
- Fidelity Life Assurance Company
- Fire and Emergency New Zealand
- Fisher and Paykel Healthcare
- Fisher Funds Management
- Fletcher Building
- Fliway Group
- Fonterra Cooperative Group
- Forsyth Barr
- Fortysouth New Zealand
- Fulton Hogan
- Goodman Fielder New Zealand
TechXcelerate 2026 sponsors and exhibitors
From the room
What delegates say
The CISO Leaders Summit was a well run and highly valuable event, bringing together strong perspectives from across security, technology, and business leadership.
A well run event with strong peer engagement and relevant discussions, particularly valuable for exploring how security leaders are adapting risk management approaches to keep pace with AI and rapid business change.
Attending the summit was a great opportunity to have in-depth discussion with industry experts. The networking opportunities allow time to connect with fellow professionals and potentially forge future opportunities. I highly recommend the summit.
After the CISO Leaders Summit NZ, we were able to take back to our teams concrete tools and tactics with which to keep building our people-centric security culture.
Great summit. Kudos to the organisers and sponsors. Looking forward to a bigger event next year.