There are conferences — and then there’s IBM TechXchange.
This year in Orlando felt like the perfect mix of innovation, community, sunshine, and serious momentum for the future of AI in the enterprise. And for me personally, it was a special one — attending as a 5th Year IBM Champion, surrounded by some of the brightest minds in the industry, and representing an Octane team that’s going global at full throttle.
It wasn’t just another tech event. It was a reminder of just how fast the world of enterprise AI is moving — and how exciting the road ahead really is.
A Full House… Literally
Our session at TechXchange was a highlight — and a bit surreal.
We presented our News Corp journey — modernising TM1, rebuilding models, and bringing AI into the finance function to remove manual work and accelerate reporting.
We expected interest. We didn’t expect standing room only. People lining up against the walls. Phones out. Questions flying.
It was a great sign:
Finance teams aren’t just curious about AI anymore.
They’re ready.
They want practical.
They want real use cases.
And they want to see it working, not just hear about it.
The message from the room was loud and clear — AI in finance isn’t the future anymore, it's right now.
One of the best parts of being an IBM Champion: you get to hang out with the people who actually build the tech we live and breathe every day.
The teams behind:
I always love those conversations — part roadmap sneak peek, part geek-fest, part “two worlds meet” moment.
These folks aren’t just writing code — they’re building the backbone for how enterprise AI will run in the real world. And hearing their passion, their vision, and their focus on responsible, scalable AI makes you feel incredibly confident about where IBM is heading.
It’s one thing to use the tools.
It’s another to see the heart behind them.
Events like this always feel like a reunion combined with a networking bootcamp.
I got to reconnect with familiar faces across the IBM ecosystem, fellow Champions, partners, and clients. And also met plenty of new ones — from data engineers and product managers to CFOs and automation champions.
Everyone had different stories, industries and experiences. But there was one theme throughout every conversation:
AI isn’t replacing people — it’s helping them do their best work.
And you could feel the shift — less hype, more building.
Less “AI someday”, more “AI today”.
This year felt particularly special because I wasn’t at TechXchange alone — I was there with part of the Octane team.
There’s something about learning together, debating approaches, scribbling ideas over late-night coffees, and then walking into packed sessions with the same blue Octane spirit — it just hits differently.
Moments like these build culture.
They build confidence.
They build global teams.
Octane is scaling fast — and this week reminded me that our growth isn’t just about offices and regions. It’s about people, energy, and belief in what’s possible.
TechXchange came at a perfect time for us.
We’ve been quietly pushing ahead on our expansion and now it’s official:
Standing in rooms full of innovators from around the world reinforced something for me:
Whether you’re in Sydney, Mumbai, Auckland, Nadi or Dubai — organisations are chasing the same things:
✅ Modern, automated finance processes
✅ Better, faster decision-making
✅ Trusted, scalable enterprise AI
✅ People-first innovation
And this event cemented that Octane is exactly in the right places, at exactly the right time.
The finance world is going through one of the biggest shifts in decades.
We’re moving from:
Spreadsheets → Continuous decision engines
Manual tasks → Digital teammates
Month-end grind → Real-time insights
If the conversations at TechXchange proved one thing, it's this:
It’s not hype.
It’s not theory.
It’s already happening — and it’s scaling.
A massive shoutout to:
🙌 IBM Australia & New Zealand leadership
🙌 Global product teams across Planning Analytics & Watson
🙌 IBM Champion community (always inspiring!)
🙌 Partners, clients, and peers who continue to innovate
🙌 The Octane crew — representing with passion and purpose
Events like this show what’s possible when vision meets execution — and community meets technology.
Now that we’re back home (slightly jet-lagged but very energised), the real work continues.
More automation.
More AI in finance.
More real-world results.
More global collaboration.
And if you’re reading this thinking, “We need to start our AI journey — but how?”
Good news: you don’t need to boil the ocean.
Start with one workflow.
One use case.
One team win.
Whether you're in ANZ, the Pacific, or the Middle East — if you want to explore real, practical, “no fluff” ways to bring AI into your finance team, let's chat.
Send me a message, drop a comment, or grab a virtual coffee. Let’s build the future — one smart workflow at a time.