AI staffing nerves and Brisbane 2032 procurement on the agenda at Pipeline

Two issues loom for the Australian ICT channel: staff anxiety if AI starts to replace parts of some roles in smaller firms, and how Queensland ICT procurement will play out in the lead-up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.  

We are excited to announce that these will be the focus of sessions on May 6 and 7 at the techpartner.news Pipeline 2026: Game Changers conference on Hamilton Island – both featuring speakers making their Pipeline debut. 

Brisbane 2032 Olympics - tech opportunities?  

While the Brisbane 2032 Olympics are years away, issuing of major tenders is already underway.  

The tech opportunity is significant, but it will be a “conga line of ever-diminishing opportunities”, predicts Mark Lloyd – former CIO to Premiers of Queensland (1997-2009), former Vice President of the Australian Computer Society, representative of tech associations and industry in Queensland, and investor and COO, Gillard Group. 

The Queensland Government is highlighting opportunities for local SMEs, but Mark expects the Olympic tent to follow what he describes as “classical procurement practices" to "shop for prime contractors from the 2% of big firms in Australia (and beyond)”.  

What are the implications and opportunities for Australian technology SMEs and innovators? 

Mark has invested in and gathered partners to understand and influence outcomes here.  

Informed by his own experience on both sides of the procurement desk, his critique on May 6 at Pipeline will raise important considerations for anyone with a stake in the future of Queensland’s ICT industry, supplying to government, and the Brisbane 2032 digital opportunity. 

Stop losing good people: staff retention in 2026  

People working in lower level roles in the ICT channel are getting nervous about AI. Work from home remains a flashpoint. Younger staff are coming to employers with different expectations.  

Small channel firms are competing for staff with bigger players. Some are winning without beating rivals’ pay offers. Others are failing to grasp what a retention strategy means in 2026. 

Sitting in the middle of these conversations is Dean Ellis, founder and director of Queensland-based technology recruitment firm Rec4Tech.  

Dean will take to the Pipeline stage on May 7 to lay out how the employment market has changed, what he sees tech employees wanting in 2026, why some are quietly looking to move - and a practical playbook of steps you can take to attract employees and keep them. 

Brad Fittler, Mark Iles on game changers 

Mark Lloyd and Dean Ellis will join speakers from a variety of backgrounds talking to the Pipeline theme “Game Changers”. 

They include rugby league great Brad “Freddy” Fittler, who will bring a candid look at leadership, culture and how to keep performing when the rules of the game keep changing – his appearance made possible by NinjaOne. 

Jennifer Kazangi, A/Chief Information Officer at Police Bank, and John Khoury, Group Chief Technology Officer at Strandbags, will share their views about how technology partners can add genuine value in their relationships with end customers. 

Making his Pipeline debut to talk about what’s coming next in M&A will be Omdia Chief Analyst Mark Iles, who spoke with us recently about the emergence of a new category of M&A buyers and APAC opportunity. 

Senior Advisor at Australian ICT and digital advisory IBRS, David Beal, will speak about the shift he is seeing in what clients want from ICT partners - in ways that go beyond the technology. 

Our Contributing Editors Brad Howarth and Jennifer O’Brien have been interviewing the channel about the future of MSP software and what’s working and what’s not with cloud marketplaces – they will share what their findings. 

That’s in addition to the Pipeline sponsor lineup which includes Coro, Kaseya, Aussie Broadband, Pia, HaloPSA, Dicker Data, Evergreen, Jabra, Tech Data, Superloop, Inforcer, Access4, Huntress, NinjaOne, AvePoint, DIY-ERP (created by 365 Business), Lenovo and ManageEngine. 

Pipeline is Australia's premier conference for ICT channel partners and takes place from May 6 to 8, 2026, on Hamilton Island, Queensland. 

Today (February 23rd) is the final day to secure a premium ticket package for Pipeline 2026, which includes flights to Hamilton Island. From tomorrow, premium packages will no longer be available and attendees will need to arrange their own travel, with gold packages remaining on sale until March 30. Less than 30 tickets remain.

See the Pipeline agenda and register for your ticket.