Turning risk into profit at Day 3 of Pipeline 2025

Pipeline 2025 has wrapped up, with Day 3 focusing on how partners can turn possible risks - from the likes of increasing automation or the intersection of cybersecurity and the law - into profit.

Anna Furlong, executive director at Melbourne-based MSP The Virtual IT Department, was first up on the agenda for Day 3 of Pipeline 2025.

In a fireside chat with techpartner.news editor-in-chief William Maher, she shared how the business has automated more than 50 workflows and saved 160+ hours per month, freeing up staff to focus on higher-value work. She also spoke about the firm's bold plans to take this further for customers with AI agents.

Furlong was one of three panellists in the next session, looking at how automation is affecting tech partners’ businesses.

Steve Raw, founder and director of Platinum Technology; Shant Soghomonian, senior director and GM of channel sales ANZ at Dell Technologies; and Furlong were joined by Maher as moderator to discuss what’s working, what’s not, what they’ve learned, and what they think the future of automated tech firms look like and how they’re planning to get there. 

Supermicro sales manager Nikhil Menon took to the stage next to discuss the data centre building block solutions on offer from Supermicro, covering end to end solutions from system to rack to data centre scale.

Flame Tree Cyber founder and director Kat McCrabb, Thomson Geer partner Steven Hunwicks and Tech Data APAC​ business manager Timothy Windever then joined techpartner.news contributing editor Nate Cochrane for a panel discussing how partners can not only protect themselves from potential legal battles due to new ransomware reporting rules and clients assessing risks of cyber contracts, but turn risk into profit.

The panel discussion was preceded by Cochrane sharing some highlights with the Pipeline audience from the techpartner.news State of IT Channel Security report.

The final panel of the day saw techpartner.news publishing director VB Templeman moderate a session featuring Julia Spicer, director of Engage & Create Consulting; Alex Coates, CEO of Interactive; and Nicole Forrester, chief regenerative officer of WWF-Australia as they unpacked how inclusive leadership leads to stronger decisions, broader talent pipelines, and better commercial outcomes.

The trio discussed the tangible benefits of gender diversity, Indigenous inclusion, and rural representation, exploring  investment opportunities in regional Australia, how to build high-performing diverse teams and why a broad range of voices is more critical than ever in the age of AI.

Shane Heal - championship-winning basketball player, coach and entrepreneur - closed out Day 3 of Pipeline 2025 by sharing with the audience how he overcame being told he was “too short” for the sport, using resilience and determination to excel on and off the court.

Following his presentation, Heal took on the winners of NinjaOne's basketball arcade game in a free throw shootout.

Guests then reconvened later that evening in the ballroom of the Sheraton Grand Mirage for the grand finale of Pipeline, the 2025 Impact Awards.

The awards celebrated the outstanding projects, innovations, and people who made a significant impact over the past year and closed the conference with a memorable It's a night of recognition and celebration.

Following the awards, Pipeline attendees then headed upstairs to Pearl Bar for the official afterparty, sponsored by EPOS.