Ascend Australia
May 15, 2025

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37.8202° S, 144.9556° E

Melbourne, Hyatt Centric

EUROPE / CHINA / AUSTRALIA / NORTH AMERICA / BRAZIL / JAPAN / EUROPE / CHINA / AUSTRALIA / NORTH AMERICA / BRAZIL / JAPAN / EUROPE / CHINA / AUSTRALIA / NORTH AMERICA / BRAZIL / JAPAN / EUROPE / CHINA / AUSTRALIA / NORTH AMERICA / BRAZIL / JAPAN / EUROPE / CHINA / AUSTRALIA / NORTH AMERICA / BRAZIL / JAPAN / EUROPE / CHINA / AUSTRALIA / NORTH AMERICA / BRAZIL / JAPAN / EUROPE / CHINA / AUSTRALIA / NORTH AMERICA / BRAZIL / JAPAN / EUROPE / CHINA / AUSTRALIA / NORTH AMERICA / BRAZIL / JAPAN / EUROPE / CHINA / AUSTRALIA / NORTH AMERICA / BRAZIL / JAPAN / EUROPE / CHINA / AUSTRALIA / NORTH AMERICA / BRAZIL / JAPAN /

Why attend?

Ascend 2025 will equip you with intelligence and innovation to expertly navigate ecommerce risks, act decisively, overcome challenges, and seize new opportunities. You will:

  • Discover how other merchants reclaim control over their ecommerce experience by leveraging data-driven insights to craft intentional, strategic customer journeys
  • Learn why collaboration with other merchants is critical to strengthen collective defenses against fraud and combine diverse data sources for more nuanced, proactive, and accurate risk assessment
  • Master best practices to make accurate and adaptive fraud decisions while minimizing friction and improving the customer experience

Agenda

10:30 AM

Registrations and coffee

Plenary sessions

11:00 AM

Welcome to Ascend Melbourne 2025

Lachlan Taylor

Senior Director, ANZ & Japan, Riskified

11:10 AM

Ecommerce uncharted: Growth, risks, and opportunities

More than ever, businesses need to balance profitable growth with managing complex risks in a rapidly evolving ecommerce landscape. What do merchants need to unleash growth with confidence in this environment? This session will introduce strategies underpinned by brand new technologies to optimize revenue, safeguard profits, and unlock new pathways to success.

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Nadav Lobel

SVP, AM and Analytics, Riskified

11:40 AM

The enemy of my enemy: Uniting against fraud in the age of AI

As fraud becomes more sophisticated, organizations must leverage as much insight and data as possible to stay ahead and mitigate fraud and policy abuse. No sector is entirely immune, making it essential to have deep insights into potential threats, and to develop proactive strategies to mitigate risks. In this session, we’ll take a look at the best ways to leverage data to gain deep insights into fraud patterns, as well as how to use this knowledge to develop effective prevention strategies. With the right knowledge and proactive approach, we can stay ahead of fraudsters and protect both our organization and our customers.

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Eyal Elazar

Senior Director, Product Marketing, Riskified

12:00 PM

Balancing risk and growth: A fireside chat on elevating customer experience through smarter fraud management

Hear from Andrew Booth on how Cotton On transformed its approach to fraud prevention to unlock new growth opportunities. By shifting away from outdated, manual systems, the team was able to reduce friction for customers, ease pressure on internal teams, and confidently expand into new markets. This conversation will touch on how smarter fraud strategies can remove internal roadblocks, improve cross-team alignment, and ultimately create space for better customer experiences and business growth.

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Nicholas Kirtley

Country Manager, Australia, Riskified

Andrew Booth

Head of Operational Risk, Cotton On

12:20 PM

Coffee break

12:30 PM

Elevating ecommerce: Innovative ways to boost your conversions

A customers’ checkout experience should depend on their specific profile. The best customers should be able to breeze through, but when there are risk signals the checkout should adapt accordingly. Riskified and Wayfair will discuss how they’re working together to expand Wayfair’s ability to adapt checkout and review flows to every individual customers’ risk profile, shopping history and more.

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Eyal Elazar

Senior Director, Product Marketing, Riskified

12:50 PM

Combating the $103 billion omnichannel returns and claims abuse problem

With returns fraud soaring to $19 billion in first-world countries, being prepared for the evolving threats of omnichannel return fraud has never been more crucial for retailers. Join us for a discussion where we will tackle the pressing issue of omnichannel return fraud. Discover how fraudsters exploit vulnerabilities in the return process, taking advantage of loopholes that can lead to significant losses for retailers. Our experts will share strategies for how AI is now able to effectively identify high-valued customers versus serial return abusers, both online and in-store, while ensuring a seamless shopping experience. You’ll leave this session equipped with the knowledge to resolve the true identity of a good consumer and adapt your return strategies to improve loyalty while protecting your shop.

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Nicholas Kirtley

Country Manager, Australia, Riskified

1:10 PM

Optimizing security and customer experience with advanced fraud prevention

In an era where fraud threats continue to evolve, businesses are investing heavily in advanced fraud prevention strategies to protect their operations and customers. This panel will explore the key challenges organizations face, such as identifying critical problems to solve, optimizing internal processes, and improving efficiency with external fraud prevention solutions. We’ll also discuss the financial impact of these technologies and their influence on the customer experience, offering insights into striking the right balance between security and seamless service.

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Mo Nagi

Group Loss Prevention Manager, Chemist Warehouse

Lachlan Taylor

Senior Director, ANZ & Japan, Riskified

1:30 PM

Lunch

2:30 PM

Round Table Discussions

  • Luxury and logistics: Fraud trends in fashion ecommerce
  • High-tech, high-risk: Safeguarding electronics ecommerce
  • Omnichannel industry roundtable: aligning digital and physical fraud defenses
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4:00 PM

Cocktail and Networking with Piano Duel

Join the global community

Riskified

Every expectation was surpassed…The highlight was all of these different merchants fighting the same fight but doing it in their own way, which is super interesting.

Riskified

The event was excellent, allowing me to gain a deeper understanding, meet other risk individuals, and hear their perspectives.

Riskified

A really valuable event…I love how it keeps evolving.

Ascend 2025: A vibrant city setting

Hyatt Centric Melbourne

Ascend 2025 will bring guests to the centrally located Hyatt Centric on Downie Street in Melbourne’s CBD. It is just minutes from Docklands and Southbank precincts — and did we already mention? The 25th-floor bar is the place for networking, signature cocktails and stunning views across the Yarra River.

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FAQs

What is the dress code?

The dress code is business casual. Best to layer up to be comfortable in Melbourne's Autumn!

How do I get to the hotel from the airport?

You can reach Hyatt Centric using rideshare apps such as Uber, taxi, or airport shuttles.
The venue is close to tram stops and Flinders St train station.

Is there parking at the venue?

You have two options:
- The nearest paid parking is at Secure Parking (522 Flinders Ln), which is 50m from Hyatt Centric
- The venue provides valet parking options