Shay Hamama
CTO/COO
Success rests on not only solving the problems of today but building future organisational infrastructure, technology and teams that are inspired and challenged in driving meaningful innovation. Over my career, I have unlocked and accelerated growth through a focus on problem solving user issues in new ways, from major systems development in the defence sector to the creation of nimble intuitive apps and ecosystem platforms that provide first mover benefit. This is enabled by uniquely broad experience that sits across technology, customer experience, product, marketing, and sales - which I use to create competitive advantage for businesses at scale. I’m not fazed by complexity or ambiguity, a trait honed in the military but really taken to the next level over the last 5-10 years in the development of market leading solutions in highly challenging environments with multiple layers of stakeholder and technical complexity. I thrive in environments that others shy away from, taking great satisfaction in leading and inspiring teams to deliver exceptional results in difficult scenarios. This is shown in recent tenures driving 3x growth for Luxury Escapes mobilising a team of Product Managers, Product Designers & Engineers to deliver CEO-driven pivot from a flash sale website to a fully Curated Travel Marketplace, as well as pioneering an innovative technology solution that has not only closed a selection parity gap for Amazon but fuelled multibillion-dollar gross margin uplift, turning a compliance issue into a competitive advantage for Amazon.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Why Marketing Teams Need Engineering More Than Ever
1:00 PM - 1:40 PM
At Luxury Escapes, CRM and lifecycle marketing don't sit in the marketing org. That was a deliberate leadership decision, and one that's paid off. Shay, CTO of one of Australia's fastest-growing travel platforms, shares the philosophy behind embedding customer engagement within Technology & Product: why personalisation at scale demands engineering velocity, how AI and data become genuinely strategic when the right teams own them, and what this means for the future of marketing leadership. This session is for leaders asking whether their org structure is keeping pace with their ambitions.