The CEO×CPO Room
Building the leadership partnership New Zealand needs.
A joint programme by FluxB2B, EMA, and Best Places to Work™.
First session on 9 September: Leading people and performance in an AI-shaped future.
Welcome to The CEO×CPO Room
Business leaders are making increasingly complex decisions about people, technology, productivity and growth, while AI is changing how organisations work faster than many organisations can adapt.
The CEO×CPO Room is an invitation-only working session designed for senior leaders navigating that reality. A joint programme by FluxB2B, EMA, and Best Places to Work™, this facilitated forum creates space for thoughtful conversation, practical problem-solving and peer-level discussion on the leadership decisions shaping organisational performance through to 2030.
This is not a conference. It is a curated working room of leaders grappling with the same questions, sharing what they’re seeing, and exploring what comes next.
Why now?
For years, organisations have treated business strategy, workforce planning and technology as separate conversations. AI is making that approach increasingly difficult to sustain.
Whether the pressure comes from workforce shifts, changing skill demands, AI adoption, productivity expectations or ongoing change fatigue, the question remains the same:
How do leaders build organisations capable of growth in an uncertain future?
Ticket prices
General public: $399.00 + GST
Book both CEO & CPO discount: $699.00 + GST
EMA Members get 15% off
Details
Date:
9 September 2026
Time:
1:15pm – 6:00pm
Event Location:
Auckland
Venue:
EMA Business Hub, 145 Khyber Pass Road
Strategy depends on alignment
Connect, leader to leader
Join candid conversations with CEOs, Chief People Officers and senior executives facing similar decisions around workforce capability, leadership and organisational performance.
Step back from the day-to-day and return ready for action
Create space to think beyond immediate operational pressures and examine the broader shifts affecting organisations right now.
Leave with practical next steps
Explore ideas, challenge assumptions and identify actions you can take back to your executive team, leaders and board.
The CEO×CPO Room working session AGENDA
1.30pm - 2:00pm
Welcome × Scene setting
A grounded view of the workforce, leadership and execution challenges shaping the road to 2030. We’ll frame the challenge: why no one has all the answers.
Presented by Sarah Keenan, Associate Director from Deloitte’s Leadership Development team.
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Unconference × Working session
Facilitated conversations exploring what leaders are seeing, testing and learning within their own organisations. You will break out into three groups, led by:
- Michael Friedberg, CEO at Flux
- Ullrich Loeffler, CEO at ORA Benchmarking
- Fiona Hewitt, Managing Director at Unboxable
3:00pm - 3:20pm
Break × Connection
Informal networking and discussion.
3:20pm - 4:30pm
Workshop × Design Thinking
Using design thinking principles, Flux & Nigel Sharplin (Design Thinking Master) will facilitate the room to:
- Identify where execution is breaking down
- Explore new ways of working
- Priotise practical actions
4:30pm - 5:00pm
Leadership reflection × Q&A
What matters now? What will you take back? The session will conclude with networking over refreshments.
Join the conversation
The CEO×CPO Room is intentionally small and curated to support open discussion and meaningful peer engagement.
Register your interest to be considered for an upcoming session.
The CEO×CPO Room presenters and facilitators
Sarah Keenan – Associate Director, Deloitte
Sarah is an Organisation and Workforce Transformation specialist with 20+ years’ experience leading large-scale change across public and private sectors. She designs learning, leadership, and workforce strategies that enable digital and AI transformation, translating complex change into practical, people-centred approaches that build capability, confidence, and lasting behaviour change.
Michael Friedberg – CEO, FluxB2B
Michael Friedberg is co-founder and CEO of Flux B2B, a growth partner to New Zealand’s B2B leaders. With two decades spent working alongside industrial tech and advanced services CEOs — including at IBM and through high-growth ventures — he specialises in adaptive strategy and fractional leadership. Michael also runs The CEO Table™, a peer forum for NZ CEOs navigating growth, complexity and change.
Ullrich Loeffler – Co-Founder & CEO, ORA Benchmarking
Ullrich has spent more than two decades advising business and technology leaders across Asia Pacific, including senior roles at IDC and Ecosystm. He saw that technology initiatives often fall short not because of the technology, but because people, alignment and organisational conditions are overlooked. He founded ORA Benchmarking and co-created AI ORA™ to help organisations identify those gaps and focus on what matters next.
Fiona Hewitt – Managing Partner, Unboxable
With decades of senior executive experience leading strategy, transformation, and business growth, Fiona Hewitt has seen firsthand that the real challenge isn’t just driving change—it’s building the thinking and skills to continuously adapt. She founded Unboxable to help leaders and organisations develop the adaptive edge to anticipate shifts, navigate complexity, and sustain momentum.
Nigel Sharplin – Founder, inFact Limited
Nigel is Founder and Managing Director of InFact, where he has spent 28 years leading the delivery of more than 500 innovative technology products and services. He combines customer-centred design, commercialisation expertise and start-up experience to turn science and innovation into sustainable, market-ready enterprises with lasting impact and growth.
Sarah Keenan – Associate Director, Deloitte
Sarah is an Organisation and Workforce Transformation specialist with 20+ years’ experience leading large-scale change across public and private sectors. She designs learning, leadership, and workforce strategies that enable digital and AI transformation, translating complex change into practical, people-centred approaches that build capability, confidence, and lasting behaviour change.
Michael Friedberg – CEO, FluxB2B
Michael Friedberg is co-founder and CEO of Flux B2B, a growth partner to New Zealand’s B2B leaders. With two decades spent working alongside industrial tech and advanced services CEOs — including at IBM and through high-growth ventures — he specialises in adaptive strategy and fractional leadership. Michael also runs The CEO Table™, a peer forum for NZ CEOs navigating growth, complexity and change.
Ullrich Loeffler – Co-Founder & CEO, ORA Benchmarking
Ullrich has spent more than two decades advising business and technology leaders across Asia Pacific, including senior roles at IDC and Ecosystm. He saw that technology initiatives often fall short not because of the technology, but because people, alignment and organisational conditions are overlooked. He founded ORA Benchmarking and co-created AI ORA™ to help organisations identify those gaps and focus on what matters next.
Fiona Hewitt – Managing Partner, Unboxable
With decades of senior executive experience leading strategy, transformation, and business growth, Fiona Hewitt has seen firsthand that the real challenge isn’t just driving change—it’s building the thinking and skills to continuously adapt. She founded Unboxable to help leaders and organisations develop the adaptive edge to anticipate shifts, navigate complexity, and sustain momentum.
Nigel Sharplin – Founder, inFact Limited
Nigel Sharplin is a design thinking specialist and entrepreneur passionate about helping organisations uncover and deliver the value that matters most to their customers. Through empathy-led, co-creative approaches, he supports the design of innovative strategies, products, services and business models. As Founder of InFact, Nigel helps businesses create meaningful change and lasting impact.
Who is on the list?
This curated session is intended for motivated, future-thinking CEOs and CPOs. We recognise that this workplace relationship is crucial to New Zealand businesses realising value from their AI investment.
There are no ready-made answers. This session is designed to help leaders explore these challenges together and clarify what matters most, next.
The CEO×CPO Room is presented by EMA, Best Places to Work™, and FluxB2B
The CEO×CPO Room brings together three organisations with complementary expertise in leadership, workforce performance, employee experience, and business growth. Together, we provide leaders with the insights, capability, and practical strategies needed to navigate change and drive organisational success.
Supports leaders to navigate change, build organisational capability, and create high-performing workplaces that are ready for the future.
Delivers employee experience insights and workplace benchmarking that help leaders understand, measure, and strengthen organisational performance.
