Industry Studio Event: Driving AI Innovation for Impact in the NFP Sector
Sydney, Australia – 19 Nov 2025
The recent Industry Studio Event, powered by Gadali and organised by UBE Marketing, brought together leading voices in technology and social impact to showcase how AI is transforming the Not-for-Profit (NFP) sector. The event served as a collaborative platform for Microsoft partners and industry leaders to share insights, innovations, and success stories that are shaping the future of purpose-driven organisations.The event opened with a warm welcome from Dustin McClung, CEO of Gadali, who set the tone for an inspiring day focused on leveraging AI to create meaningful change.
Highlights included:
Andrew Rowley, CEO of Ability First, shared how his organisation is harnessing AI to amplify impact and deliver better outcomes for people with disabilities through Gadali’s Industry Studio as an example.
Shane Parsons, CEO of Informotion, spotlighted the recent AI Innovation Challenge in partnership with the Microsoft Elevate team. In this challenge, NFPs pitched transformative ideas in just seven minutes, with the winning team receiving $25,000 worth of technology consulting services to bring their vision to Life.
Andrew Dome, CDIO of Uniting, presented his team’s winning pitch - a solution that goes beyond operational efficiency to deliver a strategic leap forward for the entire sector, reinforcing the power of AI-driven innovation.
The event concluded with John Orrock, Chairman of Future Now Capital, delivering closing remarks that underscored the purpose of Industry Studio: to connect Microsoft partners and foster collaboration that drives real-world solutions for customers.
Notably, the audience included senior Microsoft executives such as Paul Tanner, General Manager, at Microsoft Elevate, who was acknowledged during the speeches for his role in supporting innovation and partnership across the sector.
A standout moment featured MasterChef Australia Season 17 final judge Miko Aspiras, who created a dessert using Australian Indigenous ingredients reflecting Gadali’s commitment to elevating Indigenous communities and celebrating native flavours.
Special thanks to partners: ADAPTOVATE, Collaboro, Connect by Tribal, Enterprise AI, Future Now Capital, Informotion, Microsoft Elevate, mySMB.com, and OpenLearning.
