The power of innovation to transform our world

The 2025 Australia–Israel Innovation Summit & Israel Innovation Showcase, hosted by the Australia–Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) on October 21, brought together the innovative spirit of Israel and Australia.

With Israel’s reputation as a global innovation powerhouse setting the tone, over 200 senior business leaders gathered in the Sydney CBD for a fast-paced, future-focused exchange exploring how technology, vision and leadership can drive competitiveness and resilience in an era of disruption.

Now in its sixth year, the summit brings together international experts from Israel in conversation with Australian business leaders tackling global challenges through out-of-the-box thinking and groundbreaking solutions.

The half-day program combined high-impact keynote addresses, thought-provoking panel discussions and the Israel Innovation Showcase – a networking space where Israeli-founded companies demonstrated technologies reshaping industries.

The event opened with a keynote address from Lior Handelsman, co-founder of SolarEdge and managing partner at Grove Ventures, who captivated the audience with his exploration of “the rise of physical AI: the new industrial revolution”.

Handelsman described how intelligent machines, from drones to autonomous robots, are blurring the line between the digital and physical worlds, ushering in a new era of innovation and productivity.

Throughout the afternoon, expert panels from both nations tackled the defining challenges and opportunities shaping the future of business and technology.

Discussions explored:

• Next Generation Cyber Risk – Building Secure Foundations for Agentic AI, examining how organisations can secure and govern the rise of autonomous systems;

• The Digital Revolution Reshaping the Financial Payments Ecosystem – Why Payments Are Now a Strategic Imperative, exploring how innovation is transforming trust, speed and value across global finance;

• Unlocking the Power of Agentic AI – How to Achieve ROI and Build Scale, focusing on how enterprises can move beyond experimentation to deliver measurable business impact through intelligent automation; and

• Global Lessons in R&D – Harnessing Open Innovation to Deliver Breakthrough Drug Discoveries, showcasing the collaboration between Australia and Israel in pharmaceutical research and highlighting how Teva, which has one of the largest R&D footprints of any multinational in Australia, is using open innovation to accelerate health breakthroughs.

The final session featured academics from the Australian Catholic University and the Hebrew University, who demonstrated how virtual reality and digital heritage are transforming the way history is taught and experienced. Using advanced 3D scanning of artefacts from the Israel Museum, they brought the ancient city of Lachish to life in VMuse, an immersive virtual museum redefining access to culture, research and education.

The summit concluded with the Chairman’s Circle Dinner, hosted by AICC chair Jacqueline Chow, featuring keynote speakers Handelsman and David Gonski.

The Israel Innovation Showcase featured standout companies including Orca, Blings, BioCatch, JFrog and Tootor.ai, giving attendees a hands-on look at technologies driving transformation across AI, cybersecurity, fintech and enterprise software.

Today, more than 150 Israeli companies operate in Australia through local offices or representatives – a reflection of the deepening ties between the two nations’ innovation ecosystems.

Since the start of 2025, trade between Israel and Australia has surged by 20 per cent, fuelled by a remarkable 30 per cent growth in Israeli exports across the business community.

Michelle Blum is the CEO of Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) NSW.