Lunch with Dante St James

About our speaker

Dante St James is one of Australia’s most sought-after speakers and trainers on the digital economy and social media. Currently the Director of Innovation and Investment Readiness with the Darwin Innovation Hub and venture capital firm Paspalis –  owner of three cafes in Queensland, part-owner of a chain of NSW menswear stores, two training businesses in the Northern Territory and is an angel investor in three startups in Australia and New Zealand, Dante’s love affair with building confidence and capacity in people started as a result of being heavily bullied as a teenager, leading to a resilience that has driven him as a professional and entrepreneur.

After a short career in medicine, he returned to his first love, working with the first of the cable-modem-delivered internet services in Australia, also finding himself as a regular guest on local radio news and talkback shows as a result of being one of the few Aussies working within the fledgling internet industry of the early 1990s.

A few years later he was on-air himself on the Gold Coast, followed by breakfast shows and newsrooms in Darwin and Hobart. This was during the rise of social media as MySpace, and then Facebook came to dominate how information was shared between people. This led to him being moved into a digital media spinout by Grant Broadcasters (now ARN) to commercialise this new digital opportunity.

Dante holds training contracts with two Commonwealth digital education programs, is one of five contracted Meta Lead Trainers in Australia, has been republished numerous times by LinkedIn Australia, appears on many podcasts each year and is an advisor to over 30 local and overseas tech startups.

About the session
AI is moving fast—but how do you actually use it in a practical, meaningful way? In this session, Dante St James will cut through the noise and show you how to use AI tools more effectively in your day-to-day work.

You’ll explore how AI can help streamline tasks, improve decision-making, and unlock new ways of working – without losing the human judgement that matters most. Dante will share real-world examples, along with practical tips you can start applying straight away.

Whether you’re just getting started or already experimenting with AI, this session will help you build confidence, work smarter, and use these tools in a more ethical and impactful way.

Who should attend
Anyone interested in getting more value from AI tools. No technical background required.

What to bring
Your curiosity and questions.