Thursday
Room 3
17:40 - 18:40
(UTC+11)
Talk (60 min)
AI Agents That Don’t Suck: How to Build Ones That Actually Drive Business Value
AI agents are everywhere - but most of them don’t work. They drain engineering time, frustrate end users, and burn budgets without ever proving their worth. The result? Shiny demos that impress in the boardroom but fail in production.
This session shows you how to flip that script. I’ll share a practical framework for designing and deploying AI agents that create measurable business impact, agents that align with real workflows, integrate securely, and deliver results people actually care about.
You’ll leave with:
- A checklist for spotting when an AI agent is worth building (and when it’s not)
- Common pitfalls that cause pilots to fail and how to avoid them
- Strategies for measuring and communicating value early to win stakeholder trust
- Real world lessons from enterprise rollouts that moved from hype to impact
If you want to stop wasting resources and start building AI agents that stick, this talk will show you how.
Robert Koch
Robert Koch is a Melbourne-based engineer and the Forward Deployment Engineering lead at Quarterzip, where he helps customers integrate products seamlessly into their environments. He draws on a background in cloud infrastructure, web development, and strategic content development to deliver tailored solutions that drive adoption and impact.
With a degree in Electrical Engineering, Robert previously worked as a Cloud Architect at AWS, where he built secure, scalable platforms for public sector clients.
Actively engaged in the engineering community, he contributes to Young Engineers Australia and continues to explore innovation through personal projects. Outside of work, he enjoys bouldering, gaming, and experimenting with electronics.