Organisers of the 2026 FICA Congress have unveiled two high-profile speakers — Chitra Andy Rajan, director of Small and Medium Business Sales at Microsoft Australia and New Zealand, and Fijian rugby legend Waisale Serevi — signalling an event that will pair conversations on AI-driven digital transformation with sport-led community and economic development.
Chitra Andy Rajan joins the congress as Microsoft’s lead for small and medium business (SMB) strategy across Australia and New Zealand. In her role she directs efforts to help organisations translate investments in artificial intelligence, cloud computing and cybersecurity into measurable, secure and sustainable business outcomes. The new disclosure of Rajan’s appointment and remit highlights the congress’s emphasis on practical AI adoption: she works closely with Australia’s nbn and Microsoft’s partner ecosystem to strengthen digital foundations, expand AI capability and foster inclusive innovation across metropolitan and regional communities. Rajan is also known for the Microsoft Connect series, through which she brings a business-led perspective to digital transformation — stressing that infrastructure, skills and partner collaboration are necessary to unlock productivity and long-term competitiveness for smaller firms.
Rajan’s appearance comes as Fiji seeks to accelerate technology uptake in the private sector. Government and industry initiatives over the past two years have pushed for greater digital skills, connectivity and an expanded tech contribution to GDP; Rajan’s focus on making AI and cloud services accessible to SMBs positions her as a potential bridge between multinational technology players and Pacific small business needs.
Waisale Serevi, whose involvement was also announced by FICA, brings a different but complementary lens. Widely acknowledged as one of rugby’s greatest players, Serevi is the founder and director of the Serevi International Academy of Rugby and currently serves as an ambassador for Asco Motors. His playing career spanned 21 years internationally and included stints in Japan, England and France; he remains the only player to have competed in seven Rugby World Cups across sevens and fifteens. Serevi was inducted into the global Rugby Hall of Fame in 2013 and, more recently, into the inaugural Pacifica Rugby Hall of Fame in 2024 — a detail organisers highlighted as part of his speaker profile.
Beyond on-field accolades, Serevi has been influential in rugby’s global expansion. He founded Serevi Rugby in the United States and spent 15 years promoting the sport internationally, and he served on a World Rugby delegation to the International Olympic Committee that helped secure rugby sevens’ inclusion at the Rio 2016 Olympics. He has also led community initiatives in Fiji, including the “Stay Strong – Say No to Drugs” campaign, underscoring sport’s role in social development.
The selection of Rajan and Serevi demonstrates FICA’s intent to stitch together conversations about technology, small business resilience and the economic potential of sport. Their participation follows recent domestic moves to modernise Fiji’s sporting infrastructure and governance, and broader national plans to strengthen the tech sector and workforce readiness. Organisers say the speakers will address how investment in digital infrastructure and capability — alongside sports development and community programmes — can drive jobs, entrepreneurship and regional growth across the Pacific.