New York CDAO Community
Executive Summit
May 6, 2026 | Convene 360 Madison Avenue
May 6, 2026
Convene 360 Madison Avenue
Collaborate with your peers
Get together with New York's top CDAOs to tackle shared business challenges and critical priorities facing your role today. Participate in this one-day, local program with peer-driven topics and interactive discussions with your true C-level peers.
Join your peers to discuss the most critical issues impacting CDAOs today:
AI Transformation Requires Clear Strategy, Collaboration, and Organizational Readiness
Robust Data Foundations and Thoughtful Governance Are Essential
Evolving Role of CDAO and Peer-Driven Learning
New York CDAO Governing Body
The Governing Body Co-Chairs shape the summit agenda, ensuring that all content is driven By CDAOs, For CDAOs™.
Governing Body Co-Chairs

Andrew Foster
M&T Bank
Chief Data Officer

Glenn Hofmann
MetLife
Chief Data & Analytics Officer

Tembi Hommes
Arup Group Limited
Global Chief Data Officer

Kyle Pudenz
Cencora
SVP, Enterprise Analytics

Andrew Reiskind
Mastercard
Chief Data Officer

Sophie Sergeenko
Heineken USA
Head of Data & Digital Innovation

Gaurav Shah
Opella Healthcare
Global Head of Data, Analytics, and AI

Kendell Timmers
CNN
SVP, Head of Data Analytics, Science & Insights

Jim Young
AIG
Global Chief Data Officer
What to Expect
Agenda
8:00am - 8:30am Registration & Breakfast
8:30am - 9:15am Keynote
Outlast the Average CDAO Tenure
Dee Fitzgerald
Global Head of Data & Analytics
Danone
Glenn Hofmann
Chief Data & Analytics Officer
MetLife
Jessica Hogue
CDO, Consumer Media
Hearst
Gartner characterizes the average tenure of a Chief Data and Analytics Officer as "relatively short" - and that's putting it mildly. Most studies show CDAOs keep their job for one and a half to two and a half years. Whether it's expectations of an immediate transformation, a lack of resources or cultural challenges - how can you overcome these early obstacles to firmly establish yourself within your organization?
Join this keynote presentation focused on:
- Balancing the drive for impact with understanding your organization's appetite for change
- Building momentum by collaborating with the right people to champion transformation
- Strategically choosing which challenges to tackle first and which to postpone for lasting success
9:15am - 9:40am Networking Break
9:40am - 10:25am Breakout Session
Back to the Basics - Data that Delivers
Prakash Kamath
Head of AI & Data Engineering
Vanguard Group
Pawan Verma
CDO & Head of Data Management Office
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
Let's take it back to the basics — ensuring that data is accessible, reliable and truly serves business needs. This foundation opens the door to everything else and is key for successful CDAOs.
This session will explore:
- Aligning data initiatives with your organization's core goals and priorities
- Anchoring stakeholder discussions in real business use cases to ensure relevance and buy-in
- Prioritizing strong foundational data management and defining what "good enough" looks like for your business
9:40am - 10:25am Executive Boardroom
Redefining Data Workflows - Unlocking Automation, Trust, and Agility
Hosted by Acceldata
Ami Doshi
Head of Data Governance & Quality
New York Power Authority
Sarah Rudolph
VP, Head of Data Capabilities
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Joe Murphy
VP, Data & AI Technology
Acceldata
As analytics and AI adoption accelerates, CDAOs are shifting from reactive data quality to proactive, end-to-end visibility across the data lifecycle. By embedding governance and automation, organizations can scale reliable, decision-ready data products that deliver measurable business value.
Join this session to:
- Build trusted, enterprise-scale data workflows
- Enable proactive visibility for scalable data products
- Automate data reliability for analytics and AI success
9:40am - 10:25am Executive Boardroom
Designing Data Infrastructure for Competitive Advantage
Hosted by Equinix
Glenn Dekhayser
Global Principal Technologist
Equinix
AI is reshaping where data needs to live and how quickly insights must be delivered. Many CDAOs are finding that traditional, cloud centric architectures can’t keep pace—especially as increased workloads drive new cost, locality, and sovereignty pressures. Modernization now requires rethinking where data sits, not just how it moves.
Join this session to discuss:
- How data locality accelerates delivery and operational efficiency
- When alternative placements outperform single cloud strategies
- A strategic model for reducing technical debt and unlocking enterprise-wide value
10:25am - 11:10am Networking Break
10:35am - 11:00am Peer-to-Peer Meetings
Peer-to-Peer Meetings
Connect with like-minded peers in a one-on-one setting through Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.
11:10am - 11:55am Breakout Session
Maximizing the Business Value of AI
Shivani Gupta
VP of Data, Analytics & AI
Centric Brands
Prasanna Ramaswamy
Head of Technology & Data
CPP Investments
The greatest risk in AI isn’t building the wrong solution; it’s solving the wrong problem. Real success comes from identifying opportunities that deliver measurable value by directly connecting AI initiatives to revenue growth, margin improvement, increased speed, or risk reduction. AI is an enabler of strategy, not the strategy itself.
Join this session to discuss:
- Identifying high-impact AI use cases that matter most to the business
- Applying product management fundamentals to AI initiatives to drive adoption and results
- Cultivating the culture for lasting AI success
11:10am - 11:55am Executive Boardroom
Open Data Infrastructure — Next-Gen Data Architecture
Hosted by Fivetran
Chris Lawless
VP, Global Services
Fivetran
Open Data Infrastructure is essential for organizations in the AI era, helping leaders scale analytics and AI while maintaining control. CDAOs must balance innovation, flexibility and cost as data platforms expand.
Join this boardroom to discuss:
- Designing interoperable architectures to avoid lock-in
- Applying openness to semantics, metadata and governance
- Enabling AI and operations with flexibility and cost transparency
11:10am - 11:55am Executive Boardroom
Scaling Agentic AI with Trusted Context
Hosted by Reltio
Agentic AI is transforming business, but CDAOs can only scale AI agents as quickly as they can provide trusted, real-time context. Context intelligence is essential, combining data and business meaning for confident scaling.
Join this roundtable to discuss:
- What are the core data platform capabilities required to serve as a system of context
- How should you structure your AI strategy to balance innovation speed with accountability and measurable outcomes
- Which key metrics should you track to assess data readiness for AI
11:55am - 12:30pm Lunch Service
Apply to Participate
Apply to participate in the New York CDAO Community Executive Summit.
Gartner facilitates exclusive, C-level communities by personally qualifying and understanding the priorities, challenges and interests of each member.
Our selective approach maintains the high quality of the network and ensures top-level discussions with peers from the world’s leading organizations.
Each application will be reviewed, and once your participation is confirmed, you will have access to year-round community programs.
Location
Venue & Accommodation
Convene 360 Madison AvenueHotels Nearby
16 E 46th St
New York, NY 10017
Distance from venue - .1 mile
Club Quarters, Times Square Midtown
40 W 45th St
New York, NY 10036
Distance from venue - .2 mile
45 West 44th Street
10036 New York City
Distance from venue - .2 mile
Community Program Manager
For inquiries related to this community, please reach out to your dedicated contact.
Monica Mickelson
Senior Community Program Manager, Territory Specialist
+17577054864
monica.mickelson@gartner.com
