Executive Summit

 Cloud data platforms were expected to reduce costs and boost agility, yet many organizations now face escalating expenses and uncertain returns. Costs often outpace value due to misaligned investments and inefficient practices. Leading data executives are adopting new strategies to connect platform investments directly to business outcomes, drive operational efficiency, and foster innovation, unlocking the true potential of cloud data platforms. Are you ready to maximize the impact of your data platform and drive meaningful results for your organization?

Join this keynote to gain insights into:

• Strategic investment alignment with business objectives
• Process optimization for operational efficiency
• Culture development for sustained innovation

Right now, agentic AI is the buzz word for CDAOs but let's find out how organizations are actually thinking about their agentic strategy, preparing and putting it to use. From hurdles and headaches to finding unique and faster solutions for traditional data problems.

This session covers pilot to production and dives into:

• Selecting impactful initial use cases
• Assessing implications on the workforce and operating model
• Setting AI boundaries, testing, enablement and expectations 

The way we talk about data is holding the industry back so it’s time to rework your “data speak”. Are you struggling with leadership support, craving stakeholder engagement and begging for proper funding? Even though you may create Gen AI wonders with your data, it won’t matter unless you explain the value in practical business terms.

Join The Data Whisperer’s rollicking and riotous review of current buzzwords and some practical tips and tricks on what you can do about it including:

• Differentiating between a data management narrative and other data storytelling and data literacy efforts
• Developing strategies to secure sponsorship and funding
• Executing a simple storytelling approach

Gartner predicts that 70% of organizations will adopt augmented data quality solutions by 2027, aiming to accelerate AI adoption and digital business initiatives. As data becomes the backbone of enterprise innovation, now is the time to take decisive steps to prevent bad data from undermining models and business outcomes.

Join this boardroom to discuss:

• Automating quality at scale while reducing AI/BI risk 
• Driving a culture of shared accountability for data quality
• Measuring the ROI for proactive data quality initiatives

As enterprises accelerate their adoption of Generative AI and intelligent applications, one truth remains clear: AI is only as reliable as the data that powers it. Yet many organizations struggle to fully harness their structured and unstructured data — resulting in inaccurate outputs, stalled innovation, and failed returns on investment.

Join this session to learn how data leaders are navigating these challenges:

• Breaking down silos to unify data access, preparation, and governance
• Designing scalable pipelines that support trustworthy, context-rich AI
• Aligning teams and priorities to embed data literacy across the business

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.

Gartner insights predict that AI governance will become a requirement of all sovereign AI laws and regulations globally by 2027. While ‘responsible AI’ is widely discussed, it’s not yet a clearly defined term. However, it’s crucial to define what it means for your organization now, develop a strategy and remain committed.

 Join this session to learn about:

• Establishing what responsible AI means for your organization
• Forming an ethics committee for end-to-end accountability 
• Aligning governance operating model, policies and controls

CDAOs are becoming vital to enabling digital transformation as the D&A function is uniquely equipped to effectively address cross-enterprise challenges. To succeed, they must lead a distributed change management strategy and demonstrate the value of D&A to business initiatives.

This presentation highlights real-world examples and best practices based on Gartner interviews with over 150 CDAOs.

Key themes include:

• Positioning the CDAO as an organizational change agent
• Empowering business leaders to drive change within their own teams
• Encourage desired behaviors to enable D&A & AI adoption

AI agents are learning, orchestrating, and making decisions faster than traditional governance frameworks can adapt. How can you ensure trust, compliance, and control in this new era?

Join this session to explore:

• Real-time, dynamic governance models, with a focus on transparency, traceability, and auditability
• Balancing autonomy with human oversight
• Enterprise protections in the LLM era — what Anthropic and OpenAI are doing to secure first- and third-party data

Reinvention isn't one thing; it's the next thing. Real business value comes from solving a real business problem, not from a mandate to simply "do AI."

Join this session to explore:

• Identifying the most valuable opportunities for reinvention
• Unlocking actionable insights with real-time, contextual intelligence
• Creating new and better business outcomes using AI

As one of the nation’s largest utility companies, PG&E relies on data to ensure the safe, reliable, and sustainable delivery of energy across California. From preparing for severe weather events to monitoring infrastructure assets over a century old, data is central to PG&E’s operational excellence. Improving safety while creating significant value for the customer and business through data and analytics.

Join David Leach, PG&E’s inaugural Chief Data and Analytics Officer, to explore:

• Strategies for overcoming challenges related to data completeness, accuracy, and accessibility
• Leveraging data, analytics and AI to improve customer experience and create novel solutions to key problems
• Standardizing data roles and processes, and aligning functional data leadership across the enterprise

Finish the day sharing lessons learned with your peers over light fare and drinks at this closing reception hosted by your governing body members.