IN-PERSON

Atlanta CIO Executive Summit

November 20, 2024 | Westin Atlanta Perimeter North

November 20, 2024
Westin Atlanta Perimeter North

Collaborate with your peers

Get together with Atlanta's top CIOs 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 CIOs today:

Building trust and reliability in data to enable business growth and efficiencies

Establishing a strong cybersecurity strategy amidst an ever-evolving threat landscape

Leading the organization through the adoption of advanced and emerging technologies

Atlanta CIO Governing Body


The Governing Body Co-Chairs shape the summit agenda, ensuring that all content is driven by CIOs, for CIOs.

Governing Body Co-Chairs

Guy Brassard

Shaw Industries
Vice President & Chief Information Officer

Curtis Carver Jr.

University of Alabama at Birmingham
Vice President and CIO

Martin Davis

Southern Company
EVP & CIO

Raghu Sagi

Carter's
EVP, Chief Information & Technology Officer

Regina Salazar

Novelis
SVP, Chief Information and Digital Officer

Grant Shih

Vestis
Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer

What to Expect

Interactive Sessions

Hear from CIO practitioners and thought leaders on how they're solving critical challenges impacting your role today in Keynote sessions, and join smaller, interactive discussions with your peers in Breakout and Boardroom sessions.

Community Networking

Make new connections and catch up with old friends in casual conversations during dedicated time for networking designed to better acquaint you with your Atlanta CIO community.

Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Connect with like-minded peers in a private, one-on-one setting through Evanta's Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.

Agenda


November 20, 2024

7:45am - 8:30am  Registration & Breakfast

8:00am - 8:25am  Networking

Empowered Women, Empower Women — Networking Session

Dena Campbell headshot

Dena Campbell

Chief Information Officer

Vaco

Join this dedicated networking session for women in IT leadership roles and their allies to freely discuss best practices, key challenges and mission-critical priorities. Come prepared to share ideas and forge new connections that can help empower each other to make an impact in your organizations and the Atlanta community. 

This session is aimed at, but not limited to, women who are leading the IT function at their organizations and those reporting directly to the CIO or equivalent. Priority access will be reserved to these groups.

8:30am - 9:15am  Keynote

Telling Your Data Story

Scott Taylor headshot

Scott Taylor

Author, Telling Your Data Story

Guest Speaker

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

9:15am - 9:40am  Networking Break

9:40am - 10:25am  Breakout Session

Modernizing the Zero Trust Identity Experience

Greg Wetmore headshot

Greg Wetmore

Vice President Software Product Development

Entrust

The Zero Trust model has emerged as a crucial framework for addressing modern security challenges. However, as the threat landscape evolves and technology advances, the Zero Trust identity experience must be modernized to enhance both security and user efficiency.


Join this session to explore:

  • Strategies and innovations designed to modernize the Zero Trust identity experience
  • The latest advancements in identity management, including the use of AI to detect and respond to anomalous behavior
  • How to streamline user experiences while maintaining stringent security protocols

9:40am - 10:25am  Executive Boardroom

The Critical CFO-CIO Partnership for Realizing IT Value

Bill Maguire headshot

Bill Maguire

Sr. Director, SDM Oracle

Rimini Street

Paul Krebs headshot

Paul Krebs

CIO & Chief Transformation Officer

Koch Industries

Alok Gupta headshot

Alok Gupta

Chief Information Officer

Artera Services

In today’s dynamic business landscape, the synergy between CFOs and CIOs is crucial for shaping enterprise technology investments and driving innovation. Collaboration is essential for aligning financial strategies with technological advancements.

Join this session to explore:

  • Strengthening the CFO-CIO relationship to make data-driven decisions on emerging technologies and ROI
  • Harmonizing views on IT investments and driving results-driven projects
  • Communicating business and technology priorities

Executive boardrooms are intimate and interactive sessions designed to foster dynamic dialogue around a specific, strategic topic. These private, closed-door discussions encourage attendee participation and are limited to 15 attendees (seating priority is given to CIOs). To reserve your seat, please contact: Heather Bolick at heather.bolick@evanta.com.

9:40am - 10:25am  Executive Boardroom

Change Management Leadership for IT Adoption

Jim Palmer headshot

Jim Palmer

Chief AI Officer

Dialpad

Dustin Johnson headshot

Dustin Johnson

Head of Digital Technology - United States

UCB

Rohit Lal headshot

Rohit Lal

EVP & CIO

Saia

Alan Stukalsky headshot

Alan Stukalsky

Chief Digital Officer

Randstad North America

Technology is one challenge, people and culture are others. CIOs are tasked to provide the necessary tools, training, and process adjustments to optimally use Gen-AI throughout the enterprise. Yet, key change management strategies are needed to effectively implement Gen-AI projects.

Join this session to discuss:

  • Evangelizing GenAI use case adoption and overcoming hesitation
  • Ensuring trust and safety so users have confidence in AI outputs
  • Securing resources and developing strategies to bring organizational adoption effectively

Executive boardrooms are intimate and interactive sessions designed to foster dynamic dialogue around a specific, strategic topic. These private, closed-door discussions encourage attendee participation and are limited to 15 attendees (seating priority is given to CIOs). To reserve your seat, please contact: Heather Bolick at heather.bolick@evanta.com.

9:40am - 10:25am  Executive Boardroom

The CIO Influence — Championing Communication and Collaboration

Shaun Hunt headshot

Shaun Hunt

Chief Digital Officer

McKenney's

To lead resilient organizations, CIOs must effectively communicate with various stakeholders across the organization — each with different functional priorities and communication styles.

Join this session to discuss

  • Maximizing value from key stakeholder interactions
  • Overcoming resistance by seeking to understand priorities and challenges 
  • Speaking the language of various stakeholder audiences

Executive boardrooms are intimate and interactive sessions designed to foster dynamic dialogue around a specific, strategic topic. These private, closed-door discussions encourage attendee participation and are limited to 15 attendees (seating priority is given to CIOs). To reserve your seat, please contact: Heather Bolick at heather.bolick@evanta.com.

10:25am - 11:05am  Networking Break

10:30am - 10:55am  Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Connect with like-minded peers in a one-on-one setting through Evanta’s Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.

11:05am - 11:50am  Breakout Session

Advancing Customer Experience ― A Pathway to Business Growth

Matt Lehman headshot

Matt Lehman

Industry Principal, Financial Services

RingCentral

Leading CIOs seek to create a seamless user experience and leverage AI for superior customer outcomes. By creating more intimate and personalized interactions, AI can significantly improve client satisfaction and drive business growth.

Join this session to learn how to:

  • Streamline processes and tailor AI insights for a better customer experience
  • Capture and analyze customer interactions to derive actionable insights
  • Increase the efficiency and effectiveness in customer-facing functions

11:05am - 11:50am  Breakout Session

Modern Workforce, Modern Security Strategy

Fletcher Oliver headshot

Fletcher Oliver

Chrome Enterprise Customer Engineer

Google

In the age of remote and hybrid work, employees now spend the majority of their time in the browser or in virtual meetings. The workforce is more mobile and distributed than ever before. At the same time, we are seeing an increase in cyber attacks and a higher average cost of data breaches. We must think more about protecting users right where they interface with web threats, the browser, without disrupting productivity.

Join this conversation with your peers to discuss:

  • The browser's role in a business's security strategy
  • Zero trust architecture
  • Managing resources for cybersecurity in a time of economic uncertainty

11:05am - 11:50am  Executive Boardroom

Efficient IT + Efficient Business = Quantifiable Impact

Kerry Brown headshot

Kerry Brown

Chief Transformation Evangelist

Celonis

Jeff Yelle headshot

Jeff Yelle

VP, Chief Information Officer

Louisiana-Pacific Corp

Dena Campbell headshot

Dena Campbell

Chief Information Officer

Vaco

The need for greater efficiency is growing at a radical pace as new technologies emerge and stakeholder expectations rise. But improving process efficiency is only half the battle – CIOs must demonstrate tangible business impact and value.

Join this boardroom session to discuss:

  • Gaining complete visibility over processes
  • Aligning IT processes and business strategies
  • Quantifying the impact of improved process efficiencies

Executive boardrooms are intimate and interactive sessions designed to foster dynamic dialogue around a specific, strategic topic. These private, closed-door discussions encourage attendee participation and are limited to 15 attendees (seating priority is given to CIOs). To reserve your seat, please contact: Heather Bolick at heather.bolick@evanta.com.

11:50am - 12:35pm  Lunch Service

12:35pm - 1:10pm  Keynote

Transforming Application and Service Delivery for the Modern IT Environment

Bradon Rogers headshot

Bradon Rogers

Chief Customer Officer

Island

Delivering business critical applications safely is a delicate balancing act. The user experience is frequently compromised as application, infrastructure, and security teams negotiate the adoption of new services. Unfortunate trade-offs are sometimes necessary to address operational needs for the sake of maintaining security, but these trade-offs can make certain use cases unfeasible or diminish their value to the organization.

In this session, we will discuss:

  • Revolutionizing workspaces by balancing productivity, security, availability, and user experience.
  • How quickly new technologies like the enterprise browser can be adopted to provide a competitive advantage
  • Strategies forreducing the effort required to deliver applications and enhance organizational operations


1:10pm - 1:35pm  Break

1:35pm - 2:20pm  Breakout Session

10-Minute Wins — Building a High Performing Team

Kathryn Freytag headshot

Kathryn Freytag

VP Information Technology Strategy & CIO

Yamaha Motor Corporation USA

Regina Salazar headshot

Regina Salazar

SVP, Chief Information and Digital Officer

Novelis

Why learn from one peer when you can learn from two? Grab a seat as your fellow community members each take the floor for 10 minutes to share how their organizations are strategically building strong, business-enabling teams. 

1:35pm - 2:20pm  Executive Boardroom

Generating ROI with AI

Dana Ryan headshot

Dana Ryan

Head of North America Infrastructure Solutions

Lenovo

Raj Vuchatu headshot

Raj Vuchatu

Chief Information Officer

Georgia Tech Research Institute

Tyson Morris headshot

Tyson Morris

CIO

Marta

No business leader chooses technology for technology’s sake—they’re looking for substantive improvements in outcomes for their enterprise. AI is no different, but the speed of its evolution can make choosing the best path forward challenging. 

From people and processes to security and technology, join this boardroom to talk through what’s working and what’s not, including how to:

  • Choose use cases that generate revenue and identify KPIs for ROI tracking
  • Evaluate the constantly evolving AI ecosystem
  • Build and educate teams to support AI adoption and implementation

Executive boardrooms are intimate and interactive sessions designed to foster dynamic dialogue around a specific, strategic topic. These private, closed-door discussions encourage attendee participation and are limited to 15 attendees (seating priority is given to CIOs). To reserve your seat, please contact: Heather Bolick at heather.bolick@evanta.com.

1:35pm - 2:20pm  Executive Boardroom

Strategic Harmony — IT & Business Alignment

Robby Cullens headshot

Robby Cullens

SVP & CIO

Georgia-Pacific

Samata Tummala headshot

Samata Tummala

Head of Technology (U.S. & Canada)

Beazley Group

As IT's role within the business continues to evolve, CIOs must create a clear line of sight between IT strategy and business outcomes and priorities.

Join this boardroom session to discuss:

  • Aligning IT strategy with business goals and objectives
  • Positioning IT as a value driver for the business
  • Shaping a business-driven culture within IT

Executive boardrooms are intimate and interactive sessions designed to foster dynamic dialogue around a specific, strategic topic. These private, closed-door discussions encourage attendee participation and are limited to 15 attendees (seating priority is given to CIOs). To reserve your seat, please contact: Heather Bolick at heather.bolick@evanta.com.

1:35pm - 2:20pm  Executive Boardroom

Change as a Constant — Ensuring Workforce Adaptability

Steffanie Edwards Häfele headshot

Steffanie Edwards Häfele

Head, Technology Innovation

Black & Veatch

Organizational change is no longer a single event as IT leaders navigate simultaneous initiatives that challenge readiness and employee trust. How can CIOs develop a clear sense of purpose to steer their workforce through transitions and achieve business goals?

Join this session to discuss:

  • Designing an effective change management process
  • Fostering organizational readiness for change
  • Ensuring alignment with business goals through change

Executive boardrooms are intimate and interactive sessions designed to foster dynamic dialogue around a specific, strategic topic. These private, closed-door discussions encourage attendee participation and are limited to 15 attendees (seating priority is given to CIOs). To reserve your seat, please contact: Heather Bolick at heather.bolick@evanta.com.

2:20pm - 3:00pm  Networking Break

2:25pm - 2:50pm  Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Connect with like-minded peers in a one-on-one setting through Evanta’s Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.

3:00pm - 3:45pm  Breakout Session

Creating a Solid Data Foundation to Achieve AI Success

Santosh Kudva headshot

Santosh Kudva

Chief Data Officer

GE Vernova

IT leaders are tasked with delivering business outcomes, and in the age of Generative AI it is more critical than ever to establish a robust underlying data architecture foundation to enable the business. 

 In this session, Santosh Kudva, CDO at General Electric, shares insight on:

  • Incorporating Generative AI as part of overall data strategy
  • Utilizing comprehensive analytics to enable data quality 
  • Creating a data framework that can withstand constant evolution

3:00pm - 3:45pm  Executive Boardroom

Cyber Risk & Innovation — A Balancing Act

Michael Spires headshot

Michael Spires

CIO - Executive Vice President

Americold

As technology continues to evolve, cyber threats are right there matching that growth stride for stride. How are you developing your cybersecurity strategy to keep up with the risks posed by emerging technologies?

Join this session to discuss:

  • Measuring and communicating the impact of innovation on security posture
  • Mitigating the risk of adopting emerging technologies
  • Prioritizing cybersecurity without slowing down the business

Executive boardrooms are intimate and interactive sessions designed to foster dynamic dialogue around a specific, strategic topic. These private, closed-door discussions encourage attendee participation and are limited to 15 attendees (seating priority is given to CIOs). To reserve your seat, please contact: Heather Bolick at heather.bolick@evanta.com.

3:00pm - 3:45pm  Executive Boardroom

Shaping the Enterprise Culture for Digital Success

Matt Ausman headshot

Matt Ausman

Chief Information Officer

Zebra Technologies

Matt Ringer headshot

Matt Ringer

Global VP, Digital Information Technology

Kloeckner Metals

Culture is one the biggest barriers of digital ambitions and outcomes. As CIOs strive to foster an adaptive and agile environment, they must empower the organization’s culture to embrace the new digital environment and advance the enterprise vision.

Join this session to discuss:

  • Fostering an innovative culture of collaboration and agility within IT and across the enterprise
  • Influencing culture change to advance digital adoption and success
  • Empowering the workforce to harness technology and innovation for better business outcomes 

Executive boardrooms are intimate and interactive sessions designed to foster dynamic dialogue around a specific, strategic topic. These private, closed-door discussions encourage attendee participation and are limited to 15 attendees (seating priority is given to CIOs). To reserve your seat, please contact: Heather Bolick at heather.bolick@evanta.com.

3:45pm - 4:10pm  Break

4:10pm - 4:45pm  Keynote

Use the Stakeholder Value Model as the Ground Truth for the Value of IT

Jeff Cribbs headshot

Jeff Cribbs

Distinguished VP Analyst

Gartner

CIOs can begin their strategic planning with an outside-in perspective by developing a deep understanding of the value propositions made with the organization's stakeholders. 

Join this session as Jeff Cribbs, Gartner Distinguished VP Analyst, explores:

  • Examples of the fundamental five stakeholders across industries
  • Stakeholder priorities across industries and how they vary
  • Technology strategy aligned to achieve maximal outcomes for stakeholders


4:45pm - 5:00pm  Closing Comments and Prize Drawing

5:00pm - 6:30pm  Governing Body Reception

Governing Body Reception

The Atlanta CIO Governing Body hosts this reception for the community to close out the gathering. Join for an evening of peer networking, light bites and drinks.

November 20, 2024

We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming in-person gathering


Evanta cares about the health and safety of our community. Please review the following recommendations prior to attending the gathering.

Location


Venue & Accommodation

Westin Atlanta Perimeter North
MORE INFORMATION

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North at a reduced conference rate. Reservations should be made online or by calling 770.395.3900. Please mention Evanta CIO Executive Summit to ensure the appropriate room rate.

Deadline to book using the discounted room rate of $199 USD (plus tax) is October 28, 2024.

Your Community Partners


Global Thought Leaders
Key Partner
Program Partners

Community Program Manager


For inquiries related to this community, please reach out to your dedicated contact.

Heather Bolick

Community Program Manager

heather.bolick@evanta.com