In-Person

Atlanta CIO Community

Executive Summit

June 12, 2024 | Westin Atlanta Perimeter North

June 12, 2024
Westin Atlanta Perimeter North

Governing Body Agenda Location Sponsors Contact

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

Harold Shannon

CoreCivic
VP, Technology and CIO

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 Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.

Agenda

June 11, 2024

evening

June 12, 2024

morning afternoon

6:00pm - 8:30pm Governing Body Reception

Governing Body Welcome Reception

Governing Body members host this dinner for attendees to launch the event with an evening of peer networking.

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

8:30am - 9:15am Keynote

The Performance Paradox — Mental Health and High Productivity

Kara Hardin

Registered Psychotherapist & LEO of The Practice Lab

Guest Speaker

Today's relentless pursuit of success can lead to profound dissatisfaction and dramatically affect mental health. Accomplishments lack satisfaction, work is ceaseless, sleep and self-care are sacrificed. Recognizing this, leaders can play a pivotal role in breaking this cycle and nurturing a healthier and more fulfilled workforce.

Join this keynote from a mental health educator and former lawyer to learn:

How time, efficiency, and productivity challenges individual and community health
Why mental health of individuals and teams drives performance (and not vice versa)
What steps leaders can take, for themselves and others, to shift away from the paradox and towards a more healthy relationship with work

9:15am - 9:40am Networking Break

9:40am - 10:25am Breakout Session

Meaningful Mentorship — Shaping and Learning from Future Leaders

Jay Ferro

EVP, Chief Information Officer, Technology & Product Officer

Clario

Jason James

CIO

Aptos

Providing support and guidance to the next generation of IT leaders can be invaluable to rising talent but can positively impact the mentor as well. Join this fireside chat as CIOs discuss the influence mentoring continues to have on their career paths and lives.

Join this session to discuss:

Championing rising stars in IT
Building lasting, productive relationships
Advancing the business through leadership and development

9:40am - 10:25am Breakout Session

Connect the Dots Across the Customer Lifecycle

Companies have been collecting data on their customers since the dawn of direct marketing, but in today’s digital era, gathering information is only the first step. Truly knowing your customer requires integrating data and insights from all your existing tools — including your CRM, marketing suite, ecommerce platform and contact center — to build an accurate and real-time picture of who they are and what they want. Only then can you consistently deliver the highly personalized interactions that customers expect and that create value for them and your organization.

Join this session to discuss:

Generating actionable insights from an endless sea of customer data
Unlocking value and enabling conversions from every conversation
Building differentiated engagement without sacrificing consumer data privacy and transparency

9:40am - 10:25am Executive Boardroom

Transformative Shockwaves: Navigating Unpredictability Through Strategic Control

Mary Adams

Digital Transformation Officer

WalkMe

Kevin Brooks

CIO

Quikrete Companies

Dwain Wilcox

SVP & CIO

J.M. Huber

As lines of business continue to invest in new applications and processes, disconnected, siloed, and individual initiatives are creating shockwaves throughout the organization. Such random acts of digital lack the necessary degrees of strategic oversight and organizational change control, leading to unpredictability and elevated levels of organizational risk.

Join this boardroom to discuss how to:

Adopt new digital solutions with proactive approaches
Eliminate chance outcomes from random acts of digital
Promote unity while mitigating risks

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

Driving Success Through Divestiture

Grant Shih

Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer

Vestis

A divestiture presents an opportunity for IT to drive value, promote an innovative culture, and build an effective team. However, the CIO/CTO must balance planning for the new company while minimizing disruption at the parent company. Grant Shih shares his strategy for leading Vestis through its spin-off from Aramark.

Join this session to discuss:

Preparing IT for a divestiture
Leading effective communication and change management
Defining an IT operating model to organize talent, processes, technology and data

11:05am - 11:50am Breakout Session

Building an AI-Powered and Secure Unstructured Data Strategy

Ravi Malick

Global CIO

Box

Robert Howard

Associate VP & Deputy Chief Information Officer

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Your unstructured data holds immense value in the files that define your business. To maximize the potential of this data, it's crucial to establish a comprehensive unstructured data strategy that prioritizes both security and AI integration.

Join this session to learn about:

Identifying your valuable unstructured data sources and tools
Developing robust security measures for internal and external data use
Balancing AI with stringent security and compliance protocols to increase utility

11:05am - 11:50am Executive Boardroom

Business, Process and Technology Best Practices for Generative AI

Wayne Segar

Global Field CTO

Dynatrace

Eduard de Vries Sands

CIO

Eversana

Heather Miller

VP, Digital Transformation

WestRock

Generative AI has created an unprecedented wave of investment, and any organization who moves too slowly, or not at all, stands to be left behind as the AI boom is under way. Early adopters formulated strategies and prioritized investments for their Gen AI initiatives and demonstrated value in key areas.

Join this boardroom to discuss:

Establishing centers of excellence for responsible Gen AI programs and oversight
Prioritizing technology investment areas targeted at fast early results
Making Gen AI a foundation for business planning and maximizing productivity

To reserve your seat, please contact: Heather Bolick at Heather.Bolick@evanta.com

11:50am - 12:35pm Lunch Service

12:35pm - 1:10pm Keynote

Unlocking Full Cloud Potential – IT Enhancements for Today’s Enterprise

Bradon Rogers

Global Head of Customer Experience

Island

While the vast majority of infrastructure has been upgraded and modernized to support the shift to the cloud, enterprise IT teams are still missing an equally seamless access method to deliver cloud-native apps and data to their end users. While traditional browsers have become the de-facto access point for the majority of business critical applications, they lack the deep visibility and hyper-granular policy controls enterprises need. This results in IT leaders surrounding their browsers with layers of tech to meet those needs.

Join this keynote session to discover:

Why traditional cloud security methods undermine your modernization efforts and end-user experience
Embracing technological momentum to adapt to a "more-with-less" IT landscape
How enterprise CIOs are using this solution to bolster cloud security

1:10pm - 1:35pm Break

1:35pm - 2:20pm Breakout Session

M&A — Strategies for Thriving Through Change

Alok Gupta

Chief Information Officer

Artera Services

In the evolving landscape of mergers and acquisitions, IT leadership is no longer an afterthought but a crucial voice in the M&A process. With technology tightly integrated into business processes, IT leaders have the potential to drive positive transformation and permanent business growth. Join Alok Gupta as he shares strategies for thoughtfully executing business integrations that unlock new potential.

Join this session to discuss:

Evolving M&A playbooks and executing successful roadmaps
Growing pains and gains through organizational pivots
Excelling in change management leadership for sustainable transformation

1:35pm - 2:20pm Breakout Session

Zero Trust Strategies for Scalable and Converged Application Access

Poornima DeBolle

Co-Founder and CTO

Menlo Security

Adopting Virtual Desktop Infrastructure poses security and economic challenges for enterprises large and small. CIOs are tasked with providing secure access to applications for a diverse workforce, including remote employees and third-party contractors. Poornima DeBolle discusses Zero Trust Access strategies for improving security poster in the modern hybrid workforce.

Join this session to discuss:

Getting ahead of VDI-enabled zero-day threats
Improving security with Zero Trust Access
Navigating and identifying the business impact of Secure Enterprise Browser adoption

1:35pm - 2:20pm Executive Boardroom

Steady Modernization to Optimize Legacy Technology

Ken Gonzalez

Head of Analyst Relations

Freshworks

Sunil Rajan

Vice President Information Technology

Roark Capital Group

Praveen Gautam

Chief Information Officer

BlueLinx

As digital enterprises evolve to stay competitive, continuous modernization is imperative to minimize cost, risk and impact of legacy technology. Leveraging new technologies and innovation can become a challenge in legacy environments. What is the CIO’s best path forward to successfully allow legacy systems to coexist with new digital products?

Join this boardroom to discuss:

Keeping legacy systems agile to meet business needs
Prioritizing which legacy systems to modernize
Balancing a legacy environment with the business need to leverage AI

To reserve your seat, please contact: Heather Bolick at Heather.Bolick@evanta.com

1:35pm - 2:20pm Executive Boardroom

The New Era of CyberSECurity

Harold Shannon

VP, Technology and CIO

CoreCivic

Kevin Kerrigan

Chief Information Officer

Fulton County, GA

Matt Ausman

Chief Information Officer

Zebra Technologies

Technology leaders are facing an important task as they navigate the SEC’s recently adopted rules designed to improve the disclosure of cybersecurity risk management, strategy, governance, and incidents by public companies. How is your organization adapting to the shift?

Join your peers to discuss:

Working with legal to develop your organization's standard of "materiality"
Disclosing processes for assessing, identifying, and managing material risks from cybersecurity threats
Determining where in each executive's reporting structure responsibility ultimately lies

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

Mastering Influence & Collaboration Across the C-Suite

Tarek Elhadidi

Chief Information Officer

Multi-Color

To lead resilient organizations, CIOs must effectively communicate with various stakeholders across the c-suite —each with different priorities and communication styles. To build a strong foundation for successful IT strategy creation and execution, collaboration is critical.

Join this interactive session to discuss:

Maximizing value from key stakeholder interaction
Overcoming resistance by seeking to understand and acknowledge
Individualizing your communication tactics based on your audience

3:00pm - 3:45pm Executive Boardroom

Application Rationalization

Dena Campbell

Chief Information Officer

Vaco

Raj Velmurugan

VP of IT (CIO)

Harley-Davidson

Gerald Waldherr

VP Information Technology

Mondi

CIOs are balancing an ever-increasing number of service providers which requires a strong vendor and application rationalization strategy. How can leaders evolve their application strategies to optimize cost, increase operational efficiencies, and remain agile in the face of constant change?

Join this session to discuss:

Incorporating effective contract management to avoid vendor lock-in
Creating architectures that evolve with ever-changing business requirements
Discontinuing legacy systems, modernizing, and shifting to agile solutions

To reserve your seat, please contact: Heather Bolick at Heather.Bolick@evanta.com

3:00pm - 3:45pm Executive Boardroom

Delivering an Analytics Strategy that Packs a Punch

Sandeep Angra

Chief Information and Technology Officer

Unifi

Jeanne Sands

CIO

Summit BHC

As CIOs seek to drive business value from data and analytics initiatives, they face both cultural and technical challenges. CIOs must partner with the business in creating a long-term analytics strategy that enables the organization to make data driven decisions.

Join this boardroom to discuss:

Evolving data governance efforts to power accuracy in reporting and analytics
Overcoming technical obstacles and cost pressure to ensure analytics programs get prioritized
Building a business case to create a strategy that has measurable outcomes and results

To reserve your seat, please contact: Heather Bolick at Heather.Bolick@evanta.com

3:45pm - 4:10pm Break

4:10pm - 4:45pm Keynote

Thriving as a CIO in the AI-Powered Digital Gold Rush

Brook Selassie

VP, Corporate Strategy Advisory Practice

Gartner

According to Gartner, $3 trillion dollars will be spent on AI in the next 3 years. The value on offer is enormous, but realizing it requires creativity and management of new types of risk. CIOs have a great leadership opportunity, but they need to make space and step up security in order to pursue it.

Join this keynote to discuss:

Navigating the pressures of AI innovation vs. near-termism
Addressing new and unique issues presented by AI-powered malinformation
Building your AI treasure map

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

June 11, 2024

evening

June 12, 2024

morning afternoon

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Gartner cares about the health and safety of our community. If you are feeling unwell, please refrain from attending the conference. At this time, Gartner does not have any health-related requirements in place for attendance. Should this change, we will follow up with updated guidance.

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.

Deadline to book using the discounted room rate of $199 USD (plus tax) is May 20, 2024.

Reserve Room