
Houston CIO Community
Executive Summit
December 10, 2024 | Hyatt Regency Houston Galleria
December 10, 2024
Hyatt Regency Houston Galleria
Collaborate with your peers
Get together with Houston'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:
Measuring the success of outcomes to further illustrate IT as a business driver
Leveraging data & analytics to advance the business
Mitigating risks and improving efficiencies with cybersecurity strategies
Houston 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

David Cain
CVR Energy
VP & CIO

Vagesh Dave
McDermott International
Global VP/ CIO

Paula Smetana Stuart
Crescent Energy
Chief Information Officer

Michael Thompson
Gulfport Energy Corporation
Vice President & Chief Information Officer

John Varkey
WM
SVP, CIO
What to Expect
Agenda
7:45am - 8:30am Registration & Breakfast
8:30am - 9:15am Keynote
Leading Resilient Teams Through Unpredictable Adversity

Lisa Thompson
Author of "Finding Elevation: Fear and Courage on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain"
Guest Speaker
Lisa Thompson is a high-altitude mountaineer and former healthcare executive who beat cancer months before standing on the summit of Everest. Lisa later became the first all-American woman to summit K2, which is considered the deadliest mountain in the world. In her talks and book, “Finding Elevation,” Lisa shares the experience of climbing the toughest mountains in the world and the importance of teamwork, resilience and defining boundaries.
Join this keynote session to learn about the importance of:
- Embracing change and overcoming challenges
- Creating a supportive environment inside and outside the office
- Defining clear roles and goals to build a strong, communicative team
9:15am - 9:40am Networking Break
9:40am - 10:25am Breakout Session
Intelligent Content Management ― Building an Unstructured Data Strategy for AI
Hosted by Box

Ravi Malick
SVP & Global CIO
Box
Unstructured data is the essence of your business — files like product roadmaps, financial spreadsheets, customer surveys and employee records. Fragmented content across the business leads to security risks and high costs, making AI integration seem impossible. However, intelligent content management makes an AI-powered content strategy feasible.
Join this session to learn about:
- Identifying unstructured data sources and tools
- Developing robust security measures for internal and external data use
- Balancing AI with existing architecture to optimize unstructured data technology
9:40am - 10:25am Executive Boardroom
The Critical CFO-CIO Partnership for Realizing IT Value
Hosted by Rimini Street

Coy Wright
Vice President, Energy, Utilities, and Resources Industry Solutions
Rimini Street

Saurin Ganatra
Senior Director Information Technology, Head of IT
Key Energy Services

David Harmon
CIO
Oil States International
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 Jacob.Inman@evanta.com
9:40am - 10:25am Executive Boardroom
Creating Business Stakeholder Ownership in Technology Initiatives
Hosted by ServiceNow

Rohan Pal
Chief Transformation Officer
ServiceNow

Dan Durkin
Managing Director of Technology
Yes Prep Public Schools Inc.

Erik Tennison
Associate Information Officer
AIG
While many CEOs are tasking the business to advance digital priorities, challenges block progress due to legacy IT, transitioning to the cloud, and the unrelenting task of IT operations. Breaking the bottleneck of transformation is not straightforward, but creating ownership with the wider business can prove to be a winning strategy.
Join this session to discuss:
- Balancing and aligning IT and enterprise priorities
- Incorporating the wider business to drive its own digital priorities
- Collaborating across the C-Suite to meet enterprise goals
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 Jacob.Inman@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
A Key Piece of the Digital Puzzle — The Role of AI

Amyn Gillani
Executive RVP, IT-Digital & Innovation Transformation
McKesson

Pragati Mathur
Chief Digital & Information Officer
ConocoPhillips
CIOs play a pivotal role in leveraging Digital & AI to unlock new opportunities, streamline processes and show big value to the business. Pragati Mathur, Chief Digital & Information Officer at ConocoPhillips, will share about their multi prong digital and AI approach.
Join this session to hear about:
- How AI fits into the digital journey
- Cybersecurity considerations within your AI strategy
- Accelerating the digital business through innovation
11:05am - 11:50am Executive Boardroom
M&A — Strategies for Thriving Through Change

Scott Haney
SVP of IT Ops and Sec
Stream Realty Partners

Phillip Pappan
Chief Information Officer
Superior Energy
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 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
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 Jacob.Inman@evanta.com
11:05am - 11:50am Executive Boardroom
Navigating Data Trust to Success

Darwin Jebha
Vice President & Chief Information Officer
Thermon Manufacturing

Praveen Singh
VIce President & Chief Information Officer
Honeywell Process Solutions
IT leaders face the critical task of ensuring data's trust and reliability —essential for informed decision making and strategic advantage. Aligning data strategies with business objectives ensures compliance but also positions data as a pivotal force for competitive differentiation.
Join your peers to discuss:
- Establishing robust governance for data trust-building
- Adopting technology to ensure data quality
- Fostering organizational culture for data literacy
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 Jacob.Inman@evanta.com
11:50am - 12:35pm Lunch Service
Apply to Participate
Apply to participate in the Houston CIO 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
Hyatt Regency Houston GalleriaParking Information:
Complimentary valet parking provided by Evanta.
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hyatt Regency Houston Galleria at a reduced conference rate. Reservations should be made online or by calling 1-800-233-1234. Please mention CIO Executive Summit to ensure the appropriate room rate.
Deadline to book using the discounted room rate of $159 USD (plus tax) is November 18, 2024.
Community Program Manager
For inquiries related to this community, please reach out to your dedicated contact.