Executive Summit

AI is transforming the buy-versus-build decision by making custom solutions more accessible. At the same time, rising subscription costs and unpredictable add-ons are pushing CIOs to reconsider the long-term value of vendor partnerships. As organizations navigate data, integration, and modernization challenges, CIOs must find the right mix between building for flexibility and buying for stability.

Join this boardroom to discuss:

• Aligning application strategies with business goals
• Pinpointing opportunities for internal development
• Assessing long-term adaptability, cost transparency, and resilience in both build and buy approaches

Agentic AI is transforming work and prompting leaders to rethink traditional suites and modernization strategies. This boardroom will examine how agentic AI is unbundling ERP responsibilities, reshaping process orchestration and enabling smarter service layers.

Join fellow CIOs to explore:

• The rise of service layers, workflow engines and AI agents
• What’s replacing monolithic ERP models
• Key assumptions to challenge when evaluating vendor roadmaps

As emerging technology continues to dominate headlines and the pressure to innovate intensifies, CIOs are entering a new era of navigating expectations. From C-Suite peers to the board, the expectations placed on the CIO to deliver are accelerating.

Join this peer‑led session to discuss:

• Managing heightened executive and board expectations
• Bridging technical complexity with shared business priorities
• Strengthening cross‑functional alignment amid accelerating change

 While you likely have plans to increase your organization's artificial intelligence investments, you may believe the rhetoric surrounding the potential benefits of AI is inflating expectations. How can CIOs mitigate the negative aspects of AI hype and harness its power to create real value?

Join your peers for an interactive discussion on:

• Defining and setting realistic goals for your organization
• Managing the business’s expectations
• Educating leadership on the complexity of AI adoption and governance

Artificial intelligence has enormous potential to create tangible business value, but it’s going to take more than enthusiasm to get there.  How are you investing in data, change management and literacy to make AI a critical differentiator?

Join your peers for an interactive discussion on:

• Identifying the most relevant value opportunities
• Creating a strategy that fully and continuously aligns with the business
• Setting realistic goals to build and mature an AI operating model

In high-achieving environments, the drive to succeed often comes at a quiet cost: exhaustion, disconnection, and a sense that no matter how much we accomplish, it’s never quite enough. When productivity becomes the only measure of worth, rest feels impossible—and burnout starts to look like the norm. But it doesn’t have to be.

In this keynote Kara Hardin, former lawyer, and mental health educator explores why our current approach to performance is backfiring—and what we can do instead. Through research, relatable stories, and practical tools, we’ll unpack:

• How common ideas about time, efficiency, and productivity are quietly harming individual and collective well-being
• Why mental health isn’t the reward for high performance—it’s the foundation
• What leaders can do (for themselves and their teams) to build a healthier, more sustainable relationship with work