Building Smarter, Bolder IT for What’s Next
With AI expected to add $15 trillion to the global economy by 2030, CIOs are under pressure to deliver real impact - not just experiments. But innovation at scale requires more than new tools. It demands strong leadership, clear priorities, and a business-wide vision for the future.
This summit brings together IT leaders looking to redefine what’s possible. From scaling AI, mitigating risk within IT modernization, and leading with empathy, you'll explore how to drive meaningful change across people, platforms, and performance - while keeping your organisation resilient, agile, and ready for what’s next.
Join us to connect with true peers and lead with confidence into the future.
Immerse yourself in thought-provoking insights
Exclusively curated from our previous
CIO Physical Summit
Core Themes
Balancing AI Integration with Operational Integrity
With AI technologies evolving rapidly, CIOs face the challenge of leveraging these tools for competitive advantage while minimising risks like data leakage and regulatory compliance. Explore strategies for integrating AI without disrupting operations or compromising resilience.
From Cost Centre to Value Driver: Transforming the IT Narrative and Proving Value
In today’s tech-driven business world, CIOs must demonstrate ROI to secure executive buy-in. Explore strategies to align IT investments with business goals, communicate value effectively, and position IT as a key driver of financial and strategic outcomes.
Harnessing Connected Technologies for Enterprise Agility
In the age of digital acceleration, IT leaders must transform siloed technology landscapes into cohesive ecosystems. Discover how to prioritise scalable, secure integrations that foster collaboration and deliver seamless user experiences to drive innovation and growth.
Data as a Driver: Empowering Real-Time Decisions Across the Enterprise
The explosion of data mandates that CIOs equip their organisations for real-time, data-informed decision-making. Learn how to deploy advanced analytics and governance frameworks to break silos, unlock actionable intelligence, and drive competitive success.
The CIO at a Crossroads: Defining the Next-Generation Technology Leader
The next generation of IT leaders will not only need to drive innovation but also shape business strategy and foster a culture of collaboration and curiosity. Examine how the CIO role is evolving and discover the skills and mindset needed to thrive in 2025 and beyond.
Seizing on AI – and Being Smart About It
Amid the AI boom, leaders must move beyond the hype to deliver measurable business value. Discover how to align AI initiatives with clear goals, solve specific business challenges, and foster innovation for meaningful, long-term impact.
Speakers
John Hobson
Kai Waehner
Dr. James Hewitt
Michelle Kearns
Eveline Oehrlich
Robin Tatam
Leonard Jayakumar
Mahendra Muralidhar
Ben Thompson
Marco Van Nieuwenhuijzen
Matt Curtis
Graeme Howard
Masood Alam
Neil Sawyer
Ravinder Sahota
Ben Sekhon
Paul de Abreu
Barney Grossman
Elisa Rönkä
Pedro Liaño
Alfonso Razzi
Harvi Johal
Agenda
1:10 pm - 1:35 pm
Keynote
How to build a team that’s ready for anything
In disruptive times, the most successful businesses are those led by leaders who can inspire action, rally teams around a shared vision, align company culture with business goals, and set realistic expectations for both financial and time investments.
Join Kellanova’s Vice President and European CIO, John Hobson, as he shares insights, strategies, and perspectives on building and managing agile teams that can thrive in disruptive times. Throughout Kellanova’s continued transformation journey, John and the European IT team have led the technology strategy, building scalable technology platforms and new digital capabilities that are enabling business value creation. The IT team continues to serve as the engine that balances the demands of the company’s IT change portfolio, against the backdrop of an ever-changing tech landscape.
This keynote will explore:
• Key leadership traits and skills that drive effective transformation and inspire teams to embrace change and thrive.
• How to align teams around a common purpose and inspire innovation.
• Practical approaches to managing the pace of transformation with technology.
1:40 pm - 2:20 pm
Panel
Real-Time Data, Real-World Impact
In today’s digital-first world, data underpins every business decision, customer interaction, and innovation initiative. For CIOs and IT leaders, the challenge is not just managing vast volumes of data but transforming that data into valuable insights that deliver measurable business outcomes. Smarter systems are the foundation for innovation at scale, enabling predictive analytics, AI-driven recommendations, and the trust, governance, and scale you need.
This panel will explore how IT leaders can build forward-thinking data ecosystems, harness real-time capabilities, and embed governance and trust to turn insights into action and strengthen enterprise-wide decision making.
Discussion Areas:
• How are CIOs evolving their data strategies to unlock real-time insights and turn data into a driver of business value?
• How does data trustworthiness and governance enable AI, automation, and predictive analytics?
• What are the biggest hurdles - both organizational and technological - to modernizing IT systems for smarter insights - and how are leaders overcoming them?
• How can IT leaders balance speed, innovation, and data governance when deploying real-time data solutions?
• Which emerging trends are reshaping the CIOs’ approach to data-driven decision making across industries?
2:20 pm - 2:45 pm
Diamond Keynote
What AI and Cloud won’t fix: The myths CIOs must leave behind
CIOs face relentless pressure to deliver transformation amid a whirlwind of hype. This tell-all session takes aim at the top myths shaping today’s technology landscape - from the reality of AI adoption to the hidden costs of cloud. You’ll hear unfiltered lessons from the field and leave with a clear view of what works, what doesn’t, and how to stay laser-focused on business value.
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Roundtables
Track 1: IT as a Value Creator: Redefining the Cost-Centre Narrative
The CIO role is evolving from managing technology spend to proving measurable business impact. With tighter budgets, increasing digital ambitions, and the rise of AI, CIOs are challenged by securing funds, optimizing spend and demonstrating the business value of IT.
Join us for this roundtable where we will discuss how CIOs can transform, manage, and communicate technology's impact on outcomes at the business value level.
Discussion Points:
• Achieving full visibility into IT spend and ensuring investments align directly with business priorities
• Measuring outcomes and clearly communicating the business impact of IT initiatives
• Leveraging AI to enhance IT financial management, from spend analysis to real-time ROI measurement
• Shifting stakeholder perception from IT as a cost centre to IT value creation
• Balancing cost optimization with sustained investment in digital innovation
Track 2: Resilient Modernization: Balancing Innovation, Velocity, and Risk
For CIOs, modernization is no longer optional - but the path forward carries significant risk. Legacy systems add technical debt, business continuity must be preserved, and the pressure to innovate at speed has never been greater.
This roundtable will explore actionable strategies for de-risking modernization initiatives while examining how to balance innovation and velocity with the demands of compliance and resilience in an era of increasing complexity and emerging AI capabilities.
Discussion Points
• Identifying and managing the biggest risks when modernizing legacy systems
• Balancing the urgency to innovate with the need for operational resilience and compliance
• Leveraging AI responsibly to accelerate change while maintaining trust and oversight
• Ensuring modernization delivers tangible business value for stakeholders
• Reducing technical debt and risk in legacy environments without causing disruption
Track 3: The AI Deployment Gap - Why Caution is the New Risk
AI is moving at pace from experimental to a competitive necessity. For CIOs, the question is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how to deploy it quickly and safely at scale. The organisations winning today aren't just building AI capabilities. they're deploying them continuously, learning from real-world usage, and iterating faster than their competitors.
This roundtable explores the operational strategies that enable rapid AI deployment while maintaining control, and examines how leading teams are turning AI from a risk management challenge into a competitive advantage.
Discussion Points:
• From build to deployment: How leading organisations are shortening the cycle from AI development to production, and what infrastructure enables continuous delivery of AI features
• The shift from "test everything" to "learn in production": Why some teams are moving away from trying to predict every AI scenario in pre-production, and instead deploying with the ability to observe, limit blast radius, and course-correct in real-time
• Building reversibility into AI systems: The emerging practice of treating AI deployments as temporary and reversible by default: what architectural patterns make this possible, and how does it change risk calculations?
• Decentralizing AI deployment decisions: Where leading organizations are drawing the line between central control and team autonomy when it comes to AI releases, and what safeguards make decentralization possible
• Measuring what matters: Moving beyond compliance checkboxes to metrics that demonstrate business impact—customer satisfaction, revenue lift, operational efficiency, and speed of learning
3:00 pm - 6:30 pm
1:1 Meetings
4:10 pm - 4:40 pm
Interactive Panel
Leading Through Pressure: The Hidden Stressors of the CIO Role
Today’s IT leaders are under immense pressure - expected to be strategists, innovators, crisis managers, and culture leaders, often all at once. This highly interactive session explores the human side of IT leadership: the invisible stressors that come with the role, and how senior technology leaders can build resilience while leading high-performing teams.
We’ll unpack the real challenges CIOs face - from managing technical debt to balancing stakeholder demands, retaining top talent, and avoiding burnout. This session creates space for reflection, connection, and shared learning with your peers.
Come prepared to engage - your perspective may be exactly what someone else needs to hear.
4:45 pm - 5:15 pm
Case Study
Cyber Resilience Starts at the Endpoint: Building a Stronger Foundation Against Breaches with AI Insights
Cyber resilience is no longer defined by how fast we react, but by how well we prepare. In today’s borderless digital world, resilience begins where people and technology connect at the endpoint, every device, user, and interaction has become part of a vast digital ecosystem
This session invites leaders to rethink endpoint management as more than an operational necessity; it is the foundation of trust, continuity, and intelligence. Discover how rethinking endpoint strategy empowers enterprises to stay adaptive, predictive, and resilient not just responding to cyber threats, but evolving beyond them.
Join us to explore how AI-driven insights are transforming endpoint security from reactive defense into proactive intelligence.
6:30 pm - 7:20 pm
Cocktail Reception
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Gala Dinner
8:30 pm - 8:55 pm
Dinner Keynote
Regenerative Performance: How to Thrive in an Always-On World Without Sacrificing Your Wellbeing
Despite $70 billion spent annually on workplace wellbeing, 90% of employees report their work lives are worsening. Leaders and their teams face a false choice: burn out from overwork or check out from self-protection. Neither leads to thriving. But there is a ‘third way’. Drawing on 20 years working with Olympic athletes, Formula One teams, and Fortune 500 companies, plus his own journey as an elite athlete and cancer survivor, Dr. James Hewitt introduces Cognitive Gears: a neuroscience-backed framework for sustainable high performance. Discover how to engineer efficiency in "Middle Gear" (reclaim 1+ hour daily), unlock deep focus in "High Gear" (work 33% faster with less stress), and leverage strategic recovery in "Low Gear" (reduce burnout to 2% while boosting performance 26%). Walk away with practical, inspirational, research-backed tools you can implement straight away.
8:00 am - 8:40 am
Panel
Innovate Boldly, Operate Brilliantly
IT leaders today are constantly walking a tightrope between innovation and operational resilience. As digital transformation and AI initiatives accelerate, three in four CIOs continue to struggle with the delicate balance - a challenge especially pronounced in sectors like education and manufacturing. Navigating this dual mandate requires careful resource management to avoid stifling innovation or compromising operational stability.
This panel brings together technology leaders who will share strategies for embracing a flexible resource model, strengthening IT-business collaboration, and leading innovation initiatives that deliver tangible business outcomes while maintaining the integrity and reliability of core IT operations. Join us to explore how to drive digital growth without losing control.
Discussion areas:
- What are the best ways to bridge IT and business for true collaboration?
- How can IT teams adopt agile resource models to adapt to shifting priorities?
- What does it take to shift from a project mindset to a product-centric model that delivers continuous value?
- Is it possible to move fast, stay secure, and deliver consistently - or is something always sacrificed?
- Which metrics best capture both innovation impact and operational health?
- How do you decide which innovation efforts to scale, pause, or sunset - especially when resources are constrained?
8:40 am - 9:10 am
Keynote
The Agentic Revolution
The Agentic Revolution demands a strategic pivot, as Agentic AI accelerates the timeline for application modernization and digital transformation. Join VP, Ben Sekhon, and Solution Architect Manager, Paul de Abreu, for a deep dive on how to rapidly transform and scale your applications, accelerate digital transformation, and build a future-proof, interconnected IT infrastructure with intelligent agents free from limitations.
9:20 am - 12:10 pm
1:1 Meetings
9:20 am - 10:20 am
Roundtables
Track 1: IT as a Value Creator: Redefining the Cost-Centre Narrative
The CIO role is evolving from managing technology spend to proving measurable business impact. With tighter budgets, increasing digital ambitions, and the rise of AI, IT leaders are under pressure to demonstrate ROI while driving innovation.
Join us for this roundtable where we will highlight actionable steps for aligning IT strategy with business goals, focusing on financial transparency, business alignment, and the opportunities AI brings for efficiency and growth.
Discussion Points:
- Establishing full visibility over IT spend and aligning it strategically with business objectives
- Measuring and communicating the impact of IT investments on key business metrics
- Leveraging AI to unlock efficiencies and enhance ROI measurement across IT operations
- Shifting stakeholder perception from IT spend to IT value creation
- Balancing cost optimisation with ongoing investment in digital innovation
Track 2: Resilient Modernization: Mitigating Risk in Large-Scale Change
For CIOs, modernization is no longer optional - but the path forward is full of risk. Legacy systems carry technical debt, business continuity must be preserved, and the pressure to innovate faster has never been higher.
Join us for this roundtable where we will discuss actionable steps for de-risking your modernization strategy, while exploring how to balance speed, compliance, and resilience in an era defined by complexity and AI.
Discussion Points
- Identifying and managing the biggest risks when modernizing legacy systems
- Balancing the urgency to innovate with the need to preserve stability and operational excellence
- Leveraging data and AI responsibly to accelerate modernization while reducing risk
- Translating complex IT changes into clear business value for stakeholders
- Practical approaches to reducing technical debt without disrupting core business operations
Track 3: The AI Deployment Gap - Why Caution is the New Risk
AI is moving at pace from experimental to a competitive necessity. For CIOs, the question is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how to deploy it quickly and safely at scale. The organisations winning today aren't just building AI capabilities. they're deploying them continuously, learning from real-world usage, and iterating faster than their competitors.
This roundtable explores the operational strategies that enable rapid AI deployment while maintaining control, and examines how leading teams are turning AI from a risk management challenge into a competitive advantage.
Discussion Points:
• From build to deployment: How leading organisations are shortening the cycle from AI development to production, and what infrastructure enables continuous delivery of AI features
• The shift from "test everything" to "learn in production": Why some teams are moving away from trying to predict every AI scenario in pre-production, and instead deploying with the ability to observe, limit blast radius, and course-correct in real-time
• Building reversibility into AI systems: The emerging practice of treating AI deployments as temporary and reversible by default: what architectural patterns make this possible, and how does it change risk calculations?
• Decentralizing AI deployment decisions: Where leading organizations are drawing the line between central control and team autonomy when it comes to AI releases, and what safeguards make decentralization possible
• Measuring what matters: Moving beyond compliance checkboxes to metrics that demonstrate business impact—customer satisfaction, revenue lift, operational efficiency, and speed of learning
10:30 am - 11:00 am
Case Study
You Can’t Automate Leadership: Building People-First IT & Digital Teams
As automation transforms how work gets done, one truth remains: great leadership isn’t programmable. Today’s technology leaders aren’t just driving digital transformation - they’re building the teams and cultures that make it possible. As technology evolves, empathy, trust, and vision remain deeply human - and essential.
This session explores what it means to lead with intention amid rapid change and uncertainty. How do IT & digital leaders stay ahead without losing the essence of meaningful leadership? How do you inspire trust, build resilience, and sustain a culture of innovation?
Join this conversation to discover how to reimagine IT structures, develop cross-functional talent, and lead with emotional intelligence to build high-performing teams that innovate, adapt, and align with business strategy.
Discussion points:
• Leading with empathy in an AI-driven world
• Fostering a culture of innovation and business alignment
• Reimagining IT organizational structure for collaboration and agility
• The expanding role of IT leadership
• Developing and upskilling talent for cross-functional impact
• Measuring success in a human-centered, AI-first environment
11:05 am - 11:35 am
Workshop
The Human Side of AI: Overcoming Resistance and Mobilizing the Workforce
As AI adoption accelerates, the biggest challenges are often human, not technical. Alfonso will explore how to navigate resistance, shift mindsets, and develop the trust and skills needed for meaningful AI-driven change. He’ll share real-world lessons from leading transformation at scale, highlighting what truly moves people from hesitation to engagement. Attendees will gain practical strategies to communicate the “why,” cultivate a culture ready for experimentation, and mobilize the workforce to embrace AI-driven change with confidence and curiosity.
11:40 am - 12:00 pm
Workshop
Responsible Leadership and Data Stewardship
Responsible leadership in AI and data stewardship involves guiding the development, deployment, and use of AI systems and data in ways that are ethical, transparent, and accountable.
Together, responsible leadership in AI and data stewardship emphasises *trustworthy, sustainable* practices: leaders drive ethical intent, while stewards maintain data health and security. This synergy helps organisations harness AI and data responsibly, delivering value without compromising safety, fairness or privacy.
12:30 pm - 12:55 pm
Closing Keynote
From Resilient to Regenerative: Leading Through Disruption with Purpose, Data, and Humanity
As the pace of change accelerates, CIOs and IT leaders are no longer just builders of resilient systems - they are architects of regenerative organisations that can learn, adapt, and renew.
In this closing keynote, Michelle Kearns, Head of IT for Boots Ireland, explores what comes after resilience: how leaders can create cultures where people, technology, and data work in harmony to drive sustainable growth.
Drawing on lessons from Boots Ireland’s transformation journey and broader industry insights, Michelle will share how purpose-driven leadership, empowered teams, and ethical use of data can unlock value that lasts — for colleagues, customers, and communities alike.
Key Takeaways:
• Move from resilience to regeneration: evolve your organisation’s mindset from surviving disruption to continually learning and thriving through it.
• Lead with purpose and empathy: why leadership authenticity and clarity of purpose matter more than ever in an AI-enabled world.
• Empower with data: practical ways to build data-confident teams that make smarter, faster, and more ethical decisions.
• Sustain transformation: balance innovation and wellbeing to keep people energised and connected through change.
• The CIO’s evolving role: from operational anchor to cultural catalyst and storyteller of transformation.
1:05 pm - 2:10 pm
1:1 Meetings
Royal Marine Hotel - Dublin, Ireland
With high ceilings, ornate pillars, traditional wide corridors, intricate detail on the cornicing, Victorian staircases and large sash windows welcoming the natural light of the bay, the Royal Marine Hotel reminds us of a bygone era while still adding everything that you expect to find in a luxury hotel of this quality.
Why attend?
Connect with like-minded senior leaders for a curated agenda, focused on tackling your current business critical challenges and driving industry forward.
Be a part of exclusive shared learning, horizon scanning and actionable insights enabling organizations to deliver transformative strategies.
Build meaningful relationships with solution providers matched to your business priorities to help accelerate your projects and deliver your objectives.
