A curated agenda to future-proof your tech strategy
Explore the latest event agenda below, and check back soon for updates.
Thursday, May 14
Join our host, Georgina Owens, who will open the day by setting the scene of today’s fast changing enterprise landscape. With many organisations under more pressure to navigate rapid technological change in an increasingly complex regulatory environment – Georgina will frame the conversations ahead to turn insight into practical, strategic action.
Leading with clarity as AI, regulation and global disruption redraw the enterprise landscape
The next five years will redefine the role of the CIO more dramatically than the previous twenty, not just through technology change, but through economic pressure, regulation, global operating complexity, and rising delivery expectations. AI regulation is tightening; quantum readiness is accelerating; robotics, automation, and digital twins are moving from fringe to fundamental; and the UK is positioning itself as a leader in responsible digital innovation, while organisations balance global platforms, regulation, and growing geopolitical uncertainty. This keynote confronts the moment head-on: what it means to lead when technology, policy, organisational reality, and public expectation converge at speed, drawing on real transformation experience as well as what lies ahead.
• With emerging technologies moving at speed – how can IT act as a barometer of common sense to select scalable, value‑driven technology?
• How do CIOs go beyond co‑creation to sustained co‑execution – clarifying ownership, operating models, and accountability across the organisation?
• The past, present and future – translating lessons from major transformation to set clear and strategic mandates amid unpredictable internal and external market forces
• Reskilling and navigating rapid AI adoption – build, buy, and how best to work with partners
• Leadership mindset shifts for the future – using cyber, data and platform choices not just defensively, but to drive resilience and organisational clarity, and to build enterprises that are transparent and truly future‑ready
The Leadership Test: Guiding People Through Disruption, Uncertainty and Relentless Technological Change
Enterprises are entering an era where intelligent systems will reshape not just tasks, but identities, expectations and power dynamics across the workforce. Technology is advancing faster than organisations can adapt and employees are signalling confusion, distrust and fatigue.
This opening panel challenges CIOs to confront the uncomfortable truth: technological transformation will stall unless leaders actively rebuild trust, clarify purpose and take ownership of the human consequences of their decisions.
Key Themes:
• Confronting workforce anxiety and rebuilding trust through honest, accountable leadership
• Redesigning organisational structures and expectations as intelligent systems reshape work
• Embedding transparency, inclusion and ethical stewardship at the heart of every decision
Preparing for Impact Assessments, Transparency Requirements and AI Oversight
The UK’s regulatory direction is shifting from principles to enforceable standards. This discussion explores what the Artificial Intelligence Regulation Bill means in practice, how CIOs should manage impact assessments, consent obligations, transparency requirements and how to prepare for centralised oversight under the AI Authority.
Key Themes:
• Understanding new regulatory expectations and timelines
• Building internal processes for audits, assessments and explainability
• Preparing governance models that extend across AI and emerging tech
Accelerating Adoption Across AI, Automation and Digital Infrastructure
AI openness extends beyond AI models to include agents, automation frameworks, orchestration tools, robotics platforms and edge technologies. This session examines what this means and how technology leaders can harness open source while maintaining quality, resilience and compliance.
• What openness means in AI
• The state of AI openness
• Evaluating open source maturity across multiple technologies
• Managing security, transparency and governance
• Reducing dependency on proprietary platforms
Building Cost Models for AI, Automation, Robotics and Edge Compute
CIOs increasingly face unpredictable cost structures across AI compute, automation licences, connectivity and robotics deployments. This session offers guidance on creating stable financial models that account for experimentation, usage variance and future expansion. The talk explores cost optimisation across multiple categories rather than viewing AI in isolation.
• Managing volatile pricing across a multi-technology estate
• Forecasting spend for AI, automation, and connected devices
• Linking investment to measurable business and operational value
Redesigning Roles for AI, Automation and Human Creativity
Work is evolving quickly as routine tasks shift to AI systems, automation engines and smart devices. This conversation explores how organisations design roles centred on judgement, collaborationand creativity, while embracing new tools, from co-pilots to robotics-assisted workflows. Attendees gain insight into crafting workplaces where technology elevates rather than diminishes human contribution.
Key Themes:
• Crafting roles that integrate AI and automated assistance
• Supporting employees through continuous learning and experimentation
• Building humane, adaptable digital workplaces
Converging AI, Robotics, Quantum and Digital Twins
Enterprise transformation is no longer driven by a single dominant technology but by the convergence of many. This panel explores how AI interacts with robotics on the factory floor, how quantum-readiness affects cybersecurity strategy and how digital twins reshape real-time operations. Speakers will consider organisational structures and cultural shifts needed to adopt these technologies responsibly and at pace.
Key Themes:
• Preparing for convergence across automation and intelligence
• Understanding quantum implications for CIO strategy
• Using digital twins and edge data to improve real-time decisions
Measuring ROI Across AI, Automation and Emerging Technologies
Pilots often underperform not because the technology is flawed, but because workflows, data foundations and expectations are misaligned. This session explores how organisations are operationalising not just AI, but also automation, IoT analytics and early-stage digital twin projects. Panellists examine methods for quantifying impact across efficiency, resilienceand customer experience, while avoiding over-investment in experimental technologies that aren’t yet enterprise-ready.
Key Themes:
• Embedding promising technologies into stable workflows
• Evaluating readiness: when to scale and when to pause
• Demonstrating value across automation, analytics and AI
Realising Transformation Across Automation and AI
Enterprises often underestimate the compounded impact of combining AI with advanced and automation. This session provides a broader framework for quantifying value across long-term innovation, resilience and business model evolution. Attendees explore how to measure transformation in a world where technologies overlap and reinforce one another.
Key Themes:
• Capturing value from interconnected emerging technologies
• Communicating long-term transformation to boards
• Measuring strategic impact, not just cost savings
Scaling Intelligence, Automation and Autonomy Responsibly
As enterprises shift towards autonomous decisioning, robotics deployments and AI-driven infrastructure, governance must evolve to match. This discussion explores how leaders build standards for fairness, explainability, safety and operational oversight. It touches on model audits, robotic process transparency and early guidance for quantum-secure architectures. The panel highlights how to govern increasingly complex systems without stifling innovation.
Key Themes:
• Governing intelligent and semi-autonomous systems
• Aligning emerging tech adoption with evolving UK regulation
• Ensuring transparency across models, automations and devices
Stewarding AI, Automation, Robotics, and Quantum-Ready Organisations
This panel reflects on the expanded remit of the CIO: safeguarding ethics, guiding responsible adoption and preparing organisations for the next decade of change. It explores how leaders balance experimentation with stability, accelerate innovation responsibly and build digital enterprises where emerging technologies amplify human capability. The call to action emphasises clarity, compassion and long-term foresight.
Key Themes:
• Leading responsibly across AI and emerging tech ecosystems
• Building transparent, secure and future-ready organisations
• Ensuring technology enhances human potential
Closing Literacy Gaps, Fostering Trust and Empowering the Workforce
Despite clear enthusiasm for AI and automation at leadership level, employees often feel unprepared, unsupported and unsure how emerging technologies fit into their daily work. A panel of CIOs examine how to build confidence, not only in generative AI, but also in tools such as automation platforms, robotics-assisted workflows and digital twin interfaces. The session explores communication, training and inclusive design as enablers of responsible, widespread adoption.
Key Themes:
• Helping employees navigate AI, automation and new interfaces
• Reducing shadow IT by providing trusted, guided tools
• Building cultures where new technologies feel empowering
