Presenting the 2025 CIO 100 Agenda
Experience Innovation, Leadership, and Excellence at the 2025 CIO 100 Symposium & Awards! Join us on August 11–13, 2025, for the premier event celebrating IT excellence and innovation. The CIO 100 Symposium & Awards is your gateway to three days of transformative insights, unparalleled networking, and recognition of groundbreaking achievements. With a dynamic agenda featuring expert-led keynotes, hands-on sessions, and interactive experiences like the Digital Poster Program, you’ll gain actionable strategies to fuel your success. Cap it all off with the CIO 100 Awards Gala, where we honor the trailblazers redefining the future of technology and business. Don’t miss this unforgettable opportunity to elevate your leadership and innovation journey!
All times listed on the agenda are Mountain Time.
Monday, August 11
Choose a hot topic and participate in a small-group interactive conversation to listen, learn and share experiences.
Choose a hot topic and participate in a small-group interactive conversation to listen, learn and share experiences.
Moderated by a CIO contributing editor, take part in an in-depth thought leadership exchange. Topic details to follow.
Moderated by a CIO contributing editor, take part in an in-depth thought leadership exchange. Topic details to follow.
Join colleagues for cocktails and fun as we kick off an exciting week.
Tuesday, August 12
Join us for a networking breakfast at the CIO 100 Symposium. Connect with industry leaders, share insights, and fuel up for a day of innovation and success. Start your morning right with great food and even greater connections.
Championship teams win for a reason. They have a winning system that brings out a winning attitude and releases the Ultimate Winning Edge! Certain culture codes & systems must be in place to maintain this over the long term. As a 3rd generation professional athlete, David’s been surrounded by world championship teams and dynasties his entire life. In the NFL he was nicknamed “Superman” by his team two weeks into his pro career. While in Arizona, he helped turn around a losing culture to build a winning culture that took the Arizona Cardinals to Super Bowl XLIII. In this riveting presentation, David will take you inside this world and reveal how to create a culture that will win and grow in the face of massive challenge and change; how to build a culture that shares best practices – eliminating the silos; what a dynasty looks like, sounds like, feels like, and moves like. Following the presentation David will be available for questions, photos, and football signing.
Select which award-winning projects interest you and visit those digital posters to hear information about the project details. Attendees have an opportunity to ask questions of the award winners and will be able to easily network with small groups of peers who have common interests. This self-directed experience means you can focus your time on projects that are most relevant for you.
Following this inspirational presentation David will be available for questions, photos, and football signing.
Grab a coffee or iced beverage, enjoy the fresh air, and connect with award-winning CIOs and sponsoring partners.
In today’s digital economy, data is more than just information—it’s a critical business asset that can drive innovation, improve decision-making, and unlock new revenue streams. This session will highlight award-winning projects that have transformed raw data into actionable insights, implemented effective data governance frameworks, and aligned data strategies with organizational goals. Hear about best practices for maximizing the value of your data through advanced analytics, AI, and data-driven culture, while navigating challenges such as security, compliance, and scalability.
In an era where technology is transforming the business landscape at an unprecedented pace, companies must fundamentally reinvent their business models to thrive. This session will explore how the current business and technology landscape (advancements in AI, cloud computing, availability of capital) are driving accelerated changes across industries, redefining competitive dynamics and creating new opportunities for revenue generation.
Join us for an engaging lunch where you can connect with newfound contacts! Take a seat and savor your meal while networking with peers. Don’t miss the opportunity to meet our sponsors and discover how their innovative solutions can benefit you.
Early adoption of GenAI has been characterized by experimentation. IDC research shows that, on average, companies have undertaken 37 proof-of-concept efforts with five ending up in production and only 68% of those can be considered successful. While this is not unusual for an emerging technology, especially one that has evolved quickly, most organizations are ready to pivot to a more coordinated and value-based approach. In this session, learn the necessary tools needed to successfully make this pivot.
Session details to follow.
Grab a coffee or iced beverage, enjoy the fresh air, and connect with award-winning CIOs and sponsoring partners.
Select which award-winning projects interest you and visit those digital posters to hear information about the project details. Attendees have an opportunity to ask questions of the award winners and will be able to easily network with small groups of peers who have common interests. This self-directed experience means you can focus your time on projects that are most relevant for you.
Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, blockchain, and advanced automation are reshaping the business landscape. The challenge lies in identifying the right technologies to invest in and ensuring those investments align with long-term organizational goals. This session will explore the evolving tech ecosystem, offering insights into assessing the maturity, business value, and risk of emerging innovations. Discover strategies for balancing AI advancements with other transformative technologies, fostering innovation, and future-proofing your organization in an era of rapid change.
Unwind and enjoy a drink with colleagues and new connections.
Wednesday, August 13
Join us for a networking breakfast at the CIO 100 Symposium. Connect with industry leaders, share insights, and fuel up for a day of innovation and success. Start your morning right with great food and even greater connections.
The mysterious and dangerous world of jazz is a cauldron of spontaneous creativity. And in times of radical change and uncertainty, it serves as the perfect model for modern leadership. Professional jazz guitarist and prolific entrepreneur Josh Linkner connects the dots between jazz and business, helping to unlock the secrets of some of the world’s most creative geniuses. Using live jazz as a metaphor for collaborative innovation, this session is entertaining, inspiring, and directly applicable to the daily challenges we face in business. A fusion of live musical performance and keynote presentation, the session’s finale includes audience members “joining the band” to compose and perform a song in real-time to the delight of the audience. Cameras will flash as the entire group is dazzled by their colleagues’ improvisation and spontaneous invention.
Discover how Rocket Software enables customers to maximize their data, applications, and infrastructure to deliver critical services that power our modern world.
Grab a coffee or iced beverage, enjoy the fresh air, and connect with award-winning CIOs and sponsoring partners.
Session details to follow.
This session will explore practical strategies for balancing innovation with operational efficiency, managing change fatigue, and building resilient frameworks that support growth and agility.
Session details to follow.
Join us for an engaging lunch where you can connect with newfound contacts! Take a seat and savor your meal while networking with peers. Don’t miss the opportunity to meet our sponsors and discover how their innovative solutions can benefit you.
1:30 – 2:45pm
Integrating Human and AI Teams to Optimize Customer Experience
This session explores strategies for integrating AI tools with human expertise to create personalized, efficient, and impactful customer interactions. Learn best practices for aligning technology with organizational goals, addressing workforce concerns, and maintaining a balance between automation and human empathy. Gain actionable insights to drive innovation, improve operational efficiency, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.
Sponsored by Freshworks
3:15 – 4:30pm
Where Automation Meets Robotics: Shaping the Future of Intelligent Enterprises
Automation and robotics are converging at an unprecedented pace, powered by advancements in AI, machine learning, and intelligent automation. This session will delve into the transformative impact of this intersection, highlighting how robotics is evolving from task-specific tools to intelligent, adaptive systems capable of decision-making and collaboration. Gain insights into the role of intelligent automation in orchestrating workflows that combine robotic and human efforts, driving efficiency, scalability, and innovation.
1:30 – 1:40pm
Welcome and Opening Remarks
1:40 – 2:20pm
Three Journeys to Leadership Excellence
Join us for an inspiring session where we explore three unique pathways that have led visionary CIOs into the prestigious CIO Hall of Fame. Hear firsthand accounts from industry leaders who have navigated different career trajectories—whether through groundbreaking innovation, transformative digital leadership, or strategic business alignment. Learn how each journey shaped their approach to technology, leadership, and organizational impact, and gain insights on how you can chart your own course to influence the future of IT and business. This session offers valuable lessons and practical takeaways for aspiring and current CIOs looking to leave a lasting legacy.
2:20 – 2:50pm
Skepticism, Fear, and Backlash: Overcoming Resistance in the Age of AI
The single greatest challenge CIOs face in AI adoption is not the technology itself, but the people and cultural dynamics around it. Because many organizations rushed in, eager to claim early wins and bragging rights, there are bound to be failures. To navigate through this shifting landscape, CIOs must not just be technology leaders, but expert change managers. This session will focus on the three key pillars CIOs need to be equipped with to meet this challenge: awareness, a structured change management framework, and a toolkit focused on trust building.
3:10 – 3:45pm
Leading the C-Suite into Digital Fluency
The CIO is the C-suite’s digital Sherpa, responsible for elevating digital fluency across executive leadership and ensuring that AI, automation, and data-driven decision-making are embedded into the fabric of business strategy. In this session, award-winning CIOs will discuss key responsibilities and opportunities for new C-level collaborations. These include partnering with the CFO to develop AI-driven financial models, collaborating with CHROs to reskill the workforce, and guiding CMOs and CDOs on how AI is reshaping customer engagement.
3:45 – 4:25pm
Driving Simultaneous Modernization and Innovation
CIOs must balance the urgent need for modernization with the pursuit of innovation. This session will explore practical strategies for ensuring both initiatives happen simultaneously, including aligning legacy systems with emerging technologies, fostering a culture of innovation, and optimizing resources. Attendees will learn how to create a forward-thinking IT ecosystem that supports agility, scalability, and continuous improvement without sacrificing stability or security.
4:25 – 4:30pm
Closing Remarks
Sponsored by EXL
Raise a glass to toast the 2025 honorees.
Come celebrate IT excellence at this elegant dinner and awards ceremony. The 2025 CIO 100 Awards presentation will honor the winning organizations for their use of innovative IT to deliver business value, followed by the induction of our newest members into the CIO Hall of Fame.
Raise a glass and grab a sweet treat to celebrate the Class of 2025.
Sponsored by Rocket Software
