Moderator
Christelle Heikkila
Contributing Editor
CIO
Christelle Heikkilä is a people-focused technology and cybersecurity leader with a strong track record of driving digital transformation across major UK brands. She began her technology career as an IT consultant at Accenture. She then led major technology initiatives at Sainsbury’s and Superdrug and later served as IT Director at Arsenal Football Club. At Arsenal, Christelle was responsible for all aspects of technology and cybersecurity, guiding the club through significant digital change while strengthening its resilience against emerging cyber threats. Her leadership across these diverse sectors gives her a unique perspective on how to align innovation, business strategy, and human factors.
Whether discussing hybrid cloud, AI, or cybersecurity, Christelle champions the principle that technology succeeds when people are at its heart. Dynamic, insightful, and pragmatic, she brings real-world experience and vision to every stage and conversation.
Upcoming and recent events
CIO 100 Awards & Conference UK
WhatsApp as a Strategic Channel - Making Conversational AI Deliver Customer and Business Value
Thursday, September 24, 2026
10:10 AM - 10:55 AM
*By invitation only Customers expect instant, personalised and low-friction interactions, and WhatsApp is increasingly where those expectations are being set. For CIOs, the challenge is no longer whether conversational AI matters, but how to deploy it in a way that is secure, scalable and genuinely valuable to the business. This…
From Agentic Vision to Agentic Revenue: Scaling WhatsApp Across the Whole Customer Lifecycle
Thursday, September 24, 2026
11:55 AM - 12:40 AM
*By invitation only Building on this morning’s keynote on Meta’s agentic vision, this boardroom session moves from “why WhatsApp” to “how far can WhatsApp go.” CM.com works with CIOs who no longer treat WhatsApp as a support add-on, but as the single conversational surface for marketing, sales, and service, backed…
The AI-Native Front Door: Turning WhatsApp into an Enterprise Workflow and Revenue Engine
Thursday, September 24, 2026
2:15 PM - 3:00 PM
*By invitation only As enterprises transition toward AI-native operating models, customer interactions are shifting from static digital channels to conversational, agentic experiences with WhatsApp serving as the primary global touchpoint. For CIOs, the strategic imperative has evolved from deploying reactive customer support bots to orchestrating autonomous, data-driven enterprise workflows.…
The SaaSpocalypse - All Hype, or Are Businesses Finally Breaking Free from Legacy SaaS? The New Build vs. Buy Debate
Thursday, September 24, 2026
3:35 PM - 4:20 PM
*By invitation only AI has revived the build-vs-buy debate. Replacing overpriced, underused SaaS tooling has long been every CEO’s dream, but that dream is now turning into reality. Klarna’s CEO made headlines this year for indicating a move off Salesforce and other core SaaS tools in favour of an in-house,…
CSO ThreatScape Manchester
Resilience Under Fire: Lessons from Real-World Breach Containment
Thursday, March 19, 2026
11:15 - 11:40
Breaches are inevitable, but catastrophic disruption is not. This panel examines real-world case studies of organisations that contained cyberattacks before they spiralled out of control. Leaders will uncover hard-won lessons on segmentation, zero trust, and rapid response, and how these principles can be embedded to protect operations. Key Topics: •…
Operational Technology Resilience: Defending the Systems that Keep the Nation Running
Thursday, March 19, 2026
12:20 – 12:45
OT systems underpin national infrastructure, from power grids to water treatment to transport. With the NCSC emphasising definitive asset records, clear architecture maps, and strong separation between IT and OT, resilience has become non-negotiable. This panel brings together OT and cyber leaders to examine how to map, defend, and recover…
Fireside Chat: Security by Design - Building Defences into Emerging Technologies
Thursday, March 19, 2026
14:50 - 15:15
Embedding resilience into AI, IoT, and cloud systems Emerging technologies are only as strong as the security built into them. This discussion examines how security leaders can drive “secure by design” principles across AI, IoT, and cloud. The panel will explore embedding cyber expertise at the development stage to reduce…
