Chris Zobler

Even in the new age of AI, many organizations struggle to secure sustained executive funding because translating data and AI initiatives into measurable business value remains challenging. This panel will explore practical strategies for aligning data topics with core business objectives, helping leaders frame analytics in a context-rich, digestible way for decision-makers. Attendees will learn how to shift the organizational narrative from viewing data management as a regulatory obligation or cost center to demonstrating it as a fundamental enabler of commercial growth and organizational momentum. Come away with:

• Techniques for quantifying ROI from data initiatives
• Mastering the art of managing executive relationships
• Developing effective internal cases to secure funding
• The ingredients to transform data teams from perceived cost centers into proactive business enablers

What happens when underlying data foundations can’t support the race to deploy cutting-edge AI and agentic analytics, resulting in "garbage in, garbage out"? This essential keynote panel will move past theoretical discussions to deliver practical strategies for hardening your data quality, establishing clear data ownership, and leveraging lineage as a powerful enabler. Join us to learn how to transform data fundamentals into the non-negotiable prerequisite that unlocks scalable, trustworthy AI initiatives and drives optimal, efficient business operations.

• Hardening data quality at scale
• Transforming ownership into a business driver
• Integrating lineage for context-rich decisions
• Building future-proof governance

Cloud migration remains a long, complex, and expensive journey for many financial institutions. This critical discussion tackles the strategic choices—from maintaining a hybrid environment to fully re-tooling cloud-native solutions—required to accelerate data modernization and unlock capabilities beyond basic descriptive analytics. Work collaboratively with pioneering data leaders to learn how to abstract technology complexity and ensure your new data stack is truly "future-proof" for scalable, trustworthy, next-generation AI initiatives and real-time data consumption.

• Defining clear business benefits and measurable ROI for cloud migrations
• Implementing an abstraction layer within your data pipelines
• Building the right framework to evaluate the constant build-versus-buy decision
• Developing robust strategies for managing hybrid cloud and on-prem environments