UK & Ireland CIO Executive Summit

UK Executive Summit Governing Body members host this dinner for attendees to launch the event with peer networking and an inspirational kickoff with author and speaker Chris Moon. 

As traditional career paths in IT were being undermined or eliminated by technologies like AI and cloud computing, Ian Penny and Sara Shipley knew Hiscox needed to pivot its talent strategy or risk getting left behind by the next disruption. Penny and Shipley focused on growing talent holistically within the business, introducing T-shaped career paths that allowed employees to blur the lines between business areas and continually acquire new skills. Learn strategies for building trust between HR and IT, the importance of keeping each other honest, and the benefits of the one-team mindset when equipping your employees for what comes next.

The future of your business rides on the decisions you’re making today. In a world of constant change, savvy customers, evolving technologies and new business models, do you have everything you need to make the right decisions and keep your competitive edge? Business leaders in high-performing organisations are harnessing cloud technology and utilising data to take advantage of the latest innovations — like AI, machine learning, Industry 4.0, blockchain and IoT — in order to make better business decisions, improve customer experiences, and innovate for the future. This session will unpack the latest disruptive technology innovations, showcasing real client stories, with specific examples from insurance and manufacturing industries.

The cloud promises transformative benefits in terms of speed, agility, and efficiency, and enterprise organisations are now under significant pressure to accelerate the migrations of core business applications. However many businesses are still figuring out their data architecture and data migration strategies, and whilst they try to speed up these projects they are having to ensure that data is safe and complies with data protection regulations like GDPR. This roundtable discussion will cover key challenges in migrating apps and data to the public cloud, overcoming the constraint that is data, and realising all the benefits that a cloud infrastructure promises.

The CIO role is quickly evolving from one of being the executive level “IT” person to a true business leader and strategist. Blockchain is a technology that, if implemented, could involve a complete shift in how organizations fundamentally operate. It has the potential to disrupt business models, drive performance, and affect every interaction with business partners in and outside the enterprise. Join this interactive discussion around the strategy a CIO needs to get ahead of the competition by leaning in to blockchain technology, sorting through the noise, and embracing the impact that blockchain is quickly going to have on the entire organization. 

When Dan Fiehn started at Markerstudy seven years ago, IT was held back by traditional processes and was viewed by the business strictly as a service organization. Then, the critical failure of a data center nearly caused them to lose everything – and provided the perfect opportunity to rebrand the IT department and build a foundation for innovation. Fiehn will share the pivotal moments and pitfalls that have shaped Markerstudy into the high-performing technology organization it is today. In this session, you will gain insights into instilling pride and confidence in IT, cultivating a strong support network, and inspiring the business to embrace new technologies and innovative ways of working.

The intelligent enterprise is the ultimate data-driven organization. It harnesses traditionally counteractive forces – agility and governance, convenience and security, ease of use and enterprise functionality – to go beyond business intelligence and deliver transformative insights to every user, constituent and partner. Today, every forward leaning company is racing to become an intelligent enterprise. Why? Because organizations that build this intelligent edge over competitors will be the dominant force of tomorrow. Hear from MicroStrategy senior executive vice president and CFO Phong Le and map out how to transform your organization into an intelligent enterprise.

Choosing the right words when you go before your board — plus the right metrics, financials, data and visuals — can make or break whether you get the resources you need or walk away empty handed. When you just have a few minutes, you’ve got to sell your successes and highlight your challenges in a way that provides value without drowning the board in facts and figures. In this interactive show-and-tell, you’ll be encouraged to workshop best practices with your peers by bringing examples of real-life wins, stumbling blocks and questions you’ve asked when preparing for your pitch.

The most productive executive partnerships are built on trust and flourish when the relationship is well-established and embraced throughout the organization. Both CMOs and CIOs generally have this intention, but somehow it never quite becomes reality. How can IT leaders build more effective communication channels with the marketing department and better collaborate as business leaders? In this interactive discussion, a CMO and CIO who have worked together at multiple organisations share how they drive toward an optimal partnership with IT.

Join Charlie Gero in a discussion of zero trust security principles and approaches. Gero will outline the severe security vulnerabilities inherent in a perimeter-based security architecture and highlight some of the major attacks that have occurred as a result. He will chart the progression from zero trust’s early concepts to today’s state-of-the-art, cloud-based, enterprise-wide zero-trust systems. This session will also provide clear insights on techniques for achieving a stronger security posture.

Addressing the widening skills gap in IT and security is one of the most pressing, yet nebulous, challenges facing organizations today. Executives tasked with accelerating innovation must seek out new perspectives from high-performing talent while at the same time ensuring that the existing workforce attains digital literacy and business acumen. To close this gap, IT and security leaders need to focus on talent-management techniques that attract diverse points of view. This peer discussion will explore strategies for leveraging the strengths of an inclusive workforce by investing in STEM education, confronting biases, and reforming cultural, diversity and organizational structures to meet the future needs of the business.

As organisations embrace digital transformation, the world inhabited by the CIO and CISO has become increasingly complex and challenging. IT and security leaders must drive real change, while at the same time reinvent their roles on their own terms. Led by a group of future-focused practitioners who have built increasingly varied careers, this session serves to reignite your commitment to shaping the future of the CIO and CISO roles and the industry as a whole. Join this dynamic presentation to discuss redesigning the IT and security agenda, demonstrating how your organization is enabling the business, and developing the skills necessary to ascend to the board — or beyond.