UK & Ireland CIO Community
Executive Summit

Hosted by the Governing Body, this welcome reception and dinner is a can’t-miss opportunity to connect with your peers prior to tomorrow’s Executive Summit. Please join your colleagues for an evening of good food, wine, and lively networking.

Most CIOs have a common question — What is the best way to scope, scale, and lead the digital transformation that can deliver financial results and overall business growth? Stepping up, especially in periods of sustained uncertainty can be tough, but as IT Leaders, 2021 continues to be a key opportunity to leverage influence in the business and drive growth. In this session, Jo Graham, CIO, Boohoo, will share her unbelievably impressive journey to headless, and everything that happened after Boohoo bought Debenhams (and Dorothy Perkins and Burtons and Wallis). 

Specifically, Jo will share: 

• Using technology as an enabler for change, even in times of uncertainty
• Leveraging CIO influence across the organisation to break down siloes and drive growth
• Scaling technology at pace for better business outcomes

As digital business maturity flourishes, IT teams are looking at how to support and empower the business through the best operating model. Drastic shifts in how IT approaches project management to support new digital business models are taking hold. IT leaders must create an operating model that supports both a product management approach and agile governance throughout the department to reinforce a more fluid and customer-centric business.

In this session, your peers will discuss:

• Key components of an outcome-based operating model for digital business
• Structuring a product management service and delivery approach
• Executing an agile governance model to influence culture and decision making

No matter their geographical location or industry, all CIOs face common obstacles: Navigating a limited talent pool, establishing digital dexterity, and reworking processes that restrict their organization’s digital initiatives. In this environment, how are you thinking about upskilling your people to improve business performance?

 In this boardroom, you will discuss:

• Determining what skills your organisation will need to thrive
• Preparing your employees for a future of rapid innovation
• Upskilling the right talent for accelerating your IT transformation

Connect with like-minded peers in a private, one-on-one setting through Evanta's Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.

Be sure to opt in when you register online.

As a Leader in digital and technology, you play a crucial role in enabling your business to meet their sustainability goals. Digital is key to accelerating sustainability outcomes but digital leaders must ensure appropriate governance, share relevant data and prioritise investment to create the greatest impact and value. Join Darren Martin, Group CTO, Wood PLC as he shares insights into how they are using a suite of innovative digital technologies to provide real-time insight for effective sustainability management. 

Specifically, you will understand how to:

• Accelerate sustainability through data-driven insights
• Execute against green pledges faster with robust and secure technology platforms
• Execute a roadmap to reduce carbon emissions, leveraging technology and innovative solutions

The pace at which digital business has progressed has caused a lack of digital skills that could jeopardise companies with misaligned talent plans. As traditional career paths in IT were being undermined or eliminated, Ian Penny knew Hiscox needed to pivot its talent strategy or risk getting left behind by the next disruption. Through partnerships across the business, Ian has 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. 

Join this session to hear:

• How Hiscox is building trust and transparency between IT and business partners
• How to gain key advantages with a one-team mindset when equipping employees for what comes next
• How CIOs can leverage newfound influence and leadership to partner with key business units to strengthen their digital transformation vision

Faced with demands for modernisation, cost optimisation and digital business transformation, CIOs are looking at how data and analytics programs can support expanding their digital business and increasing their D&A maturity. After a D&A strategy is set, IT leaders must execute and deliver on the intended business outcomes.

• Approaches to leveraging technology and resources to support D&A program and improve business outcomes
• Best Practices for building out new business process and executing change management across the enterprise
• Management of cultural shifts in the organisation

With an increase in threat vectors comes the increased need for a sound cybersecurity program. CIOs must take a proactive approach in ensuring cybersecurity risk is considered at every step, even in times of rapid disruption. 

Join this boardroom for a discussion on:

• Managing third parties and holding them to cybersecurity standards
• Quantifying, measuring, and communicating risk across the organisation
• Upskilling your cybersecurity teams to stay ahead of emerging threats

Using smart technology and accelerating connectivity allows CIOs to make better and faster decisions. CIOs must ensure that technology is in place to free up time and provide differentiated insights. In this session, Marina Bellini will lay out how BAT are driving an increased data-centric focus alongside automating processes around the BAT Group and leveraging new digital channels. Specifically, Marina will discuss:

• How making data-driven decisions and adopting a ‘test-and-learn- approach allows BAT to work faster and stronger
• The change sin IT infrastructure needed to unlock the commercial value
• Lessons learned and recommendations on how the wider business must embrace a digital mindset for successful data driven transformation

CIOs must foster a data-driven approach to uncover new digital business opportunities and, ultimately, accelerate digitisation. But key questions need to be addressed for CIOs leading this change to ensure they derive more business value from information assets. The CIOs mandate is no longer ‘why’ data-driven transformation is needed, but ‘how’. This session will allow you to discuss whether you’re on the right track with your data strategies, best practices from peers, and how to ensure your teams are able to deliver and scale an ambitious data strategy in ongoing uncertainty. 

Join this session to specifically discuss:

• Tools and techniques on how to deliver on your transformational data projects
• How you as a CIO can ensure you are delivering data-driven transformation at pace, cost and scale in times of operational uncertainty
• Empowering your teams with the skills needed to make IT-Business aligned decisions to move your strategy forward

2021 has seen the role of the CIO undergo a gear change within their organisation. Armed with new found influence and leverage, IT Leaders are poised to progress their organisations along the digital business path. But transformation programs can still stall behind organisational resistance and, in some instances, lack of motivation. This boardroom will explore the strategies being used to re-engineer organisations to be agile, adaptable and well placed to deliver on their digital vision, together with what really works, and what the key pitfalls to avoid on your journey. 

Specifically you will discuss how to:

• Have effective conversation and communication with the board to drive your initiatives forward
• Ensuring you have the right culture and future skills in place to fuel transformation
• Identify digital opportunities that drive adoption and customer satisfaction

The last year has been a catalyst that’s brought digital business innovation to the forefront of organisations. CIOs and IT executives have been at the core of driving that innovation. As we move into the final months of 2021, now is the time to build on your momentum to enhance customer engagement, generate new revenue and serve customers. This means reaching beyond what you know today and completely rethink the roles of people, data and technology. Join Craig Charlton, Group CIO, Compass Group as he shares his thoughts on what CIOs should now be doing differently for digital business success. 

Specifically, Craig will discuss:

• How to ensure your strategy is fit for purpose for success in a digital and data centric world
• How to better engage stakeholders and teams to enhance relationships and motivate your agenda
• What the short and mid-term challenges are for CIOs and how to best prepare them