7:45 am
NETWORKING BREAKFAST: BUILD COMMUNITY CONTACTS
- Start your day off right and connect with big data and analytics leaders.
- Get to know your data peers and colleagues over a delicious breakfast.
- Source practical tips, discuss best practices, and prepare for the day ahead.
8:45 am
OPENING COMMENTS FROM YOUR HOST
Gain insight into today’s sessions so you can get the most out of your conference experience.
9:00 am
OPENING FIRESIDE CHAT
Unlocking the Future: Capitalizing on Generative AI and ML
Ontologies play a critical role in leveraging General AI and Machine Learning for business growth. To be competitive in the digital era, transforming organizational data infrastructure to harness these key technologies is key. Adopt key strategies for:.
- Deploying these technologies in the most effective way
- Optimize data utilization to drive innovation
Utilize ontological structure and cutting-edge AI to ensure your organization stays ahead in the rapidly evolving data landscape.
9:30 am
PANEL: DATA LITERACY
Bridging the Knowledge Gap: Enhancing New and Game Changing Technology Understanding Across Your Organization
Enhance revenue and efficiency by fostering a culture of new technology literacy. Empower employees and enhance the effectiveness of new initiatives. Source practical tips to:
- Assess current employee understanding of new technologies and AI to identify training needs.
- Develop effective training programs to enhance new technology literacy across all levels of the organization.
- Promote a collaborative environment where employees feel comfortable engaging with new technologies and contributing to project success.
Improve new technology literacy to unlock its full potential within your organization.
10:00 am
INDUSTRY EXPERT
Simplified AI for Scalable Success — 10 Hard-Won Lessons from the Front Lines of Enterprise AI
Behind every successful AI initiative lies a blend of discipline, pragmatism, and relentless focus on impact. Execute AI more effectively by adopting 10 essential lessons that cut through the hype and address what really matters when scaling AI across your organization.
Walk away with strategies to:
- Implement outcome-oriented thinking with user focus that builds in the inseparability of responsibility and reliability
- Choose the right partners and thrive in today’s hybrid environments.
- Execute AI as team sport where data–not models–drive results and where speed often beats perfection
Discovery practical takeaways from real-world AI engagements that reveal what it really takes to succeed at scale
10:30 am
ROUNDTABLES: DISCOVER THOUGHT-PROVOKING IDEAS
Take a deep dive down the innovation rabbit hole in one of our roundtable discussions. Share challenges and best practices with your big data and analytics peers on a topic of your choosing:
- Driving AI Innovation While Managing Ethical and Privacy Concerns
Explore the challenges and opportunities of deploying AI at scale, while balancing privacy, transparency, and ethical responsibilities.
- Building a Data-Driven Culture: From Top-Down to Bottom-Up Adoption
Discuss strategies to foster a truly data-driven organization by aligning leadership vision with on-the-ground data literacy initiatives.
- The Data Mesh Revolution: Decentralizing Data Ownership Across the Enterprise
Dive into the emerging data mesh paradigm, which decentralizes data management by assigning domain-specific ownership.
- The Future of Real-Time Analytics: How to Drive Value from Streaming Data
Explore the growing demand for real-time analytics in industries from retail to finance, where speed of insight is critical. Topics include infrastructure considerations, use case prioritization, and overcoming the operational challenges of maintaining real-time data quality.
- Unlocking Value with Data Democratization While Ensuring Security and Compliance
Consider the balance between empowering employees with data access and maintaining security and compliance standards.
11:00 am
EXHIBITOR LOUNGE: VISIT BOOTHS & SOURCE EXPERTISE
- Explore the latest big data and analytics technology and strategies with our industry-leading sponsors.
- Share your challenges with the biggest innovators in the business.
- Schedule one-to-one private meetings for personalized advice.
11:30 am
FIRESIDE CHAT: CLOUD
Enabling Big Data on RBC’s Hybrid Multi-Cloud Platform
Explore how RBC leverages a hybrid multi-cloud architecture to power advanced data solutions at enterprise scale. Integrate engineering, security and regulatory pressures to build cloud and appreciate the opportunities it creates in your future data program. Gain an understanding of how to:
- Architect hybrid multi-cloud systems that balance agility, security, and scalability
- Enable seamless data access and advanced analytics across cloud and on-premise environments
- Foster a culture of data excellence through engineering innovation and cross-functional collaboration
Transform your data infrastructure into a competitive differentiator
11:30 am
PANEL: ETHICS
Data Leadership and Ethics amidst uncertainty: Navigating Governance, Innovation, and Responsibility
Balance innovation with ethical responsibility, navigate governance challenges, and ensure we work in a way that aligns with enterprise values and societal expectations. Take back to your organization strategies to:
- Establish data governance frameworks that ensure transparency, fairness, and accountability
- Align data initiatives with evolving policies, regulations, and public expectations
Foster responsible data leadership
12:00 pm
PANEL: FAIRNESS IN AI
Ensuring Fairness in AI: Designing Architectures for Equity and Accountability
Protect your most valuable data. Detect and mitigating biases in data sources and AI algorithms while fostering transparency and accountability throughout the AI lifecycle. Develop a blueprint to:
- Adopt frameworks for identifying and addressing biases in data and algorithms.
- Enhance transparency and accountability in building trust in AI systems.
- Build credibility with executives, teams, and customers through fair AI practices.
Amplify innovation and brand building to foster trust and drive long-term success in your organization.
12:00 pm
PANEL: GOVERNANCE
Navigating the Data Governance Tightrope: Balancing Access, Security, and Compliance
Drive innovation while enhancing privacy and security with a unified governance framework. Take back to your office strategies to:
- Adopt the key components of a unified data governance framework and understand how they interconnect.
- Align data governance with business objectives and agile practices.
- Incorporate effective change management strategies for implementing a comprehensive governance model.
Achieve better decision-making by fostering a culture of trust in data and AI.
12:30 pm
PANEL; DATA STRATEGY
Building a Modern Data Strategy: Aligning Business Goals with Analytics Excellence
Create a future-ready data strategy that aligns with your business goals, ensures scalability, and fosters innovation. Take back to your organization strategies to:
- How can companies strike a balance between agility and cost control while ensuring an effective data strategy
- How can organizations ensure data security while leveraging AI technologies like LLM and RAG-based applications.
- Modernize data infrastructure to enable real-time insights and scalability
- Implement governance frameworks to ensure data quality, security, and compliance
Empower your organization to thrive in the digital era with a data strategy that turns challenges into opportunities.
12:30 pm
CASE STUDY: DATA INFRUSTRUCTURE
Engineering a Data Ecosystem for Growth: How Strategic Integration Unlocks Business Value
As enterprise data ecosystems become more complex, the challenge is no longer access to tools – it’s how to make them work together in ways that drive performance, efficiency, and adoption. In this session, I’ll share how I activated an integrated growth stack – combining CRM, data centres, propensity models, and marketing platforms—to drive measurable outcomes across acquisition and engagement. Beyond tech, I’ll focus on how to align legal, IT, and sales teams to bring these systems to life.Key Takeaways:
- How to strategically integrate disparate tools into a cohesive, outcome-driven data architecture
- A real-world approach to driving organizational buy-in across marketing, IT, and compliance
- Lessons from leading first-mover adoption efforts, including how to validate ROI and secure enterprise-wide expansion
1:00 pm
NETWORKING LUNCH:DELVE INTO INDUSTRY CONVERSATIONS
- Meet interesting speakers and pick their brains on the latest data issues.
- Expand your network and make connections that last beyond the conference.
- Enjoy great food and service while engaging with your big data and analytics colleagues.
2:00 pm
EXHIBITOR LOUNGE: VISIT BOOTHS & WIN PRIZES
- Browse through different sponsor booths and test drive innovative technology.
- Enter your name for a chance to win exciting prizes.
- Take advantage of event-specific offers and exclusive content.
2:30 pm
INDUSTRY EXPERT: SECURITY
Data-Centric Security in the Age of GenAI
Generative AI continues to transform even regulated industries like banking and finance. The innovation GenAI brings is tempered by an expanded attack surface and droves of unstructured data across workflows. Traditional cybersecurity can’t keep up. Leave with strategies to:
- Overcome security challenges from data sovereignty and regulations such as Law 25.
- Embedding data-centric security into GenAI workflows
Increase efficiency and innovation through executing secure GenAI
3:00 pm
CASE STUDY: EXECUTION
Bridging the Gap: Balancing Technical Expertise and Business Acumen in Data-Driven Strategies
Building successful data and analytics initiatives requires more than technical skills alone. Balancing deep technical expertise with strong business knowledge can drive more relevant and impactful analytics, fostering data-driven decision-making. Adopt best practices to:
- Structure cross-functional teams that integrate data science and business expertise.
- Cultivate a shared language and approach for data projects that align with core business goals.
Bolster your strategic impact and organizational buy-in to drive sustainable growth and alignment with long-term business objectives.
3:00 pm
CASE STUDY: MEASURING ROI
Measuring the Value of Data, AI, and Digital Investments: From Hype to Impact
Adopt the leading frameworks and best practices for evaluating the success of your digital initiatives. Take back to your organization strategies to:
- Define meaningful KPIs to measure the business impact of data and AI investments
- Move beyond vanity metrics to assess tangible value creation and competitive advantage
- Align digital investments with strategic goals to maximize long-term returns
Ensure your organization is equipped with the right metrics and methodologies to justify and optimize AI and digital transformation efforts.
3:30 pm
PANEL: BRANDING
Elevate Your Leadership Brand: Strategies for Transitioning from Technical Management to Strategic Leadership
Strengthen your leadership brand by leveraging your technical background to influence business-wide decisions and drive organizational success from a strategic perspective. Take back to your office strategies to:
- Develop executive presence and communication skills that resonate with C-suite stakeholders.
- Shift from managing projects to defining vision and setting strategic priorities.
- Align data initiatives with broader business goals to foster innovation and drive growth across the organization.
Advance your progress from technical management to strategic leadership to drive transformative change and influence key business outcomes.
3:30 pm
CASE STUDY: INNOVATION
How AI and Data Literacy Unlock Innovation in Your Organization
The ability to ask the right questions—rooted in AI & data literacy—can unlock the full potential of AI in transforming customer and employee experiences. Leave with practical tactics to:
- Enhance traditional data science methods such as predictive analytics, NLP, and behavior modeling through generative AI.
- Deploy technologies at scale to uncover actionable patterns, personalize customer support, and improve agent performance.
- Drive data-driven innovation in high-volume operational environments.
Drive innovation in your organization through AI and data literacy
4:00 pm
EXHIBITOR LOUNGE:ATTEND VENDOR DEMOS & CONSULT INDUSTRY EXPERTS
- Enjoy exclusive sponsor demos and experience the next level of big data and analytics innovation firsthand.
- Meet one-on-one with leading solution providers to discuss organizational hurdles.
- Brainstorm solutions and gain new perspectives and ideas.
4:30 pm
CASE STUDY: MLOPS
MLOps: How Interac builds trust in the Canadian financial ecosystem through Machine Learning at scale
As organizations look to productionize AI/ML at scale, effective development, deployment, and operationalization of models in production has become essential.
In this session, Interac will share its journey towards delivering ML capabilities at scale using MLOps, along with some of the challenges faced along the way. Key insights include:
- Aligning approach for ML development & operations with organizational strategy & constraints
- Ensuring data and feature readiness in a dynamic environment
- Enabling downstream operations teams with model observability and explainability
- Incorporating comprehensive model governance and validation into model lifecycle
5:00 pm
INTERACTIVE SESSION
Unconference: What Shall We Talk About?
The unconferences provide a unique opportunity for data leaders at all experience levels and backgrounds to share their experience of the summit and discuss, reflect, and propose new problems to be solved.
- Free and open to all
- Participant driven
- Experience, not experts
5:30 pm
CLOSING COMMENTS FROM YOUR HOST
Review the key solutions and takeaways from the conference. Source a summary of action points to implement in your work.
6:10 pm