Conference Day 2

8:45 am - 9:00 am Opening Chair Remarks

9:00 am - 9:30 am Opening Panel Discussion: Improving Productivity using AI without Increasing Risk

Rafael Laffarga Leo - Head of Product Data, AI & Digital Employee Experience, Roche
Elcio Abrahao - Platform Director - Head of Data, Syngenta

Data teams are increasingly using AI tools and agents to accelerate development, documentation, and analysis. While productivity gains are real, they introduce new challenges around governance, security, context, and cognitive load. This panel explores how organisations enable data teams to use AI effectively while maintaining quality, control, and sustainable ways of working.

 Applying AI safely to improve data team productivity

 Managing risk, access, and oversight when using AI tools

 Scaling AI usage across teams without increasing fragility


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Rafael Laffarga Leo

Head of Product Data, AI & Digital Employee Experience
Roche

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Elcio Abrahao

Platform Director - Head of Data
Syngenta

9:30 am - 10:00 am Presentation: Building Data Products for AI Agents: Lessons from Syngenta's Field-to-Platform Ecosystem

Elcio Abrahao - Platform Director - Head of Data, Syngenta

At Syngenta, data products are being produced, enriched, and consumed by AI agents across the full lifecycle, from data captured in the field to insights delivered in real time. This shift is changing how data is structured, how pipelines are built, and how products are ultimately used. Elcio Abrahao explores how AI-driven workflows are being introduced alongside existing data products, including spec-driven development, agent-enabled pipelines, and real-time applications in agriculture. As this evolves, new challenges are emerging around cost, trust, and variability, particularly where non-deterministic AI outputs replace traditional, rule-based approaches.


 Applying AI agents across the data product lifecycle to generate, enrich, and consume data in real-world use cases
 Managing trade-offs between speed, cost, and control as AI-driven pipelines scale
 Evolving data products to support non-deterministic outputs while maintaining trust and usability


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Elcio Abrahao

Platform Director - Head of Data
Syngenta

10:00 am - 10:30 am Presentation: Beyond Dashboards: Navigating the Shift from BI to AI-Powered Data Products at IKEA

Tim Stierman - Digital Product Leader Global CX Platform, IKEA

IKEA is leading the evolution of customer experience data from traditional dashboards into AI-powered data products that can interpret, surface, and act on insight at scale. Built on multiple data sources including surveys and open text feedback, the challenge is no longer collecting or visualising data, but transforming it into something that can be consumed and trusted in more automated, AI-driven ways.
This speaker dives into the realities of this transition, from inconsistent AI outputs and rising costs to varying levels of adoption across teams. As expectations increase, his focus is on determining where AI genuinely enhances the product, how to maintain quality at scale, and how to move forward without overengineering or overinvesting too early in the maturity curve.

 Transitioning from BI-led reporting to AI-powered data products that deliver insight more dynamically
 Managing the trade-offs between AI capability, cost, data quality, and user adoption
 Evolving data products to remain usable, trusted, and scalable in an increasingly AI-driven landscape


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Tim Stierman

Digital Product Leader Global CX Platform
IKEA

10:30 am - 11:00 am Morning Coffee Break

11:00 am - 11:30 am Presentation: Proving the ROI of Data Products in a World That Demands Results

Nick Zervoudis - Data Product Management Consultant & Coach, ValueData.ai

Data teams are under increasing pressure to justify their work as organisations demand clearer links between data investment and business outcomes. Yet many teams still operate in delivery mode, measuring success through outputs rather than impact, leaving CDOs and product leaders struggling to demonstrate tangible ROI or secure continued investment.
Nick Zervoudis explores how to shift from activity to value by identifying high-impact opportunities, translating data initiatives into financial terms, and embedding commercial thinking into data product strategy so teams can consistently prove their relevance and influence.

 Quantifying financial value by linking data products to revenue, cost, and risk outcomes
 Prioritising opportunities based on measurable ROI rather than technical feasibility
 Positioning data teams as commercially focused partners driving business performance

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Nick Zervoudis

Data Product Management Consultant & Coach
ValueData.ai

11:30 am - 12:00 pm Fireside Chat: What Breaks at Scale: Lessons from Growing Data Product Portfolios

Agata Reistenbach Oleksy - Associate Director of Data Engineering, Brenntag
Junhui Wang - Head of Data Platforms & Analytics, Huhtamaki

Scaling data products exposes issues that rarely appear early on, from ownership gaps and governance strain to cost visibility and cultural resistance. This intimate fireside chat brings together enterprise leaders to share practical lessons from scaling data products and platforms, focusing on what breaks first, what requires redesign, and how organisations adapt operating models as scale increases.

 Identifying early warning signs that limit scalability
 Adapting ownership and governance models as portfolios grow
 Learning what successful organisations change as scale increases

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Agata Reistenbach Oleksy

Associate Director of Data Engineering
Brenntag

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Junhui Wang

Head of Data Platforms & Analytics
Huhtamaki

12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Lunch

1:30 pm - 2:00 pm Presentation: Generative AI in Data Products: Redefining Roles, Workflows, and Talent

Stefania Bonà - Senior Director, Open Banking Payment Products, VISA

As generative AI becomes embedded into data products and development workflows, the boundaries between engineers, analysts, and product teams are quickly starting to blur. Tasks that once required specialist skills are becoming easier to execute, enabling teams to prototype faster, iterate more frequently, and experiment at scale, but also creating new complexity around quality, consistency, and ownership. Stefania Bona shares how generative AI is being integrated into the data product lifecycle, from accelerating development to reshaping how teams work together, and how organisations are navigating the shifting expectations around roles, skills, and talent in an AI-driven environment.
 Applying generative AI within data product development to accelerate prototyping and iteration
 Navigating the shifting boundaries between engineers, analysts, and product teams as roles evolve
 Rethinking talent strategies and team structures to balance speed, experimentation, and quality

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Stefania Bonà

Senior Director, Open Banking Payment Products
VISA

2:00 pm - 2:30 pm Presentation: Moving Beyond Legacy: Evolving Data Platforms to Support Scalable Data Products

Agata Reistenbach Oleksy - Associate Director of Data Engineering, Brenntag

Many enterprises operate across fragmented data landscapes shaped by legacy systems, regional solutions, and inconsistent standards. As demand for data products and AI grows, these environments make it harder to deliver data that is consistent, reusable, and scalable.
Agata Oleksy explores how data engineering teams are introducing more structured data platforms, moving towards standardised, self-service capabilities while redefining what a data product means in practice. This includes aligning ownership with business context and creating platforms that are both usable and sustainable at scale.

 Standardising data platforms and engineering practices to reduce fragmentation across regions
 Defining data products in a way that reflects real business use cases rather than theory
 Enabling self-service adoption by balancing platform design, usability, and behaviour change

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Agata Reistenbach Oleksy

Associate Director of Data Engineering
Brenntag

2:30 pm - 3:00 pm Panel Discussion: Why Data Doesn't Drive Decisions (And What to Do About It)

Arvind Rajagopalan - Vice President of Data & AI, FedEx

Most organisations are data-rich but decision-poor. Despite significant investment in data platforms and analytics, many teams still rely on intuition, outdated reports, or fragmented views when making critical decisions. This panel brings together enterprise leaders to explore why data often fails to influence decisions in practice, and what needs to change across operating models, culture, and product design to close the gap between insight and action.


 Identifying the organisational, cultural, and structural barriers preventing data-driven decisions
 Bridging the gap between data teams and business users to improve trust and adoption
 Redesigning data products and workflows so data becomes a natural part of decision-making


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Arvind Rajagopalan

Vice President of Data & AI
FedEx

3:00 pm - 4:00 pm Afternoon Coffee Break

4:00 pm - 4:30 pm Presentation: Differentiating External Data Products in a Crowded and Selective Market to remain Competitive

Many organisations discover that launching an external data product is only the beginning. Adoption is often slower than expected as buyers face integration friction, trust concerns, and competing alternatives. This presentation explores why demand is selective, how buyers evaluate external data products, and what differentiates products that gain traction from those that remain niche or experimental.

 Understanding how buyers evaluate and compare external data products

 Identifying barriers to adoption beyond data quality

 Positioning data products around outcomes rather than datasets


4:30 pm - 5:30 pm Roundtable Discussion: From Discussion to Action, Turning Data Product Strategies into Real Change

Nick Zervoudis - Data Product Management Consultant & Coach, ValueData.ai

Over the past three days, leaders have explored how organisations are building data products, scaling platforms, embedding governance, and enabling AI. The challenge now is turning these insights into something tangible, translating ideas into actions that can be applied within real organisational constraints.
Led by Nick Zervoudis, this roundtable brings together participants to reflect on key learnings from the Summit and identify what this means for their own teams, platforms, and operating models. Through structured discussion and peer exchange, the focus is on cutting through complexity and leaving with a clearer sense of direction.
• Translating key insights from the Summit into practical actions relevant to your organisation
• Identifying priority areas for change across data products, platforms, and operating models
• Sharing approaches with peers to validate ideas and challenge assumptions before implementation

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Nick Zervoudis

Data Product Management Consultant & Coach
ValueData.ai