Vectice will be part of the 2024 Gartner Data & Analytics Summit in Orlando, the premier event series where data and analytics leaders worldwide gather insights into the latest trends shaping their field.

In the US, it’s scheduled for March 11-13 in Orlando, Florida. This event will facilitate networking and knowledge exchange, helping data practitioners connect with D&A experts, learn from peers, and understand what to expect in 2024.

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This article highlights the top 25 sessions we are excited to attend at the 2024 Gartner Data & Analytics Summit.

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What is Gartner Data & Analytics Summit?

Gartner Data & Analytics Summit takes place across global locations and enables attendees to learn, discuss, and network around pivotal topics, including data management, modern data architecture, governance, and more.

With the theme “Generating Value Together: From Data to AI to Collective Intelligence”, this year's summit focuses on harnessing synergies across human expertise, data, analytics, and AI to optimize business outcomes through connected decision-making. Gartner envisions 2024 as the opportune time to mobilize these synergies for maximum impact.

Spanning six key tracks:

• Leadership
• Business Value
• AI
• Analytics
• Data Management
• Trust & Culture
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Sessions equip attendees to drive change within their organizations by leveraging data and analytics to their fullest potential. The event promises dynamic conversations around the technologies and strategies shaping the future of the field.
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The Top 25 Sessions to Watch at the 2024 Gartner Data & Analytics Summit

The Gartner Data & Analytics Summit features various sessions with prominent speakers. We have picked the top leaders from various industries and Gartner Analysts whose keynotes we look forward to attending over the three-day summit:

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1. Gartner Opening Keynote: Generating Value Together: From Fundamentals to AI Readiness to Collective Intelligence

Speakers:
- Debra Logan, Distinguished VP Analyst @ Gartner
- Ehtisham Zaidi, VP Analyst @ Gartner

About the Event: Debra Logan, who is a Vice President and Gartner Fellow at Gartner Research, focuses on strategic issues as part of the Data and Analytics IT Leaders team. She and Ehtisham, an important member of Gartner's Data Management team with expertise in Data Management Solutions, will introduce participants to the age of collective intelligence. They will explore the critical role of Generative AI in data and analytics, its rapid expansion across organizations, and how it creates new prospects and expectations for leaders.
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2. Alation: How Sallie Mae is Advancing Data Culture Through Governance and Leadership

Speakers:
- Elizabeth Friend, Sr Director Data Governance @ Sallie Mae
- Steve Wooledge, VP - Product Marketing @ Alation

About the Event: From industry veterans Elizabeth Friend, an experienced leader in data literacy and business analytics at Sallie Mae, and Steve Wooledge, VP of Product Marketing at Alation, known for his expertise in disruptive technology and data analytics, this discussion will highlight Sallie Mae's advancement towards an analytics-driven culture. The conversation will emphasize the incorporation of Alation's Data Intelligence Platform and the establishment of a data stewardship program within Sallie Mae.

Elizabeth will share key strategies for fostering data leadership and improving data literacy. Steve will explain Alation's role in helping entities like Sallie Mae to build and demonstrate the business benefits of a solid data culture, offering insights into the strategic value of data in achieving organizational success.

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3. ThoughtSpot: How PepsiCo Turns Data into Business Assets with Embedded Gen AI-Powered Analytics

Speakers:
- Lawrence Emembolu, Sr Director - Data Science and Advanced Analytics @ PepsiCo
- Vijay Venugopal, VP of Product Management @ Thoughtspot

About the Event: In this session, Vijay will be joined by Lawrence on how they have modernized their data and analytics strategy to enable a data-driven culture, drive business agility, optimize operations, and delight customers. This session will explore how technologies like natural language search and generative AI, embedded in business workflows, revolutionize self-service analytics at PepsiCo.

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4. Executive Stories: UPS Deep Dive - Trusted and AI-ready Data Driving Impact

Speaker: Mallory Freeman, VP - Enterprise Data and Analytics @ UPS

About the Event: Mallory Freeman leads the Analytics Practice at UPS, empowering leaders to make better decisions by leveraging data and analytics and building technology that unlocks solutions through innovation and democratizing data. Mallory will showcase how leveraging trusted and AI-ready data is central to their mission. The keynote will highlight UPS's journey from data strategy to a Data-as-a-service operating model protected by AI Guardrails.

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5. Dataiku: Building Real Return on Real AI with BNY Mellon

Speakers:
- Conor Jensen, VP - AI Strategy @ Dataiku
- Michael Zimmerman, Divisional Chief Data Officer, Wealth Management @ BNY Mellon

‍About the Event: This session will focus on how BNY Mellon generates real business benefits through AI. Conor Jensen, a Technology, AI, and Strategy executive leading the Field CDO team at Dataiku, will present alongside Michael Zimmerman. Zimmerman brings a wealth of knowledge from his twenty years in the financial services industry, with a strong background in operations management, strategic planning, and making decisions based on data. Together, Jensen and Zimmerman will share their strategies for achieving success in AI projects, highlighting the importance of considering return on investment (ROI) at each stage. They will provide valuable advice for anyone creating, launching, or expanding AI initiatives.

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6. OneTrust: Action Customer Data Responsibly: The TELUS Journey to Unlocking Impact

Speakers:
- Rohin Bansal, Director of Data Governance @ Telus
- Ojas Rege, General Manager - Privacy & Data Governance Cloud @ OneTrust

About the Event: During this session, hosted by OneTrust and featuring Rohin Bansal, will explore TELUS's remarkable journey as a leading Canadian technology company with a broad customer base across various sectors. In 2023, TELUS achieved a milestone by becoming the first company globally to obtain ISO 31700-1 Privacy by Design certification for its Data for Good program. This initiative is pioneering in its approach to utilizing de-identified data for social benefits. The presentation will delve into practical examples of how TELUS harnesses the responsible use of data to fuel innovation and drive significant outcomes.

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7. Pyramid Analytics: Evolve or be Left Behind: Prepare your Gen AI & Data Science Strategy

Speaker: Joe Beaubien, Director North American Sales Engineering @ Pyramid Analytics
About the Event: Joe is a skilled Solutions Engineer/leader in the BI and application/data integration space. With significant knowledge of the marketplace, technical sales process & emerging technologies, Joe strives to build successful business relationships and push clients to think outside of the box to ensure their success. In this session, Beaubien will demo and discuss the four central pillars of an enterprise strategy to realize true "Gen-BI" - the infusion of Gen-AI and LLMs into your business and decision intelligence capabilities.

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8. The Foundation of Data Science and Machine Learning: Delivering Value in the Age of AI

Speaker: Peter Krensky, Sr Director Analyst @ Gartner
About the Event: Peter is an expert in data science and machine learning (ML) and his expertise extends to organizing data science teams, managing AI talent, and promoting data and analytics education. This session will introduce data science and machine learning (ML), and their proper function in a data-driven organization. It will include critical definitions, significant trends, data science talent personas and an overview of leading technologies. How do data science and ML fit within the organization’s analytics and AI strategies? What are the early steps D&A leaders should take to invest in data science and ML? The session will answer such questions.

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9. Navigating the New AI and GenAI Global Regulatory Dynamics

Speaker: Lydia Clougherty Jones, Sr Director Analyst @ Gartner

About the Event: Lydia has over 20 years of business and legal experience helping Fortune 100 and 500 clients navigate data collection and data sharing initiatives while complying with industry best practices. In this session, she will address the need for organizations to prepare for a future with global AI and GenAI regulations. She will highlight the new AI and GenAI global regulatory mandates, directives, and guidance from regions like the U.S., EU, and China, balancing AI innovation with business and social harm reduction.

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10. EY: Democratizing Insights Through AI

Speakers:
- Harish Arora, Managing Director - Data & Analytics Advisory @ EY
- Maxim Ogienko, Senior Manager - Data & AI practice @ EY

About the event: Maxim brings a decade of experience in developing and architecting forward-thinking technological solutions. His expertise lies in advancing the capabilities of next-generation technology. Harish, a consulting leader passionate about data, technology, and products, specializes in addressing complex challenges with practical solutions. Together, they will showcase how large language model (LLM) technology can democratize access to crucial insights, removing information gatekeepers that delay decision-making. The interactive demo will focus on leveraging enterprise data to provide key insights and actionable outcomes efficiently. This session will highlight the use of AI in simplifying the extraction of insights from large datasets, facilitating immediate access to vital information for decision-makers.

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11. Why Your D&A Governance Solution Is Not the One You Need — And How to Resolve the Issue?

Speaker: Andrew White, Distinguished VP Analyst @ Gartner

About the Event:
White is renowned for his extensive research, primarily focusing on the role and responsibilities of the chief data and analytics officer (CDAO), encompassing data and analytics strategy, governance, organization and roles, and the business value of data and analytics. In his keynote, White will discuss the recent excitement among vendors about introducing new features and capabilities, such as observability, data catalogs, and ChatGPT technologies. He will address the confusion arising from the overlap in how analytics vendors market for governance use cases and vice versa. Highlighting the challenges organizations face in choosing the right vendors due to unclear roles, use cases, and value propositions, Andrew will provide practical advice on distinguishing these elements to secure the most suitable solution.

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12. BigID: Bridging the Data Gap: Evolution of the Chief Data and AI Officer

Speakers:
- Brian Erickson, Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer @ US Coast Guard
- Peggy Tsai, Chief Data Officer @ BigID

About the Event: Peggy Tsai brings over 18 years of experience in data management, stewardship, and governance within the financial sector and will be joined by Captain Brian Erickson, who plays a key role in managing data and artificial intelligence operations within the US Coast Guard. Together, they will delve into strategies for bridging the data gap and enhancing the value of data in an AI-driven world. This session will highlight the importance of trusted data practices for improving AI projects, promoting ethical AI use, outlining an AI-centric strategy, and encouraging a culture that values AI and data practices.

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13. 7 Disruptions You Might Not See Coming: 2023-2028

Speaker: Daryl Plummer, Distinguished VP Analyst @ Gartner

About the Event: As Chief of Research for both the Technology & Service Providers Organization and Cloud Computing, Daryl guides critical research for tech leaders and explores strategic cloud topics, market trends, and cloud sourcing scenarios. Daryl will provide an intriguing look at 7 potential disruptions over the next five years. He will explore how these disruptions could fundamentally shift the landscape and why Chief Data & Analytics Officers must be prepared for increasingly frequent changes.

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14. DataBee, from Comcast Technology Solutions: Democratizing AI with a Foundation in Enterprise & Security Data

Speaker: Rick Rioboli - Chief Technology Officer @ Comcast

About the Event: Rick Rioboli is the EVP, CTO of Comcast Cable, overseeing technology, systems, and tools for customer lifecycles, enterprise services, data, and cloud services. With 20+ years of experience, Rick has led award-winning product and engineering teams, receiving two Technology and Engineering Emmys for impactful work on the X1 platform. The session will focus on the "AI Everywhere" initiative, aimed at accelerating AI innovations within Comcast. It will highlight the importance of making data AI-ready and discuss three key components essential for democratizing AI access.

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15. Mastech InfoTrellis: Zions Bancorp Uncovers Customer to Customer Relationship with AI/ML

Speakers:
- Jacob Samuel, Global Head, Practices & Delivery @ Mastech
- Brandon Thomas, Chief Data Officer @ Zions Bancorporation

About the Event: Jacob Samuel, an expert in Integrated Digital Transformation at Mastech, renowned for his platform implementation and integration strategy skills, will team up with Brandon Thomas, the Chief Data Officer (CDO) of Zions Bancorporation. They will explore how Mastech InfoTrellis collaborated with Zions Bancorporation to deploy a customer data foundation required to identify, track, and optimize relationships leveraging advanced analytics techniques like AI/ML. Together, they will share how Mastech built the bank’s MDM capabilities, generating high-quality data required for seamless integration with the Data Analytics environment.

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16. Emerging Practices for Decision Intelligence: The Next Leap for Data Analytics and AI

Speaker: Erick Brethenoux, Distinguished VP Analyst @ Gartner

About the Event: Specialized in artificial intelligence techniques, decision intelligence and applied cognitive computing, Erick guides organizations on the strategic, organizational, and technological aspects on using artificial intelligence as a driving force of their growth. In this session, Erick will share insights around decision intelligence as a vital bridge between analytics and decision-making and cover how to make decision intelligence a reality, exploring approaches, reengineering, modeling decisions, and available platforms.

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17. Snowflake: Without Data Strategy, There Is No AI Strategy

Speaker: Julian Forero, AI Product Marketing Lead @ Snowflake

About the Event: Before Snowflake, Julian was part of Confluent during the fast-growing journey to IPO. He began his career at IBM, advising large enterprises on their machine learning and analytics strategy. Julian will share the critical role of data strategy in AI initiatives and discuss how to incorporate Generative AI into analytical processes and create AI-powered applications, underlining the need for a unified data foundation.

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18. Technical Insights: 3 Things You Must Also Do to Build Resilient Machine Learning Solutions

Speaker: Sumit Agarwal, Sr. Director Analyst @ Gartner

About the Event: Sumit is a technologist with a practitioner mindset and extensive experience on solutions implementations across data and AI technologies. He will share best practices and techniques beyond technical optimization necessary for successfully adopting machine learning models within solutions and offer insights into building resilient machine learning solutions.

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19. RightData Panel: J&J, DHL, NICO on Leveraging Data Products & Internal Marketplace

Speakers:
- Jane-Ann Crowley (Director of Enterprise Data Governance @ DHL)
- Timothy Ultican (Director, Data Architecture @ NICO)

About the event: This panel, hosted by RightData, brings together esteemed clients, J&J, DHL, NICO, to discuss challenges and successes in implementing data products and internal marketplaces. The discussion will cover the role of data products in decision-making, strategies for fostering a data-driven culture, best practices in designing and deploying data products, overcoming hurdles in establishing an internal data marketplace and presenting real-world use cases.

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20. Guest Keynote: The Future of Human-Robot Interaction

Speaker: Kate Darling (Leading Expert in Social Robotics @ MIT Media Lab)

About the Event: As a leading expert in robot ethics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, Dr. Kate Darling will delve into the rapidly evolving world of human-robot interaction. This keynote will explore how robots transition from single-task machines to autonomous decision-makers, impacting various sectors from transportation to healthcare and even our daily lives at home and work.

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21. Measuring and Quantifying Cost, Risk & Value of AI Initiatives

Speaker: Frances Karamouzis - Distinguished VP Analyst @ Gartner

About the Event: Frances Karamouzis is the Group Chief of Research for IT Leaders and GTP. She is also a Distinguished VP Analyst in Gartner's Research and Advisory Group. Karamouzis will address the crucial aspects of evaluating AI initiatives with a focus on how organizations can effectively measure and quantify the cost, risk, and value of their AI projects, highlighting the importance of making these initiatives quantifiable and impactful.

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22. Monte Carlo: Lights, Camera, Trusted Data: Behind the Scenes of Fox’s Data Strategy

Speakers:
- Oliver Gomes, VP of Business Intelligence, Analytics and Strategy @ Fox
- Barr Moses, CEO @ Montecarlo

About the Event: How does multimedia giant Fox consistently deliver great media, advertising, and entertainment experiences? Two words: trusted data. Oliver Gomes, is at the helm of this initiative, building the technological foundations behind Fox’s data strategy. This fireside chat with Monte Carlo CEO, Barr Moses, discovers Fox's journey into the world of data strategy, where democratizing data takes the spotlight, and cross-functional teams create additional capabilities driven by the bedrock of trusted and reliable data.

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23. Solve Traditional Problems More Accurately With Unconventional Data and AI

Speaker: Kevin Quinn, VP Analyst @ Gartner

About the Event: With a comprehensive knowledge of products across the analytics capability spectrum, including data preparation, machine learning, augmented analytics, visualization, and more, Kevin Quinn is dedicated to providing research and advisory services to technology product managers globally. In this session, Kevin will highlight the potential of alternative data and AI in solving traditional business problems. He will discuss how unconventional data sources and algorithms can be leveraged to enhance accuracy and drive revenue, offering a new perspective on data utilization.

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24. The Future of D&A: From Data-Driven to Decision-Centric (HLC)

Speaker: Jim Hare, Distinguished VP Analyst @ Gartner

About the Event: Jim Hare is an expert in AI, data science, analytics, and business intelligence. He advises tech providers on adapting product strategies to new technologies and market trends, serving as the Gartner Vendor Lead Analyst for Amazon to align companies with emerging tech and consumer preferences. Jim will present a vision for the future of data and analytics. The session will focus on the shift from data-driven to decision-centric approaches, discussing new practices like decision intelligence and the impact of emerging technologies such as generative AI.

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25. Overcome Stakeholder Reluctance in Deploying a Data and Analytics Governance Program

Speaker: Amy Bickel, Director Analyst @ Gartner

About the Event: Amy Bickel, the Director and Analyst for Data Management at Gartner's Technical Professionals team, leverages over 21 years of experience in various business functions. She is recognized for her analytical leadership and team-building skills, driving positive business outcomes through data management and storytelling. Before Gartner, she held diverse roles in corporate telecom, spanning finance, sales operations, marketing, and data governance

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Amy Bickel will tackle the challenges of stakeholder engagement in data governance. She will offer strategies to overcome reluctance and enhance engagement, providing guidance for achieving successful governance initiatives involving technical and business functions.