Track 4
Beyond the Hype – Driving Exponential Value through AI & Human Ingenuity
Efficiency is often mistaken for “doing less,” but the economic reality of AI is the opposite: as innovation becomes more efficient, we unlock the capacity for higher-order problem-solving. This track explores how to turn that capacity into exponential value.
IDC predicts that by 2030, 50% of new economic value in digital business will be created by organizations investing in scalable AI and data capabilities.
This economic value can only be realised with a right, sustainable foundation that helps organizations capitalize effectively on their valuable data, people and application assets.
Today, IDC research points that over 50% of AI-driven digital initiatives fail to meet ROI targets due to unclear outcomes, weak data foundations, silos, and lack of human-AI synergy.
We will dive into the core of this transformation, integrating software engineering with robust data management, to ensure your AI and technology initiatives are supported by seamless application performance. By aligning data, applications, and people across the entire value chain, you can empower your teams to act as architects of innovation. Join us to discover how to move past the hype and create a scalable, human-centric foundation that fosters long-term market resilience.
Discussion Topics
- Agentic commerce: Agentic commerce is emerging as the next major shift in digital shopping. It is a shift from human-led transactions to AI-driven interfaces that can autonomously complete the end-to-end transaction (from making decisions to completing transactions and logistics management) within defined guardrails. The game-changer is how these agentic systems adapt decisions in real-time. Let’s explore the impact of legacy e-commerce architecture, data silos, workflow bottlenecks and governance challenges and discuss the best practices in addressing the caveats.
- AI maturity in the same org: The AI-infused business future is about technology, but it is also about readiness, governance, and a human-centred approach that transforms ambition into measurable business value. Fewer than 10% of organizations IDC surveyed are in the higher-end of maturity and 60% stuck in the very initial stages of maturity. Let’s delve into the top 5 hurdles and how to break free and which are the low-hanging fruit.
- How data is impacting your AI aspirations: In the context of AI, a data strategy is not merely about collecting or storing more data, but about embedding data-driven thinking into every layer of the enterprise. Let’s explore what it takes to become data centric from technology, leadership and culture perspectives. Let’s discuss what the best approach is to address regulatory and sovereignty requirements and balancing data governance with data access. IDC observes that organizations with mature data-centric cultures see higher AI project success rates, faster time-to-value, and improved regulatory posture.
Archana Venkatraman
Senior Director Research, Cloud Data Management
IDC
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Archana Venkatraman
Archana Venkatraman is a Senior Director for IDC’s European Datacenter Research. She covers datacenter technologies including software-defined infrastructures, storage and data management, virtualization, containers, hyperconverged infrastructure, infrastructure performance monitoring, systems management, application development, and cloud services.
Archana also leads IDC’s European thought leadership program on open source technologies. She also contributes to European Digital Transformation, DevOps, Blockchain and IoT research practices.
Before joining IDC, Venkatraman was the datacenter editor at Computer Weekly, the digital magazine and website for IT professionals based in London, where she focused on datacenters, server virtualization, storage, open source technologies, software-defined infrastructures, and cloud computing, liaising with enterprise CIOs and technology vendors to develop deeper insight into the enterprise IT industry. Venkatraman has a master’s degree in journalism from Mumbai University.