IDC & Lenovo Executive Dinner
AI Beyond the Hype: Driving Sustainable Business Impact at Scale
Over half of enterprises in EMEA already deploy AI, and 94% anticipate a positive return on investment. This surge in confidence is reflected in the 93% of organizations planning to increase their AI budgets in the coming year.
As AI moves from experimentation to enterprise execution, many organizations face the same challenge: how to scale AI beyond isolated use cases and turn it into measurable business value. Increasingly, this requires understanding the underlying economics of AI – from infrastructure costs to emerging token-based consumption models – bringing “tokenomics” into focus as a new lens for efficiency and ROI.
Yet the real barrier is not just technology; it is the lack of alignment on what AI success actually means – whether that is productivity, speed, quality, customer impact, or competitive advantage. Until that is clear, scaling remains difficult.
This exclusive dinner discussion brings together a select group of CIOs and senior technology leaders to discuss what it takes to operationalize AIl across the enterprise – securely, responsibly, and at scale.
Built around findings from the CIO Playbook 2026, based on input from 800 IT and business leaders across Europe and the Middle East, the conversation will focus on the decisions that matter most now: how to define AI success, build the right foundations, scale with governance, and prepare for the rise of agentic AI.
The discussion is designed for frank peer exchange on the realities of execution – what is creating value, what is holding organizations back, and what it takes to move from pilots to measurable impact.
Key Topics
From pilots to reality
Execution at scale
Agentic AI & beyond
Why you should attend
Hosted and moderated by IDC, and sponsored by Lenovo, this roundtable offers a unique opportunity to engage with industry experts, exchange perspectives, and, most importantly, share your own experiences and challenges for a confident way forward to meeting business objectives.
During this exclusive event, we will explore insights from the CIO Playbook 2026 and reveal how organizations across EMEA are successfully scaling AI across their business:
- Understand the latest AI adoption trends and ROI expectations across the region.
- Learn how to move from pilot projects to enterprise-scale AI deployment.
- Discover how hybrid infrastructure and governance enable trusted AI.
- Explore how agentic AI is transforming complex business processes.
- Learn why only 48% of AI pilots reach production (and how to beat the odds).
Speakers
Ewa Zborowska
Research Director
IDC
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Ewa Zborowska
Ewa Zborowska, an experienced technology professional with over two decades of expertise in the European IT services and cloud market. Since 2003, she has been a member of the IDC team, based in Warsaw, focusing on IT services research. In 2018, she joined the European team with a specific emphasis on cloud and AI.
Ms. Zborowska’s interests encompass a broad spectrum, from exploring new technology delivery models to delving into the relationship between business and IT, and understanding the societal and individual impacts of technology. She has authored numerous market publications and reports and advises on IDC projects throughout Europe. She also participates in IDC’s and third-party conferences as a keynote speaker, panelist, and moderator.
Prior to her role at IDC, Ms. Zborowska worked at Statistics Poland (formerly the Central Statistical Office) and worked at an IT company. She holds a degree in Management from the University of Łódź in Poland and has completed postgraduate studies in forecasting and foresight at Collegium Civitas University in Warsaw.
Event Sessions
One Day Event 10:00 pm
Summary of discussions and key takeaways
One Day Event 6:50 pm
IDC & Lenovo Welcome Address
Agenda
IDC & Lenovo Executive Dinner
One Day Event
Champagne Reception
Guest arrival with welcome drinks and networking
IDC & Lenovo Welcome Address
Ewa Zborowska
Research Director, IDC
Main Course: Second Discussion Topic – Execution at Scale
What It Takes to Scale AI That Delivers Measureable Outcomes
- Who owns AI in your organization today – and is that working?
- What foundations matter most: data, infrastructure, operating model, talent, something else?
- What is the “right-size AI factory” for you?
- Tokenomics – how cheaply can your infrastructure generate tokens for AI? (also relevant for Dessert conversation)
- How are you addressing governance and risk?
- What are the biggest blockers to scaling AI across business units?
- how are you managing the cost of AI (e.g., cost per prompt/token)? Where are you finding efficiency gains?
Dessert: Third Discussion Topic – Agentic AI & Beyond
What’s Next – And Are We Ready for It?
- What needs to be true before you deply more autonomous, agentic AI systems?
- How are you preparing for the next wave of AI while managing risk and control?
- What new risks and opportunities do you see emerging?
- What differentiates leading organizations from the rest of the market laggards today and what will in the next 2–3 years?
Summary of discussions and key takeaways
Ewa Zborowska
Research Director, IDC
Event close
Sponsor
Sponsored by
Lenovo
Lenovo is a US$69 billion revenue global technology powerhouse, ranked #196 in the Fortune Global 500, and serving millions of customers every day in 180 markets. Focused on a bold vision to deliver Smarter Technology for All, Lenovo has built on its success as the world’s largest PC company with a full-stack portfolio of AI-enabled, AI-ready, and AI-optimized devices (PCs, workstations, smartphones, tablets), infrastructure (server, storage, edge, high performance computing and software defined infrastructure), software, solutions, and services. Lenovo’s continued investment in world-changing innovation is building a more equitable, trustworthy, and smarter future for everyone, everywhere. Lenovo is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange under Lenovo Group Limited (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY).
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