As organizations accelerate digital investment, CIOs face a complex set of challenges: modernizing legacy systems, addressing rising technical debt, embedding cybersecurity, ensuring regulatory compliance, and preparing their workforce for technology-driven change. IDC research shows that nearly 40% of CIOs expect to overspend on digital infrastructure within the next 18 months, with technical debt cited as a primary driver, while only a fraction of digital initiatives deliver measurable business impact. At the same time, global digital transformation spend is set to surpass $4 trillion by 2027, underscoring the urgency for CIOs to deliver value, not just investment.

Yet the next frontier is already here: Agentic AI. Systems capable of autonomous decision-making, task execution, and continuous learning. According to IDC’s 2025 research, while 77% of European organizations are actively using GenAI, only 28% have deployed agentic AI systems. CIOs are now tasked with governing this wave of automation, balancing innovation with control, and rethinking architectures, skills, and policies to harness AI safely and strategically.

Build the shared trust layer first—where data and security come together—and every team moves faster.

AI is accelerating modernization efforts, but it’s not the foundation of long-term success. Trust is. Trust is built on the “shared trust layer,” where data and security work together to form the backbone of a resilient, future-ready IT ecosystem. Without robust security, your data is vulnerable; without actionable data, your security measures lack precision. Together, they enable innovation, agility, and long-term impact.

IDC research shows nearly 40% of CIOs expect to overspend on digital infrastructure in the next 18 months, driven by technical debt and initiatives that stall before delivering results. Operational friction—rework from quick fixes, access exceptions from workarounds, inconsistent controls, reactionary audit scrambles, and untested recovery plans—undermines progress.

This keynote introduces the Shared Trust Layer as the foundation beneath every modernization initiative. Build it first, and teams move faster everywhere: delivery cycles shrink, resilience improves, compliance gets easier, and AI scales with confidence.

You’ll leave this session with:

• A practical model to align data and security strategies for IT modernization.
• Steps to reduce operational friction and accelerate delivery cycles.
• A focused 90-day action plan to benchmark your maturity with the IDC Modernization Index and build a resilient, future-ready IT ecosystem.

The ratio of non-human to human identities is exploding. From service accounts and automated bots to the rapid emergence of agentic AI, these “digital workers” now perform critical business tasks, access sensitive data, and make autonomous decisions. However, this shift has expanded the attack surface, leaving organizations vulnerable to over-privileged service accounts, secret-sprawl, and AI-driven threats that traditional, human-centric IAM systems were never built to handle.

In this session, Ping Identity and Ensono explore why non-human identity (NHI) has become the new frontier of cybersecurity. We will dive into the unique challenges of managing machine-to-machine interactions and the necessity of a unified identity fabric.

Most organisations have AI projects running. Few can answer the question that matters most: what are we getting for the money?

This presentation tackles that problem directly, drawing on real experience building and operating an AI governance framework across a live enterprise portfolio. It is not a theoretical model or a vendor pitch. It is an account of what was built, why, how it works in practice, and what proved harder than expected.

The session covers the core components of an AI value playbook: a tiered classification model that applies proportionate governance to both new and existing projects, a four-checkpoint governance gate that must be passed before any AI initiative moves forward, a three-layer measurement framework that distinguishes between adoption, performance and value metrics, and a reference architecture layer that keeps the technology landscape legible and prevents tool sprawl.

As organisations become increasingly data-driven and cloud-dependent, CIOs sit at the centre of a growing web of cyber risk, regulatory pressure and strategic accountability. Moving beyond traditional security models, this panel explores how CIOs are redefining digital trust not just through technology, but through governance, supplier choices and control over critical data and systems.

The discussion will examine the CIO’s role in navigating digital sovereignty, managing third-party and geopolitical risk, and balancing innovation with resilience. Listen to CIOs sharing practical insights on the decisions they are making today to protect their organisations, maintain autonomy, and build trust with boards, regulators and customers in an increasingly complex digital landscape.

The CIO’s mandate has shifted: you are no longer just the custodian of uptime, but the primary architect of the agentic enterprise. As AI redefines the economics of work, the CIO must bridge the gap between probabilistic AI and the deterministic rigor required for HR and Finance data and processes. 

In this session, we explore how Sana, Workday’s AI superintelligence, empowers CIOs to lead this transformation. We move beyond disconnected “copilots” toward AI “teammates” that operate with built-in governance and deep context.

Join us to discover how to scale intelligence while maintaining the absolute trust and compliance that define the modern enterprise.

Organisations know that AI offers opportunities for transformation and are asking “Where can we use AI?” – the better question is, “Do we have what it takes to apply AI?” This session examines AI as an enterprise capability, not a collection of experiments and isolated initiatives, exploring semantic models, agents, observability, and interaction with existing architectures as prerequisites for scale and sustainable transformation. A pragmatic perspective and checklist for leaders who want to move fast, unlock new opportunities, and reinvent the business without compromising security, governance, or organisational coherence.

Sustainability is no longer just a corporate responsibility — it’s a strategic imperative, and CIOs play a central role in embedding ESG into technology strategy. From energy-efficient IT operations to responsible data practices and green cloud adoption, technology decisions directly impact an organisation’s environmental, social, and governance performance.

Duncan will explore how CIOs can align IT investments with sustainability goals, ESG reporting, and green innovation, driving measurable outcomes while supporting broader business strategy. This session will share practical insights on integrating sustainability into enterprise technology planning, fostering a culture of accountability, and positioning IT as a driver of long-term value and innovation.

Agentic AI – systems capable of autonomous decision-making is no longer a distant concept: it’s becoming a critical tool for enterprise innovation. But with strategic opportunity comes operational complexity. How can CIOs harness these technologies to drive efficiency, insight, and competitive advantage while managing risk, compliance, and ethical considerations?

Join this panel to discuss the real-world implications of agentic AI in the enterprise. IDC states that only 13% of proofs-of-concept (PoCs) make it to production, which highlights the execution gap CIOs must close. This panel will explore how to evaluate AI adoption, integrate autonomous systems into existing operations, and ensure responsible use, all while maintaining control and delivering measurable business impact whilst practical insights into how CIOs are balancing innovation with accountability in this rapidly evolving landscape.