European CIO Xchange

18–20 Oct 2026

Barcelona, Spain

European CIO Xchange

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The CIO's New Mandate – Empowering People, Driving Value, Leading with Resilience​

Today’s CIO plays a central role in business strategy and enterprise leadership. No longer focused solely on IT operations, CIOs are driving digital transformation, aligning technology investments with business goals, and building resilient, adaptive organizations in the face of constant disruption. As AI and automation move from experimentation to enterprise adoption, CIOs face a dual challenge: unlocking new business value while ensuring strong governance, security, and risk management. With Agentic AI rapidly reshaping operating models, CIOs must balance innovation with transparency, ethical oversight, and operational control. This new mandate requires rethinking talent, collaboration, and technology governance — enabling CIOs to lead responsible AI adoption, deliver measurable outcomes, and strengthen organizational trust and resilience.

Overview

Technology leadership is central to enabling innovation, governance, and growth as AI accelerates digital transformation. Today’s CIO must integrate AI and emerging technologies responsibly, harness data for actionable insights, and support data-driven and agentic AI initiatives across the enterprise—while balancing strategy, risk, communication, and people as part of the C-suite.

Join fellow CIOs, technology leaders, partners, and IDC analysts to exchange best practices, build meaningful connections, and collaborate on leading successful transformation in the age of AI agents.

IDC Analysts

Thomas Meyer

Thomas Meyer

General Manager and Group Vice President, EMEA Research

IDC

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Jennifer Thomson

Jennifer Thomson

Associate Vice President Cloud Innovation and Services

IDC

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Neil Ward-Dutton

Neil Ward-Dutton

Vice President, AI and DX European Practices

IDC

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Carla Arend

Carla Arend

Associate Vice President, Research, Cloud in Europe

IDC

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Andrea Siviero

Andrea Siviero

Senior Research Director, EMEA Digital Business & Economy, Future of Work

IDC

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Giulia Carosella

Giulia Carosella

Research Manager, Digital Transformation, IDC Europe

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What our attendees say

Industry leaders and global influencers shared their experiences on overcoming challenges and seizing new opportunities. Their insights provided practical perspectives and valuable lessons that continue to inspire and guide our community.

Transformation doesn’t happen in isolation. The CIO Xchange brings together technology leaders who are redefining how innovation, data, and people connect to drive business value

Nikolaj Friis Kroyer, Hartmann Packaging

Must attend event of the year for CIOs

Francisco Pastor, JCDecaux

A memorable event with an organisation that highlights the important topics for a
CIO while also providing space for informal peer-to-peer exchanges throughout the
day. I appreciated both the formal and informal discussions which bring great ideas
and useful practical solutions

Stephan Mariotto, Fidal

Best IDC conference I have attended to date. All speakers and all sessions were
great. I sometimes find the fireside chat format a little dull and contrived but all the
sessions here works really well.

Mark Dooley, RSS Global

Extremely valuable experience to participate in the IDC CIO Xchange. Great
sessions, variety of form and interaction with peers and partners

Carina Harders, Lantmännen Unibake

Everything was perfectly organized, right audience and content

Antonio Arranz, LVMH

2025 Video Highlights

Our Partners

Want to become a partner? Contact Us!

Venue

Barcelona Spain

Sitges, Barcelona, Spain

Knowledge Hub

EMEA Enterprise Networking: Strategies for 2025 and Beyond

Despite ongoing geopolitical tensions, inflationary pressures, and energy cost volatility, the outlook for networking investments in EMEA is positive. ok for networking investments in EMEA is positive.

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Key Takeaways: IDC European CIO Xchange 2025

The enterprise technology landscape is undergoing a pivotal transformation, moving from the chaotic “GenAI Scramble” of 2024, characterized by widespread proof-of-concept (POC) projects, to a more deliberate “AI Pivot” focused on achieving scale and measurable business value in 2025. Discussion at the CIO Xchange reveals a consensus that success in this new era hinges on a disciplined fusion of strategy, foundational readiness, and robust governance.

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The Agentic Business Future: Driving Resilience, Sovereignty, & Innovation

In this year’s session — The Agentic Business Future — we’ll explore how organizations can harness AI, automation, and sovereignty to drive resilience, innovation, and growth in an increasingly complex environment. But success in this future depends on more than technology: it requires foundational readiness, robust governance, and a human-centered approach.

Watch the recording

Contact Us

Gian Carlo De La Paz

Gian Carlo De La Paz

Senior Event Manager, IDC Xchange

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Kikki Godskesen

Kikki Godskesen

Event Sponsorship Sales Europe, IDC

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