Sponsored by
The AI Foundation – Architecting the Blueprint for Scalable AI
Most organisations are currently building AI on legacy sand. To bridge the gap between fragile pilots and high-impact production, senior leadership requires more than a vision—they need a structural blueprint. The path to AI-driven success is not a single leap, but a series of foundational builds.
The AI Foundation Executive Briefing offers a means of understanding your current technical and cultural maturity. It also outlines the specific foundational elements, from data sovereignty to the digital workplace, that are necessary to support a resilient, high-performing AI enterprise.
Agenda
IDC & Insight Executive Event
One day event
Delegate Arrival & Networking
IDC Keynote
Insight Keynote
Partner Keynote
Networking Lunch
2x 90 min track sessions
Track 1: Laying the Foundations for AI Adoption – Sovereignty, Data Strategy & Cloud Infrastructure
Track 2: Establishing Trust for AI Adoption – Cybersecurity and Business Continuity
Track 3: Transforming the Digital Workplace for an AI-Driven Future
Track 4: Harnessing Apps and Data for AI-Driven Success
Networking Drinks
IDC Analysts
Rahiel Nasir
Research Director, European Cloud & Lead Analyst, Worldwide Digital Sovereignty
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Rahiel Nasir
Rahiel Nasir is responsible for leading and contributing to IDC’s European cloud and cloud data management research programs, as well as supporting associated consulting projects.
Nasir has been watching technology markets and writing about them throughout his professional life.
Prior to joining IDC, he was a research analyst with 451 Research (now part of S&P Global Market Intelligence), where he covered the datacenter infrastructure and services markets across the EMEA region.
Nasir started his career as a consumer technology journalist with Haymarket Publishing where he rapidly worked his way up the ranks to become editor of a number of high-profile magazines, including What Hi-Fi?.
Following a successful career as a freelance technology journalist, he joined BBC Focus magazine as deputy editor before moving on to become editorial director of a number of B2B magazines, such as Networking+ which includes news and features about the technologies of voice and data networks for enterprise users, as well several publications targeted at vendors and service providers involved in the business and technologies of wireless communications in Africa, South Asia, and Eastern Europe.
Nasir has made numerous appearances on TV, radio, and in the press as a consumer technology spokesperson, and has also spoken at ICT industry events as a presenter, panelist, and moderator.
He was educated at the University of Manchester in England where he studied English and American and classical literature, as well as at the Postgraduate School of Journalism at City University, London.
Duncan Brown
Group Vice President, IDC Europe
IDC
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Duncan Brown
Duncan Brown is associate vice president, European Security Practice, at IDC EMEA and leads the firm’s security research program in Europe. He specializes in providing strategic advice to his clients, informing and validating their corporate, product, and marketing plans. Brown is an expert in analyzing the security market globally, and his list of security-related clients includes enterprises, central banks, government organizations, and security product suppliers and services providers. Brown’s expertise spans the gamut of security topics including incident response, threat intelligence, and global privacy issues. He established and leads IDC’s coverage of the global impact of the GDPR, the RPEC (ePrivacy Directive update) and NIS Directive on technology companies and their customers. His analysis and opinions are widely sought by industry leaders and investors, while his comments on industry trends and developments frequently appear in the leading business and trade publications.
You can find Duncan on Twitter here.
Meike Escherich
Associate Research Director, European Future of Work
IDC
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Meike Escherich
Meike Escherich is an associate research director with IDC’s European Future of Work research service, based in the UK. In this role, she provides coverage of key technology trends across the Future of Work, specializing in how to drive and monitor productivity in a flexible work environment. This includes research into workforce management, agile performance measures, employee engagement/innovation programs and AI driven wellness solutions.
Prior to joining IDC, Meike was a Principal Analyst at Gartner (20 years) – covering Personal Computing, IT Services and Consumer Technologies – and a freelance consultant working with several UK analyst firms and international technology providers (3 years). An expert at identifying and solving strategic pain points Meike has worked with C-level executives across a multitude of industries such as IT, Education, Government, Health, Media, and Finance.
Having studied in Germany (University of Konstanz), Switzerland (University of Geneva, ERASMUS) and the UK (University of Exeter, ERASMUS) Meike holds a bachelor’s degree in Law as well as a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology.
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.