IDC and Neo4j Executive Roundtable

28 Oct 2026 Four Seasons Hotel Singapore

IDC and Neo4j Executive Roundtable

Can Enterprises Trust GenAI Without Context?

Turning AI Insights into Accountable, Enterprise-Scale Action

28 Oct 2026 Four Seasons Hotel Singapore

In Partnership With

Logo

The Singapore roundtable established that connected data is the missing link in enterprise AI that grounding GenAI in a graph-based knowledge layer reduces hallucinations, sharpens decision-making, and unlocks use cases that fragmented data architectures simply cannot support.

 

IDC data confirms that 56% of governments in Asia/Pacific are at early stages of data readiness maturity and that by 2027, companies that do not prioritise high-quality, AI-ready data will experience up to a 20% productivity loss. At the same time, 65% of Asia/Pacific organisations are expected to adopt composite AI approaches that combine generative, predictive, and agentic capabilities specifically to improve explainability and reliability.

 

This exclusive, invitation-only roundtable in partnership with Neo4j brings together CIOs and senior technology executives in Singapore to explore what it takes to make AI not just intelligent, but trustworthy, traceable, and accountable.

Why Attend

Build on the first discussion, this roundtable takes the next step: how to act on it responsibly and at scale.

Hear from IDC analysts and peers on the explainability, lineage, and audit frameworks organisations are building as AI moves into production-critical workflows.

Explore how graph intelligence provides the traceable, contextual foundation that makes GenAI outputs defensible to regulators, boards, and customers alike.

Agenda

IDC and Neo4j Executive Roundtable

One Day Event

11:30AM

Registration, Tea/Coffee & Networking

12:00PM

Welcome Address

Xander Smart

Xander Smart

General Manager – ASEAN, Neo4j

12:10PM

Scaling AI with Explainability and Accountability

Sandra Ng

Sandra Ng

Senior Vice President, WW and APJ Research, IDC

12:25PM

Connecting Data, Relationships and AI for Better Decisions

Xander Smart

Xander Smart

General Manager – ASEAN, Neo4j

12:45PM

Open Discussion: Can Enterprises Rely on GenAI Without Context?

Sandra Ng

Sandra Ng

Senior Vice President, WW and APJ Research, IDC

1:30PM

Summary and Close

Xander Smart

Xander Smart

General Manager – ASEAN, Neo4j

1:35PM

Lunch and Networking

Speakers

Sandra Ng

Sandra Ng

Senior Vice President, WW and APJ Research

IDC

Read bio

Xander Smart

Xander Smart

General Manager – ASEAN

Neo4j

Read bio

In Partnership With

Venue

Four Seasons Hotel Singapore

Meeting Room: Windows West, Level 20
190 Orchard Boulevard, Singapore, 248646

Join Us for this Executive Session!

Register Now

ASEAN AI & Data Summit Knowledge Hub / Matt Eastwood

Analyst Spotlight

Matt Eastwood
SVP, WW Research
IDC

Analyst Spotlight

AI Infrastructure: The Foundation of the Agentic Era

The world is entering a defining moment for digital infrastructure. Artificial intelligence has moved from experimentation to ubiquity, and with it, a new operational paradigm is taking shape — one where agents rather than applications become the primary engines of digital value creation. This is the dawn of the agentic AI era, and its success depends on one thing above all else: robust, intelligent, and scalable infrastructure.

From Automation to Autonomy

For decades, infrastructure strategy has focused on efficiency – making IT faster, cheaper, and more reliable. But AI is forcing a step change. IDC’s Worldwide IT Industry 2026 FutureScape predicts that by 2028, nearly half of all IT product and service interactions will be mediated by AI agents. These systems are not just automating tasks; they are reasoning, collaborating, and acting in context – continuously learning from data to improve business outcomes.

Supporting this shift requires infrastructure that can think for itself. IDC’s Future of Digital Infrastructure research shows that by 2029, 70% of new operating systems will ship with built-in infrastructure operations agents and model context servers to drive efficiency, security, and sustainability. In short, we are moving from systems that are operated to systems that operate themselves.

AI Factories and the Rise of Private Intelligence

The massive growth of generative and agentic AI has triggered a global infrastructure renaissance. Enterprises and hyperscalers alike are building “AI factories”. These are the next-generation data centers purpose-built for high-density and GPU-driven workloads. AI-ready data center spending in the U.S. has tripled in three years and forecast anticipate that demand for AI-ready capacity will grow 33% annually through 2030.

IDC’s recent Private AI Infrastructure Systems MarketScape underscores why this matters: as AI workloads scale, organizations need hybrid models that balance performance, cost, and control. Leaders like Dell Technologies, HPE, and Cisco are responding with turnkey private AI systems that integrate compute, storage, networking, and model management software into secure, cloud-consistent platforms. These systems form the backbone of enterprise AI, where data sovereignty, security, and latency matter most.

The Power, Cooling, and Connectivity Challenge

The scale of AI infrastructure buildout is also testing physical limits. High-density GPU clusters can draw tens of kilowatts per rack, driving record levels of power demand and forcing innovation in liquid cooling and grid optimization. IDC predicts that by 2030, 70% of new liquid-cooled deployments will adhere to open standards, improving compatibility and reducing deployment costs by one-third. The infrastructure bottleneck is shifting from compute to power and cooling, making sustainability not just an ESG issue but an operational imperative.

Toward the Autonomous Enterprise

Agentic AI doesn’t live in isolation – it depends on a digital fabric that spans datacenters, clouds, and edge environments. By 2027, IDC expects 80% of enterprises to deploy distributed edge infrastructure to support low-latency AI inferencing, and 75% will use interconnection-oriented networks to secure and orchestrate AI workloads. This fusion of automation, intelligence, and interconnection is paving the way toward autonomous IT operations, where humans remain in the loop but not in the way.

Why It Matters Now

CIOs in ASEAN and beyond are standing at the intersection of two transformations: the modernization of infrastructure and the emergence of the agentic enterprise. The winners will be those who view AI infrastructure not as a cost center but as a catalyst – the intelligent backbone that allows agents, data, and humans to collaborate seamlessly.

At the IDC ASEAN AI & Data Summit, we’ll explore how forward-thinking leaders are reimagining infrastructure for this new era by building the secure, sustainable, and scalable foundations of an intelligent enterprise. Because in the age of agentic AI, infrastructure isn’t just the platform for innovation. It is the innovation.

ASEAN AI & Data Summit – Agenda

Agenda

AI & Data Summit ASEAN 2026

One Day Event

8:00AM

Registration and Networking

9:00AM

Welcome Address

Deepika Giri

Deepika Giri

Vice President, Research, IDC

9:05AM

IDC Keynote: Agentic AI in 2026: The Autonomous Enterprise and the Next Wave of Productivity​

Discover how autonomous enterprises can unlock productivity gains through self optimizing AI systems and intelligent automations.

Deepika Giri

Deepika Giri

Vice President, Research, IDC

9:25AM

Navigating Complexity: Simplifying the Tech Buying Process

Explore how organisations can smplify complex technoogy decisons, reduce friction across the buying journey and ensure technology investment delivers measurable business value.

9:45AM

Scaling Enterprise AI Securely: Architectures for Real-Time, High-Value Data

Discover how organisations can scale securely by building resilient, real-time architecture data that balance performance, data protection and business value.

9:55AM

Unlocking Data as a Strategic Asset: Governance, Quality & ​Interoperability in 2026

How strong data governance, quality, and interoperability can help organisations build trusted data foundations, unlock greater business value, and scale AI with confidence.

10:05AM

AI and Data: Balancing Innovation with Responsibility

Explore how organisations can accelerate AI innovation while ensuring responsible use of data through effective governance, security, transparency, and risk management.

10:15AM

Defending against AI-driven threats: Building digital trust across ASEAN

How security leaders can evolve their operating models, governance, and skillsets to turn digital trust into a competitive advantage amid cross-border regulatory complexity.

10:25AM

Roundtable Discussion

An open floor for every voice at the table. Participants take turns sharing updates, ideas, and challenges, sparking fresh perspectives and honest dialogue you won’t get from a formal presentation.

10:45AM

Roundtable Discussion

An open floor for every voice at the table. Participants take turns sharing updates, ideas, and challenges, sparking fresh perspectives and honest dialogue you won’t get from a formal presentation.

11:05AM

Tea/ Coffee & Networking Break

11:30AM

Platinum Tracks

Start of Session Raffle

Track A: Scaling AI & Productivity

11:35AM11:45AM

Securing the AI Agent: Identity, Access, and Zero Trust for Autonomous Systems

11:45AM11:55AM

Responsible AI in Practice

11:55AM12:05PM

Beyond the Technology: Enhancing Digital Experiences for CIOs

12:05PM12:15PM

Where physical meets cyber: Securing the AI powered connected enterprise:

Track B: Data Architecture & Sovereignty

11:35AM11:45AM

Data Architecture for the AI Era

11:45AM11:55AM

Digital Sovereignty in a Global Economy

11:55AM12:05PM

Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Strategies for AI Workloads

12:05PM12:15PM

Upskilling for the Intelligent Cloud Era

12:15PM

Innovation Challenge

12:55PM

Lunch & Networking

1:35PM

Pitching the Innovation Challenge

2:05PM

From Data to National Value: Saudi Arabia’s National Data Bank Story

A look at how Saudi Arabia is transforming data into a strategic national asset — exploring the vision, architecture, and impact of its National Data Bank in driving innovation, informed decision-making, and long-term economic value across the Kingdom.

Nawal Alotaibi

Nawal Alotaibi

Business Planning Director, National Data Bank (NDB)

2:15PM

Workshop Partner

Workshop Partner A

2:15PM3:05PM

Orchestrating Technology, Data, and People for Competitive Advantage

Workshop Partner B

2:15PM3:05PM

CIO as Change Leader: Navigating Organizational and Cultural Shifts

Workshop Partner C

2:15PM3:05PM

Hands-On Lab: Assessing Your AI Maturity Model

Workshop Partner D

2:15PM3:05PM

Responding to AI Disruption: A CIO’s 100-Day Plan

3:05PM

Panel Discussion: From Cyber Resilience to Business Value: Measuring the Impact of Security Investments

In an era of escalating cyber threats and growing regulatory demands, measuring the business impact of security investments has never been more important. This discussion will examine how organizations can translate cyber resilience into tangible business outcomes and gain board-level confidence in their security strategies.

Deepika Giri

Deepika Giri

Vice President, Research, IDC

Roland V Oscuro

Roland V Oscuro

Chief Information Security Officer, Philippine National Bank

Hwee Cher Tan

Hwee Cher Tan

Group Head, Information Security & Data Governance, CGS International Securities Group

3:45PM

Felicitation of Partners / Speakers

3:55PM

Mega Raffle, Summary

4:05PM

Cocktail Making Networking Activity

4:35PM

Close of Summit

ASEAN AI & Data Summit – Speakers

Meet Our Speakers

Uncover breakthrough insights from IDC experts and exclusive sessions featuring influential voices transforming technology and leadership today.

Deepika Giri

Deepika Giri

Vice President, Research

IDC

Read bio

Hemant Prasad

Hemant Prasad

Founder and CEO

Crest Infosolutions Pte Ltd

Read bio

Nawal Alotaibi

Nawal Alotaibi

Business Planning Director

National Data Bank (NDB)

Read bio

Hwee Cher Tan

Hwee Cher Tan

Group Head, Information Security & Data Governance

CGS International Securities Group

Read bio

Roland V Oscuro

Roland V Oscuro

Chief Information Security Officer

Philippine National Bank

Read bio

ASEAN AI & Data Summit – Why Partner

Why Partner

Position your brand at the forefront of the region’s premier CIO and CDO community. This results-driven platform is designed to maximize engagement and ROI for solution providers.

Become a Partner
Why Partner

Access Key Decision Makers

Directly engage with 80+ qualified technology buyers and influencers from the country.

ROI-Focused Lead Generation

Unlock opportunities through power meetings, roundtables, and workshops designed to connect partners with active buyers.

Brand Elevation & Visibility

Showcase your solutions at the most premium CIO event in the region, amplifying your presence across the technology ecosystem.

Research-Backed Intelligence

Leverage exclusive IDC insights and CIO surveys to better understand market trends and strengthen your go-to-market strategy.

Strategic Partner

Platinum Partners

Roundtable Partners

Exhibit Partner

ASEAN AI & Data Summit – Key Themes

Why Attend?

AI & Data Summit 2026 Singapore convenes ASEAN’s most influential technology decision-makers at a defining moment for the region’s digital transformation. With 80% of ASEAN organizations set to formalize AI risk policies by 2026, responsible AI governance is rapidly becoming a board-level mandate and the foundation for enterprise trust, resilience, and long-term value creation. As data ecosystems expand and AI models scale across industries, leaders are under increasing pressure to modernize infrastructure, strengthen risk frameworks, and deliver measurable impact from AI-driven initiatives.

Network with the Region’s Elite

Connect with 80+ qualified attendees, including 60% CIOs, CDOs, CTOs, CEOs and Heads of IT, AI, Data and Cybersecurity from across ASEAN.

Learn from the Best
Hear directly from IDC analysts, global experts, and pioneering CIOs and CDOs on how to scale AI, Data, GenAI, and agentic systems across industries.

Discover Real-World Use Cases
Gain insights into how leading organizations are implementing AI-driven automation to improve agility, resilience, and customer value.

Future-Proof Your Strategy
Understand the long-term business implications of agentic systems, ensuring your organization thrives in a rapidly evolving digital economy.

Master AI Security & Trust
Explore strategies to tackle data privacy, AI observability, model integrity, and digital trust challenges.

Cloud as the AI Foundation
Discover how cloud platforms, edge computing, and 5G enable scalable, secure, and sovereign AI deployments.

Key Themes

The ASEAN AI & Data Summit this year will spotlight how ASEAN enterprises are expected to rely on synthetic data to accelerate AI development while safeguarding sensitive information, reflecting mounting pressure to balance innovation with trust, security, and compliance. At the same time, key sectors including BFSI, healthcare, manufacturing, and the public sector are advancing their AI roadmaps through real-time data pipelines, intelligent automation, and domain-specific analytics, often within hybrid and sovereign-aligned environments.

Data Value Reinvention in the Age of AI

ASEAN enterprises are moving from passive data collection to active value creation. This theme explores how organizations can reinvent data strategies to support AI-driven decision-making, real-time intelligence, and new digital business models, especially as analytics investments surge across the region.

Scaling AI: From Pilot to Enterprise Deployment

Many organizations in ASEAN have experimented with AI, but few have scaled it enterprise-wide. This theme addresses the operational, architectural, and cultural shifts needed to move from small pilots to high-impact, production-grade AI systems.

AI Governance: Trust, Transparency and Responsible AI

With governments across Southeast Asia advancing AI frameworks and enterprises formalizing risk policies, governance has become a top priority. This track examines how to build transparent, explainable, secure, and ethically aligned AI that meets regional regulatory and societal expectations.

Data Sovereignty, Governance and Interoperability

ASEAN’s diverse regulatory environment makes data sovereignty a critical concern. This theme focuses on managing cross-border data flows, ensuring compliance, and building interoperable systems that allow organizations to innovate while respecting national policies and industry standards.

Generative and Agentic AI: The Next Frontier

GenAI adoption is accelerating across finance, retail, public sector, and manufacturing in ASEAN. This track highlightsbreakthrough use cases, emerging agentic workflows, and opportunities to build localized, domain-specific models usingsector datasets.

Infrastructure Evolution: Edge, Cloud and AI Platforms

As smart city projects and real-time enterprise automation grow, ASEAN organizations are rapidly modernizing infrastructure. This theme explores how edge computing, hybrid/multicloud, and AI-optimized platforms enable agility, resilience, and performance at scale.

Business Value and ROI from AI & Data

With leaders demanding measurable results, such as the push for 80% GenAI success rates; this track delves into building business cases, measuring impact, accelerating adoption cycles, and driving cost efficiency through data and AI initiatives.

People, Culture and AI Readiness

ASEAN’s digital maturity varies widely, making workforce and cultural readiness crucial. This theme covers talent upskilling, AI literacy, change management, and strategies to align people, processes, and leadership around AI-driven transformation.

Ecosystems, Partnerships and Innovation Models

Regional enterprises increasingly rely on collaborations with hyperscalers, startups, research institutions, and government agencies. This theme examines partnership-driven innovation models that accelerate deployment, reduce risk, and open up new market opportunities.

Future Regulation & Strategic Foresight

The regulatory landscape in ASEAN is evolving rapidly as governments invest in AI policies, national LLM strategies, andcross-border digital frameworks. This track helps leaders anticipate future rules, assess risks, and build resilient long-termAI roadmaps.

Proceedings

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IDC & Everpure Roundtable

IDC & Everpure Roundtable

Beyond CapEx: Making the Financial Case for Modern Storage Infrastructure

In Partnership With

Logo

As AI workloads intensify and data volumes grow exponentially, IT leaders face a familiar dilemma: infrastructure that can’t keep pace with the business requirements. CFO’s needs more than a technology argument to approve budgets. For AI use cases, the storage costs could spiral out of control in no time. How about investing in modern storage that comes with predictable pricing, guaranteed performance SLAs, can scale on demand without the burden of lengthy hardware refresh cycles?

 

This invitation-only roundtable will give and opportunity to discuss some of the concern areas of senior IT decision makers and help build a business case that resonates with their CFOs.

 

Join IDC and Everpure thought leaders to exchange perspectives, pressure-test assumptions, and leave with a clearer path forward.

The AI Infrastructure Gap: Growth vs. Readiness in APAC

AI investment across Asia/Pacific is accelerating, but readiness isn’t keeping pace. While global AI spending is projected to reach $236.6 billion by 2029 and the region’s server and storage market grows toward $20 billion, only 23% of AI applications in APAC make it from proof of concept to production. Storage modernization is emerging as the critical requirement for closing this gap.

Key Learning Outcomes Include:

What storage limits do CIOs face as AI adoption accelerates?

Preparing AI-Ready Storage Beyond Cost and Capacity

Finding the right balance between scale, cost, and governance

What defines AI-ready storage infrastructure — and how prepared are organizations?

Agenda

IDC & Everpure Roundtable

One Day Event

6:00PM

Registration & Networking Hi-Tea

7:00PM

Welcome Address by IDC

Rajiv Ranjan

Rajiv Ranjan

Associate Research Director Worldwide Enterprise Infrastructure Domain, IDC

7:05PM

Beyond CapEx: Making the Financial Case for Modern Storage Infrastructure

This session will explore key market trends and why enterprises should rethink their storage strategy. The discussion will explore how forward-looking organizations are modernizing their storage infrastructure to support AI initiatives, simplify operations, and improve business responsiveness. The session will also explore how intelligent data management, and consumption models for storage will drive AI initiatives in your organization while maintaining operational resilience, performance and adequate governance as you progress on your AI initiatives.

Rajiv Ranjan

Rajiv Ranjan

Associate Research Director Worldwide Enterprise Infrastructure Domain, IDC

7:30PM

Open Discussion: Beyond Capacity: Rethinking your storage infrastructure for an AI-Driven Enterprise

As organizations accelerate investments in AI, analytics, and digital services, many are discovering that traditional infrastructure models were not designed for today’s demands. Rapid data growth, increasing performance requirements, infrastructure complexity, and rising costs are forcing CIOs to rethink on their enterprise storage strategy.  The discussion will examine how leading organizations are modernizing their storage infrastructure foundations to support AI adoption, improve operational agility, and create a more resilient platform for future growth.

Rajiv Ranjan

Rajiv Ranjan

Associate Research Director Worldwide Enterprise Infrastructure Domain, IDC

Ramanujam Komanduri

Ramanujam Komanduri

AVP & Country Manager, India, Everpure

Sudharsan Aravamuthan

Sudharsan Aravamuthan

Head of Systems Engineering, Everpure

8:30PM

Summary & Close

8:35PM

Cocktail Dinner and Networking

Speakers

Rajiv Ranjan

Rajiv Ranjan

Associate Research Director Worldwide Enterprise Infrastructure Domain

IDC

Read bio

Ramanujam Komanduri

Ramanujam Komanduri

AVP & Country Manager, India

Everpure

Read bio

Sudharsan Aravamuthan

Sudharsan Aravamuthan

Head of Systems Engineering

Everpure

Read bio

In Partnership With

Venue

JW Marriott Hotel New Delhi Aerocity

Meeting RoomThe Gallery Room, Basement Level

Asset Area 4 – Hospitality District Delhi, Aerocity, New Delhi – 110037

Proceedings

Proceedings

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AI & Data Summit MY Knowledge Hub / Matt Eastwood

Analyst Spotlight

Matt Eastwood
SVP, WW Research
IDC

Analyst Spotlight

AI Infrastructure: The Foundation of the Agentic Era

The world is entering a defining moment for digital infrastructure. Artificial intelligence has moved from experimentation to ubiquity, and with it, a new operational paradigm is taking shape — one where agents rather than applications become the primary engines of digital value creation. This is the dawn of the agentic AI era, and its success depends on one thing above all else: robust, intelligent, and scalable infrastructure.

From Automation to Autonomy

For decades, infrastructure strategy has focused on efficiency – making IT faster, cheaper, and more reliable. But AI is forcing a step change. IDC’s Worldwide IT Industry 2026 FutureScape predicts that by 2028, nearly half of all IT product and service interactions will be mediated by AI agents. These systems are not just automating tasks; they are reasoning, collaborating, and acting in context – continuously learning from data to improve business outcomes.

Supporting this shift requires infrastructure that can think for itself. IDC’s Future of Digital Infrastructure research shows that by 2029, 70% of new operating systems will ship with built-in infrastructure operations agents and model context servers to drive efficiency, security, and sustainability. In short, we are moving from systems that are operated to systems that operate themselves.

AI Factories and the Rise of Private Intelligence

The massive growth of generative and agentic AI has triggered a global infrastructure renaissance. Enterprises and hyperscalers alike are building “AI factories”. These are the next-generation data centers purpose-built for high-density and GPU-driven workloads. AI-ready data center spending in the U.S. has tripled in three years and forecast anticipate that demand for AI-ready capacity will grow 33% annually through 2030.

IDC’s recent Private AI Infrastructure Systems MarketScape underscores why this matters: as AI workloads scale, organizations need hybrid models that balance performance, cost, and control. Leaders like Dell Technologies, HPE, and Cisco are responding with turnkey private AI systems that integrate compute, storage, networking, and model management software into secure, cloud-consistent platforms. These systems form the backbone of enterprise AI, where data sovereignty, security, and latency matter most.

The Power, Cooling, and Connectivity Challenge

The scale of AI infrastructure buildout is also testing physical limits. High-density GPU clusters can draw tens of kilowatts per rack, driving record levels of power demand and forcing innovation in liquid cooling and grid optimization. IDC predicts that by 2030, 70% of new liquid-cooled deployments will adhere to open standards, improving compatibility and reducing deployment costs by one-third. The infrastructure bottleneck is shifting from compute to power and cooling, making sustainability not just an ESG issue but an operational imperative.

Toward the Autonomous Enterprise

Agentic AI doesn’t live in isolation – it depends on a digital fabric that spans datacenters, clouds, and edge environments. By 2027, IDC expects 80% of enterprises to deploy distributed edge infrastructure to support low-latency AI inferencing, and 75% will use interconnection-oriented networks to secure and orchestrate AI workloads. This fusion of automation, intelligence, and interconnection is paving the way toward autonomous IT operations, where humans remain in the loop but not in the way.

Why It Matters Now

CIOs in Malaysia and beyond are standing at the intersection of two transformations: the modernization of infrastructure and the emergence of the agentic enterprise. The winners will be those who view AI infrastructure not as a cost center but as a catalyst – the intelligent backbone that allows agents, data, and humans to collaborate seamlessly.

At the IDC AI & Data Summit Malaysia, we’ll explore how forward-thinking leaders are reimagining infrastructure for this new era by building the secure, sustainable, and scalable foundations of an intelligent enterprise. Because in the age of agentic AI, infrastructure isn’t just the platform for innovation. It is the innovation.