Boston CDAO Community
Executive Summit
May 12, 2026 | Renaissance Boston Seaport District
May 12, 2026
Renaissance Boston Seaport District
Collaborate with your peers
Get together with Boston's top CDAOs to tackle shared business challenges and critical priorities facing your role today. Participate in this one-day, local program with peer-driven topics and interactive discussions with your true C-level peers.
Join your peers to discuss the most critical issues impacting CDAOs today:
Modernizing Data and AI Infrastructure for Business Growth
Upskilling Leaders and Teams for a Data-Driven Culture
Governance and Accountability for Real-World Data Value
Boston CDAO Governing Body
The Governing Body Co-Chairs shape the summit agenda, ensuring that all content is driven By CDAOs, For CDAOs™.
Governing Body Co-Chairs

Douglas Clark
Biogen
Executive Director, Technology, Analytics & Data Insights

Genevy Dimitrion
Utica National Insurance Group
Head of Enterprise Data

Matt Griffiths
Stanley Black & Decker
Chief Technology Officer
What to Expect
Agenda
8:00am - 8:30am Registration & Breakfast
8:30am - 9:15am Keynote
Responsible AI Governance — Practical Approaches for Scaling Organizations
Hosted by Monte Carlo Data
Brian Clifford
VP & CDO
Amica
Scaling AI requires strong governance, clear data architecture and responsible practices. Cross-functional collaboration and transparent communication help align AI initiatives with organizational values and compliance needs. Discover practical models for sustainable and ethical AI growth.
Join this session to explore:
- Implementing responsible AI governance
- Aligning AI with organizational goals and compliance
- Leading change management and enterprise transformation
9:15am - 9:40am Networking Break
9:40am - 10:25am Breakout Session
Coding Agents — Not Just for Software Development Engineers
Parag Shah
VP, Data
CarGurus
AI-powered coding agents are reshaping how data teams approach engineering workflows, automating repetitive tasks and accelerating development cycles. Learn how organizations are integrating coding agents into daily operations, from initial adoption to scaling impact across teams. Simple nudges can spark interest among junior engineers and motivate senior team members to embrace these transformative tools.
Join this session to learn more about:
- Automating workflows with coding agents
- Scaling adoption across teams
- Nudging engineers to embrace new tools
9:40am - 10:25am Executive Boardroom
Open Data Infrastructure — Next-Gen Data Architecture
Hosted by Fivetran
Chris Lawless
VP, Global Services
Fivetran
Jane Chen
VP, Data and Analytics
American Tower Corp
Astrid Lambert
CISO/Sr. Director Data Management and IT
Cambridge Health Alliance
Open Data Infrastructure is essential for organizations in the AI era, helping leaders scale analytics and AI while maintaining control. CDAOs must balance innovation, flexibility and cost as data platforms expand.
Join this boardroom to discuss:
- Designing interoperable architectures to avoid lock-in
- Applying openness to semantics, metadata and governance
- Enabling AI and operations with flexibility and cost transparency
9:40am - 10:25am Executive Boardroom
Designing Data Infrastructure for Competitive Advantage
Hosted by Equinix
Glenn Dekhayser
Global Principal Technologist
Equinix
Bappa Roy
Chief Cloud Architect
The TJX Companies
Jamie Pina
Vice Pres, Data and AI Stat
RTI International
AI is reshaping where data needs to live and how quickly insights must be delivered. Many CDAOs are finding that traditional, cloud centric architectures can’t keep pace — especially as increased workloads drive new cost, locality and sovereignty pressures. Modernization now requires rethinking where data sits, not just how it moves.
Join this session to discuss:
- How data locality accelerates delivery and operational efficiency
- When alternative placements outperform single cloud strategies
- A strategic model for reducing technical debt and unlocking enterprise-wide value
10:25am - 11:10am Networking Break
10:35am - 11:00am Peer-to-Peer Meetings
Peer-to-Peer Meetings
Connect with like-minded peers in a one-on-one setting through Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.
11:10am - 11:55am Breakout Session
Data Management for the Agentic Era
Hosted by Google Cloud
Gus Kimble
Head of Data Analytics Customer Engineering, North America
Google Cloud
As Enterprise AI moves from passive assistants to autonomous agents, the foundation of success has shifted. Leading organizations no longer just manage data, they engineer Agent-Ready environments. This session explores the transition from human-centric dashboards to machine-readable context, ensuring that Agentic AI solutions are grounded in high-integrity, multimodal enterprise data.
Join this session to discuss:
The transition from data engineering to context engineering for autonomous decision making
Deploying role-based agentic AI providing end-to-end workflows
The new metrics around productivity relating to ROI and risk mitigation
11:10am - 11:55am Breakout Session
BYOA — Bring Your Own Agent
Trang Nguyen
Data Science VP, Corporate Functions
Prudential
Jane Urban
Chief Data Officer
Improzo
Tasneem Nipplewala
Head of Cyber Security, and Data Architecture
MassMutual
Deepa Bastante
Global Head of Enterprise Cloud & Platform Services
MassMutual
Agentic AI is redefining the workplace as employees begin to bring intelligent, autonomous agents alongside their devices. The rise of these digital collaborators will reshape productivity, security and governance, requiring organizations to rethink how they manage people, policies and technology. Industry leaders will share how they are preparing for this shift and navigating the new challenges and opportunities it brings.
Join this panel to explore:
- New security and governance risks
- How team dynamics are transformed by human – AI collaboration
- The evolution of HR and IT to manage AI agents
11:10am - 11:55am Executive Boardroom
Scaling Agentic AI with Trusted Context
Hosted by Reltio
Peter Cory
Senior Solutions Consultant
Reltio
Naveed Afzal
Head of Data Science
Takeda
Erik Moore
VP, Data & Software Engineering
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Agentic AI is transforming business, but CDAOs can only scale AI agents as quickly as they can provide trusted, real-time context. Context intelligence is essential, combining data and business meaning for confident scaling.
Join this roundtable to discuss:
- What are the core data platform capabilities required to serve as a system of context
- How should you structure your AI strategy to balance innovation speed with accountability and measurable outcomes
- Which key metrics should you track to assess data readiness for AI
11:10am - 11:55am Executive Boardroom
Redefining Data Workflows — Unlocking Automation, Trust and Agility
Hosted by Acceldata
Joe Murphy
VP, Data & AI Technology
Acceldata
David Perko
SVP, Business Analytics & Operational Excellence
Pyramid Global Hospitality
Jackie Caraballo
VP, Data & Analytics
Commonwealth Financial Network
As analytics and AI adoption accelerates, CDAOs are shifting from reactive data quality to proactive, end-to-end visibility across the data lifecycle. By embedding governance and automation, organizations can scale reliable, decision-ready data products that deliver measurable business value.
Join this session to:
- Build trusted, enterprise-scale data workflows
- Enable proactive visibility for scalable data products
- Automate data reliability for analytics and AI success
11:55am - 12:30pm Lunch Service
Apply to Participate
Apply to participate in the Boston CDAO Community Executive Summit.
Gartner facilitates exclusive, C-level communities by personally qualifying and understanding the priorities, challenges and interests of each member.
Our selective approach maintains the high quality of the network and ensures top-level discussions with peers from the world’s leading organizations.
Each application will be reviewed, and once your participation is confirmed, you will have access to year-round community programs.
Location
Venue & Accommodation
Renaissance Boston Seaport DistrictCancellation policy - Must cancel 3 days prior to arrival day. Cancellations made within 72 hours prior to arrival will forfeit 1 night's room and tax.
Parking Information
Valet - Renaissance Boston Seaport Valet Parking 606 Congress St, Boston for $63
Public Parking - 601 Congress St, Boston; Driving Directions: Exit the Renaissance porte- cochère, take the next left onto Northern Ave, left onto D St, then your next right onto Congress St, finally turn right onto Port Ln, then turn right (Clearance: 8’1’’) for $20
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Renaissance Boston Seaport District at a reduced conference rate. Reservations should be made online or by calling 888-796-4664. Please mention Boston Executive Summit to ensure the appropriate room rate.
Deadline to book using the discounted room rate of $349 USD (plus tax) is April 20, 2026.
Community Program Manager
For inquiries related to this community, please reach out to your dedicated contact.
