In-Person

Chicago CDAO Community

Executive Summit

October 21, 2026 | Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile

October 21, 2026
Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile

Apply to Participate

Governing Body Agenda Location Sponsors Contact

Governing Body Co-Chairs

Abhi Bhatt

CarMax Inc
VP, Technology - Data & AI

Kristina Chambers

Molex
VP, Enterprise Data Products, Analytics, AI, and Integrations

Sid Raina

Medline
VP & Global Head of Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics

Vijay Rajandram

Northern Trust
CDO

What to Expect

Interactive Sessions

Hear from CDAO practitioners and thought leaders on how they're solving critical challenges impacting your role today in Keynote sessions, and join smaller, interactive discussions with your peers in Breakout and Boardroom sessions.

Community Networking

Make new connections and catch up with old friends in casual conversations during dedicated time for networking designed to better acquaint you with your Chicago CDAO community.

Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Connect with like-minded peers in a private, 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.

Agenda

October 21, 2026

morning afternoon

8:00am - 8:30am Registration & Breakfast

9:15am - 9:40am Networking Break

9:40am - 10:25am Breakout Session

Scaled Success — Saying Goodbye to Silos

Jane Rheem

Chief Data & AI Officer

Sidley Austin

Siloed leadership across practice, IT, knowledge management and finance can stall meaningful AI progress. By forming a centralized Data & AI department to bring these groups together, we established a shared vision, clearer priorities and stronger governance for AI initiatives. This alignment is enabling faster, more responsible AI adoption that benefits the entire organization.

Join this session to explore:

Bringing together engineering, product, enablement, and strategy under one department
Uniting leaders from across the business in an AI Council
Accelerating responsible AI adoption across business functions

9:40am - 10:25am Executive Boardroom

Executive Boardroom

Eric Olinger

Global Principal

Equinix

Details coming soon.

9:40am - 10:25am Executive Boardroom

Cultivating a Data Product Mindset

Laks Krishnamoorthy

VP Data Analytics

EMC Insurance Companies

Ray Morris

CDO

COUNTRY Financial

Organizations are moving from ad hoc analytics projects to scalable, productized data and AI solutions. Explore how a data product mindset delivers ongoing value, boosts stakeholder engagement, and accelerates innovation. Get clear steps to transform analytics initiatives into sustainable, high-impact products.

Join this boardroom to discuss:

Identifying the benefits of a data product approach
Structuring teams and workflows for productized solutions
Sharing examples of successful transitions to a data product mindset

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

Driving Value in the Agentic Era — CDAO Framework

As data leaders navigate the agentic era, the focus shifts from reactive analytics to orchestrating proactive, high-ROI agentic workflows that bridge infrastructure and business value. This framework invites discussion on integrating operational intelligence, proactive security, and board-level governance to accelerate enterprise AI transformation.

Come together with your peers to explore how to:

Automate high-impact, low-risk workflows to realize agentic value
Integrate security and trust with centralized, transparent oversight
Align agentic initiatives with strategy via structured governance and monitoring

11:10am - 11:55am Executive Boardroom

Redefining Data Workflows - Unlocking Automation, Trust, and Agility

Ramon Chen

Chief Product Officer

Acceldata

Aparna Yarlagadda

Executive Director, Data Engineering & Analytics

KeHE Distributors

Sean MacCarthy

VP, Analytics

Camping World

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

11:10am - 11:55am Executive Boardroom

Open Data Infrastructure — Next-Gen Data Architecture

Chris Lawless

VP, Global Services

Fivetran

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 session to learn about:

Designing interoperable architectures to avoid lock-in
Applying openness to semantics, metadata and governance
Enabling AI and operations with flexibility and cost transparency

11:55am - 12:30pm Lunch Service

1:05pm - 1:30pm Break

1:30pm - 2:15pm Executive Boardroom

Shift Happens — Navigating Organizational Change in the New Age

Sid Raina

VP & Global Head of Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics

Medline

AI adoption hinges on effective change management, not just technology. Explore how CDAOs can guide their organizations through cultural shifts, empower teams to adapt and foster buy-in at every level. Gain practical approaches for navigating resistance, building momentum and ensuring long-term success in an AI-driven world.

Join this boardroom session to discuss:

Strategies for leading organizational change and building AI-ready teams
Approaches to overcoming resistance and driving cultural transformation
Best practices for sustaining momentum and engagement during AI adoption

2:15pm - 3:00pm Networking Break

2:25pm - 2:50pm 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.

3:00pm - 3:45pm Breakout Session

Trends vs. Truth — Focusing on What Works

Craig Hamill

Chief Data Officer

Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

Achieving real value from AI depends on addressing specific organizational challenges rather than following industry trends. Success is driven by clear data standards, cross-functional collaboration, and rigorous evaluation of technology projects. Focusing on measurable outcomes ensures that AI initiatives support genuine business needs.

Join this session to learn more about:

Establish data standards that support trusted decision-making
Prioritize AI investments using a problem-first approach
Align business and technology teams around measurable value

3:00pm - 3:45pm Breakout Session

Stop Building Tools No One Uses

Andrew McGrath

SVP, Data & Analytics

First Onsite Property Restoration

Integrating AI directly into operational workflows transforms routine documentation and reporting into seamless, user-friendly experiences. Success comes from building platforms that prioritize real user needs, foster organic adoption and bridge gaps in data literacy. By focusing on practical solutions and learning from past missteps, organizations can create tools that people genuinely want to use.

Join this session to learn more about:

Embed intelligence into daily workflows to simplify and standardize critical tasks
Design for product-market fit by solving real problems for users
Promote adoption through education, feedback and honest lessons from failure

3:45pm - 4:00pm Networking Break

4:00pm - 4:35pm Keynote

From Barriers to Bridges — Proven Paths for Data Access

Amit Sahani

Chief Technology Officer, & CDO

StoneX

Fragmented data silos can often hinder operational efficiency and limit business insight. Unifying enterprise data into a single, accessible platform requires overcoming internal resistance and solving complex integrations and compliance challenges. CDAOs looking to increase D&A impact focus on incremental value delivery, transparency and celebrating small wins to sustain momentum and drive meaningful change.

Join this session to learn more about:

Overcome resistance and lead enterprise integration
Sustain momentum with transparency and compliance
Deliver value through incremental progress and small wins

4:35pm - 4:45pm Closing Comments and Prize Drawing

October 21, 2026

morning afternoon

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Each application is carefully vetted to ensure members meet established criteria, preserving the quality of the network and enabling meaningful, peer‑level discussions among leaders from the world’s leading organizations.

Once you submit your application, a Community Program Manager will schedule a conversation to understand your priorities and interests and complete onboarding, including access to year‑round community events.

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Community Member Criteria

To maintain the highest standard of peer‑level connections and discussions, members must meet the following criteria:

• Enterprise-wide C-Level or

• Business unit or regional C-Level responsible for:

- Private sector: $500M+ in revenue

- Public sector: 1,000+ employees

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We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming in-person gathering

Gartner cares about the health and safety of our community. If you are feeling unwell, please refrain from attending the conference. At this time, Gartner does not have any health-related requirements in place for attendance. Should this change, we will follow up with updated guidance.

Location

Venue & Accommodation

Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile at a reduced conference rate. Reservations should be made online or by calling 1-877-303-0104. Please mention Gartner CDAO Executive Summit to ensure the appropriate room rate.

Deadline to book using the discounted room rate of $409 USD (plus tax) is September 28, 2026.

Reserve Room