IN-PERSON

Minneapolis CIO Executive Summit

December 11, 2024 | Sheraton Bloomington

December 11, 2024
Sheraton Bloomington

APPLY TO PARTICIPATE

Collaborate with your peers

Get together with Minneapolis's top CIOs 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 CIOs today:

Leading the organization through the adoption of advanced and emerging technologies

Leveraging data to accelerate business growth, innovation, and efficiency

Establishing and illustrating IT as a business value driver

Minneapolis CIO Governing Body


The Governing Body Co-Chairs shape the summit agenda, ensuring that all content is driven by CIOs, for CIOs.

Governing Body Co-Chairs

Brett Craig

Target
CIO

Tammylynne Jonas

Donaldson
Global CIO

Carissa Rollins

Illumina
CIO

Tarek Tomes

State of Minnesota
CIO & Commissioner

What to Expect

Interactive Sessions

Hear from CIO 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 Minneapolis CIO community.

Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Connect with like-minded peers in a private, one-on-one setting through Evanta's Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.

Agenda


December 11, 2024

7:45am - 8:30am  Registration & Breakfast

8:30am - 9:15am  Keynote

Playing the Generative AI Long Game

Manjeet Rege headshot

Manjeet Rege

AI and Machine Learning Thought Leader, Educator & Author

University of St. Thomas

As Generative AI passes the peak in its hype cycle, CIOs are uniquely positioned to step back from the buzz and leverage the technology to generate real value for the business. From increasing productivity to understanding its limitations, it is critical to consider the potential for tangible, high-impact use cases.

Join Manjeet Rege, AI & ML Educator, Author and Thought Leader to explore:

  • Eliminating the buzz to uncover the potential of AI use cases
  • Finding the balance between technology innovation and business needs
  • Navigating the future impact of Gen AI on the workforce and talent

9:15am - 9:40am  Networking Break

9:40am - 10:25am  Breakout Session

Tech Innovation — Success Stories from the State of Minnesota

Tarek Tomes headshot

Tarek Tomes

CIO & Commissioner

State of Minnesota

In today's digital world, technology has an unprecedented impact on people. The State of Minnesota has set a new benchmark in leveraging innovative and inclusive technology to benefit all its residents.

Tarek Tomes, CIO for the State of Minnesota, pulls back the curtain on:

  • Harnessing inclusive technology for all users
  • Leveraging partnerships to deliver high-quality services
  • Exploring emerging technology to improve efficiency

9:40am - 10:25am  Executive Boardroom

Keep the Party Going — Strategies to Securely Scale Your Cloud Native Success

Brent Schroeder headshot

Brent Schroeder

Head of Office of the CTO, CTO Americas

SUSE

Anoop Abraham headshot

Anoop Abraham

Chief Architect

CHS

Ryan Leis headshot

Ryan Leis

CIO

IDI Distributors

Cloud native computing promises a future of agility, scalability and responsive innovation. Early adopters celebrate its virtues while signaling caution that pitfalls hidden in its complex landscape must be addressed.

Join this session to discuss practical strategies that:

  • Accelerate developer adoption and operational scale
  • Mitigate the security risks of new attack surfaces and rapid change
  • Optimize costs and organizational efficiency

9:40am - 10:25am  Executive Boardroom

The CIO Impact on Digital Workforce Culture

Melissa Flicek headshot

Melissa Flicek

CIO

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota

Mark Vaupel headshot

Mark Vaupel

VP, IT Services

Hormel Foods

Culture is often a significant barrier of digital ambitions and outcomes. As CIOs strive to foster an adaptive and agile environment, they must empower the organization’s culture to embrace the digital environment and advance the enterprise vision.

Join this session to discuss:

  • Fostering an innovative culture of collaboration and agility within IT and across the enterprise
  • Influencing culture change to advance digital adoption and success
  • Empowering the workforce to harness technology and innovation for better business outcomes

Executive boardrooms are intimate and interactive sessions designed to foster dynamic dialogue around a specific, strategic topic. These private, closed-door discussions encourage attendee participation and are limited to 15 attendees (seating priority is given to CIOs). To reserve your seat, please contact: Zander Petersen at zander.petersen@evanta.com.

10:25am - 11:05am  Networking Break

10:30am - 10:55am  Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Peer-to-Peer Meetings

Connect with like-minded peers in a one-on-one setting through Evanta’s Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.

11:05am - 11:50am  Breakout Session

A CIO and Board Imperative ― Mastering Enterprise Technology Complexity

Khwaja Shaik headshot

Khwaja Shaik

CTO

IBM

In today's digital economy, enterprise value and risk are increasingly tied to the technology landscape. With the average enterprise managing 1,000 applications across multiple clouds, technology sprawl is a board-level concern. Generative AI is projected to boost developer productivity by 40%, accelerating application proliferation and presenting governance challenges.

Join this session to learn about:

  • Achieving real-time visibility across technology systems for risk oversight
  • Streamlining tech ecosystems for cost optimization and operational efficiency
  • Implementing systematic vulnerability management in an AI-accelerated landscape

11:05am - 11:50am  Executive Boardroom

Strategic Harmony — IT & Business Alignment

TK Balaji headshot

TK Balaji

CIO

Post Consumer Brands

Derek Shaw headshot

Derek Shaw

Global Vice President, CIO

H.B. Fuller Company

Chris Schueler Sullivan headshot

Chris Schueler Sullivan

CIO

Self Esteem Brands

As IT's role within the business continues to evolve, CIOs must create a clear line of sight between IT strategy and business outcomes and priorities.

Join this boardroom session to discuss:

  • Aligning IT strategy with business goals and objectives
  • Positioning IT as a value driver for the business
  • Shaping a business-driven culture within IT

Executive boardrooms are intimate and interactive sessions designed to foster dynamic dialogue around a specific, strategic topic. These private, closed-door discussions encourage attendee participation and are limited to 15 attendees (seating priority is given to CIOs). To reserve your seat, please contact: Zander Petersen at zander.petersen@evanta.com.

11:05am - 11:50am  Executive Boardroom

Is Your Data AI-Ready?

Anandh Asokan headshot

Anandh Asokan

Vice President - Data Engineering, Management and Enablement

Thrivent

Matt Heinrichs headshot

Matt Heinrichs

SVP, Technology

Life Time

Rudi Mohamed headshot

Rudi Mohamed

CIO

Minnesota Housing Finance Agency

To prepare the enterprise for the successful adoption of AI, CIOs must strengthen core data pillars and practices. From data literacy to governance and ethics, the groundwork must be solid to ensure smooth and profitable AI integration.

Join this peer-led boardroom to discuss:

  • Identifying organizational maturity and the 'sweet spot' for AI
  • Emphasizing data, platform, security, and governance as a keystone of AI innovation
  • Unlocking a competitive edge with AI and collaborating with cross-functional partners for seamless AI integration

Executive boardrooms are intimate and interactive sessions designed to foster dynamic dialogue around a specific, strategic topic. These private, closed-door discussions encourage attendee participation and are limited to 15 attendees (seating priority is given to CIOs). To reserve your seat, please contact: Zander Petersen at zander.petersen@evanta.com.

11:50am - 12:35pm  Lunch Service

12:35pm - 1:10pm  Keynote

Beyond Theory ― Practical AI That Maximizes Business Investment

Jim Palmer headshot

Jim Palmer

Chief AI Officer

Dialpad

As organizations rush to implement AI solutions, many are discovering a significant gap between AI’s promised potential and its practical business impact. This raises the question: what concrete strategies can be used to develop and deploy AI that drives measurable results?

Join this session to hear learnings from a Chief AI Officer:

  • Learn how to avoid common implementation pitfalls when scaling AI solutions
  • Discover why the future of enterprise AI lies in industry-specific LLMs rather than general-purpose solutions
  • Create an ethical AI governance framework that balances innovation with customer trust

1:10pm - 1:35pm  Break

1:35pm - 2:20pm  Executive Boardroom

Achieving More With Less – A CIO Balancing Act

Luke Anderson headshot

Luke Anderson

CIO

Cub Foods

Megan Douglas headshot

Megan Douglas

CIO

Maurices Incorporated

Bernie Gulachek headshot

Bernie Gulachek

CIO

University of Minnesota

From budget to headcount, IT teams are often tasked with achieving greater outcomes with the same or fewer resources. How can CIOs continue to optimize their costs and resources to achieve IT's strategic goals?

Join this session to discuss:

  • Keeping pace with business goals and objectives
  • Developing strategies to allocate resources effectively
  • Communicating the business value of IT investment

Executive boardrooms are intimate and interactive sessions designed to foster dynamic dialogue around a specific, strategic topic. These private, closed-door discussions encourage attendee participation and are limited to 15 attendees (seating priority is given to CIOs). To reserve your seat, please contact: Zander Petersen at zander.petersen@evanta.com.

1:35pm - 2:20pm  Executive Boardroom

IT Resilience — Maintaining Control Through Disruption

Jim Barnes headshot

Jim Barnes

Chief IT Implementation Officer

Kodak

Susan Nelson headshot

Susan Nelson

CIO

Minnesota Lottery

Now more than ever, organizations globally are looking at cyber attacks and business disruptions through a new lens of severity. With the stakes high, CIOs are evaluating how to create a resilient IT strategy in alignment with the broader organization.

Join this session to discuss with your peers:

  • How to respond and adapt quickly to disruptions or unplanned changes
  • Diversification of tooling to reduce risk
  • Tactics for a cyber-resilient future

Executive boardrooms are intimate and interactive sessions designed to foster dynamic dialogue around a specific, strategic topic. These private, closed-door discussions encourage attendee participation and are limited to 15 attendees (seating priority is given to CIOs). To reserve your seat, please contact: Zander Petersen at zander.petersen@evanta.com.

2:20pm - 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 Evanta’s Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.

2:50pm - 3:00pm  Break

3:00pm - 3:35pm  Keynote

Stepping Into the Shoes of the Consumer

Cris Ross headshot

Cris Ross

CIO

Mayo Clinic

The 2024 Gartner IT Score for Customer Experience reveals that 70% of organizations are still at early-stage levels of customer experience maturity, despite recognizing its importance. In the race for innovation and improved customer experience, IT leaders are uniquely positioned to accelerate and improve their organization's growth by approaching IT strategy with empathy. 

Join Cris Ross, CIO at Mayo Clinic, as he explores:

  • Consuming your own product in-depth to become a more well-rounded CIO
  • Leveraging technology to enable a consumer-focused digital business
  • Building a narrative that connects consumers to technology goals and objectives

3:35pm - 3:45pm  Closing Comments and Prize Drawing

3:45pm - 5:00pm  Governing Body Reception

Governing Body Reception — Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders with Genesys Works

Sarah Engstrom headshot

Sarah Engstrom

CISO & VP IT Security, Productivity & Privacy

CHS

Governing Body members host this reception to close out the Executive Summit with an evening of peer networking, light bites, drinks and a panel discussion led by Genesys Works – an organization whose mission is to provide pathways to career success for high school students in underserved Twin Cities communities through skills training, meaningful work experiences, and impactful relationships.

December 11, 2024

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


Evanta cares about the health and safety of our community. Please review the following recommendations prior to attending the gathering.

Location


Venue & Accommodation

Sheraton Bloomington

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Sheraton Bloomington at a reduced conference rate. Reservations should be made online or by calling 952-656-5922. Please mention Evanta CIO Executive Summit to ensure the appropriate room rate.

Deadline to book using the discounted room rate of $119 USD (plus tax) is November 18, 2024.

Your Community Partners


Key Partner
Program Partners

Community Program Manager


For inquiries related to this community, please reach out to your dedicated contact.

Zander Petersen

Community Program Manager

4063340760

zander.petersen@evanta.com