UK & Ireland CIO Virtual Executive Summit

The global pandemic has completely disrupted the course of normal business. CIOs are facing the greatest challenge of our careers. We have had to make significant investments in technology to ensure business continuity and build new ways of working, while also making cuts to keep our organisations resilient. However, the rapid-fire decisions we’re making to ensure survival are exposing us to greater risks – some of which we have no way of anticipating. In this session, we will discuss how CIOs can avoid ending up in a game of chance like Rock, Paper, Scissors with our technology investments by considering:

• How to better weigh risk versus reward when making decisions about technology spend vs. cuts
• Creating business continuity plans built on an assumption of longer-term uncertainty
• Ensuring today’s highly responsive digital transformation isn’t paving the way for tomorrows unaffordable legacy

We all remember the time when IT matters stayed within IT. But with cloud, mobility, AI/machine learning, IoT/OT—all converging to make your organization smarter, more efficient, and more competitive—IT has become a boardroom issue. Today, IT innovators have the opportunity to take their place at the epicenter of the modern enterprise, delivering the agility, security, and user experience needed for digital transformation, thereby reducing business risk, increasing productivity, and cutting costs. 

In this session, Zscaler CEO Jay Chaudhry  will discuss:

• “Owning the moment”: IT’s opportunity to accelerate secure digital transformation
• Best practices for securing work-from-anywhere using Gartner’s secure access service edge (SASE) and zero trust network access (ZTNA) frameworks
• What comes next: IT’s new role as strategic business enabler

As companies evolve to keep pace with a digital world, successful cloud strategies elude many IT departments. Dealing with high operational costs and a talent shortage are just some of many reasons that cloud solutions are often a bigger undertaking than they first appear. Those that do not have a high-level cloud strategy driven by their business strategy will significantly increase their risk of failure and weaken the impact of their investment.

This session will focus on:

• Discovering the right cloud road map and timing for your organisation
• Connecting the cloud strategy to business value
• Avoiding common pitfalls

The flexibility of working from anywhere has been a boon to employee productivity and new ways of working. What began as a temporary solution has now become a strategic initiative for your organisation. And it is up to you to ensure the company has the proper infrastructure to successfully and securely carry out this new corporate mandate—all while keeping an eye on the bottom line. Join this session to discuss:

• Phasing out hardware and software over time to free up technical talent and reduce day-to-day management and maintenance
• Improving the end-user experience while reducing costs and improving security
• Working toward a zero trust posture and what types of architecture are critical to this shift

The realities of the digital business demand a revamped approach to innovation. For CIOs, this means that the ideation and adoption of new methods, technologies and business models must be a refined, core competency. Join this session to build a roadmap for innovation from the fringe to the heart of the enterprise. You and your fellow CIOs will discuss:

- Supporting experimentation – from governance and ownership to funding models and piloting

- Bringing new ideas from innovation “labs” to the core business with greater speed and higher adoption

- Scaling innovation to reduce its cost and maximize value

Organizations are feeling a shift in the world of networking and security as they rapidly adopt and embrace the cloud. On-premises private data centers are no longer the place for data and workloads to exist. With this shift, security and networking are brought closer than ever. Enterprises need speed, visibility, security and reliability without compromise. Enter, the secure access service edge, better known as SASE. This evolved concept of cloud security architecture outlines a convergence of multiple security functions to offer identity-based secure access. How can your organization best position itself for the transition?

In this session, we will discuss:

• Problems SASE can address in the modern enterprise
• Benefits of moving to a SASE architecture
• Insights from organizations adopting SASE today

From front-line employees to top-level directors, CIOs have a big part to play in communicating cyber risk in a way that compels others to act. The CIO must develop a comprehensive strategy for dealing with cyber security and associated risks. But what metrics, measures, methods and messages resonate in today’s risk environment?

Join your peers in this virtual boardroom to discuss:

• How organizations are assessing cybersecurity and risk
• Metrics that matter
• Tips for improving cybersecurity programs using these metrics, and raising executive awareness

As organisations continue to evolve in a changing world, IT leaders are often looked to for optimisation and cost savings efforts. High operational costs and a shifting talent landscape can act as barriers for these goals, but with smart strategy and the right partnerships, CIOs can meet the needs of the enterprise.

This interactive boardroom will discuss:

- Resource and cost planning as we approach the “new normal”

- Changes to organisational structures and hiring practices going forward

- The strategies that are going well, need more attention and those that need to be reprioritised (such as the state of your SOC)

In the burgeoning space of agile development and delivery, if technology leaders aren’t setting the pace, they are scurrying to keep pace with nonstop business-wide demand. In this closed-door session discuss how:

• CIOs can achieve a collaborative mindset to iterate faster and show value

• To set up cross-functional teams focused on products/outcomes over process

• To consider the future state delivery model and agile transforming capabilities at scale

Increased demand and truncated timelines have ushered in a new vision of technology leadership in the enterprise. CIOs will have to adjust their focus to coordinate and advance digital initiatives that are increasingly defined and led by leaders throughout the enterprise. While this may reduce the breadth of CIOs’ responsibilities over time, their influence and impact within their organisation will not change. 

In this session, you will discuss how to:

• Manage new digital foundations with more speed to market

• Redesign the IT operating model to allow IT and business teams to collaborate more closely

• Evolve from digital evangelists to catalysts of other leaders’ digital ambitions

An informal and interactive opportunity for you to network with peers in small groups. 

Meet virtually for in-depth conversations with your colleagues

Conducting business virtually makes it more challenging to meet and network with like-minded peers. During this time of disruption and uncertainty, it’s become even more critical to collaborate with peers who are facing the same challenges.

Now, we are bringing you the opportunity to set up 1-to-1 meetings in a private, virtual setting with community peers directly after the Virtual Executive Summit.

• Peer-to-Peer meetings are 25 minutes in length, giving you the chance for more personal interaction and in-depth conversation with your fellow UK CIO Virtual Executive Summit peers.
• All conversations are private and will not be recorded
• Meet up to 3 peers based on your shared interests or priorities

Participant Testimonials

• ‘If I came just for the peer to peer meetings, my time was well spent. This is truly your USP.’ Stuart Hughes, CDIO at Rolls Royce
• ’The peer to peer mtgs were maybe the BEST part of this mtg’ Edward Wagoner, Executive Director, Digital, JLL
• ‘Best idea ever; I had such productive sessions with all three of my peers’ Dd Budiharto Sr. Director of Cybersecurity, Baker Hughes

How to participate

Please contact your Program Manager to participate.