Key Highlights from the 3rd Annual CDOIQ European Symposium (2024)

(EMEA) Following the undeniable success of the Chief Data Officer & Information Quality Symposium (CDOIQ) in Europe, this year’s event returned with a bang on September 12, 2024, tackling the question at the forefront of everyone’s mind – are you “Ready for data and AI at speed and scale?”

More than 200 CDOs, CAOs, and senior data leaders, representing 140+ organizations across 15+ industries and spanning 14+ countries, gathered for an invitation-only full day of insightful sessions, engaging discussions, and invaluable networking opportunities in beautiful Switzerland.

An impressive example of how you can scale data and AI through data products was presented by Sebastian Klapdor, former CDO and EVP of Vista. He shared insights from developing 190+ data products at Vista, including applications such as automated marketing, personalized customer experiences, and dynamic pricing models, contributing to over $100 million in annual profitability.

Later, Barbara Wixom, Principal Research Scientist at MIT Sloan CISR, captivated the audience with her talk sharing key principles on AI investment from her highly acclaimed book, "Data Is Everybody's Business.” She explained how data leaders can focus on building and balancing five data monetization capabilities to enhance the ease of data for reuse and recombination and make the move from value creation stages in AI projects to value realization.

With more than 40 expert speakers and panelists, attendees gained first-hand insights into the latest innovations in data and AI, spread across three tracks: Leading Data Strategies & Transformation, Scaling AI for Business Innovation, and Data Ecosystems for Sustainable Value Creation.

Highlights from Track One – Leading Data Strategies & Transformation

Nicolas Shire, Group Chief Data Officer at AXA, detailed how AXA is scaling and accelerating data and AI across the organization, with a focus on leveraging the AXA Digital Commercial Platform (DCP) to enhance value creation, from personalized advice to fraud detection and efficiency improvements in claims handling.

Una Madigan Shortt, Group CDO at Schneider Electric, outlined how Schneider Electric ensures Trusted Data at Scale through its Data Supply Chain and the four Data Golden Rules, which are key to operationalizing data governance and are embedded in Schneider's Trust Charter so that that data trust is part of the company's code of conduct and culture, thereby maximizing value from enterprise data.

Highlights from Track Two — Scaling AI for Business Innovation

Omar Khawaja, Global Head of Data & Analytics at Givaudan, outlined a combination of three strategies for adopting AI:

1. A “taker” approach leveraging internal and secure GenAI tools like Alfred, Givaudan's private version of ChatGPT for everyday tasks

2. The "shaper" approach for developing industry-specific algorithms for high-value use cases using private data, like product storytelling and trend analysis

3. The "maker" approach for building AI models from scratch, integrating core industry knowledge, such as flavor formulation and molecular structure prediction, to enhance Givaudan's innovation efforts.

Benoît Bergeret, President of Strategies.ai, discussed AI adoption across Europe, noting that Nordic countries lead, while Eastern Europe lags due to governance and investment gaps. Overall, there was a sentiment of a shift from top-down AI strategies to bottom-up, staff-led adoption pressures with GenAI, emphasizing that while GenAI offers productivity gains and can initially be a cost-effective solution, its price structures may need to be reconsidered over time.

Highlights from Track Three — Data Ecosystems for Sustainable Innovation

José Parra Moyano, Professor of Digital Strategy at IMD, noted, "In this edition of the CDOIQ, it became evident that data ecosystems and data collaborations are not anymore a theoretical thing that companies may consider in the future, but something that companies are now using in order to create more value."

The track opened with a theme of productizing data as a solution for sustainability initiatives such as reporting, featuring Noel Fabrice, Group VP, Head of Motion Business Data and Analytics at ABB, who shared ABB’s strategy for integrating ESG data products to support reporting on European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) compliance.

Another prominent theme was of trust, where Daniel Brückner, Global Head of Diagnostics Data Office at Roche, discussed the organization’s approach to increase governance transparency and direct customer negotiations in contracts upfront to facilitate the scalable reuse of medical diagnostic data.

Highlights from the final discussion — Ready for Data and AI at Speed and Scale?

The symposium concluded with a final panel session sharing the conference theme “Ready for Data and AI at Speed and Scale?” moderated by Christine Legner, Professor at the University of Lausanne. The panelists emphasized companies must work on both speed and scale simultaneously and identified four accelerators.

Bettina Goerner, Chief Data Officer at Eterno Health emphasized that control and innovation must work in tandem, while Alexander Borek, Director of Data & Analytics at Zalando, highlighted that data foundations cannot be built upfront, but must evolve. For Micheline Casey, SVP and Chief Data & Analytics Officer at Siemens Energy, data products and the setup of teams are critical for speed and scale.

Alberto-Giovanni Busetto, Chief AI Officer at Health.ai, mentioned the importance of exploration for creating innovations and moving from pilots to MVPs to full-scale solutions for innovation delivery. All panelists agreed that federation is a key priority, and a key takeaway was that while cleaning up foundations may slow things down initially, it is critical for leveraging value and scaling AI effectively.

Throughout the day, attendees reflected on the evolving role of CDOs and CAOs in Europe, and engaging discussions continued into a dinner event at the Olympic Museum on the shore of Lake Geneva.

The 3rd Annual CDOIQ European Symposium has once again proven to be a vital event for data leaders, offering actionable insights, cutting-edge concepts, and a platform for peer learning and networking.

Testimonials:

“The CDOIQ European Symposium was truly an intimate event, enabling a sharing of passion amongst industry experts for transformational Data & AI capabilities, at speed & at scale. Such was the peer-to-peer insights and networking amongst leading CDOs and Data Leaders, I will be sure to pencil this event in my calendar for next year!” — Una Shortt, Group Chief Data Officer, Schneider Electric.

“Generating value at scale from data & AI in large organizations is both a science and an art, with many unknowns. So, being open to sharing good ideas and challenges with fellow data and AI professionals is key, whether leveraging data products, adapting to regulatory changes, improving data literacy, or exploring GenAI applications. The one-day trip was well worth it!” — Nicolas Shire, Group Chief Data Officer, AXA.

“It was a pleasure meeting so many competent, like-minded professionals. The sessions and associated conversations were relevant, of high quality, and pure joy to be part of.” — Daniel Brückner, Global Head of Diagnostics Data Office, Roche Diagnostics.

It is an exciting time for the European, and global, community of data executives and leadership – and the learnings we share with each other only become more important in time.

With next year’s symposium already scheduled for September 11, 2025, Lausanne will once again offer a holistic update on Europe’s data and AI strategies, challenges, and best practices. This unique invitation-only event has cemented its place as a must-attend for the evolving European CDO and CAO community.