Program

This session marks the official launch of CIO Analytics 2026. We highlight the key shifts shaping the role of the CIO: the growing expectation that IT decision-makers bring business insight to the table, the persistent pressure of cybersecurity, the rise of AI, and the broader transformation of IT from operational backbone to strategic driver. A data-driven look at the paradigm shift defining IT leadership in 2026. Sara Amini will be joined on stage by Morten Petri Frandsen, Global IT Director at Fibertex, who will share his perspective on the CIO mindset and how resources and investments are prioritized in practice.

AI is accelerating innovation while transforming cybersecurity for both defenders and attackers. Join peers for a focused roundtable discussion on navigating the complexity and pace of security through an AI lens. How can organizations capture the benefits of AI while staying resilient in an increasingly complex environment

In an era defined by rapid market shifts and increasing uncertainty, digital sovereignty powered by open source, is no longer just a technical consideration, but a leadership topic. This roundtable invites IT decision-makers into an open dialogue on how to reduce proprietary lock-in, embrace transparent innovation, and strengthen operational resilience. Through shared experiences and perspectives, we will explore how organizations can gain the flexibility to pivot, scale, and secure their infrastructure, turning digital sovereignty into a strategic asset rather than a vulnerability.

As data environments expand across cloud, on-prem, hybrid, SaaS, analytics platforms, and emerging AI implementations, many organisations lack continuous visibility into where sensitive data resides, how it is accessed, and where it may be exposed. Without a mature Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) capability, security and governance frameworks struggle to keep pace, leaving gaps in oversight, accountability, and risk management. In this context, innovation can quickly outpace control, increasing regulatory exposure, operational vulnerability, and board-level concern.

As talent becomes a critical constraint, the digital workplace plays a decisive role in attracting, enabling, and retaining employees. This roundtable invites IT decision‑makers to discuss how the right tools and experiences support productivity, engagement, and choice. A dialogue on balancing employee expectations, IT strategy, and business outcomes in a competitive talent market.

AI increases the speed and complexity of incidents, making it harder to understand what is happening and why. This roundtable brings IT decision‑makers together to discuss how data and visibility across systems support awareness, response, and continuity in AI‑driven environments. A dialogue focused on how organizations make sense of disruption, build trust in their data, and strengthen resilience when insight matters as much as action.

Following Broadcom's acquisition of VMware and the simplification of the portfolio and licensing model, many organisations are reassessing how to best align their virtualization strategy with business priorities.This roundtable brings IT decision-makers together for an open peer discussion on four strategic responses that many organisations are considering: absorb the cost increase, optimise licensing and usage, explore negotiation levers, or assess alternative paths alongside existing investments. There is no single right answer, only different choices shaped by business needs, risk appetite, and long-term priorities. Join peers to exchange perspectives on trade-offs, lessons learned, and practical considerations. Which strategy makes the most sense in your organisation today and is there perhaps a fifth approach?

AI is reshaping global hardware demand and memory is at the center of the storm. Prices are volatile, lead times are extending, and allocation is becoming the norm. For CIOs, infrastructure strategy now depends as much on securing supply as on defining architecture. How do you protect your roadmap in a market where availability moves faster than budgets?Join this executive roundtable to exchange perspectives on securing capacity, managing volatility, and staying competitive in the AI-driven supply reality.

Most IT organizations still manage network, compute, storage, and security in separate silos, adding complexity and vendor sprawl. But AI and automation are changing the game, letting these technologies run as one unified, self-optimizing system instead of a patchwork. What would that shift mean for how we make decisions, structure our IT teams, and deliver new value to the business? Let’s explore how IT decision-makers can move from stitching systems together to orchestrating them by design and how a unified approach could free teams to drive innovation.

AI is moving fast, but so are the expectations for control, trust, and compliance. In this roundtable, we’ll explore how IT and business leaders can build AI strategies that scale across the organization while respecting local rules and values. What choices support long-term flexibility, and how do we avoid locking ourselves into platforms we can’t control? Let’s talk about how to make sovereignty a business advantage.

Digital friction is draining productivity. Employees lose hours each week to tech troubles. As budgets tighten and hybrid work models become permanent, organisations need smarter solutions. How can you move from reacting to IT problems to proactively creating a seamless digital employee experience? In this roundtable, we explore how AI‑driven tools like the HP Workforce Experience Platform (WXP) can help optimise device management, reduce unnecessary spend, and improve productivity. Through open dialogue and peer-to-peer sharing, we’ll focus on best practices to reduce digital friction, optimise resources, and enable hybrid work.

What if your challenge of skill shortage, old OT systems, regulatory compliance, and lack of visibility could be leveraged? In this roundtable, we will explore how ageing operational technology - technical debt – can be cashed in, as a catalyst for consolidation, resilience, and compliance. Let’s challenge the traditional view of OT - with the right foundation we are ready to unleash agentic AI, secure and automate the operational infrastructure with a potential of significant business value.

This roundtable is a peer discussion on why CIOs are re‑evaluating their public cloud presence and explore options to re-patriate sensitive data and business critical workloads into their own datacenters.We’ll discuss how VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) can provide business continuity and governance: what to keep on‑prem, what can remain hybrid, and how to reduce dependency risk without slowing delivery. We will also take a look at how Private AI on VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) can embrace AI innovation without compromising privacy, compliance, or data sovereignty by deploying AI workloads in your own datacenter. You’ll leave with a better understanding of options to navigate the ever evolving IT landscape, and gain real-world lessons from peers.

Security remains a top priority, yet many organizations still struggle to turn a clear threat picture into decisions that truly protect the business. The focus shifts from listing threats to understanding risk, what matters most, where exposure is real, and how failures impact the organization.

AI is accelerating innovation while transforming cybersecurity for both defenders and attackers. Join peers for a focused roundtable discussion on navigating the complexity and pace of security through an AI lens. How can organizations capture the benefits of AI while staying resilient in an increasingly complex environment

In an era defined by rapid market shifts and increasing uncertainty, digital sovereignty powered by open source, is no longer just a technical consideration, but a leadership topic. This roundtable invites IT decision-makers into an open dialogue on how to reduce proprietary lock-in, embrace transparent innovation, and strengthen operational resilience. Through shared experiences and perspectives, we will explore how organizations can gain the flexibility to pivot, scale, and secure their infrastructure, turning digital sovereignty into a strategic asset rather than a vulnerability.