CDO Magazine hosted Boston’s top data, analytics, and AI leaders for an evening of insight-sharing and strategic dialogue on June 10 at Empire Boston. The highlight was a dynamic panel discussion on the timely topic, “Operationalizing AI Inference at Scale.”

The speakers explored key challenges in operationalizing AI inference, such as ensuring infrastructure resiliency, achieving effective model scaling, managing vendor diversity, and maintaining business trust in model outputs that are becoming increasingly complex and less interpretable over time.

The panel of experts were:

• Kamal Distell, Toyota Motor VP, Data, Analytics, Platforms & Data Science/AI
• Kishore Aradhya, Frontdoor Head, Data Engineering & Architecture
• Mamta Singh, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Deputy Chief Data Officer

The discussion was moderated by Vinnie Lee, AHEAD Client Solutions Architect, New England Fintech & Healthcare.

Reflecting on her experience, speaker Distell shares, “It was a great discussion covering a wide range of important topics—particularly around how organizations can make Generative AI and Agentic AI real. I especially valued the thoughtful conversation on more sensitive issues, such as the risks of ‘persuasive, overly agreeable AI models,’ the cognitive de-skilling of humans, and how we address those challenges. We also explored technical aspects, like inference in AI models and the concept of ‘authority drift’—all critical areas that deserve our attention and proactive dialogue.”

Echoing a similar sentiment, speaker Aradhya lauds CDO Magazine for hosting a wonderful dinner and sparking engaging discussions on the complexities of scaling AI inference. He says, “We collectively recognized that this is a complex issue, and we find ourselves at different stages on our journey with a shared focus on starting small and achieving incremental wins that demonstrate business value.”

Speaker Singh gauges the pulse of where many organizations are with operationalizing AI, sharing the following takeaways:

• Most organizations are still identifying the right use cases for AI inference in production. 
• ROI (Return on Investment) is still a key question for business stakeholders. 
• Trust in AI model outcomes is not a one-time checkbox — it requires continuous lifecycle discipline, including monitoring, validation, and governance and ethics review.

Justin Heller, Synchrony Financial SVP & Chief Data Officer, reinforces the need for thoughtful, iterative progress. He  adds, “While we’re all navigating the buzz surrounding GenAI, our common anchor remains balancing risk, value, innovation, and cost. Endeavors that validate the AI speculation require embracing an agile test, learn, and adapt approach rather than big swings.”

Anthony Losanno, CDO Magazine SVP, Sales, highlights,“CDO Magazine and AHEAD had a great evening filled with an insightful panel discussion around AI adoption, proving ROI, and what’s next. Our Boston community is growing, and we loved all of the thoughts being shared.”

Summing it up, sponsor Dave McEachern, AHEAD Managing Director, New England, says, “It’s always humbling to be in a room with such impressive thought leaders. This group of CDOs did not disappoint. The conversation was truly collaborative, and we got into the details of the trials and tribulations of the state of AI and the next wave of Agentic AI.”

Special thanks to AHEAD for making the CDO Magazine Executive Boardroom Dinner such a resounding success.

*Kamal Distell, Kishore Aradhya, Mamta Singh, and Justin Heller are members of the CDO Magazine Global Editorial Board.

Executives attending the CDO Magazine Boston Executive Boardroom Dinner included: 

Israel Abraham, Trianz VP, Product, Avrio Data Analytics Platform; Jordan Alcott, Dana Farber Cancer Institute Director, Data Platform & Analytics Enablement; Kishore Aradhya, Frontdoor Head, Data Engineering & Architecture; Alex Aronov, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Executive Director & Head, Data Science; Chakkaravarthy Arunachalam, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Head, People Analytics; Yogesh Bhardwaj, Sensata Technologies Sr. Director, GSO, Data & IT Shared Services; Jane Chen, former Analog Devices Sr. Director, Growth Analytics, Data Science, Customer Insights; Kamal Distell, Toyota Motor VP, Data, Analytics, Platforms & Data Science/AI; Ashwini Ghogare, MilliporeSigma CEO & Head, AI & Automation in Drug Discovery; Jaya Gwalani, iRobot Director, Data Operations; Justin Heller, Synchrony Financial SVP & Chief Data Officer; Sravan Kasarla, Commonwealth Financial Network Head, Enterprise Data Management, CDO; Kiran Kodali, BeOne Medicines Head, R&D Data Governance; Jay Krish, State Street Head, AML /FCC Data Governance; Brent Mahan, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute VP, Enterprise Data & Analytics; Suresh Martha, EMD Serono Head, Data Driven Innovation & Analytics; Nachiket Mehta, former Wayfair Head, Data & Analytics Engineering, Global Operations & Enterprise; Lakshmanan Meyyappan, CVS Health Executive, Data Science, ML Engineering & Enterprise AI; Brandon Proulx, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Sr. Analyst, Generative AI Enablement & Fluency, Enterprise Data & Analytics; Kenneth Rispoli, Analog Devices Manager, Data Science & Digital Innovation; Brian Rotondo, The TJX Companies VP, Data & Analytics; Mamta Singh, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Deputy Chief Data Officer; Colleen Tartow, Capital One Sr. Director, Enterprise Data Engineering; Greg Vasquez, STAG Industrial VP, Data & Analytics; Barbara Widholm, State Street VP, Automation & Artificial Intelligence; Vinnie Lee, AHEAD Client Solutions Architect, New England Fintech & Healthcare; Dave McEachern, AHEAD Managing Director, New England; Molly Baab, CDO Magazine Chief Operating Officer & Chief Product Officer; Anthony Losanno, CDO Magazine SVP, Sales; John Vulopas, CDO Magazine Strategic Account Director.