CDO Magazine’s annual Atlanta Leadership Summit, held March 19 at The Westin Atlanta Perimeter, brought together the region’s top leaders across data, analytics, AI, technology, and security for a full day of executive-level networking and future-focused discussions on the evolving landscape of enterprise data leadership.

Featuring more than 50 distinguished speakers, three keynote presentations, and 15 panel sessions and focus group discussions, the Summit delivered a comprehensive agenda of insights and real-world perspectives centered on moving AI from pilots to production, strengthening data foundations, and building governance models that enable innovation at scale. 

Three keynote sessions stood out:

• Beyond AI Pilots: A CDO’s Guide to Building Enterprise‑Ready Data Foundations for AI — John Thomas, IBM VP, AI Transformation, IBM Expert Labs.
• AI is Rewriting the Rules of Data Security — Sean Cordero, Cyera Chief AI Security Officer
• The Data-Driven Decade: Strategy, AI, and the Leaders Who Will Define What’s Next — Srijani Dey, Blackrock Sr. Director, Strategic Program Transformation; Kelly Moncrief, Southern Company Head, AI Technology Center of Excellence; and Kalpit Patel, EverCommerce Chief Data & Analytics Officer; and Olga Sudvarg, McLarens Insurance Chief of Staff.

The event also included an awards reception recognizing the Top 25 Atlanta Data & AI Leaders for 2026, honoring chief  data, analytics, and AI executives delivering measurable data and AI impact across Atlanta’s most influential organizations.

Executives at the Summit reflected a diverse cross-section of industries — spanning financial services, healthcare, higher education, consumer brands, manufacturing, scientific research, and industrial automation — bringing forward fresh perspectives, asking sharp questions, and exchanging ideas throughout the day. The result was a collaborative, high-energy gathering that captured the accelerating momentum of Atlanta’s data and technology community.

CDO Magazine thanks the Co-chairs of the Atlanta Leadership Summit for their leadership:

• Mabby Amouie, Norfolk Southern AVP, Enterprise Data & Analytics
• Yingying Kang, Assurant Head, AI Science & Engineering
• Krystine Mahmood, Zelis VP, Data & Innovation
• Kalpit Patel, EverCommerce Chief Data & Analytics Officer
• Karthik Ramasamy, Guardian Industries Chief Analytics Officer

Sharing his takeaways from the Summit, Co-chair and speaker Ramasamy says, “AI has moved from experimentation to expectation, and that shifts how we lead. The real differentiator isn’t the technology itself; it’s how organizations embed AI into everyday work, align it to business value, and build to scale.” About his experience, Ramasamy adds, “What energized me most was the peer exchange — leaders sharing what’s actually working and not working — because that collective wisdom is how we harness AI to create lasting value for our organizations and society.”

Keynote panel speaker Srijani Dey, Blackrock Sr. Director Strategic Program Transformation, agrees. For her, the CDO Magazine Atlanta Leadership Summit was a true mind-meld — bringing together leaders at different checkpoints of a shared AI journey. She says, “It was refreshing to see how common challenges, priorities, and lessons resonated across organizations, regardless of where each team is on the maturity curve.”

What stood out the most for Dey was the forum’s intentional design with purposeful networking, driving meaningful connections and active participation that encouraged open exchange of perspectives rather than passive listening.

“The panels were thoughtfully structured, creating space that fostered for honest dialogue and grounded, experience‑driven discussion. A strong reminder that progress in AI is accelerated not just by technology, but by communities of leaders learning from one another — openly, pragmatically, and with shared intent,” Dey adds.

“Trust is the real bottleneck in AI,” says Meet Patel, Mars Global Sr. Director, Advanced Analytics & AI Strategy Capabilities & Culture. “When you make decisions transparent, align data to outcomes, and embed governance into the workflow, AI moves from experimentation to real business impact,” he adds.

Highlighting his key takeaway, Jim He, The Coca-Cola Company Global Head, Data Science, Machine Learning & AI, notes, “For the CDO, ‘building the plane while flying’ is more than a motto — it is an operational necessity. To thrive in the next AI era, talents must master three pillars: technical skillsets for systems, the curiosity to ask ‘why,’ and the people skills to translate and collaborate.”

Panel speaker Kartik Pillai, Yum! Brands Director, Data Strategy, Master Data Management, AI & Data Governance, outlines his insights:

• Governance has to evolve from oversight to enablement. In 2026, strong AI governance is not about slowing innovation down — it is about creating the policies, guardrails, and accountability models that let teams move faster with confidence.
• Agentic AI raises the bar for governance maturity. As systems begin to take more autonomous action, leaders need governance models that address not just data quality and access, but also decision traceability, human oversight, and risk management by design.
• The most effective executive teams are treating governance as a strategic capability. The takeaway is that governance is no longer a back-office function; it is becoming a core business enabler that directly impacts trust, compliance, speed to value, and enterprise-wide AI adoption.
• The organizations that will lead are the ones building for durability, not just experimentation. What stood out most is that lasting AI advantage will come from getting the foundation right early — data standards, governance frameworks, and readiness models that can support scale responsibly.

Similarly, Viswa Avireddi, Carrier Sr. Director of Enterprise Data & AI Solutions, points out her key notes:

• Successful AI scaling relies heavily on strong data quality, governance, and meaningful business context.
• Data intelligence as a prerequisite for trusted AI and analytics.

According to panelist Preetika Madan, Citi VP, Decision Science & Marketing Analytics, the CDO Magazine Atlanta Leadership Summit delivered both in substance and experience. “Participating as a panelist, the discussions stood out for their quality and relevance, complemented by thoughtful hospitality and a comfortable setting that enabled direct, meaningful dialogue among data and AI leaders. A key theme across panels was the evolving role of AI in enabling more nuanced and scalable decision making,” she says.

Lexy Smith, CDO Magazine Community Director, emphasizes, “The caliber of data and AI leaders who walked through those doors set the tone from the jump. We spent the day going deep on everything from AI governance and responsible AI, to what it actually takes to build data architectures that scale, to the very real question of how you develop talent when the technology is moving faster than any training program can keep up with. These weren’t surface-level conversations — they were the kind that only happen when the right people are in the right room.”

Summing it up, keynote speaker Thomas says, “Loved the interactions at the event! Almost every discussion from keynote to breakouts to casual talk seemed to have a common theme — moving from AI pilots to production, and the crucial role of data, context and governance.”

Special thanks to Cyera, IBM, Starburst, Tiger Analytics, Alation, Qualytics, Data Society, Neo4j, Nortal, and Onetrust for making this event a success.

*Mabby Amouie and Karthik Ramasamy are members of the CDO Magazine Global Board. 

Executives speaking at the CDO Magazine Atlanta Leadership Summit included:

Mabby Amouie, Norfolk Southern AVP, Enterprise Data & Analytics; Gabriel Charvat, Dun & Bradstreet VP, Data Quality; Dhrubojyoti Das Deb, JPMorganChase SVP, Software Engineering; Nihshanka Debroy, Andmore VP, Data & Analytics; Srijani Dey, Blackrock Sr. Director, Strategic Program Transformation; Amit Dingare, PRGX Global Chief AI Officer & Interim CTO; Dr. Vijay Gandapodi, Campbell’s VP, Data Analytics & AI; Nathan Hamilton, Infor VP, Data & AI; Ehrar Jameel, Mark Spain Real Estate VP, Chief Data & AI Officer; David Kenner, Blue Avanti Chief Enterprise Architect; Mayur Khare, Beazer Head, AI & Data Analytics; Manish Limaye, Revinate Chief Data Officer; Sabrykrishnan Loganathan, Peloton Interactive Head, Enterprise AI; Preetika Madan, Citi VP, Decision Science & Marketing Analytics; Krystine Mahmood, Zelis VP, Data & Innovation; Winn Martin, Live Oaks Bank Chief Data & Analytics Officer; Samantha McConnell, Cox Communications Director, AI Strategy & Product Management; Megan McIntosh, IHG Hotels & Resorts VP, Data & Analytics; Paul Mohl, Fiserv Sr. Director, Implementations and Platform Operations; Kelly Moncrief, Southern Company Head, AI Technology Center of Excellence; Shireesh Mishra, Citibank Director, Acquisition & Digital Analytics, US Consumer Credit; Ali Muzaffar, Meta Sr. Manager; Mayank Nawal, Cox Automotive Enterprise Architect; Stephanie Newell, Georgia House of Representatives Elected Secretary; Brent O’Guin, Georgia Institute of Technology AI Technology Strategist & Architect; Meet Patel, Mars Global Sr. Director, Advanced Analytics & AI Strategy Capabilities & Culture; Kalpit Patel, EverCommerce Chief Data & Analytics Officer; Candace Pereira-Roberts, Vanco VP, Data Strategy & Insights; Kartik Pillai, Yum Brands! Director, Data Platforms; Karthik Ramasamy, Guardian Industries Chief Analytics Officer; Renata Rawlings-Goss, Georgia Tech Executive Director; Matt Robuck, Georgia-Pacific VP, Data & Analytics; Rama Ryali, McKesson Head, Data Platform, Compliance & Operations; Priya Sarathy, KSU Director, Center Data Sciences & Analytics; Pankaj Singal, First Citizens Bank Executive Director, Enterprise Data & Analytics; Travis Smith, Siemens Chief Architect & VP, Data & AI & Enterprise Architecture DE; Olga Sudvarg, McLarens Insurance Chief of Staff; Varun Tottempudi, Lockton Companies Head, Data & Platforms Engineering; Jayson VanHook, University of North Georgia Chief Data Officer & Associate VP, Data Strategy; Peter Vennel, Finastra Global Head, Data Governance; Adam Blalock, Starburst Data Director, Solutions Architects; Sean Cordero, Cyera Chief AI Security Officer; Jim Redmond, Alation Solutions Executive; Gorkem Sevinc, Qualytics Co-founder & CEO; Kamlesh Singh, Tiger Analytics Regional Sales Head; John Thomas, IBM VP, AI Transformation, IBM Expert Labs; Sharma Vedula, Data Society Group Managing Director; Donna Medeiros, Data Society Vice President; Corey Maxner, CDO Magazine Sr. Director, Community & Operations; Lexy Smith, CDO Magazine Community Director; and Steve Wanamaker, CDO Magazine Founder & Publisher.