The 3rd Annual CDO Magazine Global Data Leadership Summit gathered leading data, analytics, and AI executives at The Westin Cincinnati on October 7 to exchange actionable insights and build meaningful connections across the data community.

With 70+ speakers and attracting 250+ participants, the summit featured dynamic keynotes, panel breakout sessions, and focus groups, serving as a powerful platform for industry leaders to explore real-world data challenges and shape best practices across the evolving data and AI landscape.

Event participants represented a broad spectrum of industries — from healthcare and financial services/banking to technology and higher education, and from consumer goods, manufacturing, and construction to logistics/supply chain and transportation.

The opening summit was followed by CDO Magazine’s Global AI Leadership Summit on October 8 and Global Cybersecurity Leadership Summit on October 9.

Key session themes

The discussions throughout the summit spanned critical areas such as:

• Data Strategy & Leadership
• The Convergence of Data, AI, and Ethics in the Modern Enterprise
• Data Governance, Compliance & Ethics
• Talent Management, Culture, and Organizational Change Management
• Emerging Technologies and Trends

Notable keynotes

The three keynote sessions stood out:

• Is Your Data Strategy AI-Ready?

Mark Birkhead, JPMorganChase Firmwide Chief Data Officer; Ashok Chennuru, Elevance Health Chief Data & Digital Transformation Officer; Chandra Donelson, CDAIO, Author, Board Member; and Stuart Bonnington, AHEAD Principal Data Architect

• The Data Hero Playbook: Transform Your Data Organization Through a Growth Mindset

Malcolm Hawker, Profisee Chief Data Officer

• CDOs & the AI Revolution: Elevating Data Programs for Enhanced Protection

Todd Vancil, Securiti VP, Global Presales

Meet our summit co-chairs

CDO Magazine thanks the Summit Co-chairs for their leadership in the community:

• Teddy Benson, Universal Studios Director, Data Architecture, Platform & AI Solutions
• Mike Brigger, Cintas Sr. Director, Analytics & Enablement
• Aravind Jagannathan, Freddie Mac VP & Chief Data Officer
• Keerthi Reddy, Cencora VP, Data Management & Governance
• Brett Starr, The Cincinnati Insurance Companies VP, Data & Analytics Engineering
• Greg Swygart, Concentrix VP, Data & Analytics

Reflecting on her experience, Reddy says, “It has been a great couple of days and such a privilege to be part of this event that brought together so many inspiring data leaders. Thank you, CDO Magazine team, for organizing a fantastic summit and for the opportunity to contribute.”

According to Reddy, the summit reinforced the power of growth mindset, purpose-driven leadership, and the importance of building meaningful connections across the data community.

“The keynote ‘The Data Hero Playbook’ underscored the shift toward product and outcome-based data strategies that align directly to business value, while Chandra Donelson’s story was a powerful reminder that authenticity fuels impact. I left inspired by how organizations are leveraging AI to elevate data stewardship and data governance practices — transforming them from functions of control into catalysts for trust, innovation, and enterprise agility,” Reddy adds.

Similarly, Beth Hiatt, PayPal Head, Global Data Governance mentions “embrace a growth mindset” as her main takeaway from the keynote delivered by Hawker.

“As a data management and governance practitioner for over 20 years,” Hiatt says, “I strongly believe that we have a significant opportunity with GenAI to think differently about how we manage our data practices, processes, and platforms to not only accelerate our data management maturity, but most importantly, to deliver greater business value to our customers. For those that embrace change — the sky’s the limit; for those that don’t — they will be left behind.

Keynote speaker Chennuru highlights the importance of connecting with industry peers who share similar passion for data and AI-driven transformations.

“At Elevance Health, we’re committed to responsibly leveraging AI to improve health outcomes and advance our purpose of improving the health of humanity. The exchange of ideas at the summit reaffirmed how governance, collaboration, and ethical innovation are key to unlocking the next wave of value in healthcare,” Chennuru adds.

Ford Motor Chief Data, AI & Analytics Officer Franziska Bell, PhD, was impressed by the “tight-knit community” the CDO Magazine team brought together at the summit. “This unique environment, combined with the event’s sharp focus on achieving tangible business outcomes, made it an enriching experience.”

Sharing her take, keynote speaker Donelson points out, “FOMO-driven AI is exactly how companies end up with endless use cases and proofs of concept that never see production. Here’s the uncomfortable truth: your goal isn’t to use AI for the sake of AI. Your goal is to solve real business problems. So what problem are you trying to solve?”

According to panelist Latha Subramanian, GM Financial Senior Vice President, the sessions at the CDO Magazine Data Leadership Summit were “very insightful,” and it was a great way to network with peers and industry-leading experts on data and AI trends.

“All the panels on data and AI thought leadership were carefully curated with experts in the field and led to relevant and insightful discussions. This was my third year coming back to the CDO Magazine Summit, and I can attest that each time I have returned, my learning is enriched and productive,” Subramanian adds.

Speaking about his panel “The Data Strategy Playbook: From Fragmentation to Stakeholder Buy-In,” Anmol Handa, American Express VP, Customer Data & Relationships Platforms, says it was “well attended and highly engaging” with a productive and interactive discussion. He further comments that the summit itself was well organized, featuring insightful content and presentations from experienced industry professionals.

“It provided a valuable opportunity to learn and network with peers. For me, the most important takeaway from the summit was realizing that challenges around fragmented data ecosystems are universal across industries, even though each sector adopts a distinct approach to addressing them based on its specific priorities and context,” Handa adds.

Speaker JC Lionti, Mizuho Americas Chief Data Officer, “truly enjoyed” attending the summit. “The content was both relevant and inspiring, and the event provided excellent opportunities to connect with peers from across the data leadership community. The discussion around agentic AI and its growing role in data management was especially fascinating — an area I look forward to exploring further,” he notes.

Echoing that, panelist Bhavna Mehta, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center AVP, Data & Analytics, says, “The summit was a day of connection, learning, and challenging the status quo. The keynote on growth mindset set the tone for powerful discussions on the impact of AI on data strategy, and the importance of partnerships and enablement. It’s always wonderful to connect with so many incredible data leaders — both familiar faces and new voices in the data community.”

Hosting the Summit, Michelle Ziegler, CDO Magazine Global VP, Partner Development & Events, says, “The Global Data Leadership Summit continues to reinforce what makes this community exceptional — collaboration, curiosity, and a shared commitment to progress. It’s inspiring to see so many leaders come together not just to talk about technology, but to exchange ideas that drive real enterprise transformation. The conversations, connections, and partnerships formed here are what fuel the momentum of the global data and AI movement.”

Keynote speaker Hawker urges data leaders to start thinking differently about their roles, data, and customers. He explains that traditional approaches may work for BI but fall short for AI, especially in a rapidly changing world where even the foundations of data are shifting. He emphasizes that organizations need their data professionals to evolve and drive innovation — and that begins with adopting a growth mindset.

Hawker says this means actively seeking feedback, questioning why data quality problems occur, and examining the business processes behind them. Instead of dismissing issues as the business’s fault, he encourages curiosity and collaboration to find improvements.

Summing it up, Hawker adds, “Every time we see a data quality issue, we face a fork in the road — do we choose to be curious, to understand, and to partner with our customers to improve? When we focus on a growth mindset, we become the drivers of innovation for our organizations.”

Special thanks to AHEAD, Profisee, Securiti, Burtch Works, Centric Consulting, Coretek, CoStrategix, Denodo, Fifth Third, Flexor, HiLabs, XponentL Data, Brooksource, CockroachDB, The Data Lodge, Data Society, Enlivened Tech, FiveTran, and Presidio for making this event a success.

*Ashok Chennuru, Chandra Donelson, Aravind Jagannathan, JC Lionti, Bhavna Mehta, Brett Starr, and Latha Subramanian are members of the CDO Magazine Global Editorial Board. 

Executives speaking at the CDO Magazine Global Data Leadership Summit included:

Heather Ackels, Berpl Technologies VP, Business Technology; Mike Alvarez, NeuZeit Chief Technology Officer & Head, Product; Shanna Anderson, Fifth Third Bank SVP, Enterprise Transformation Director; Kishore Aradhya, Frontdoor Head, Data Engineering & Architecture; Yogesh Bhardwaj, Sensata Technologies Sr. Director, Data, GSO & Shared Services; Mark Birkhead, JPMorganChase Firmwide Chief Data Officer; Mike Brigger, Cintas Sr. Director, Analytics & Enablement; Ashok Chennuru, Elevance Health Chief Data & Digital AI Transformation Officer; Marc Cordray, First Financial Bank Sr. Director, Enterprise Data Management; Chandra Donelson, CDAIO, Author, Board Member; Meera Dugar, JPMorganChase SVP & Tech Partner; Christopher Eldredge, MeridianLink VP, Data; Wendy Gilbert, Airlines Reporting Corporation Director, Data Services; Emily Greenwood, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Lead Business Intelligence Analyst; Anmol Handa, American Express VP, Customer Data & Relationships Platforms; Elisha Herrmann, AWS Worldwide Solution Lead, Enterprise Applications; Beth Hiatt, PayPal Head, Global Data Governance; Jeffrey Hume, CareSource AVP, Data Management; Aravind Jagannathan, Freddie Mac SVP & SF Chief Data Officer; Ryan Kaplan, Fifth Third Bank SVP, Sr. Director, Data & Analytics; Ravi Katyal, Cintas Manager, IT Emerging Technology; Bill Kemerer, Allegion VP, Global Data & Analytics; Olivia Kew-Fickus, Vanderbilt University Chief Data Officer; Kayleigh Lavorini, Fifth Third Bank Director, Data Engineering & Data Strategy; JC Lionti, Mizuho Americas Managing Director & Chief Data Officer; Tim Lucas, Concentrix Sr. Consultant; Akhil Mahajan, Procter & Gamble Technical Director, Data & AI; Vikas Mahajan, Travelers Insurance AVP, Data Engineering; Mark Marshalek, Farmers Insurance Head, Data Solutions; Bhavna Mehta, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center AVP, Data & Analytics; Mickey Mentzer, Cincinnati Reds Sr. Director, Baseball Systems; Narendra Narukulla, JPMorganChase VP, Quant Analytics Manager; Anirudh Pathe, Glassdoor Sr. Director, Head, Decision Science & ML Knowledge Engineering; Jonathan Paul, Fifth Third Bank VP, Director, Data & AI Governance; Bharath Prabhakaran, University of Cincinnati VP & Chief Digital Officer, Digital Technology Solutions; Jason Pridemore, Gray Director, Analytics, AI & Governance; Priya Rajaram, FIS/Worldpay Sr. Director; Keerthi Reddy, Cencora VP, Data Management & Governance; Priya Reddy, former Reprise Financial VP, EDM, Chief Data Officer; Nick Ritter, Worldpay CISO; Ben Rottinghaus, Fifth Third Bank Sr. Director, Data Engineering; Shubha Sampath, Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati VP, Chief Data Officer; Tracy Sargent, ADM Chief of Staff, D&A; Ryan Schwartz, Fifth Third Bank VP, Data Engineering; Jeffrey Shaffer, University of Cincinnati Director, Applied AI Lab & Perry Professor; KP Singh, Norton Healthcare System Director, Data Governance & Analytics Optimization; Ashutosh Singhal, Meharry Medical College Chief Data Officer; Latha Subramanian, GM Financial Senior Vice President; Greg Swygart, Concentrix VP, Data & Analytics; Ninad Umrani, Elevance Health Staff Vice President; Chad Wright, Boston Dynamics CIO; Michael Butts, Burtch Works CEO; Stuart Bonnington, AHEAD Principal Data Architect; Amer Dallal, Centric Consulting AI Sales Consultant; Brett Decker, Coretek Sr. Solution Architect; Terry Dorsey, Denodo Sr. Data Architect/Evangelist; Dominic Dotterrer, HiLabs VP, Data Science; Malcolm Hawker, Profisee Chief Data Officer, Josh Higginbotham, Centric Consulting Sr. Architect & MSFT Data Platform MVP; Mark Johnson, CoStrategix Chief Growth Officer, Stacy Liang, HiLabs Sr. Director, Healthcare Strategy; Peter Scherf, XponentL Global Head Data & AI Strategy; Todd Vancil, Securiti VP, Global Presales; Matthew Wehrman, CoStrategix Solutions Architect; Merav Yuravlivker, Data Society Chief Learning Officer; Or Zabludowski, Flexor CEO; Anthony Losanno, CDO Magazine SVP, Sales; Camille Prado, CDO Magazine Global Editor; Steve Wanamaker, CDO Magazine Founder & Publisher; and  Michelle Ziegler, CDO Magazine, Global VP, Partner Development & Events.