Senior data, analytics, and AI executives gathered at CDO Magazine’s New York Executive Boardroom Dinner on September 10 at Club A Steakhouse, to address how AI can drive value across the enterprise — from back-office operations to customer-facing experiences.

The highlight of the evening was a panel discussion on “From Experiment to Impact — Realizing AI Value on Internal and External Use Cases.” The speakers dove into customer-facing AI initiatives, offering methods to balance rapid experimentation with cost and time-to-value, frameworks for scaling proofs-of-concept, and strategies to maintain trustworthy, brand-aligned interactions. 

They also spotlighted the importance of flexible data architectures to avoid vendor lock-in, and shared lessons on deploying autonomous AI systems while measuring impact and managing associated risks across internal operations and external engagements.

The panel of experts were:

• Effie Kilmer, Microsoft Director, Global Data Governance Product Growth & Partner GTM
• Richard Martin, PepsiCo Senior Director, Strategy & Transformation for Data, Analytics & AI
• Viktoriya Smith, Citi Senior Vice President

The discussion was moderated by Jeff Burlin, Twilio Senior Director, Executive Engagement Programs.

Sharing his experience, speaker Martin says, “I had the pleasure of sitting on an executive discussion panel with two industry peers last night hosted by CDO Magazine. What a fun and rewarding experience. In addition to learning what’s working (and what’s not) across different industries, we were able to discuss important topics like how high-quality data paired with expert context engineering is key for AI enablement. The future is so bright in this space. It’s such a great time to be in it.”

Alex Golbin, Hudson Bay Capital Management Chief Technology Officer, adds that, while generative AI’s potential is exciting, he emphasizes, “The ‘boring’ labor intensive task of data wrangling, cleanup and curating does not disappear: data engineering, governance and operations remain critical.” He elaborates, “There is no magic (at least not yet): we get new, very capable tools to add to our toolbox, but we still need an experienced carpenter to apply those tools to the right use case: human in the loop is essential.”

According to speaker Kilmer, there’s no shortcut to achieving AI success. She says, “Companies that fail to invest in their data foundations will be left behind. The future belongs to those who build with integrity, scale with governance, and innovate with confidence.”

Gerri Caveness, CDO Magazine Program Director, describes, “The magic of nights like this is that they don’t stop when the evening ends. The conversations, the connections, the sparks of new ideas keep going far beyond one night. This is where the real magic happens, and I’m honored to share time  with such brilliant data rockstars!”

Summing it up, moderator Burlin says, “It’s clear that organizations are experiencing some exciting early wins that are delivering tangible value for the business in terms of efficiency gains, productivity, revenue generation, and customer satisfaction. However, a common thread for that success is in the initial investment required in a strong data foundation —  completeness, quality, and context — in order to really unlock the potential of AI pilots and then scale successfully.”

Special thanks to Twilio for their partnership in making the event a success.

*Alex Golbin is a member of the CDO Magazine Global Editorial Board.

Executives attending the CDO Magazine New York Executive Boardroom Dinner included: 

Manal Alimari, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Head, Enterprise Data Governance & Transformation; Ipshita Chakraborty, HelloFresh Director, Data Science, Global Product Strategy & Ops; Sherman Cooper, QBE North America Head, Data; Stephanie Garland, State of Maryland Director, Data Literacy; Alex Golbin, Hudson Bay Capital Management Chief Technology Officer; Anmol Handa, American Express VP, Customer 360; Effie Kilmer, Microsoft Director, Global Data Governance Product Growth & Partner GTM; Richard Martin, PepsiCo Sr. Director, Strategy & Transformation, Data, Analytics & AI; Laura Rogers, BNY Chief Operating Officer, Enterprise Data Management; Tali Rosenblum, New York Life VP, Executive Officer & Head, Enterprise Strategic Insights & Analytics; Alexander Rosenzweig, American Express Director, Data Risk & Privacy; Viktoriya Smith, Citi SVP; Karen Swift, Penske Media Corp CIO; Suman Veeramalla, Consumer Reports Chief Data Officer; Stephanie Zhang, JPMorganChase Head, Enterprise AI & Data Governance Products, Managing Director; Jeff Burlin, Twilio Sr. Director, Executive Engagement Programs; John Vulopas, CDO Magazine Account Director; Gerri Caveness, CDO Magazine Global Events Manager.