As organizations expand their use of AI-driven automation, a difficult question is emerging: How do leaders ensure that increasingly autonomous systems remain trustworthy, transparent, and aligned with the business?

That question framed CDO Magazine’s New York Executive Boardroom Dinner discussion on October 19 at Gallaghers Steakhouse, where executives from financial services, technology, consumer products, and other industries gathered to exchange perspectives on workflow automation and the growing role of agentic AI.

The discussion explored where organizations are finding opportunities to automate work, the challenges they encounter, and how leaders are approaching trust and transparency as agentic systems scale.

But the event was about more than technology. It brought together executives willing to challenge assumptions, share experiences, and continue conversations beyond the formal program.

Automation’s Next Challenge: Keeping Business Priorities in Focus

Workflow automation offers organizations opportunities to rethink how work gets done. Yet expanding automation introduces questions that go beyond whether a process can be automated.

One of the evening’s central discussion prompts asked executives to consider where they had experienced their biggest wins and challenges when automating workflows.

The conversation was also designed to examine a related concern: how organizations keep agentic initiatives aligned with business priorities that may change after a system has been designed or deployed.

Together, those questions highlighted an important distinction between automating a task and ensuring that automation continues to serve the organization’s objectives.

For data and technology leaders, the challenge is not simply to identify opportunities for automation. It is also to establish how those initiatives will be evaluated and adapted as business needs evolve.

Trust and Transparency as Agentic AI Scales

The discussion also addressed the growing importance of trust and transparency as organizations explore broader applications of agentic AI.

Unlike conventional automation, which typically follows predefined processes, agentic systems can introduce additional complexity around how actions are selected, decisions are explained, and outcomes are evaluated.

The discussion questions invited executives to examine how their organizations are approaching these issues as agentic capabilities expand.

Questions of transparency become particularly consequential when business leaders need to understand not only what an AI system accomplished, but also how its actions relate to organizational expectations.

This creates an important connection between AI adoption and governance: the need to establish appropriate oversight without preventing teams from pursuing valuable applications.

For organizations navigating these challenges, the relationship between ⁠AI governance and data governance provides additional context for understanding how existing responsibilities and controls may need to evolve.

The Conversations Continued After the Program Ended

Beyond the discussion of workflow automation, trust, and agentic AI, the evening created opportunities for executives to exchange perspectives and build meaningful connections.

Jean-Philippe Gerbi, Metropolitan Commercial Bank Chief Information Officer, reflected on the experience:

“The CDO Magazine dinner was a terrific experience: it combined thoughtful conversations, strong peer connections, and valuable perspectives on how data, AI, and technology are reshaping our organizations. I truly enjoyed the evening and the opportunity to exchange ideas with such an accomplished group of leaders.”

That engagement extended beyond the formal program.

Gerri Caveness, CDO Magazine Community Director, described a room where executives arrived ready to participate rather than simply observe:

“People showed up ready to participate, challenge a few assumptions, and maybe even change their minds.”

For Caveness, one of the most memorable moments came after the scheduled discussion ended:

“When the program ended, nobody seemed particularly interested in leaving! They were still talking, laughing, and making plans to reconnect.”

The conversations continued well beyond the formal program, reflecting the connections formed throughout the evening.

Data, AI and Technology Leaders Who Joined the New York Conversation:

• Jide Adeoye, goeazy Director, Business Intelligence
• Manal Alimari, SMBC Head, Enterprise Data Governance & Transformation
• Alberto Amezquita, Banamex Banco Nacional Head of Analytics & Modeling Risk
• Sashi Arumugam, Hachette Book Group VP, Distribution Technology & Intelligence
• John Baldino
• Pooja Batra, Bloomberg Head of Technical Product Management-Fixed Income Pricing
• Tesa Brody, Bazooka Candy Brands Senior Digital Product Lead, Operations & AI
• Lisa Cheng, JPMorganChase Product Manager-Payment
• Diego De Aragao, Citi SVP, Balance Sheet Executive Decision Support
• Brandon Dombroski, MUFG Managing Director & Head, Data Quality & Data Platform Business Ownership
• Dominick Gaglio, PGIM Head, Personalization
• Girish Gajwani, Barclays VP, Technology
• Jean-Philippe Gerbi, Metropolitan Commercial Bank Chief Information Officer
• Jennifer Heiben, JPMorganChase Executive Director, Offers & Shopping Analytics
• Clement King, Scotiabank Business Risk Management Executive, Managing Director
• Raj Koltur, PGIM Investments Head, Product & Architecture, Technology
• Alexander Rosenzweig, American Express Former Director: Data AI Risk & Controls
• Neleesh Shariff, Procter & Gamble Enterprise Data Governance Office Leader
• Prashant Saurabh Singh, Metropolitan Commercial Bank First Vice President
• Sameera Sivji, Scotiabank Director & Head, Global Retail Reporting & Data Management, GRM Retail Credit Risk
• Xin (Cindy) Tu*, LPL Financial VP, Head of Tech and Cyber Governance Compliance
• Sanjay Ramchandani, Wells Fargo Vice President, Enterprise Marketing, Data and Integration
• Taige Eoff, Google Cloud Lead, Go-To-Market Strategies for Google Agentic Data Cloud
• Vince Gonzalez, Google Cloud Customer Engineer, Data Analytics Specialist
• Dimitri Mouret, Google Cloud Data, Analytics, and AI Product Sales Specialist
• Griffin Pero, Google Cloud Data Analytics Sales Specialist
• Gerri Caveness, CDO Magazine Community Director
• Anthony Losanno, CDO Magazine Managing Director
• Steve Wanamaker, CDO Magazine Founder

*Xin (Cindy) Tu is a members of the CDO Magazine Global Board.

CDO Magazine thanks Google Cloud for supporting the New York Executive Boardroom Dinner and helping bring the executive community together.