CDOIQ Newsletter, January 2026 Volume II | | |
This Wednesday, 12 Noon Eastern Time!
CDOIQ Society Proseminar
| | |
Title: Agentic AI: The Road to Fully Autonomous Organizations by Doug Laney
Date & Time: January 21, 2026 | 12:00 – 1:15 PM EST
The autonomous organization represents the next frontier in business transformation, moving beyond advanced analytics, piecemeal AI, and single-function automation. We are on the precipice of true organizational “self-driving” capabilities which will redefine business models and economies. While many enterprises still struggle with basic AI implementations, leading organizations are poised to introduce intelligent systems that can sense, decide, perform, interact, and adapt across entire business functions at digital speed. Drawing parallels with the evolution of autonomous driving, Laney will define the seven levels of agentic AI – from early-stage chatbots to full business self-awareness and execution – and share new technology providers and business executives can prepare for this imminent inevitability.
| Upcoming CDOIQ Society Proseminars | | |
**1. February 2026 Proseminar by Dinesh Thangaraju
Date & Time: February 18, 2026 | 12:00 – 1:15 PM EST
Title: Breaking Down Data Silos: Building Federated Knowledge Infrastructure for Enterprise Agentic AI at Scale
**2. March 2026 Proseminar by Robert Abate
Date & Time: March 18, 2026 | 12:00 – 1:15 PM EDT
Title: Best Practices for the New CDO: The First 90-days and Roadmap
**3. April 2026 Proseminar by John R. Talburt
Date & Time: April 15, 2026 | 12:00 – 1:15 PM EDT
Title: Master Data Management: Focusing on Your Most Important Data
Date & Time: May 6, 2026 | 12:00 – 1:15 PM EDT
Title: TBD
Date & Time: June 10, 2026 | 12:00 – 1:15 PM EDT
Title: AI Oversight and how CDOs should engage with Boards of Directors
**6. July 2026 No Proseminar (The 20th Annual CDOIQ Symposium)
| | Join CDOIQ Society Today! | | Be part of a global community of senior data, analytics, and AI leaders advancing best practices. As a member, you gain access to: (1) A global network of data and analytics leaders; (2) Exclusive discounts on CDOIQ symposia, proceedings, and the Certified CDO (CCDO) Professional Program; (3) Priority participation in the Monthly CDOIQ Society Proseminar Series, including session recordings and presentation decks; (4) One Continuing Education Units (CEU) for every ten proseminar sessions completed. | | Highlight 2026 Symposium Speakers, Part II | | Value = Data + Capabilities: A Field Guide to Product-Led Data Platforms | | |
Amin Venjara, ADP
Internal teams don’t buy platforms—they adopt them to ship outcomes faster with less friction. This talk is a practical field guide to running your data platform as a product. We’ll start with a Value Architecture—Value = Data + Capabilities—and how anchoring every investment to a real use case prevented over-engineering. Then we’ll walk through a four-part measurement framework for data platform success: Maturity (platform readiness), Efficiency (hub vs. spoke spend), Adoption (active users), Satisfaction (NPS). We’ll share how a company-wide DataDay and quarterly release demos created pull from developers and analysts. Finally, as a concrete pattern, we’ll walk through the evolution of our Enterprise Graph capability: from use-case definition and development to value-delivery and scale.
| | Bridging the AI Readiness Gap: From Insight to Implementation | |
Leticia Naqvi, Apple
As organizations accelerate artificial intelligence initiatives, many struggle to operationalize AI in ways that deliver consistent and measurable business value at scale. This session introduces a readiness-based approach to AI adoption that helps leaders move beyond experimentation toward sustainable implementation. Grounded in doctoral research and cross-industry analysis, the discussion examines how governance, leadership alignment, data maturity, and organizational culture influence AI outcomes. Attendees will gain a structured method for evaluating readiness, prioritizing high-impact use cases, and designing implementation roadmaps that integrate AI into decision-making processes while supporting responsible, transparent, and scalable adoption across the enterprise.
| | |
Doubling Down on Data Products to
Drive the Business
| | |
Amy Lenander, Capital One
While lots of organizations are building data products, the approach and scope of them varies significantly. This talk will offer a practical guide to building a data products approach where they are at the core of how the business operates. Attendees will hear Capital One’s real-world insights on interoperable data product development, definitions and frameworks, the role of talent and the data product manager, and examples of how data products can support analytical and operational use cases at scale.
| |
People and Data (and, oh yes, AI!) | |
Tom Redman, Data Quality Solutions
The last several years have witnessed a drumbeat of intoxicating, potentially game-changing AI technologies. But as Jeff McMillan, who leads AI efforts at Morgan Stanley and whose program is as far along as any puts it, “When it comes to AI, technology is easy. Data and people are hard.”
That’s where People and Data, my latest, best, and most important book comes in. Based on engagements with dozens of clients, study groups, and interactions with other experts, it unpacks the essential roles “regular people,” those without data in their titles, play all things data. Yet most data programs ignore them, even viewing them as “the problem.” We’ll step through the logic, call out specific roles for regular people, and discuss implications for data teams and AI. Most importantly, we’ll show how companies have made all this work. We’ll conclude with a short discussion on some longer-term issues. Namely, today’s organizations are unfit for data. While making the structural changes may be beyond the remit of attendees, it is essential that the “top data person” begin to press for such changes.
| | Join us to Celebrate the 20th CDOIQ Symposium | | |
The 20th Annual CDOIQ Symposium returns to Cambridge, Massachusetts, on July 21–23, marking a milestone gathering of senior Data and AI executives, public sector leaders, and academic experts from around the world. Join this premier forum for executive-level dialogue, practical insights, and strategic perspectives shaping the future of data, analytics, and AI leadership. Early-bird registration is now open and will expire on February 13, 2026. Be sure to apply the discount codes below at checkout to take advantage of this limited-time offer.
CDOIQEARLYOS45% for on-site registration
CDOIQEARLYV45% for virtual registration
| | CDOIQ Sponsorship Opportunities | | CDOIQ Symposium sponsorship packages offer many high-impact opportunities to elevate your brand at the world’s longest-running data leadership conference. Sponsors gain exclusive access to senior data and AI executives, including speaking engagements, complimentary registrations, and sustained visibility across the global CDOIQ network. Email team@cdoiq.org if interested. | |
Be a Certified CDO (CCDO) Professional!
| | Apply to the 3rd Certified CDO Professional Program, a comprehensive, practitioner-led journey designed to elevate your leadership in data, analytics, and AI. Program highlights: (1) 4 Modules over 20 Weeks. Each module runs for 5 weeks; (2) Live online sessions every Tuesday, 4:30–7:00 PM ET; (3) Flexible tuition: Pay in full or per module; (4) Earn 5 certificates of completion and 5 Continuing Education Units. Sign up below to receive a program briefing. | | | | |
