Technology & Innovation Summit North America

Are You A Better Boss Than A Bot? Level Up Your Leadership Skills For An AI-Infused World

We (and others) have been saying for years that leaders need to get better at what they do and that poor leadership leads to poor business outcomes. The sad truth is that most companies still don’t believe it, nor have they invested in a meaningful way in their leaders’ skills. So now we face a new question: If human leaders are mediocre enough, can they be replaced by generative AI? Good leaders can’t, but are you good enough?

Attend this session so you can:

Learn what differentiates human leaders from bots (and how smart leaders are leveraging AI to be even better).
Understand (and avoid) the risks of poor leadership in an AI-infused world.
Make a plan to develop the right skills that your leaders need to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

Speakers:
Katy Tynan, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Building Your Roadmap On The Road To High Performance

High-performance IT’s focus on business results can guide your journey through volatility. Its relentless strategic alignment, resulting in IT’s continuous adaptivity, yields trust and partnership with your business colleagues. How can you do this? In this session, you will learn how your tech roadmap can bridge the gap between the business strategy and IT’s execution. We provide a practical approach that takes you on your high-performance value creation journey. High-level business objectives point to the specific business capability changes that create key results. These, in turn, drive solutioning, prioritization, and effective communication of your high-performance IT roadmap.

Key takeaways:

Learn how to work with your business colleagues to craft a tech strategy that drives business results while navigating risk and volatility.
Learn how to work with your business colleagues to craft a tech strategy that drives business results while navigating risk and volatility.

Recognize where your roadmap journey depends on a strategic portfolio when interacting with governance for policies, setting performance metrics, and driving funding.
Understand how to set the direction for your tech architecture, skills, practices, and platforms.

Speakers:
Bobby Cameron, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

When To Customize Tech For Industry Optimization

Speakers:
Andre Kindness, Principal Analyst, Forrester

The Enterprise App Evolution: From Critical Asset To Strategic Enabler

Enterprise applications are no longer just the backbone of operations: They are becoming powerful engines for strategic differentiation. In this session, we’ll explore how enterprise applications are shifting from best-of-breed capabilities to agentic, self-optimizing ecosystems. Once viewed as essential but often static assets, they are now evolving into strategic enablers of innovation, agility, and competitive advantage. We will share the latest trends, best practices, and real-world strategies for leveraging enterprise apps to drive business growth and digital transformation. Key takeaways from this session:

The role of business apps’ four key qualities for this transformation: AI-infused, cloud-native, composable, and ecosystem-driven
Real-world case studies of organizations successfully leveraging enterprise apps as strategic enablers
Building a future-ready application landscape that drives innovation and business agility

Speakers:
Joe Cicman, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Semantic Layer 2.0: A Key Enabler For Successful Analytics And Agentic AI Apps

A unified semantic layer simplifies data access by using familiar business terms, enabling nontechnical users to gain insights without needing data experts. As conversational data and analytics apps grow, strong, consistent semantics are essential. Patchwork solutions no longer suffice. Enterprises must adopt a single, standardized semantic platform enriched with industry-specific terms, rules, and taxonomy to ensure clarity, accuracy, and success across all data-driven initiatives.

Key takeaways from this session:

Why enterprises must prioritize a unified semantic layer for generative AI applications
What buyers should look for when selecting a platform for a unified enterprise semantic layer
What technology and platform options exist for a unified enterprise semantic layer

Speakers:
Boris Evelson, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Forrester

From Agent-Ish To Agentic AI: A Practical Guide To AI Agent Capabilities

The term “agentic AI” has rapidly become ubiquitous, with nearly all software vendors now claiming autonomous capabilities for their AI agents. This session will cut through the marketing hype by examining AI agents currently in production. We’ll analyze their true operational mechanisms, the extent of their autonomous behavior, and the often widely varying degrees of autonomy that they actually exhibit. Our deep dive reveals five distinct categories of employee-support AI agents, each characterized by its level of model-driven decision-making and the actions it independently undertakes to achieve objectives. Tech leaders will gain insights from these categories and real-world examples, equipping them to make informed decisions and operationalize the progression of AI agents into their organizations.

Key takeaways:

A framework for AI agent progression
Top challenges and best practices to overcome them

Speakers:
Craig Le Clair, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Rowan Curran, Principal Analyst, Forrester

12:10 pm – 12:40 pm CDT

Case Study Sessions (In-Person Only)

Join case study sessions to hear real-world stories, solutions and insights leveraging the best in today’s technology, data, and AI solutions.

12:40 pm – 1:40 pm CDT

Lunch & Marketplace Break (In-Person Only)

Enjoy lunch while networking in the Marketplace. Learn about innovative products and gain a deeper understanding of industry trends by attending one of the spotlight sessions in the Marketplace.

12:40 pm – 2:25 pm CDT

Executive Leadership Exchange (Invite Only): Exclusive Networking Lunch

Establish connections with like-minded peers and Forrester experts as you trade insights on your approaches to the most pressing topics for technology, data, and AI leaders.

Speakers:
Joe O'Brien, VP, CIO Executive Programs TL, Forrester
Greg Willrich, VP, Executive Partner, Forrester

1:40 pm – 2:25 pm CDT

Breakout Sessions

Increase Your Organization's AI Readiness With AIQ And TCQ

Success with AI depends on human capabilities. Two companies could acquire the same AI technology, leverage similar data, and still generate radically different business results. The difference? The understanding, skills, and ethical awareness of their employees. Join this session to:

Understand how AIQ, the artificial intelligence quotient, measures your employees’ readiness.
Discover how AIQ can drive business success with AI.
Learn what steps organizations can take to improve your organization’s AI readiness.

Speakers:
James McQuivey, VP, Research Director, Forrester

Learn The Common Approaches To Gaining A Complete View Of Total Cost Of Ownership

In the dynamic world of technology innovation, organizations are constantly seeking ways to maximize their IT investments. In this session, we will explore strategic approaches to effectively manage IT budgets and enhance IT cost management operational efficiency. We will discuss the importance of aligning IT spend with business goals, with the interdependency between FinOps and IT financial management (ITFM) practices a s the crucial lynchpin. Attendees will gain insights into best practices for cost optimization, including prioritizing critical investments, using real-time data to drive decision-making, and promoting a culture of continuous improvement. By adopting these strategies, organizations can achieve sustainable growth, maintain a competitive edge, and ensure that their IT infrastructure supports long-term success.

Session highlights:

Learn the common approaches to gaining total cost of ownership.
Understand how to use data from both ITFM and FinOps to inform each other.
Hear about best practices in integrating your ITFM and FinOps practices.

Speakers:
Tracy Woo, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Greg Zorella, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Achieving Proactive IT Support For Better Employee Experience: AI-Enabled Technologies And Lean Operations

Developing a proactive IT operations model requires a comprehensive understanding of emerging trends and technologies. In this session, we will provide an in-depth analysis of current trends and proposed models for future IT operations management. We will explore the pivotal trends shaping the future of IT operations management, focusing on AI-driven innovations, self-service automation, and the AIOps and observability enablement frameworks. Technology leaders will gain insights into the integration of AI agents that enhance decision-making and the proactive measures enabled by predictive maintenance, leaving this session equipped with the knowledge to guide their strategies. Join us to discover how to navigate this transformative landscape.

Session highlights:

How different models are enabling future IT operations
Emerging trends and technologies driving proactive IT operations
Methods on how to integrate AI agents for enhanced decision-making

Speakers:
Julie Mohr, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Carlos Casanova, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Application Revolution: Rewriting Development With AI

“Never write code again!” Most developers would find that blasphemous, but that’s exactly where the world of software development is heading. Whether it’s traditional development or low-code platforms, the technology of AI-powered coding solutions is advancing faster than anyone anticipated — and is rewriting the role of today’s developers in the process. In this session, we will explore the current and future state of autonomous coding solutions and application generation (AppGen), how they are impacting today’s developers, and how to prepare for even greater transformation moving forward. Key takeaways from this session:

Learn up-to-the-minute updates on autonomous coding solutions and AppGen.
Understand the impact that AI coding solutions are having on developers today.
Adapt your business to the future of development with AI.

Speakers:
Christopher Condo, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Bob Schukai, Senior VP of Marketing, Communications and Enterprise Services Technology, PNC Bank

The Modern Data Platform Enables Your AI Vision

Modern data platforms are the backbone of AI transformation, providing the data infrastructure needed to turn data into actionable insights quickly. By seamlessly integrating data processing, data management, scalable and open storage, and advanced automation, these platforms empower organizations to deploy AI that is accurate and responsive. Selecting the right data platform can be a complex endeavor, however, requiring careful consideration of various factors.

Key takeaways:

Understand how data platforms can help accelerate your AI initiatives.
Learn how to choose the right data platform based on your enterprise needs.

Speakers:
Noel Yuhanna, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Manage Your AI Value Delivery — Dollars And Sense

Generative AI experimentation is shifting to applications with business impact. To date, AI leaders have struggled to demonstrate the business impact from existing efforts, but there is a solution that applies dollars and sense to the AI value conundrum.

Key takeaways:

Gain a framework that connects and manages ambition and belief to AI results.
Understand how to factor in and optimize AI cost.
Hear from AI leaders on how they show their stakeholders the money.

Speakers:
Michele Goetz, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Brian Hopkins, VP, Emerging Tech Portfolio, Forrester

2:35 pm – 3:05 pm CDT

Case Study Sessions (In-Person Only)

Join case study sessions to hear real-world stories, solutions and insights leveraging the best in today’s technology, data, and AI solutions.

3:15 pm – 3:45 pm CDT

Breakout Sessions

Build Or (Re-)Build Your Team’s Culture

Teams are the lifeblood of successful work environments. They inform, support, and develop individual contributors as they grow. Team culture either accelerates or inhibits that team success. In this session, you’ll learn:

Why team culture matters.
How to measure your culture energy at the team level versus the organizational level.
The leadership tools and skills that will help you shape your team culture.

Speakers:
Angelina Gennis, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Architecture In The Age Of Generative AI

Most large enterprises (according to Forrester data) have “architect” job classes and orgs. Discover how enterprise architecture drives business and technology outcomes and how generative AI is accelerating and amplifying its impact. Architecture’s benefits span the gamut from risk and cost efficiency through customer experience to revenue and mission outcome, but you need a clear line of sight to value — and to stay out of the dreaded “ivory tower.” Come hear cases and key insights. Join this session to:

Unlock insider insights into how top enterprises use architecture to outpace competitors.
Explore bold innovations that have transformed business operations and delivered breakthrough results.
Connect with thought leaders and peers to spark ideas and gain exclusive strategies for success.

Speakers:
Mark Moccia, VP, Research Director, Forrester

AI PCs, Windows 10 EOL: The Future Of End User Computing

Windows 10 EOL, AI PCs, cloud PCs, employee mobility, DEX — end-user compute (EUC) is at a moment of change. Windows 10 is being end-of-life’d, potentially forcing a full fleet refresh. AI PC hype is reaching a fever pitch. Can AI chips and on-device AI processing improve the experience of AI workloads for end users? What are IT teams’ and employees’ perceptions of these devices? New forms of VDI are claiming that they’re changing EUC form factors. Employees are demanding more mobility, better experience, and fewer technical challenges. In the midst of this change, what do you actually need to care about?

Session highlights:

Near-term: What do we need to do to prepare for Windows 11?
Middle-term: What do AI PCs actually do today?
Long-term: How will EUC evolve into the future?

Speakers:
William McKeon-White, Senior Analyst, Forrester
Michele Pelino, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

The Rise Of The Digital Workforce — How To Get Past Innovation And Theater To Practical Application Using HCM Systems Of Record

Go beyond traditional HR functions and learn how business and technology leaders are leveraging their human capital management (HCM) system of record and the emerging technology of agentic AI to gain a comprehensive understanding of its organizational structure, transforming HCM data into strategic labor planning and intelligence for current and future talent needs and giving rise to a digital workforce.

Key takeaways from this session:

Understand how the rise of flexible workforces and total workforce management paves the way for a digital workforce.

Learn guiding principles to adopt a digital workforce in your organization and why it is not possible without advanced GRC in HCM and KPI measurement.
Optimize human-AI collaboration and identify opportunities for strategic reskilling.
Build a resilient and agile workforce plan to drive profitability for the modern business.
Integrate HCM insights with broader business planning and forecasting.

Speakers:
Akshara Naik Lopez, Senior Analyst, Forrester
James McQuivey, VP, Research Director, Forrester

Knowledge Graphs, Meet LLMs: A Symbiotic Approach To (Agentic) AI

In this session, you will discover the mutually beneficial relationship between large language models and knowledge graphs, which improves the accuracy of generative AI applications, reduces the risk of genAI hallucinations, and powers agentic AI applications.

Key takeaways:

Learn how to improve the accuracy of genAI applications by using knowledge graphs.
Discover the enablement of agentic AI applications that comes from knowledge graphs.

Speakers:
Indranil Bandyopadhyay, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Strategic AI Platform Acquisition For Tech Leaders

Navigating the AI platform landscape is a high-stakes challenge for enterprises aiming to harness transformative capabilities. In this session, we’ll provide a strategic framework for procuring AI platforms, dissecting the critical triad of models, vendors, and capabilities. Learn how to evaluate the strengths and trade-offs of leading AI models, assess vendor reliability and innovation, and align platform features with your organization’s needs. Drawing on Forrester’s latest research, this talk equips decision-makers with actionable insights to select AI platforms that drive business value while mitigating risks.

Key takeaways:

Understand the AI platform market’s trajectory.
Evaluate AI platform vendors for model development, model integration, and agentic application development.
Select AI models based on needs and plan for flexibility.

Speakers:
Mike Gualtieri, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

3:15 pm – 4:15 pm CDT

Workshop: Scope Your AI Agent Future

AI agents are the next wave of technology and AI advancement, with the potential to take business functions to a new level. But before jumping to pilots or vendor selections, companies must first consider the use cases and scope of tasks they’d like AI agents to handle. Join this hands-on session to:

Identify and prioritize the use cases to focus on first.
Identify the tech and collaborators you need.
Evaluate the data you need and the data you need to safeguard.
Establish the metrics that AI agents will improve to build the business case.

Speakers:
Rowan Curran, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Kate Leggett, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Forrester

3:45 pm – 4:35 pm CDT

Marketplace Coffee Break & Networking (In-Person Only)

Marketplace breaks are your chance to connect with sponsors and catch up with colleagues on the show floor.

3:55 pm – 4:25 pm CDT

Analyst-Led Roundtables

4:00 pm – 4:30 pm CDT

Forrester Women's Leadership Program: Level Up Your Passion: Define and Disrupt

Join us for an inspiring fireside chat that delves into the transformative journey of turning passion into purpose and impact. Today’s digital landscape is characterized by abundant opportunities and persistent challenges, merely having a passion isn’t enough; true fulfillment and success come from actively defining its scope and strategically disrupting the status quo.

Our esteemed speakers will share their personal stories of navigating obstacles, embracing calculated risks, and leveraging their passions to build impactful careers.

Speakers:
Linda Ivy-Rosser, VP, Research Director, Forrester

4:35 pm – 4:50 pm CDT

Welcome Back

Speakers:
Stephanie Balaouras, VP, Group Director, Forrester

4:50 pm – 5:20 pm CDT

Keynote: AI Inside: The Rise Of The Intelligent IT Operating Model

AI is not just transforming the enterprise; it is reshaping the IT operating model from the inside out. For years, IT has struggled to balance stability with responsiveness and governance with agility. Now, the rise of generative and agentic AI introduces a new paradigm: intelligent systems that don’t just support operations but actively participate in them. From incident response to IT portfolio governance, intelligent agents are beginning to traverse infrastructure, data, and human workflows — surfacing insights, proposing actions, and, in some cases, initiating them. What emerges is an adaptive digital control plane, one that blends automation with judgment, telemetry with context, and operations with continuous learning. IT becomes not just a service provider but a sensing, reasoning, and evolving system in its own right. Join this session to:

Understand how AI, graph technology, and feedback loops are redefining the IT control plane at the architectural level.
Explore how IT functions — from CMDBs to AIOps to FinOps — are becoming proving grounds for enterprise-scale intelligent systems.
Learn what governance, leadership, and strategy look like when IT becomes a cognitive participant in shaping digital business outcomes.

Speakers:
Charles Betz, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

5:20 pm – 5:50 pm CDT

Keynote: FinOps And Beyond: Scaling Tech For The Future Without Breaking The Bank

Technology leaders are being charged with a new imperative: aligning and optimizing technology and IT spend to achieve business targets. But the rapid pace of innovation has made it difficult to do so. The proliferation of new technologies, new platforms, and new services has meant adapting to a new way of working as well as adapting spend management. How can technology leaders maximize the value of their IT investments? This keynote will explore these topics and dive into the questions you should be asking. We are honored to have Prashant Vithlani, head of division, cloud, network, and security at Samsung, as our guest speaker. Prashant will share Samsung’s FinOps and ITFM journey, delve into the insights that his FinOps/ITFM practices have discovered, and talk about challenges, successes, lessons learned, and best practices his team has developed.

Session highlights include:

The big questions technology leaders should be asking about IT spend management.
The future of IT spend management and its evolving practice and workflows.
Best practices, lessons learned, and new areas of exploration in IT spend management.

Speakers:
Tracy Woo, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Prashant Vithlani, Head of Division, Cloud, Network, and Security, Samsung SDS America

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm CDT

Reception

Join us in the Marketplace for an opening night reception full of networking, fun, food and refreshments.

Tuesday Nov 4

8:00 am – 9:00 am CDT

General Breakfast

9:00 am – 9:10 am CDT

Welcome Back

9:10 am – 9:40 am CDT

Keynote: Data Readiness Is The Number One Factor For AI Results

The dirty secret behind the hype and ability to scale AI is the readiness of data — of course, because AI is a data application! Rather than a side operation, data strategy and governance needs to be woven into the overall AI effort by design to improve outcomes, reduce cost, and keep the guardrails on.

Key takeaways:

Understand the new data challenges, how they degrade AI, and what you should do.
Join a fireside chat with an AI leader who is navigating and succeeding with data readiness for AI.

Speakers:
Michele Goetz, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

9:40 am – 10:10 am CDT

Keynote: Forrester’s 2025 Technology Awards

Welcome to the highly anticipated Forrester Technology Awards, the only assessment dedicated to recognizing excellence in technology strategy, enterprise architecture, and data and AI strategy. These awards honor remarkable IT and data organizations that have proven their mettle in aligning technology with the dynamic needs of the business.

Speakers:
Sharyn Leaver, Chief Research Officer, Forrester

10:15 am – 11:05 am CDT

Marketplace Coffee Break & Networking (In-Person Only)

Marketplace breaks are your chance to connect with sponsors and catch up with colleagues on the show floor.

10:25 am – 10:55 am CDT

Analyst-Led Roundtables

10:35 am – 11:35 am CDT

Workshop: The Hidden Costs: Managing Tech Debt Through M&A and Organizational Change

This workshop is designed for tech executives navigating the complexities of mergers, acquisitions, and significant organizational restructurings. We will explore the multifaceted impact of tech debt on integration efforts, operational efficiency, and future innovation. Through in-depth analysis of relevant use cases, participants will learn to:

Develop effective strategies for prioritizing and addressing critical technical liabilities.
Identify best practices for technology integration and consolidation.
Foster a culture of proactive tech debt management to ensure long-term agility and value creation.
Hear from clients who have successfully established a repeatable practice for managing technical debt post-acquisition

Speakers:
Linda Ivy-Rosser, VP, Research Director, Forrester
Mark Moccia, VP, Research Director, Forrester

11:05 am – 11:35 am CDT

Breakout Sessions

Future-Proofing Your IT Workforce In The Age Of AI

While every industry grapples with AI transformation, IT organizations face a unique challenge: We’re simultaneously building the AI tools that will reshape work while integrating them into our own delivery. The biggest blocker to transformation success is skills. Organizations that effectively manage their technology skills pipeline now will thrive in the age of AI, and those that don’t will be left behind.

This session looks at how IT work will evolve over the next three years: the skills that will become mission-critical, the ones that will become obsolete, and how to future-proof your team before you run out of time. You’ll learn:

The key skills across the major IT domains that are needed as we integrate and build AI tooling across the IT enterprise.
How to identify and close skill gaps before they become risks.

Speakers:
Fiona Mark, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Do More With Less Leveraging Strategic Portfolio Management

Today’s tech executives walk a continuous tightrope, balancing nonstop demand with uncertainty caused by external and internal events. How can organizations deliver strategic roadmap outcomes while maintaining an effective operating model? Strategic portfolio management (SPM) practices and tools enable leaders to identify the best fit to meet goals without wasting money on risky investments or overspending to achieve less than desirable results.

Speakers:
Margo Visitacion, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Seal The Deal For Tech Modernization For Day 2 In The Cloud

The term “modernization” in cloud-focused enterprise IT can bring to mind the old cliché, “you can’t get there from here.” Many organizations must continue to tend to complex subsystems like mainframes or data-center-based workloads while modernizing as many as possible based on the Kubernetes-based cloud-native ecosystem, with generative AI adoption as a key priority. This session examines how tech leaders can make the case for — and deliver — a cloud modernization program offering efficiency and new capacity with both technology and a modern operating model.

Session highlights:

Developing strategies, architecture, and operations for the next phase of cloud modernization
Extending collaboration with the business as self-service IT platforms such as genAI tools become central
Identifying and achieving outcomes in cloud modernization with operating efficiency, FinOps discipline, and a sustainable roadmap

Speakers:
Lee Sustar, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Collapsing The SDLC: The Impact Of AI On DevOps

AI is poised to upend the software development lifecycle even more than agile development did. It changes the nature of both development and operations — and possibly what we mean when we say “software.” Join Senior Analyst Andrew Cornwall, author of The Forrester Wave™: DevOps Platforms, Q2 2025, to learn about the state of AI and DevOps today — including the rough edges — and where bright lights among vendors point to improved developer experience in the future. Key takeaways from this session:

Dive into the effects that AI tools have on developer productivity.
Cut through vendor claims to learn the hidden truth about AI adoption among DevOps end users.

Speakers:
Andrew Cornwall, Senior Analyst, Forrester

Tame Uncertainty And Become The Chief Decisions Officer

The true role of a data, analytics, and AI leader is not to produce models, reports, or even insights — it is to help the business make better decisions. To evolve into the role of chief decisions officer, leaders must help their stakeholders tame uncertainty, especially during these particularly uncertain times. Join this session to:

Learn how to position yourself with stakeholders as the chief decisions officer.
Discover the emerging techniques that organizations use to navigate uncertainty.

Speakers:
Brandon Purcell, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Open-Source AI: Betting Smart With Forrester’s Framework

Open-source AI offers enterprises unmatched flexibility and innovation potential, but strategic choices are critical. In this session, we’ll introduce Forrester’s Model Openness Framework to guide your open-source AI journey. Learn how to evaluate open-source models, frameworks, and communities using this framework while addressing governance, security, and scalability challenges. With actionable insights from Forrester’s research, this talk equips leaders to make informed bets on open-source AI, driving business value and future-proofing their AI strategy.

Key takeaways:

Understand the landscape for AI open source.
Learn how to use Forrester’s Model Openness Framework to choose open-source and/or commercial AI models.
Get key recommendations for technology leaders.

Speakers:
Mike Gualtieri, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

11:45 am – 12:15 pm CDT

Case Study Sessions (In-Person Only)

Join case study sessions to hear real-world stories, solutions and insights leveraging the best in today’s technology, data, and AI solutions.

12:15 pm – 1:15 pm CDT

Lunch & Marketplace Break (In-Person Only)

Enjoy lunch while networking in the Marketplace. Learn about innovative products and gain a deeper understanding of industry trends by attending one of the spotlight sessions in the Marketplace.

12:15 pm – 2:00 pm CDT

Executive Leadership Exchange (Invite Only): Exclusive Networking Lunch

Establish connections with like-minded peers and Forrester experts as you trade insights on your approaches to the most pressing topics for technology, data, and AI leaders.

Speakers:
Joe O'Brien, VP, CIO Executive Programs TL, Forrester
Greg Willrich, VP, Executive Partner, Forrester

1:15 pm – 2:00 pm CDT

Breakout Sessions

Diagnosing Your Organizational Effectiveness: A Helpful Framework You Can Actually Use

Have you ever suspected that your team could be more efficient and effective? Come to this workshop to learn and discuss the hidden drivers of team and organizational effectiveness, beyond the KPIs and dashboards. It’s time to interrogate the “what,” “why,” and “how” of your team’s work.

Key takeaways:

Identify organizational barriers to effectiveness.
Aim for radical alignment between the macro and the micro levels.
Incorporate a bottom-up, experience-centric model.

Speakers:
Betsy Summers, Principal Analyst, Forrester

A New Horizon For Enterprise Architecture

In this session, we’ll explore the widespread impact of generative AI on the enterprise architecture discipline and its associated tools. We’ll examine its effects on the BDAT + S layers, delve into how the architect’s role is evolving, and identify key areas where architects need to concentrate their expertise and stay alert to genAI’s insights and recommendations.

Speakers:
Charles Betz, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

The Age Of AI Observability And DevOps: An Evolutionary Approach To Keep You From Extinction

In the rapidly evolving digital ecosystem, survival hinges on adaptability — and in the age of AI, that means embracing AI observability as a cornerstone of modern DevOps. This session explores how AI-powered observability is not just a monitoring tool but a strategic retrospective engine that empowers software design and development teams to evolve continuously. By capturing, analyzing, and contextualizing telemetry data through intelligent systems, teams can uncover hidden patterns, predict systemic failures, and optimize both product performance and team workflows.

Session highlights:

Retrospective intelligence: Learn how AI observability provides deep, actionable retrospectives that inform better design decisions and systemic improvements across the SDLC.
From monitoring to mentoring: Discover how AI shifts observability from passive data collection to proactive guidance, helping teams anticipate issues and optimize performance before problems arise.
Evolutionary DevOps: Understand how integrating AI observability into DevOps practices creates a feedback-rich environment that accelerates innovation, resilience, and continuous learning and improvement.

Speakers:
Carlos Casanova, Principal Analyst, Forrester

The Importance Of Spend Management And Cost Optimization: “Happy Spouse, Happy House” — The Two Must Go Together

CIOs and technology leaders are walking a razor’s edge, tasked with cutting costs in response to external volatility and AI implementation while they invest in innovation and building enterprise resilience. This session challenges the old playbook of reactive cost-cutting and introduces a bold, forward-thinking blueprint for turning IT financial stewardship into a lever for enterprise growth, agility, and competitive advantage. Learn how to move beyond short-term survival tactics and architect a value-first operating model that unlocks sustainable innovation and business alignment.

Key takeaways:

Reframe IT cost optimization from tactical trimming to strategic value orchestration.
Learn how to apply AI, FinOps, and scenario-based planning to fuel both efficiency and innovation.
Discover how to build a “value-first” culture where every IT investment is strategically justified and drives measurable accountability for business outcomes.

Speakers:
Faram Medhora, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Greg Zorella, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Building The IT– Data Connection: A Leadership Recipe For AI Success

In this session, a group of technology and data AI leaders will describe the critical connection between IT and data. Bring your questions and concerns and hear best practices for how to build the relationship, co-invest for AI readiness, and maintain the guardrails and governance for shared success.

Key takeaways:

Hear from data and IT practitioners on how to best work together.
Learn about the new skills, alignment, investments, and change management you’ll need.

Speakers:
Ted Schadler, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

AI In The Operational Trenches: ModelOps, FinOps, DataOps, ITOps

The hype around AI is undeniable — every company strategy is revolving around its transformative potential. But behind the buzz lies a far more intricate reality. Implementing AI at scale is not a plug-and-play endeavor; it demands a complex, evolving set of practices that must operate both independently and in concert. From data governance and model training to financial oversight and real-time monitoring, the AI lifecycle is as dynamic as it is demanding. Today, we invite you to go beyond the surface. Join Forrester analysts and seasoned industry practitioners as we explore the highs and lows of managing AI in the trenches. We are honored to explore this topic with our guest panelists.

Key takeaways:

Hear about the hard-won lessons in managing and monitoring AI in production.
Learn how to identify and handle the operational challenges of scaling AI responsibly.
Gain practices for overcoming obstacles in managing people, practices, and technology in AI.

Speakers:
Rowan Curran, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Tracy Woo, Principal Analyst, Forrester

2:10 pm – 2:40 pm CDT

Case Study Sessions (In-Person Only)

Join case study sessions to hear real-world stories, solutions and insights leveraging the best in today’s technology, data, and AI solutions.

2:50 pm – 3:20 pm CDT

Breakout Sessions

Beyond The Noise: Designing Digital Employee Experiences That Work In The Age Of AI

AI-enabled applications are raining down on your employees, but these tools are not yet useful in their daily work. To remedy this, digital employee experience (DEX) leaders are tuning into new signals such as digital experience monitoring and deep listening while adopting new techniques like incubators and journey mapping to improve their DEX. In this session, we’ll share real-world examples of innovative DEX programs and offer guidance on how to use them to power up your DEX.

Speakers:
David Johnson, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Navigating A Year Full Of Volatility

Discover how top CIOs have successfully navigated a year of volatility in this compelling panel discussion, packed with actionable insights and real-world strategies. Hear firsthand how these leaders tackled shifting macroeconomic dynamics, operational disruptions, and evolving customer demands to drive growth and resilience. From innovative approaches to technology adoption to lessons learned through volatility, this session will equip you with fresh perspectives to tackle uncertainty and turn challenges into opportunities. Don’t miss this chance to engage with industry trailblazers and gain the tools needed to future-proof your organization in today’s complex environment.

Speakers:
Mark Moccia, VP, Research Director, Forrester

Digital Workplace Technologies And Trends

Employees — both knowledge and frontline workers — must be equipped with the right blend of apps, devices, and information to do their jobs, serve customers, and collaborate with colleagues. This session will highlight the essential components of a digital workplace technology stack and outline why a focus on delivering a great digital employee experience must be at the heart of a digital workplace strategy. We’ll highlight the trends shaping the digital workplace and outline the key priorities and challenges facing digital workplace technology leaders.

Session takeaways:

Understand the importance of data, both qualitative and quantitative, when understanding digital employee experience.
Consider using employee personas to help drive more personalization of apps, devices, and communications.
Understand how AI is changing how employees can interact with digital workplace technologies.

Speakers:
Cheryl McKinnon, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Battle Royale: Monoliths Vs. Microservices

Two champions enter — one monolith, one microservice — each making their case in this architectural showdown before revealing the false dichotomy that’s derailing modernization efforts. This theatrical debate transforms into practical guidance for selecting the right architectural approach based on business context, not ideology. Key takeaways from this session:

Learn a pragmatic, incremental approach to architectural evolution that transcends dogmatic positions.
Identify when each architectural pattern truly delivers business value in your specific context.

Speakers:
David Mooter, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Devin Dickerson, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Take Agentic AI To Your Data To Power AI Applications At Scale

Traditional data management and governance capabilities weren’t designed for today’s AI applications. Real-time data flows that navigate complex data fabrics, processing structured and unstructured data together and brokering data and metadata sharing between human and machine as well as machine and machine, impact the quality, performance, risk, and cost of AI deployed at scale. The rise of AI agents in our data networks provides a path to our AI ambitions.

Key takeaways:

Learn how to link AI use cases and application patterns to data flows and feedback loops.
Understand how data architecture is evolving to support AI applications.
Discover the power of AI agents to manage, process, and govern data.

Speakers:
Michele Goetz, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Explainable AI In A World Of Opaque Models

As AI becomes more powerful, it also becomes more inscrutable. Interpretability techniques that reproduce the inner workings of predictive models don’t scale to foundation models, yet organizations need explainability because transparency creates trust. This session will highlight emerging best practices for instilling traceability and observability in AI systems. Join this session to:

Learn how companies are creating traceability in generative and agentic AI systems.
Discover the emerging metrics of AI system observability.

Speakers:
Brandon Purcell, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

2:50 pm – 3:50 pm CDT

Workshop: Data Strategy On A Page

Investments in data, AI, and analytics-driven business capabilities pay off. But achieving such benefits requires a well-crafted vision, strategy, and strategic plan. During this interactive workshop, learn how you can use Forrester’s Enterprise Data Strategy Template For Data-Driven Business to accelerate strategy development and communications and to ensure that they address all important components of the vision, strategy, and strategic plans.

Session takeaways:

Define components of your data/analytics/AI strategy.
Define the steps necessary to start executing on your data/analytics/AI strategic vision and plan.
Create a one-page data/analytics/AI strategy for your organization.

Speakers:
Boris Evelson, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Chris Gallacher, VP, Principal Consultant, Forrester

3:25 pm – 4:15 pm CDT

Marketplace Coffee Break & Networking (In-Person Only)

Marketplace breaks are your chance to connect with sponsors and catch up with colleagues on the show floor.

3:35 pm – 4:05 pm CDT

Analyst-Led Roundtables

4:15 pm – 4:30 pm CDT

Welcome Back

Speakers:
Stephanie Balaouras, VP, Group Director, Forrester

4:30 pm – 5:00 pm CDT

Keynote: The AI Agent Revolution Is Reshaping Business Applications Into An Intelligent Business Fabric

AI agents have the potential to profoundly impact the purpose and expectations of business applications. These autonomous entities are transforming workflows, automating business functions, and fundamentally redefining how business capabilities are being delivered, altering what people expect and how people interact with business software. AI agents are rapidly maturing, moving beyond simple chatbots to become more sophisticated and autonomous systems capable of planning, reasoning, and acting in complex environments. Business and IT leaders must rethink the value proposition of enterprise business applications and consider how to prepare for an AI-first future. In this discussion, you’ll walk away with a better understanding of:

The forces steering the current business applications market to a tipping point.
How AI agents will impact the value of current enterprise business applications.
How enterprise applications are reinventing themselves to retain long-term relevancy.

Speakers:
Kate Leggett, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Forrester

5:00 pm – 5:30 pm CDT

Keynote: Build Infrastructure As Platforms To Master Growth, Agility, And Governance

Inspiring innovation within your organization requires a solid foundation to build on. Modern firms must balance the ability to respond to change, grow their business, and manage the varied governance that must be applied to enterprise data and workloads. Turn your infrastructure into the “giant’s shoulders” needed for your firm to reach the ever-elusive goals of agility, scalability, security, and speed. You’ll learn:

How traditional tech infrastructure paradigms are holding you back.
Why you need to rethink infrastructure to become platforms aligned with enterprise strategy.
What a future-proof infrastructure platform looks like.

Speakers:
Brent Ellis, Principal Analyst, Forrester

5:30 pm – 6:30 pm CDT

Reception

Join us in the Marketplace for an opening night reception full of networking, fun, food and refreshments.

Wednesday Nov 5

8:00 am – 9:00 am CDT

General Breakfast

9:00 am – 9:10 am CDT

Welcome Back

Speakers:
Stephanie Balaouras, VP, Group Director, Forrester

9:10 am – 9:40 am CDT

Keynote: Lead And Master Change

We’ve been hearing that the pace of change has been accelerating for decades, but the last five years have produced a truly remarkable level of disruption and transformation. All leaders now have to be great change leaders, and change leadership starts with understanding the human experience of change. In this keynote, explore how you can level up your change leadership skills and accelerate your organization’s ability to survive and thrive in a state of continuous transformation. You’ll learn:

The gap between leaders and employees that threatens the success of change initiatives.
How to navigate, rather than avoid, the conflict inherent in change.
What great change leaders do to inspire action and drive results.

Speakers:
Katy Tynan, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

9:55 am – 10:25 am CDT

Breakout Sessions

Change Leadership: Tools For You To Manage Change Now

Join VP, Principal analyst Katy Tynan from this morning’s keynote to learn more tools and frameworks to help you apply Forrester’s Change Management model in your role as a leader or manager. Come with your specific questions and issues to discuss in the Q&A period.

Speakers:
Katy Tynan, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Governance — Empowering Your People to Make Decisions In A Volatile World

Outdated governance creates risk, delays, and wasted investments. This session shows how to replace fragmented oversight with a unified governance system that links architecture, execution, finance, and strategy. Using Forrester’s five-part framework and solution blueprint, you’ll learn practical steps to build adaptive, transparent governance that improves alignment, speeds decisions, and ensures financial accountability across your IT strategic roadmap.  Join this session to learn about:

Unifying siloed oversight functions. Learn how to replace disconnected EA, PMO, and ITFM governance practices with an integrated system that clarifies decision rights, enforces compliance, and ensures strategic alignment across the roadmap lifecycle.
Operationalizing governance across domains. Discover how to embed governance into daily workflows — from architectural review boards to PMO execution checkpoints to financial accountability — using domain-specific controls, without losing flexibility.
Enabling adaptive and scalable governance. Gain tools to implement real-time monitoring, enforce control measures, and evolve governance through continuous assessment — ensuring that strategic funding, architecture design, and execution stay aligned in fast-changing environments.

Speakers:
Gordon Barnett, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Data Center Innovations For An Intelligent Age: AI, Optical, And Energy Technologies

Data centers are the backbone of AI innovation, and AI is now reshaping the very infrastructure that sustains it. This talk explores AI’s dual impact: optimizing operations through intelligent systems and driving massive resource demand with compute-heavy workloads. Fueled by surging digitalization and AI adoption, global investment in data centers, especially in the US, has reached historic levels, with tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon outspending even the oil and gas sector. Through real-world examples, we’ll examine how hyperscalers and colocation providers are balancing performance and sustainability with advanced cooling, renewable integration, and climate-aligned design. Key takeaways from this session:

Examples of building AI-ready, environmentally responsible data centers
Guidance on constructing data center infrastructure that can scale with both digital growth and ecological limits
Upcoming data center innovations to keep an eye on

Speakers:
Alvin Nguyen, Senior Analyst, Forrester
Abhijit Sunil, Senior Analyst, Forrester

Architecting for Simplicity: Developing a Strategic Sourcing Plan for Portfolio Consolidation

Strategic sourcing plays a crucial role in achieving successful IT portfolio consolidation. Tech leaders will learn how to move beyond tactical procurement and develop comprehensive sourcing plans that align with consolidation objectives. Key topics include:

Managing the complexities of transitioning vendors and contracts during consolidation.
Implementing governance and performance management frameworks for strategic sourcing.
Building a sustainable sourcing strategy that supports a streamlined and agile IT portfolio.

Speakers:
Bill Martorelli, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Know Your Customer: Unlock Insights With Unstructured Data

Today’s customers leave behind more than a trail of transactions — they generate a continuous stream of unstructured signals, from support calls and social media to video and sensor data. With the advent of advanced AI models, businesses can now process and interpret this complexity at scale. In this session, we’ll explore:

How unstructured data reveals intent, emotions, and unmet customer needs.
The role of AI in transforming raw signals into actionable insights.
Practical strategies for integrating unstructured data into your analytics function.

Speakers:
Zeid Khater, Analyst, Forrester

AI Disrupts And Reinvigorates Cognitive Search — And It’s Essential For Agentic

AI applications based around search and knowledge retrieval have been delivering some of the most impactful (and measurable) changes to business outcomes over the past several years. Large language models, vector search, and now agentic AI have increased the importance of incorporating a strong basis of well-connected and indexed data for delivering better knowledge to users and actions to workflows on the horizon. Our recent evaluative research describes the undulating landscape and helps to navigate it. Join this session to learn:

What the landscape of different cognitive search providers and their adjacent competitors looks like today.
Crucial factors in creating your own rubric for assessing cognitive search vendors
How search is an essential part of agentic systems — and how to prepare your organization.

Speakers:
Rowan Curran, Principal Analyst, Forrester

9:55 am – 10:55 am CDT

Workshop: Demystifying AI Security: A Practical Guide to Getting Started

While some of the technologies to secure AI are in their infancy, there is no shortage of offerings available. There are also existing controls that you can use to secure AI adoption. Cut through the confusion of what it means to secure AI and generative AI use. Join this workshop to:

Discover an approach for how to get started and map against your existing efforts.
Understand the full scope of areas required for managing the security posture of AI.
Learn how to prioritize your time and resources across common use cases.

Speakers:
Jeff Pollard, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Heidi Shey, Principal Analyst, Forrester

10:25 am – 11:00 am CDT

Marketplace Coffee Break & Networking (In-Person Only)

Marketplace breaks are your chance to connect with sponsors and catch up with colleagues on the show floor.

10:30 am – 11:00 am CDT

Analyst-Led Roundtables

11:00 am – 11:30 am CDT

Case Study Sessions (In-Person Only)

Join case study sessions to hear real-world stories, solutions and insights leveraging the best in today’s technology, data, and AI solutions.

11:40 am – 12:10 pm CDT

Breakout Sessions

How To Be A Coach-Like Manager Without Wasting Time And Effort

It seems like every manager and leader’s job description includes the expectation to coach their team members to higher skill, better performance, and a more fulfilling career. Yet the skill sets and outcomes for management, leading, and coaching are incredibly different and often in direct conflict with each other. That leaves many managers and leaders to learn, often informally and blindly, how to coach their team members. But you can be more coach-like! Learn practical skills (and the theory behind them) from a trained professional coach.

Key takeaways:

Gain a new understanding of what coaching is and how easy it can be to be more coachlike.
Learn common mistakes to avoid.
Uncover coaching skills that you can use today.

Speakers:
Betsy Summers, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Operationalizing Your Strategy Against A Backdrop Of Volatility

Today’s constant disruptions create a challenging environment for developing and operationalizing your IT strategy through the strategic roadmap — adapting IT’s technology and resources at the pace of business demand. This session will help you understand how to build and execute a strategic tech-based roadmap that aligns at the pace of change by governing enterprise architecture, IT financial management, and initiative prioritization to drive toward measurable business results. Learn how to balance agility with control, optimize investments, and ensure that governance frameworks empower decision-making rather than hinder progress. Whether you’re refining your strategic portfolio or navigating shifting priorities, this discussion will provide you with practical tools to turn strategy into action and deliver results in the face of volatility.

Join this session to:

Learn how to meet dynamic business objectives while balancing agility with control and juggling the overall budget.
Recognize the power of continuous interactions between the tech organization and its stakeholders.

Speakers:
Gordon Barnett, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Bobby Cameron, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Margo Visitacion, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Trailblazers And Titans: Innovators, Rising Stars, And Hardware Giants

In the ever-evolving tech landscape, today’s disruptors can become tomorrow’s leaders —or fade into obscurity. Join us for a dynamic session where top analysts spotlight the vendors gaining ground, those losing traction, and the strategic shifts reshaping the future of your tech partnerships. From scrappy startups to established hardware powerhouses, we’ll explore who’s on the rise, who’s holding steady, and who’s at risk of falling behind.

This interactive panel will feature bold nominations, spirited debate, and sharp insights to help you navigate the shifting vendor ecosystem with confidence.

What you’ll learn:

Spot the signals: How to identify rising stars and recognize early warning signs of vendor decline.
Strategic partnering: What to consider when aligning with innovators versus incumbents in your tech stack.
Market momentum: Insights into the forces driving vendor success or stagnation across hardware and emerging tech.

Speakers:
Naveen Chhabra, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Brent Ellis, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Octavio Garcia Granados, Senior Analyst, Forrester
Lauren Nelson, VP, Research Director, Forrester

Balance Enterprise Application Investments With Business Realities

In today’s volatile economy, IT leaders are under pressure to modernize complex application portfolios while proving tangible business value, often with shrinking budgets and rising stakeholder expectations. This session introduces a strategic framework to help CIOs and application leaders rebalance investments with confidence, aligning investments to business capabilities, executive priorities, and organizational readiness. The goal isn’t just to balance — it’s to lead with clarity and impact. 

Key takeaways: 

Apply a capability-driven framework to rationalize, prioritize, and reallocate application spend. 
Move beyond cost and usage metrics to quantify business value in executive terms. 
Equip yourself with governance strategies that flex with evolving business demands.

Speakers:
Faram Medhora, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Sean McCormick, Principal Consultant, Forrester

Governance By Design Fuels Trusted AI

When every decision hinges on data, governance must be proactive, not reactive. This session explores the governance-by-design approach, where principles, policies, and controls are embedded into data and AI products from the start. Learn how to make governance invisible but effective to support democratization and self-service.

Key takeaways:

How to design governance into data and AI products from the start
How to balance governance controls with the need for democratized data access

Speakers:
Jayesh Chaurasia, Senior Analyst, Forrester