AGENDA
09.00
Conference Chairperson’s Welcome Remarks
09.15
Panel Discussion: Technology Business Partnering to Drive Business Growth
In a world where everything moves very rapidly, the role of IT and CIO/CTO naturally needs to evolve and develop into technology business partners. IT is now required to champion innovation, advance enterprise business goals and drive enterprise transformation for business growth, efficiency and competitive advantage.
- How the role of IT is changing for the better
- Bridging the divide between business and IT
- Driving a transformative mindset within IT function
- Infusing business acumen into IT function to channel innovation
- Best practices in cultivating business-centric IT
Moderator:
Panelists:
10.15
Panel Discussion: The Reality Check of GenAI Adoption
2024 saw immense growth of Generative AI (GenAI) adoption where the technology fundamentally changed how businesses get done. However, Gartner analysts predict that at least 30% of generative AI (GenAI) projects will be abandoned after proof of concept by the end of 2025, due to poor data quality, inadequate risk controls, escalating costs or unclear business value.
- Expectations vs. reality
- Assessing the maturity of GenAI model and how to accelerate it
- Ensuring GenAI delivers its promises
- Realising measurable business value for GenAI
- Framework for ethical GenAI development and deployment
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Panelists:
11.15
Keynote: AI-Ready Enterprises: Building the Foundation for Agentic Transformation
As AI adoption accelerates, many organisations struggle to unlock its full potential due to fragmented systems and data silos. How can you trust your data and systems to be the fuel your AI initiatives need to be successful?
- AI Agents as the catalyst of a new form of transformation
- Overcoming the modern integration challenge – a major roadblock to AI success
- A strategic approach to drive agility and customer-centric innovation while reducing complexity
11.40
Panel Discussion: Innovation vs. Keeping the Lights On
The days of just keeping the lights on are gone for today’s IT leaders. Most IT leaders are now under pressure to help the business to drive business changes and propel growth with continuous innovation.
As the epicenter of modern enterprise, CIO/CTO’s role in championing innovation today is often iterated as efforts to help business increase revenue, tap new markets, increase customer engagement or grow new product lines. How should CIOs/CTOs lead innovations that don’t impact current business operations thus overshadow new innovations?
- What to prioritise in 2026?
- Managing the continuous demand for innovation
- Striking the right balance between innovation and operational excellence
- Engaging with ecosystem partners to deliver the most value
- Driving sustainable innovation while maintaining critical enterprise service continuity
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14.40
Fireside Chat: IT Cost Optimisation to Meet Business Transformation Demands
According to Forrester, while most technology executives expect to increase their IT budgets in 2026, it might not be enough to keep up with inflation. The rising costs from AI and cloud spends, security frameworks, supply chains and tech talents will expect CIOs to manage technology investments more carefully to avoid redundancy.
- Growth vs. inflation – budgeting for IT in 2026
- Budgeting for cloud, non-cloud investments, software and technical staff amid increased demand for AI modernisation
- Optimising cloud use and rein in cost
- How to minimise IT operation and fixed costs
- Innovative sourcing and vendor management to reduce IT spend
Moderator:
C-ENGAGE CONVENTION PLENARY
The CFO & CIO Alliance
15.30
Conference Chairperson’s Welcome Remarks
15:35
C-Suite Panel Discussion: AI Action Plans for 2026
Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat shared a preview of Singapore’s plans for research, innovation and enterprise (RIE) by 2030 and said both initiatives on large-scale applied AI push, and cross-sector research will be among wider efforts, including major investments, to secure Singapore’s future amid quickening economic and geopolitical shifts.
With Singapore’s plans in pushing on with applying artificial intelligence (AI) on a large scale in key sectors, as well as launch major research and development (R&D) programmes that cut across different fields in an effort to drive economic growth that creates good jobs, how should business leaders in Singapore redefine their strategy in their AI roadmap for the coming years?
- Practical lessons of AI implementation: What works and doesn't
- Bridging the gap between Open vs. Closed AI models
- Budgeting for AI: Siloed projects or big bang
- Deploying AI as a defence and offence strategy for business resilience
- Decoding AI opportunities for business in 2026
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