6TH ANNUAL

Pathways Towards Differentiated Success

AGENDA

08.15

Registration & Welcome Coffee

09.00

Conference Chairperson’s Welcome Remarks

Allan Tan

Group Editor-in-Chief

CXOCIETY

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:

Allan Tan

Group Editor-in-Chief

CXOCIETY

Panelists:

Chris Chau A*STAR
Chris Chau

Chief Information Officer

A*STAR

Dr. Henning Bork

Group CIO

ASMPT

irwan yulianto panasonic
Irwan Yulianto

Head of Enterprise Infrastructure and Smart Innovation

PANASONIC ASIA PACIFIC

09.50

Keynote: Harnessing AI’s Full Potential
  • How enterprise data becomes AI’s most powerful tool
  • Harnessing hybrid cloud to power AI value at scale
  • AI governance platforms for integrating AI in business

Kitman Cheung

CTO

IBM ASEAN

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

Moderator:

Allan Tan

Group Editor-in-Chief

CXOCIETY

Panelists:

Deepak Sarda ENDOWUS
Deepak Sarda

CTO

ENDOWUS

Vavarly Chong IBM
Vavarly Yu En Chong

Advisory Business Technology Leader

IBM

Terence Kok

Executive Director Technology & Innovation

MEINHARDT GROUP

Santosh Nair

Regional Head of Innovation and Process Consulting, APAC IT

SIEMENS HEALTHINEERS

10.55

Morning Coffee Break
Conference Chairperson

Alvin Rodrigues

Editorial Consultant

CXOCIETY

11.20

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

Greg McCreanor BOOMI
Greg McCreanor

Head of Partner Advisory

BOOMI

11.45

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

Moderator:

Alvin Rodrigues

Editorial Consultant

CXOCIETY

Panelists:

Amit Kewalramani Citi
Amit Kewalramani

Senior Vice President-Digital Product Lead - Citi Global Wealth

CITI

Raju Chellam

Chairman, Cloud & Data Standards

ITSC (IT STANDARDS COMMITTEE)

CK Lam Juniper
CK Lam

Director, Data Center Solutions & AI Infrastructure

JUNIPER NETWORKS

12.20

Keynote: Powering the Agentic Shift: The Future of AI-Driven App Creation

As enterprises embrace AI to drive innovation, the next evolution in application development is here: agentic systems — intelligent, context-aware applications that can reason, act, and adapt.

  • How to empower organisations to harness the application shift with AI-driven app creation
  • How to accelerate development, embed intelligence, and transform how digital solutions are conceived, built, and scaled
  • More than low-code: The future of enterprise-grade, AI-native applications

Leonard Tan Outsystems
Leonard Tan

Regional Director

OUTSYSTEMS

12.45

Networking Lunch

13.45

Keynote: From Reactive to Proactive: The CIO’s Guide to Agentic Automation

For too long, IT departments have been battling complexity with more complexity. We have built towering stacks of tools, each requiring its own team, and still, we are drowning in manual tasks, reactive firefighting, and inefficient processes. What if we could shift from this reactive, tool-centric model to a proactive, outcome-driven one with agentic automation?

  • Demystifying agentic automation
  • The paradigm shift impacting today’s CIO’s agenda
  • Concrete application of autonomous agents

Kum Yeong Kok UiPath
Kum Yeong Kok

Presales Team Leader, ASEAN

UIPATH

14.10

Panel Discussion: Modernising Digital Transformation Strategies for Relevance in 2026

Gartner research shows that 89% of boards agree digital is an implicit part of growth strategy, but 81% report they have not made progress toward or achieved their digital business transformation goals. Now that CEOs and the boards expect to see top- or bottom-line benefits from digital investments, how should CIOs and CTOs handle lagging digital transformation efforts and demonstrate business value from technology investments?

  • Aligning technology initiatives with business goals to drive digital transformation
  • Scaling digital transformation despite organisational barriers
  • Balancing innovation and control during digital business transformation
  • Sustaining the transformation momentum without overwhelming the teams
  • Measuring the outcomes and success of digital strategy

Moderator:

Alvin Rodrigues

Editorial Consultant

CXOCIETY

Panelists:

Vivek Amarnani Heineken
Vivek Amarnani

Digital & Technology Director

HEINEKEN APB SINGAPORE

Lorraine Ong

Deputy Director, Strategic Digital Projects, Digital Transformation

IMDA

Selina Seah INCOME
Selina Seah

IT Business Partner, Head of IT Shared Services

INCOME

David Tay

Chief Information Officer, Asia

LENDLEASE ASIA HOLDINGS

14.45

Panel Discussion: 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:

Alvin Rodrigues

Editorial Consultant

CXOCIETY

Panelists:

Budi Djojo

Group Chief Technology Officer

BEN LINE GROUP


Soumya Mishra Haleon
Soumya Mishra

Digital and Tech Head - Wider Asia

HALEON


Raja Subramaniam Keppel Ltd
Rajasegaran Subramaniam

Director – IT & Data Business Partner, Centralized Function

KEPPEL LTD

15.15

Afternoon Coffee Break

C-ENGAGE CONVENTION PLENARY

The CFO & CIO Alliance

15.40

Welcome Remarks

Allan Tan

Group Editor-in-Chief

CXOCIETY

15:45

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 artificial intelligence (AI) applications on a large scale in key sectors, as well as launching 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?

Moderator:

Allan Tan

Group Editor-in-Chief

CXOCIETY

Panelists:

Laurence Liew AI SINGAPORE
Laurence Liew

Director for AI Innovation

AI SINGAPORE

Gaurav Chhiber IBM APAC
Gaurav Chhiber

VP Data Platform

IBM APAC

Yeow Loye Siew

Chief Information Officer

MANDAI WILDLIFE GROUP

16:15

C-Suite Keynote: Usher in the Future of Work with AI Agents Built for the Enterprise

Among organisations that have adopted generative AI, only 33% report implementing generative AI into functional processes (IBV). For enterprises to seize productivity gains from AI, it needs to be easier for the people using it day-to-day. For many, that means better integration with the many workforce tools employees already use.

  • How companies are developing AI agents that act with greater autonomy
  • Scaling AI agents across diverse environments to deliver impact across the business
  • How to manage AI assistants and agents in a more unified, adaptable experience that safeguards both current and future investments

Vinod Khader IBM
Vinod Khader

Director, watsonx Orchestrate Engineering

IBM

16:30

Masterclass Programs

Elizabeth Lee

Data and AI Marketing Leader

IBM ASEAN

16:35

Masterclasses
1. Agentic AI is reinventing business operations… Are you ready?2. Is your data ready for the age of Agentic AI?3. Agentic AI and Integration – Will Agents replace traditional integration?

Agentic AI is transforming how businesses work, moving beyond task automation to intelligent systems that can reason, adapt, and autonomously. This interactive workshop will include:

  • A hands-on use case mapping activity
  • Identifying key opportunities in your organization to harness the next wave of AI
  • Practical steps to scale agentic AI responsibly

Generative AI is only as powerful as the data behind it. But many organizations struggle with fragmented, inaccessible, or untrusted data. This interactive session will include:

  • A live assessment of your data maturity and readiness
  • Discussions on key data challenges affecting Gen AI success and how to address gaps
  • Strategies to build a trusted, scalable data foundation for enterprise-grade AI and innovation

Agentic AI will redefine how organizations approach integration—shifting from static, pre-defined workflows to intelligent agents that can autonomously connect systems, adapt, and optimize performance in real-time. This interactive session will include:

  • How AI agents can address integration challenges
  • Hands-on demo and how to identify your top integration priorities
  • Practical strategies on how to design your own AI-powered integration roadmap

17:15

Masterclasses
4. How governance and securing your AI will define the agentic age 5. Accelerate AI infrastructure with modern storage solution 6. Generative AI in IT Operations – Move from Siloed Observability to 360 degrees Resilience
As AI agents become more autonomous and embedded across enterprise workflows, governance and security are often seen as constraints—but they can be powerful enablers of innovation. This interactive session will include:
  • Hands-on Risk Atlas activity to assess your organization’s risk posture
  • Discussion that challenges traditional views on governance and security
  • Strategies to turn compliance into a competitive advantage by leveraging robust governance frameworks
The speed and scale at which AI delivers value depends heavily on having the right storage architecture in place. This session will cover:
  • How AI-optimised storage can speed insights and support high-performance workloads
  • Ensuring data is always accessible, secure, and ready for action
  • How to align storage strategies with AI goals for quicker, smarter results
IT operations today struggle with fragmented observability tools and data siloes that limit visibility and slow incident resolution. This interactive session will include:
  • How organizations can move from siloed monitoring to a 360° resilience model that predicts, prevents, and rapidly resolves issues
  • How AI-driven automation can help ITOps teams to detect anomalies faster and optimise operational costs
  • How Gen AI unifies insights across infrastructure and applications – for telemetry to be transformed into actionable intelligence

17:55

Closing Remarks

18:00

End of Event