IDC Foundry India CIO Summit 2024: How CIOs Are Transitioning into the AI Era

We may just have a time machine, for we are in the future!

The stage is set, and the clocks are ticking down to India CIO Summit 2024, to be held at the JW Marriott, Aerocity in India’s capital New Delhi on March 14 and 15, 2024 by IDC and Foundry, heralding the theme, The Future of IT: Rethinking Digitalization for an AI Everywhere World.

Industries are ramping up to new technology, as digitalization has brought challenges and opportunities galore. Awestruck and intrigued by the power of generative AI, companies and businesses are in exploration of this emerging technology and how it can help them scale, grow and outperform the competition while providing solid customer experience and digital experience to boot.

IDC forecasts that annual worldwide spending on AI-centric systems will exceed 300 billion USD by 2026. The India CIO summit, to be attended by CIOs and senior tech leaders from across India, promises to deliver expert guidance to help leaders navigate challenges, innovate solutions, and achieve success in this dynamic landscape.

The summit will commence with the visionary keynote by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State at Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, India.

India’s digital revolution will take center stage as Arvind Gupta, the esteemed Head of the Digital India Foundation, expounds on driving social change through technology while scaling digital initiatives in his session, India, the Data Capital of the World – Exploring India’s Digital Evolution.

Vasant Rao, Managing Director, IDC India and South Asia says, “As the premier thought leadership platform for Tech leaders in India, the India CIO Summit will see deliberations on key Industry trends, business impact and best practices in infusing technology into every gamut of business. We will also shine a spotlight on the digital initiatives of the Indian Government, which is leading to structural transformation in the economy.”

What’s in store

The 2-day event promises a bevy of sessions that will inform and educate the leaders on today’s ‘AI everywhere’ landscape. The IDC keynote will be delivered by Steven Frantzen, Senior VP & Regional Managing Director (EMEA), IDC on Rethinking Digitalization for an AI-first World.

The highlight session promises to be rendered by contemporary artist and cyborg activist Neil Harbisson, who has brought man and machine together in himself since getting an antenna implanted in his skull in 2004. In his session, Evolution of the Human species, he will share his unique insights into multiple topics including technology evolution, artificial senses, cyborgs, the GenAI revolution and much more.

The summit has a 11-member Advisory Council featuring the best and brightest minds in the Indian technology space in business for peer CIOs to engage and learn stratagems to catapult to the next level in this new world order.

Meet our India Advisory council:

• Arvind Gupta, Co-Founder & Head, Digital India Foundation
• Amal Krishna, Chief Digital & Technology Officer, CISO, ONGC
• Dhaval Pandya, Corporate Chief Information Officer (CIO), Piramal Enterprises Limited
• Kirti Patil, Joint President-IT & CTO, Kotak Life
• Mathan Babu K, Chief Technology Security Officer and Data Privacy Officer, Vodafone Idea Limited
• Vinod Bhat, Chief Information Officer & Chief Ethics Counsellor, Vistara
• Rucha Nanavati, CIO, Mahindra Group
• Sreeji Gopinathan, Global Chief Information Officer, Lupin
• Neetan Chopra, Chief Digital and Information Officer, IndiGo
• Umesh Mehta, Former Global CIO, Jubilant Group
• Ramesh Narayanaswamy, Chief Technology Officer, Aditya Birla Capital Group

The results of 23^rd annual ‘State of the CIO study’ by Foundry will be revealed to the audience in a session by Yogesh Gupta which will define the CIO Agenda for 2024 including changing CIO role, their tech and business initiatives and other aspects. 

“The India CIO Summit by IDC and Foundry, since its inception in 2011 has been a preferred event of choice for CIOs, senior technology leaders and industry partners across the region,” says Yogesh Gupta, Editorial director for India & META ( Middle East, Türkiye, and Africa) at Foundry.

“The 13^th annual edition aims to empower the ICT ecosystem to further realize the transformative power of AI to significantly enhance digital innovation, customer experiences, operational efficiencies, and sustainability is propelling forward-thinking governments and digitally driven organizations toward an “AI Everywhere” mindset.”

The World of AI

Suresh M Khadakbhavi, CEO, Digi Yatra Foundation will talk about our ponderous AI journey in his session, The Future of Digital Identity and AI, discussing on digital Identity and AI’s implications on the same.

For CIO delegates’ peer to peer learnings, there would be best practice presentations delivered by industry stalwarts at the top of their field, Rajiv Gupta, President, Policy Bazar; Sujoy Chakrabortty, General Manager, Strategy & Technology, Adani Ports & SEZ, and Gaurav Kataria, Vice President Digital (Manufacturing) and CDIO, PSPD, ITC Limited

Chandra Kishore Prasad, Executive Director, RailTel will talk on Kavach for Digital Railway: Revolutionizing Safety and Efficiency in Indian Railways

The ‘For the CIO – By the CIO’ panels will encompass sharing of perspectives and exchange of ideas by CIOs and CDOs, on topics including Adaptability and Usability of AI Tools and Time to Prioritise: Top 5 CIO Priorities. Key panellists include Ankit Bose, Head, NASSCOM AI; Mitali Biswas, CIO, CK Birla Hospitals, Jayant Gupta,ED – IS, HPCL; Neelima Sharma, CDO, ESL Steel Limited, Vedanta; Sudip Mazumder, CDIO, PGP GLass

More sessions you shouldn’t miss:

• Digital-First Strategies: Navigating the Evolution of the Digital Business
• Navigating the Path to Intelligent Enterprise
• Blueprints for Future CIOs: Building the Next Generation
• AI in the Age of Generative Intelligence
• Embracing the Mainstream Shift: The Era of App Modernization
• New Ways of Thinking: The Rise of the Cloud Native Enterprise
• AI-first Strategies for the Digitally-Determined Enterprise
• Revolutionizing Engagement: Omni-Experience Digital Transformation
• The Rise of Cyber Vulnerabilities with Digital Dependencies
• Innovative Approaches to Vendor Selection, Skills, Assessment & Management