14 Apr 2026
County Hall, London, United Kingdom
CIO Summit
The CIO Playbook
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Modernize. Secure. Innovate. Lead with the power of Agentic-AI
The IDC European CIO Summit 2026 is the premier event for senior technology and business executives shaping enterprise strategy and digital leadership across the region. Designed for CIOs, CTOs, and senior IT and transformation leaders, this full-day event delivers high-impact insights and actionable strategies focused on Europe’s top priorities: technology modernization, resilience, risk management and driving business value in an era of constant disruption.
As organizations accelerate digital investment, CIOs face a complex set of challenges: modernizing legacy systems, addressing rising technical debt, embedding cybersecurity, ensuring regulatory compliance, and preparing their workforce for technology-driven change. IDC research shows that nearly 40% of CIOs expect to overspend on digital infrastructure within the next 18 months, with technical debt cited as a primary driver, while only a fraction of digital initiatives deliver measurable business impact. At the same time, global digital transformation spend is set to surpass $4 trillion by 2027, underscoring the urgency for CIOs to deliver value, not just investment.
Yet the next frontier is already here: Agentic AI. Systems capable of autonomous decision-making, task execution, and continuous learning. According to IDC’s 2025 research, while 77% of European organizations are actively using Gen AI, only 28% have deployed agentic AI systems. CIOs are now tasked with governing this wave of automation, balancing innovation with control, and rethinking architectures, skills, and policies to harness AI safely and strategically.
IDC’s analysts and industry experts will guide you on how to architect adaptive technology foundations, reduce technical debt, lead responsibly, and align digital strategies with business outcomes. Through keynote sessions, panels, and collaborative discussions, this event provides Europe’s CIOs with the frameworks, benchmarks, and leadership tools to navigate disruption and drive long-term, sustainable enterprise transformation.
Agenda
IDC analysts and industry experts will share guidance on how to architect adaptive technology foundations, reduce technical debt, and operationalize AI responsibly while aligning IT with strategic business goals. Through keynote presentations, panels, and peer-led discussions, the Summit equips CIOs with the research, frameworks, and leadership tools to build resilient, secure, and innovation-ready enterprises for 2026 and beyond.
IDC Analysts
Andrea Siviero
Senior Research Director, EMEA Digital Business & Economy, Future of Work
IDC
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Andrea Siviero
Andrea Siviero leads IDC’s European Digital Business and Future of Work Research group. The group provides market research insights to foster a purposeful and fair adoption of technologies supporting digital societies, businesses and workforce and empower tech providers in strategic decision making, planning and go-to-market activities. Siviero also co-leads the IDC Worldwide MacroTech Research program, focused on the intertwined connection between the Economical and Digital worlds – analyzing the impact key MacroEconomic factors have on the digital landscape and viceversa, how technologies are impacting economies around the world.
Siviero advises IT players on building a forward-looking digital business and workforce strategy, while providing an in-depth view on future of work technology adoption, key digital use cases, macroeconomic digital impact, and digital regulations and emerging technology, via qualitative subscriptions and custom consulting projects. He has extensive experience with large strategy and go-to-market projects with IT providers. He is a member of IDC’s global Tech Storytellers taskforce and he is passionate about public speaking and customer engagement opportunities.
He joined IDC’s European team in 2014 and has become a recognized independent analyst across Europe and beyond in the vertical markets and digital business space. He is based in Italy and he holds a joint PhD in mathematics between the Université Bordeaux I (France) and the Universiteit Leiden (the Netherlands). During his PhD, he covered scientific research, academic teaching, and vocational training. He is a native Italian speaker and he is fluent in English and French.
Martina Longo
Research Manager, C-Suite Tech Agenda
IDC
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Martina Longo
Martina Longo is a research manager in the IDC EMEA Digital Business and AI Transformation Strategy Research Group. In her role she advises ICT players on how organizations create business value using digital technologies. She also leads the IDC EMEA Digital Native Business research, focused on a mix of start-ups, scaleups, and more mature digital natives. She also collaborates with the EMEA C-Suite Tech Agenda research, analyzing technology investments and buyer preferences across C-suites in the EMEA region. She also examines how C-suite leaders are evolving as a result of key market trends and technology innovations (e.g., AI).
Duncan Brown
Group Vice President, IDC Europe
IDC
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Duncan Brown
Duncan Brown is associate vice president, European Security Practice, at IDC EMEA and leads the firm’s security research program in Europe. He specializes in providing strategic advice to his clients, informing and validating their corporate, product, and marketing plans. Brown is an expert in analyzing the security market globally, and his list of security-related clients includes enterprises, central banks, government organizations, and security product suppliers and services providers. Brown’s expertise spans the gamut of security topics including incident response, threat intelligence, and global privacy issues. He established and leads IDC’s coverage of the global impact of the GDPR, the RPEC (ePrivacy Directive update) and NIS Directive on technology companies and their customers. His analysis and opinions are widely sought by industry leaders and investors, while his comments on industry trends and developments frequently appear in the leading business and trade publications.
You can find Duncan on Twitter here.
Event Sessions
Tuesday, April 14 2026 8:30 am | Location:
Event Opening and Welcome
2026 Prediction
By 2027, 55% of G1000 CIOs will be tasked to create enterprise AI value playbooks, featuring expanded ROI models to define, measure, and showcase AI impact across efficiency, growth, and innovation.
Main Themes
The CIO as Business Strategist
CIOs have evolved from operational leaders to enterprise strategists. As digital transformation reshapes every business model, technology leadership now defines competitiveness. Today’s CIO must align IT priorities with business outcomes, influence the boardroom agenda, and drive innovation that delivers measurable value.
Modernization, Legacy and Technical Debt
Managing technical debt is no longer just a maintenance concern, it’s a strategic priority. Modernizing legacy systems, simplifying architectures, and optimizing cost structures allow organizations to shift resources from upkeep to innovation. Streamlined technology portfolios create the agility needed to compete in a digital economy.
The Agentic AI Revolution
Agentic AI marks a shift from automation to autonomy. How CIOs can govern, scale, and integrate autonomous AI systems responsibly (balancing opportunity with oversight to create intelligent, self-directed enterprises.
Resilience by Design
Resilience is emerging as the defining capability of modern enterprises. Adaptive architectures, secure infrastructure, and integrated continuity planning enable organizations to withstand disruption (whether from economic uncertainty, regulatory shifts, or cyber threats) while sustaining growth and trust.
Cybersecurity, Trust, and Digital Sovereignty
As digital ecosystems expand, trust becomes a critical currency. CIOs must address cybersecurity, data sovereignty, and compliance in tandem, ensuring that cloud strategies and cross-border operations align with evolving regulations. Building digital trust creates both protection and competitive advantage.
Building the Intelligent Enterprise
Data is the foundation of every intelligent organization. Reliable, governed, and accessible data architectures enable AI, automation, and analytics to operate at scale. Enterprises that invest in strong data foundations are better positioned to extract insight, anticipate change, and deliver smarter, faster business outcomes.
2026 Prediction
By 2027, G1000 organizations will face an up to 30% rise in underestimated AI infrastructure costs, driving CIOs to expand the scope of FinOps teams to optimize expenses and enhance business value.
Venue
etc.venues’s County Hall space is as stunning on the inside as it is on the outside, with over 68,000 sq ft of multi use event space over two floors for conferences, meetings and events.
In a great location with breathtaking views over The Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and the London Eye, its also only a few minutes away from Waterloo Station.
Knowledge Hub
The AI homework nobody asked for (but everyone’s getting anyway)
Artificial Intelligence has officially reached the “you can do anything with it” stage of technological hype. Judging just by AI vendor narratives, and by some of the media, it’s the golden key to productivity, efficiency, optimization and innovation.
The Agentic Business Future: Driving Resilience, Sovereignty, and Innovation in EMEA
As organizations navigate an era defined by economic uncertainty, geopolitical shifts, and relentless technological change, one truth stands out: the future belongs to those who can harness AI, automation, and sovereignty to build resilience, drive innovation, and unlock growth.
EMEA’s Tech Evolution – 7 Key Themes Transforming Business in 2025
The technology landscape across Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) is changing rapidly in 2025, with innovations actively reshaping industries and creating new business opportunities.
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