Data Leaders Summit 2025
Data as a Fulcrum for Change
13th & 14th March 2025
Whites of Wexford, Wexford, Ireland
Building on last year’s critically acclaimed Data Leaders’ Summit, Castlebridge invites the global data management community to Wexford again for a two-day intensive event digging deeply into critical topics for today’s data leaders.
2025’s agenda will look at the challenges and opportunities facing data leaders when juggling competing demands for investment and attention such as AI, delivering on Net Zero commitments, and managing budgets when running modern cloud data architectures.
13th March- Summit Day
The Data Leaders’ Summit format is simple. We take four strategic topics which are then discussed in the course of a 90 minute window featuring a keynote speaker, an expert panel discussion, and an audience discussion and Q&A. The Summit operates under the Chatham House Rule. Delegates are free to quote and reference the topics and discussion but cannot identify any speaker or attribute comments to any individual. At the end of the Summit Day, the Castlebridge team compile a report on the topics, themes, and discussion which is distributed to all attendees for their reference.
2025 Strategic Themes
Our themes for 2025 all relate to the topic of change and the role of data in supporting sustainable change in organisations and in society.
Data Management Fundamentals:
A Secret Weapon for Net Zero Goals
Organisations of all sizes are being challenged to improve environmental efficiency and reduce their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. But energy consumption in Data Centres continues to rise, with data management contributing more to CO2 than the air travel sector. So, what can data leaders do to help their organisations rein in this inefficiency and improve their chances of hitting net zero targets? What tools do we have in the current data management fundamentals toolbox that can help?
What are the ‘unsexy’ things that might deliver tangible benefits to Net Zero goals, compliance, obligations, data quality, and the bottom line?
The pragmatic realities of Data Driven change and Data Leadership as AI hype fades
The hype around Large Language Models has begun to turn to disillusionment. Veterans of the data management profession see similarities with the DotCom boom and many hype cycles since. But, in every revolution there is the seed of evolution. This session will look at some of the practical and pragmatic realities of data-driven change and the role of human factors in data leadership as we look to learn the key lessons to develop a sustainable data-enabled future. This session will also look at the role of the Irish National Data Governance Roadmap in helping to put these lessons into practice at a national, organisational, and individual level.
Managing Cost of Cloud for Data Management:
Identifying cost and opportunity
The last decade and a half has seen the widespread adoption of cloud-based data management architectures for both structured and unstructured data including a range of 3rd party tools and services that can operate at a very low level in our data pipelines. Cloud has many benefits, particularly for small businesses seeking to compete at scale with larger peers, maturing adopters are finding that there are often hidden costs. Add to this the risk of widespread impacts if cloud-based services fail or fail to deliver, and Data Leaders need to ask the questions about the ‘total cost of ownership’ and whether the promised savings are offset by a need to invest in other areas of governance and control.
Building Business Case for Regulatory Investment in Data – a Balanced Scorecard
The pace of change in data and data-related technology is increasingly being matched by the evolution of regulation and legislation affecting or impacting data and its use. From GDPR to the AI Act to DORA, NIS2, and beyond, even the smallest organisation is impacted by data regulation in some way. However, historically ‘compliance’ is seen as a cost-centre, a tick-box activity in many cases. This session explores the need for and benefits of adopting a ‘balanced scorecard’ approach to data regulatory strategy, and will look at the opportunities that can be unlocked when we step back and consider the challenge from a data capabilities and competencies perspective.
Meet the Keynote Speakers
John Ladley
Data Governance Pioneer, Sonraí SolutionsJohn Ladley is a highly experienced advisor and advocate for organizations looking for sustainable value from information and data. His experience and knowledge is balanced between treating data as an essential component of modern business and economies, and the practical solution of business problems.
John is a founder member of the Leaders’ Data Organisation, a collaborative ‘think tank’ for data professionals seeking to improve data management practices.
Dr Jenny Andrew
Values-driven data management & strategy professionalWith a career spanning oceanography and trade union organisation, and a leadership role in DAMA UK, Jenny’s focus has always been on the importance of data and its impact on people.
A passionate advocate for the importance of good data management and critical thinking about all things data and information related, Jenny will be setting the tone for our discussion on how Data Management Fundamentals have a key role in helping organisations meet their CSRD and Net Zero goals.
Tony Mazzarella
VP Data Management & Governance, AIGTony Mazzarella is a veteran data leader with extensive experience across NGO and Financial Services sectors. He is a former member of the DAMA International Board and served as President of DAMA New England. He is currently a PhD candidate in the University of Arkansas at Little Rock researching critical aspects of Data Governance practice.
Tony is the VP for Data Management and Data Governance with AIG, leading a team spread between the US, Ireland, and the UK.
Daragh O Brien
CEO & Director of Strategy, CastlebridgeDaragh O Brien is CEO of Castlebridge, a leading data strategy consultancy. He is co-author of two books on Data Ethics, a contributor to both the DAMA DMBOK and the IT-CMF. He is a featured columnist with TDAN.com. He is researching a Doctorate in Data Governance in University of Limerick.
Daragh is a Fellow of the Irish Computer Society, a lecturer in UCD School of Law, a syllabus consultant to the Law Society of Ireland, and an advisor to the School of Business in Maynooth University.
14th March- Master Class Day
Full Day Masterclass –
Data Strategy for Business Leaders
Join data strategy pioneer and pragmatist John Ladley for a warts and all examination of how BUSINESS LEADERS should approach developing effective and actionable data strategies.
Learn what a data strategy actually is and how it is NOT a deliverable of the IT department or the data team but is, instead, a critical BUSINESS document that should guide and inform critical choices around your data priorities, organisation culture, resourcing, and technology to deliver a sustainable and scalable transformation of your data and digital capabilities.
As ever, John promises a zero-BS, buzz-word light coverage of practical methods and practices to deliver measurable data value.
Half Day Masterclass –
Human Factors in Sustainable Data Governance Change
“The Problem Exists Between The Keyboard and the Chair” is an old saying in IT functions the world over. And they are right.
Making a Data and Information Governance change ‘stick’ requires more than having the right technologies or tweaking the correct processes. It requires investment in ‘Human Factors’ in terms of the planning, resourcing, and execution of the change to make it sustainable and self-reinforcing.
Join Daragh O Brien with guests Michael Servaes and David Canning MBE for an intensive overview of what these human factors are and why they are important through case studies, insights from the latest academic research in Data Governance leadership, and pragmatic experience.
Meet the Panellists
Our Partners
Castlebridge partners with leading organisations and solution providers when delivering for clients. We are grateful to our event partners for their support of this summit
Gold Partner – Encompaas.Cloud
A global leader in information management, EncompaaS empowers highly regulated enterprises to rapidly mitigate compliance and privacy risks, while unlocking the full potential of their data.
What 2024’s Attendees said…
