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.
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
What 2024’s Attendees said…
