Data Leaders Summit 2025

Data as a Fulcrum for Change

13th & 14th March 2025

Clayton Whites Hotel, Wexford, Ireland

night time shot of Wexford town quay side from the far side of the Slaney River. the town is lit up in a variety of colours

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: Data Leaders Summit
4 Strategic Topics, 4 Key Note speakers, 4 panel discussions
Digging into the detail of strategic challenges for Data Leaders

14th March: Data Leaders Skills Development
* Multiple tutorials
* International expert tutors
* Pragmatic Insights

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Summit Day Format

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?

Managing the Cost of Cloud for Data Management (or “How much does somebody else’s computer really cost?”)

The last decade and a half has seen the widespread adoption of cloud-based data management architectures for both structured and unstructured data. It has also seen the implementation of a range of 3rd party tools and services that can operate at a very low level in our data pipelines. While 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 the Business Case for Regulatory Investment in Data – a Balanced Scorecard Approach

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.

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 see 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.

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Join Us In Wexford in 2025

Early Bird Tickets go on sale on 1st September. Register your interest now get our SUPER Early Bird rate!
Places are limited at this event to a maximum of 50 delegates so early booking is advised!

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What 2024’s Attendees said…

The Data Leader’s Summit is the antidote to big hype data conferences as we really got to dig into the topics and have an intense discussion. Getting the summary report afterwards was a great value-add

Data Protection Officer Irish Semi-State Organisation

I have attended other bigger conferences where content was a blur and there was no chance to really dig into topics. This event is a wonderful chance to dig into things in detail and have a bit of debate about issues and share insights and experiences. And getting out of Dublin was a refreshing change!

Data Governance Manager Irish Transport Operator

This was my second time in Ireland for an event hosted by Castlebridge, and yet again they knocked it out of the park. I attend conferences internationally and this format is unique in how it focuses discussion but doesn’t rein in participation. I will definitely be pushing my company to let me come again!

Data Governance & Enablement Director US Financial Services Company

Get a Copy of the 2024 Summit Report

Read a summary of the key themes and discussions at the 2024 Summit!

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

About Castlebridge

This event is hosted by Castlebridge, one of Ireland’s leading Data Strategy consultancies and our co-host, John Ladley.

Since 2009 Castlebridge has been supporting clients of all sizes and across a range of sectors as they develop their ‘data nous’ in Data Strategy, Data Governance, Data Quality, and Data Protection.

Find out more about Castlebridge!