MDS UK Agenda

09:10am

Opening Keynote: Data Excellence in the Age of AI: Harnessing Power, Trust and the Human Factor

Harness the power of data and AI without losing control.
Navigate AI, data sovereignty and the new digital landscape.
Shift data teams from support functions to business enablers.
Keep human judgement, empathy and skills at the heart of transformation.
Build trust, governance and responsibility into data excellence

Roberto Maranca, Data Excellence Practitioner, Data Officer, Data Evangelist and Data Personal Trainer

09:40am

Panel Discussion: Where the Money Actually Goes: Turning AI Pilots Into Enterprise-Wide Value

Where should you place your next investment if you want measurable operational return, not another proof of concept?
What foundations - data, governance, ownership, skills - have to exist before AI can scale past a single site?
How does senior leadership need to rethink digital investment to move the needle on national productivity?
What separates a pilot that becomes standard practice from one that quietly dies?
What did Medik8, Weir and Cognite get wrong before they got it right?

Moderator: Andrew Delaney, Programme Director, Finelight Media Group
Manou Campbell, Head of Data & Information Systems, Medik8
Walid Hadid, Group Head of Digital & Automation, Weir
Dr. Slimane Allab, Global Technology Executive and Senior Vice President of Manufacturing, Cognite
Nick Pike, SVP & GM EMEA, SnapLogic

10:20am

Keynote: Why 95% of AI Projects Fail to Deliver ROI - And What the 5% Do Differently

What are Gartner, MIT, McKinsey and S&P Global actually measuring behind that headline number - and why does it matter to your budget?
What does the winning 5%'s AI architecture actually look like - not the theory, the build?
Is this realistic for organisations with genuinely poor legacy data, or only for the already-advanced?

Dr. Slimane Allab, Global Technology Executive and Senior Vice President of Manufacturing, Cognite

11:10am

Panel: Who Actually Owns Your Data? The IT-OT Fight Nobody's Winning

What does a genuinely "smart" factory require that most manufacturers haven't yet built?
Cloud, edge or hybrid - which architectural bet is actually paying off for manufacturers today?
How do you balance connectivity ambitions against cyber risk and regulatory exposure?
What does IT-OT convergence look like once you strip out the buzzwords — and who should be accountable for it?

Moderator: Dr Becky Bolton, Knowledge Transfer Manager for Advanced Manufacturing, Innovate UK Business
Rajesh Mahajan, Director - Data and AI, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners
Romi Dhillon, Senior Product Manager - AI & Smart Factory, Edwards, part of Atlas Copco Group
Razvan Popescu, AI Strategy Lead, IT Engineering, Johnson Matthey

11:55am

Fireside Chat: Built to Trust: How Zoe Scaled Operational AI & Supply Chain with Open Data Infrastructure

Build a trusted, scalable data foundation by replacing fragmented spreadsheets with automated ingestion, cloud warehousing and governed metrics.
Connect ERP, warehouse and operational systems to create a single view of inventory, forecasts and supply-chain requirements.
See how Zoe automated international inventory planning across the UK, US and EU, translating sales forecasts into BOM requirements and purchase orders.
Explore how AI-driven customer sentiment analysis can combine multi-channel feedback to support faster decisions across operations, finance and product teams.

Ed Knight, Director of Sales Engineering for EMEA, Fivetran + dbt Labs
Harry Bourke, Senior Manager Business Operations and Enablement, Zoe

12:15pm

Panel: Bad Data, Bad AI: How to Defend Your Data Investment to the Board

What does "good" data governance actually deliver in commercial terms, not just in theory?
What are the foundational elements of governance, and why does data literacy - not just dashboards - actually change decisions?
Is there a genuine bridge between operations and the business, and where does it usually break?
How can data quality be measured in a way that proves operational improvement rather than just compliance?
What are DS Smith, BAT and Kenvue doing differently to embed data literacy beyond the reporting layer?

Moderator: Yaniv Naor, Data Management, Governance and AI expert
Gerald Schmidt, Head of Engineering, Digital & Data, DS Smith
Malgorzata Samuel, Operations Data Standards Manager, BAT
Darren Lewis, Senior Data Analyst, Kenvue

2:00pm

Fireside Chat: Who Should Actually Own Your AI Strategy - And Does Your Board Know What Transformation Really Takes?

IT, operations, digital, or a dedicated function - who should genuinely own AI and digital transformation?
What skills gaps quietly block scale long after the technology itself is proven?
How do you avoid "solution overload" without losing momentum?
Does your senior leadership actually understand what the transformation will demand of them?

Moderator: Mariya Tarabanovska, Innovation Lead - Applied AI, Innovate UK
Yaniv Naor, Data Management, Governance and AI expert

2:20pm

Panel: 2027 Is Closer Than You Think: Building Cyber Resilience in Manufacturing

How is the cyber threat facing manufacturers changing, and where are the biggest vulnerabilities emerging across IT, OT and connected environments?
What do evolving UK, EU and global cyber regulations mean for manufacturers, and what should organisations be doing now rather than waiting for deadlines?
Where are the biggest blind spots in third-party and supply-chain cyber risk, and what does effective monitoring and assurance look like in practice?
With limited budgets and competing priorities, which actions can make the biggest practical difference to cyber resilience?
What should boards and senior leaders be asking of their IT, operations and cyber teams — and how are organisations approaching the challenge?

Moderator: Halil Bedevi, CEO, Manufacturing IQ
Ben Rixon, Senior Research Engineer, Digital Engineering, MTC - Manufacturing Technology Centre
Agata Samojlowicz, Head of Operational Security and Resilience, Secure and Resilient Growth team, Innovate UK

2:50pm

Case Study: Digital Twins: Where They Actually Pay Off (and Where They're a Waste of Budget)

When does a digital twin create real measurable value - and where does it not?
How is Edwards (Atlas Copco Group) using simulation, monitoring and control for defined use cases rather than blanket deployment?
How are predictive maintenance and simulation cutting downtime and improving flow in practice?
What are the concrete steps required to get from concept to a working deployment?

Romi Dhillon, Senior Product Manager - AI & Smart Factory, Edwards, part of Atlas Copco Group

3:20pm

Panel Discussion: Is Digital Actually Making You Leaner - Or Just Busier?

Where do AI and automation genuinely accelerate lean principles - and where do they just add noise?
How are Jaguar Land Rover and others measuring and managing lean KPIs alongside digital investment?
What's the most effective way to link digital initiatives directly to productivity metrics your board will recognise?
Where does data eliminate waste - and where does it quietly create new complexity instead?
How do you design for a future state without losing today's operational discipline?

Moderator: Manou Campbell, Head of Data & Information Systems, Medik8
Katharina Spitzhirn-Eckhardt, Solutions Architect, Operational Excellence & Lean Six Sigma, Minitab
Sofia Karlen, Smart Factory Product Management Lead, Mars
Simon Fletcher, Director of Business Excellence, tk accelis
Andrew Munday, Global Technology Director, Babcock International Group

4:20pm

Champagne Roundtables - under Chatham House Rules

Join a roundtable discussion for a deep-dive, interactive discussion with your peers on some of the day’s most important themes. Address common problems, benchmark your progress and come away with practical solutions and takeaways!

1. From AI ambition to scale: where do you start?
Led by Sofia Karlen, Smart Factory Product Management Lead, Mars

Where should manufacturers start with data and AI to create early, credible value?
What separates pilots that scale from those that remain isolated experiments?
How do you prioritise use cases when there are competing demands across the business?
What capabilities, governance and ownership need to be in place before scaling?

2. Digital investment and enterprise value: is culture the missing link?
Led by Malgorzata Samuel, Operations Data Standards Manager, BAT and Dr Valeria Ramirez, Researcher, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge

How do you ensure digital investment translates into long-term enterprise value?
Where are the biggest cultural barriers to transformation in manufacturing organisations?
How effectively do organisations challenge their own behaviours, assumptions and ways of working?
What does the right mindset for sustained digital transformation actually look like in practice?

3. Too much data, not enough value: how do you cut through the noise?
Led by Rajesh Mahajan, Director – Data and AI, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners

How do you prevent teams becoming overwhelmed by increasing volumes of data?
How do you identify which data genuinely matters to operational and commercial decisions?
Where does poor governance or duplication get in the way of extracting value?
What approaches have helped turn large volumes of data into faster, better decisions?

4. From data strategy to measurable manufacturing value
Led by Manou Campbell, Head of Data & Information Systems, Medik8

How do you translate a data strategy into measurable outcomes on the factory floor?
Which measures best demonstrate value: cost reduction, productivity, hours saved, throughput, headcount efficiency or something else?
How do you establish a credible baseline before claiming improvement?
How do you connect operational improvements to benefits that senior leadership will recognise?

5. Closing the smart manufacturing gap with partners
Led by Andrew Munday, Global Technology Director, Babcock International Group

Where are the biggest capability gaps that manufacturers need external partners to help close?
What should remain an internal capability, and where does partnering make more sense?
How do you avoid creating long-term dependency on technology or consulting partners?
What does a successful manufacturer–partner relationship look like from pilot through to scale?

London, October 2027

Exclusively for Manufacturing Professionals | Expert Speakers & Panels | 1 Day – Endless Value

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