Conference Days

• Day 1 - 1 March 2024
• Day 2 - 2 March 2024

• Day 1 - 1 March 2024
  08:30 - 9:00 Registration
  9:00- 9:30 Bunny Hill Basics vs. Backcountry Bravado: Striking the Right Balance in Data Modelling

  Some folks stick to the bunny hills in data modeling, focusing on the basic skills. Others head straight for the backcountry, seeking advanced and often risky and deadly thrills. This talk covers various data modeling practices, from very simple to complicated. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned pro, this talk is geared to help you navigate the slopes of data modeling with confidence and finesse, ensuring you're well-equipped to tackle any terrain that comes your way!

  Speaker : Joe Reis | Ternary Data

  Joe Reis is a “recovering data scientist” and a business-minded data nerd who’s worked in the data industry for 20 years, with responsibilities ranging from statistical modeling, forecasting, machine learning, data engineering, data architecture, and almost everything else in between.

  9:30 - 10:00 Crossing Crevasses with Contracts: Building bridges of trust in the data replication landscape

  Speaker : John Kutay | Striim

  John Kutay is Director of Product Management at Striim with prior experience as a software engineer, product manager, and investor. His podcast “What's New in Data” best captures his ability to understand upcoming trends in the data space with thousands of listeners across the globe. In addition, John has over 10 years of experience in the streaming data space through academic research and his work at Striim.

  10:00 - 10:15 Steep Slopes, Smart Lifts: Navigating Legacy Migrations with Confidence and Automation

  Most senior SAS, COBOL, PL1 and PL/SQL developers have plenty of time to ski—many have already retired.
  Yet legacy code and technical debt remain. Migration projects of large code bases are risky and uneconomical due to shortage of skills and lack of documentation.
  Embedding ML and gen-AI throughout the entire legacy transformation process was our answer to speed up and de-risk such projects. We created LegacyLift to help top consultancies solve this enterprise use case while still retaining the human-in-the-loop.
  We’ll descend a ski run together through our platform—AI-assisted code translation, documentation, and analytics, with embedded enterprise-grade coding environments, project management, security and audit trail to accelerate uplifting legacy systems to modern languages such as Python, Java, R. You can even fine-tune the amount and dialect of SQL you wish to retain.
  Enjoy a smooth ride to the top with LegacyLift!

  Speaker : Karl Ivo Sokolov | SPG Data, LegacyLift

  Karl Ivo Sokolov is a data executive and managing partner at SPG, based in Austria. Beyond data services, he also leads the development of SPG’s data products: LegacyLift (AI-assisted legacy code migration) and Amonga (SaaS API conversion). Prior to this, he has held executive and senior advisory positions in banking, insurance and the Big 4, all focused on different aspects of data management, data engineering and data operations.

  10:15 - 10:30 Coffee break
  10:30 - 11:00 Breaking the ice: Data unification unfreezes business innovation

  The Modern Data Stack taught us that if we want things to be easy, we need to give something up. Pay higher prices, lock data in, bow down to someone else's roadmap, and more. In this session I will explain the pros and cons of the MDS and how it compares to the Lakehouse approach. You'll learn about the key components of Lakehouse, why Apache Iceberg is so important to data access unification and how embracing this approach will unfreeze your pace of innovation and agility to deliver more data and AI initiatives, quicker.

  Speaker : Roy Hasson | Upsolver

  Roy Hasson is the VP of product at Upsolver where he's focused on building tools that make data engineering simple. Previously, Roy was a product manager for AWS Glue and AWS Lake Formation, where he helped customers understand, adopt, build and secure large scale, multi-cloud data platforms.

  11:00 - 11:30 Traversing Transformation:  Carving out your data pipelines with ease

  Join Mark van der Heijden as he guides you down the exhilarating slopes of data transformation! Just like a skilled skier navigates the alpine terrain, Mark will show you how to effortlessly carve out success in your data journey with Coalesce. Get ready for an epic ride into the world of seamless transformations and peak performance!

  Speaker : Mark van der Heijden | Coalesce

  Mark is lead engineer and part of the EMEA founding team at Coalesce.io. With his 18 years of experience in data integration, data modelling and data architecture, including Data Vault 2.0, Mark has specialised in data automation. He is a strong believer that automation plays a key part in every successful data warehouse implementation. Prior to joining Coalesce.io, he has worked as an independent advisor and different roles at WhereScape, Teradata, and several consultancy firms.

  11:30 - 12:00 Powder Punks to Data Product Pioneers: Applying team topology principles is key to a successful Data Mesh implementation

  In today's rapidly evolving analytics landscape, architects and IT leaders face the critical challenge of designing systems that can adapt, scale, and evolve effectively. As modern architectural practices emphasize the decoupling of domains to achieve a decentralized architecture, it becomes increasingly clear that the topology of development teams and their interactions plays a vital role in the success of architectural design.
  A well-structured team topology sets the stage for efficient collaboration, effective communication, and streamlined delivery of data and analytics solutions. Without careful consideration of team dynamics and organizational structure, even the most well-conceived architectural designs will encounter obstacles and fall short of their full potential.
  In this session we will see how the company turned their focus to the concept of "Team Topologies" and together with the book's authors Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais implemented a team topology specifically designed to support their data mesh initiative. Learn how to embrace such practices and how it can help empower development teams to innovate and deliver rapid value whilst reducing friction and cognitive overload.

  Speaker : Paul Rankin

  Paul is a Senior Data Architect, BI and Analytics Solutions Specialist with a focus on Cloud architecture and the Data Management echo system. Paul has fifteen years’ experience in designing and delivering data Integration and BI solutions for a large number of national and International organizations. Paul currently resides and works in Switzerland where his latest challenge has led him to an exciting role and fantastic opportunity as Head of Data Management Platforms with Roche Diagnostics.

  12:00 - 13:30 Lunch Time
  13:30 - 13:45 How Snowflake Snowballed: The birth of a whole ecosystem
  13:45 - 14:15 Traversing Data Transformations: How to prevent Fatigue on the journey

  In this talk track Sol will share her extensive experience in leading large transformational projects and insights into the common threads that bind these initiatives and how they often lead to fatigue. She will share the consistent patterns across the transformations and how to best avoid the inevitable burnout for yourself and your teams. She will dive into 5 key pillars that have helped teams cross the finish line to help prevent fatigue: Pace, People, Possibilities, Parties, and Personal Management.

  Speaker : Sol Rashidi

  Sol Rashidi is an esteemed executive, leader, and influencer within the AI, Data, and Technology space. Having helped IBM launch Watson in 2011 as one of the earliest world applications of Artificial Intelligence, and with over 3 dozen large scale implementations under her belt, she’s been at the forefront of ideation, conceptualization, design and development of Data & AI applications.
  Sol is an energetic business executive skilled at coupling her technical acumen with story-telling abilities to articulate business value with startups, scale-ups, business owners, private equity firms, and Fortune 100's  who are leaning into data, AI, and technology as a competitive advantage, while wanting to preserve the legacy in which they were founded upon.
  Sol is now an advisor, consultant, & fractional CDO & CAIO helping companies advance their business objectives. She is a global keynote speaker, and currently authoring a book about Artificial Intelligence for business leaders who don't have a technology background. Her hallmark is to make the complicated uncomplicated, and helping business leaders realize not everything needs to be cutting edge, sometimes innovation comes from cutting through the noise.

  14:15 - 14:45 From Moguls to Metrics: True agility wins - How to survive and thrive in a complex data environment, when we can’t control everything

  Every day on the ski slopes is different – very much like a typical day in the life of a data warehouse. One day you are carving down a powder slope, the next you are conquering treacherous moguls. Blue skies give way to a data blizzard. Feeling of control should not be a luxury but there are days when it is just a fleeting moment. Stakeholders are watching your every turn and expect you to perform without stumbles and falls.
  It is possible to succeed in complex environments - not just reacting to short term needs and problems, but delivering value consistently over time. Without trying to claim control over circumstances, it is possible to build the confidence that allows you to tackle whatever the slopes throw at you and to adjust to changing situations. Agility is the key to success in skiing and data warehousing. Building resilient practices will allow you to gain that confidence and drive agility.
  
  We will cover these topics in our presentation:
  1. Principles and practices as enabling constraints (theory and vision)
  2. Recognition of teamwork (right mindset).
  3. Continuous delivery as a game changer (consistent practise).
  4. Continuous improvement by tracking your performance (systematic learning)
  5. Simplification of the landscape and focus (avoid distractions)

  Speakers : Christoph Papenfuss & Pasi Jalonen | Agile Data Engine
  14:45 - 15:15 A Fast Track Pass for Building GenAI Applications with Snowflake Cortex

  Speaker : Jai Parmer | Snowflake

  Jai Parmar is a Data Strategist and a Data Mesh Practitioner. Jai's experience allows him to work across people, process and technology to enable customers to drive value at an accelerated pace.

  15:15 - 15:30 Coffee break
  15:30 - 16:00 Gondola to Gold: Uncovering Value on the Business Mountain

  Tired of your data languishing at the base of the Business Mountain, buried beneath layers of inefficiency? It's time to embark on a thrilling ascent, uncovering hidden treasures of value using your very own Business Value Data Machine. This presentation will be your guide, accompanying you through the construction and optimization of this powerful engine, transforming your data into gold.
  
  The Journey:
  - Unveiling the Engine: We'll dissect the machinery required to build value from data.
  - Building the Machine: Get your hands dirty as we learn to add features to your Data Machine, each one a strategic tool for refining and enriching your data for maximum performance.
  - The Ascent: We'll explore the crucial processes of continuous improvement, evolving goals and weighted prioritization as you strive toward your goals.
  
  Get ready to unleash the potential of your data!

  Speakers : Chris Tabb | LEIT DATA & Matthew Housley | Ternary Data

  Matt Housley holds a PhD in mathematics and is coauthor of the best selling book Fundamentals of Data Engineering. With Joe Reis, he co-founded Ternary Data, a data engineering consulting firm.
  

  16:00 - 16:30 The Mountains of MetaData: Consolidation is Key

  Embark on an exhilarating journey during 'The Mountains of MetaData: Consolidation is Key,' as we carve through the powdery peaks of modern data management. In this session, we will tackle the crucial role of contemporary data platforms in conquering the ever-changing landscape of data slopes. We will navigate the twists and turns of consolidating metadata from various sources, unlocking unparalleled insights and efficiencies for organizations. We'll immerse ourselves in the world of streamlined data platforms that enhance accessibility, promote data governance, and ultimately gain business value. Discover why metadata consolidation isn't just a technological necessity but a strategic imperative for organizations seeking to get data in the hands of the business.

  Speaker : Taylor McGrath | Rivery

  Taylor leads Solutions Engineering at Rivery. She is responsible for all aspects of building and managing a global team of high-performing Solutions Engineers. She is passionate about the data landscape and using data and use cases to enable go-to-market teams to help customers gain value with Rivery. Prior to this role, Taylor led Rivery's solutions engineering, customer success, and support functions since the company's inception in 2020. She started her career in the data services space, with experience in end-to-end data projects covering data ingestion, cloud migration, and enabling self-service data analytics across organizations.

  16:30 - 16:45 Double Diamond ROI: Mastering the Generative AI Turn for Maximum Business Value

  Speaker : Paul Way | Thoughtspot

  Paul leads all of the Channel Partner and Tech Alliance business at ThoughtSpot EMEA and is on a mission to drive ThoughtSpot to a 100% partner business. As a seasoned professional (has grey hair) in the software industry Paul has extensive experience in driving success in large market-leading companies, early-stage/startup organisations and companies focused on large-scale restructuring, driving transformational change whilst developing and executing new Go To Market structures.

  16:45 - 17:30 Town Hall Debate
  17:30 - 19:30 Cocktails
  19:30 Dinner
• Day 2 - 2 March 2024
  08:00 - 16:00 Skiing

  Skiing on the slopes and in the mountainside restaurants for a fun filled day in the stunning Swiss Alps.