Chief Data Officers Roundtable: From AI Pilots to Enterprise Impact
AI promises transformation, but CDOs face the real challenge: turning models into operational reality across regulated industries and diverse data ecosystems. Join leaders from edtech (Stride), pet insurance (Fetch), and hydrogen manufacturing (John Cockerill) for a fireside roundtable on scaling AI from experiments to company-wide value—balancing self-serve analytics, compliance constraints, and dual data cultures.
NOTE : Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site's author and/or owner is strictly
Chief Data Officer, Stride, Inc.
Vida Williams is the Chief Data Officer at Stride, Inc., where she leads data and AI strategy to shape how children learn in a rapidly evolving digital world. With nearly two decades at the intersection of data science, technology, and social impact, she is a recognized ethical AI advocate, TEDx speaker, and former dual Chief Data Officer/Chief Diversity Officer at SingleStone. Vida is known for her belief that data should follow a “Hippocratic Oath” — ensuring innovation serves humanity, equity, and communities first.
Chief Analytics & Strategy Officer, Fetch Pet Insurance
Akash Gupta leads analytics, strategy, and FP&A at Fetch Pet Insurance, driving data-powered growth in the competitive pet insurance market. Previously, he was instrumental in launching discovery+—Discovery Inc.'s DTC streaming service that scaled to 15M+ subscribers—while building end-to-end data functions from engineering to insights that delivered 25x revenue growth for digital businesses. An MBA from Chicago Booth (top 5%, GMAT 770), Akash combines engineering rigor, corporate finance expertise, and C-suite advisory to solve complex commercial challenges with a collaborative, results-driven approach.
Chief Operations Officer, John Cockerill Hydrogen North America
Denis Boudailliez leads operations at John Cockerill's new hydrogen hub in Houston, overseeing supply chain, manufacturing, and project execution for their cutting-edge electrolyzer gigafactory. With over 10 years in heavy manufacturing, he's transformed plants across Europe—scaling facilities to world-class mass production, cutting costs by 10%, tripling on-time delivery, and boosting sales 28% through Lean Six Sigma and strategic leadership. A frequent speaker on balancing AI with industrial reliability, Denis brings battle-tested expertise in operational excellence to high-stakes energy transition projects.
Business Head - International Markets | Polestar Analytics
Shiraz Mishra is a senior business leader with over two decades of experience driving growth and innovation across software products and services, manufacturing, and industrial automation sectors. He has a strong track record of building strategic partnerships, scaling global alliances, and delivering sustained business impact.
Previously, Shiraz led ecosystem strategy at ABB and spearheaded collaborations with global technology leaders including SAP, Microsoft, AWS, IBM, Ericsson, and Dassault Systèmes. As a General Manager at Wipro, he grew enterprise services by leading global teams across innovation, alliances, marketing, and operations, while owning P&L for new business models.Known for transforming challenges into opportunities, Shiraz brings a collaborative leadership style and a deep focus on customer value, partnerships, and long-term growth.