Welcome to the 2026 DataConnect Conference: Empowering Business Users for the Future!

The biggest advantage in AI may not be the model—it may be the data foundation behind it. This keynote examines how trusted data accelerates innovation and strengthens confidence in AI outcomes.

Melanie Kolp

SVP, Chief Data Officer and Chief Technology Officer, Technology Enterprise Solutions

Nationwide Insurance

Learn how to bridge the gap between data and decision-making by adopting a practical storytelling methodology that prioritizes clear communication and sensitivity to audience needs. This session introduces a repeatable framework centered on four core principles: knowing your goal, audience, and story; streamlining visual content; enhancing comprehension speed; and telling your story clearly from the audience's perspective. Using concrete, before-and-after examples, participants will see how intentional design choices, visual hierarchy, and narrative emphasis help insights surface faster and stick longer. Attendees will also explore how people actually read charts and dashboards, and how small adjustments in layout, labeling, and emphasis can dramatically improve understanding. Rather than focusing on tools, this session focuses on thinking: how to design data stories that reduce cognitive load, answer the unspoken "so what," and support confident action. Participants will leave with a clear methodology they can apply immediately to dashboards, presentations, and stakeholder communications.

Carolyn Stillwell

Lead Data Visualization Specialist

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

For executive ticket holders only. AI is fundamentally reshaping the workforce - and the biggest questions are no longer technical. How should we hire when roles are changing faster than job descriptions? What should leaders expect from teams when AI can dramatically increase individual productivity? Which work should remain human, which should be delegated to AI or automated agents, and how do we make those decisions? How should organizations rethink budgets, headcount, education, and skill development? This executive session brings leaders together to explore these questions from a practical, organizational perspective. We’ll discuss how AI is transforming role definitions, organizational culture, workforce planning, and leadership expectations - and how leaders can help their teams adapt without creating a culture of constant disruption or burnout. Rather than focusing on AI hype or hypothetical futures, the conversation will center on the decisions leaders are making now to build organizations that can effectively combine human expertise with increasingly capable AI systems.

Coming Soon!

Payal Thakur

CAO/Director of Enterprise Analytics

JobsOhio

Most organizations believe their biggest data challenges are technical. They invest in new tools, rebuild pipelines, and create more dashboards, expecting better decisions to follow. They usually don't. The real problem is not access to data. It is misalignment in how data is interpreted and used across teams. In many organizations, marketing, commerce, and data functions each operate with their own metrics, definitions, and perspectives. Each view is valid in isolation, but incomplete as a whole. The result is multiple versions of the truth, conflicting narratives, and decisions that do not reinforce each other. This session focuses on what actually bridges that gap. Through real-world examples, this talk explores why good data still leads to poor decisions, how misaligned interpretation creates hidden risk, and what it takes to move from fragmented insights to a single, decision-ready narrative. Attendees will learn how to identify misalignment in their own organizations, how to reframe data conversations around decisions instead of metrics, and how to create clarity without adding more complexity.

Stacie Christensen

Senior Data & Engineering Leader

H-E-B

In her keynote, Polly examines the high-stakes journey from raw data to the executive confidence required to act on AI insights. Drawing on her history of scaling massive AI systems at Amazon, she breaks down the "Trust Continuum," showing how rigorous data governance and transparent design transform technical outputs into reliable outcomes. Polly will share necessary steps to build the internal certainty needed to move AI initiatives from experimental pilots to impactful, real-world decisions.

Polly Allen

Ex-Alexa AI Principal PM

AI Career Boost

Jane will explore how one of the world’s leading museums is using technology, data, and AI to create experiences that visitors feel confident engaging with. She’ll share how trust is intentionally built into the creative process, from curating data-driven insights to designing AI-powered experiences that enhance human connection with art.

Jane Alexander

Chief Digital Information Officer

Cleveland Museum of Art

The DataConnect Conference is proud to present the Data Visualization Competition. This esteemed event invites participants to submit their data visualization projects, where creativity, innovation, and insightful storytelling converge. During this session we will be awarding the winners of the competition and sharing their project submissions.

In healthcare, trust is not a feature—it is the foundation. As AI systems increasingly influence clinical decisions and operational workflows, governance becomes the user experience layer that ensures safety, fairness, and transparency. This presentation introduces a practical framework for embedding trust into AI governance, drawing from institutional learnings and global standards.

Bhavna Mehta

AVP – Enterprise Data & Analytics

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

"I've been the person over-explaining a chart to a room of execs who stopped listening, and I've been the exec flipping to slide 12 trying to find the point. After 20 years leading technical and customer-facing teams at SaaS companies, I've landed on three principles that changed how I communicate with data: Start with the end, not the beginning Create visualizations that don't make the viewer think Ruthlessly edit (the appendix is your friend) I'll walk through before-and-after examples, showing how to get to the point and not lose your audience"

Cynthia Balusek

VP Success Engineering

Metabase