Sneak Peek: Gartner Data and Analytics Summit 2024

I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating: The best annual conference for data professionals continues to be the Gartner Data and Analytics Summit.

So that you understand the context of my opinion, allow me to say that I recently retired from Gartner, Inc., and I have a high opinion of my former employer. In addition, I spent decades of my career as a specialist in data and analytics (D&A), and I am still very passionate about those fields. Therefore, it is understandable that I would put those two experiences together and conclude that the best conference of the year is the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit. Furthermore, its latest incarnation is coming on March 10-13, 2024, in Orlando, Florida.

Why You Should Attend the 2024 Gartner D&A Summit

You are probably wondering: What’s so good about the Gartner Data and Analytics Summit, and why is it so beneficial to data pros? Well, several things, really:

The focus is on data and analytics (D&A).

In other words, there’s no pretense of covering all of IT. The summit is all about data and analytics, making it an excellent fit for D&A professionals, managers, and other businesspeople who depend on D&A.

Summit content comes from a broad range of sources and presenters.

For example, most of the presentations are given by Gartner analysts, who will present their research findings from theoretical and practical viewpoints. Furthermore, with few exceptions, all the software firms of the data and analytics vendor landscape are presenting and/or exhibiting. Finally, there are many “lessons learned” sessions about successful D&A programs in end-user enterprises.

The summit is by Gartner, the world’s leading think tank for IT.

Because of its size and long history, Gartner is in a unique position to provide both thought leadership and practical advice for every discipline in IT, especially D&A.

Miscellaneous benefits.

Thousands of talented D&A pros will attend, which is a valuable peer networking opportunity. Any vendor with any presence in D&A will be there, resulting in a massive exhibit floor, tons of live demos, and even more smart people to chat with.

Hence, if you’re a D&A professional and your employer limits the number of events you can attend, you should put Gartner’s D&A Summit at the top of your priority list. But act now because the summit is coming in March 2024. Register online here.

What You’ll Learn by Attending the 2024 Gartner D&A Summit

The D&A Summit includes sessions by Gartner analysts and other professionals about the hottest topics in data and analytics today. Allow me to list and define some of the hot topics, plus recommend noteworthy summit sessions by Gartner analysts for each:

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Whether generative or not, AI has been one of the most debated and hyped topics of recent years in the D&A community, along with related topics in machine learning (ML) and large language models (LLMs). Hence, these high-profile topics are the subjects of many 2024 Gartner D&A Summit sessions, including the opening keynote, as seen in the following suggested sessions:

• Gartner Opening Keynote: Generating Value Together: From Fundamentals to AI Readiness to Collective Intelligence, by Debra Logan, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner and Ehtisham Zaidi, VP Analyst, Gartner (3/11/2024 09:30 AM)
• Recipes for Using Enterprise Data With LLMs, by Svetlana Sicular, VP Analyst, Gartner (3/12/2024 10:00 AM)
• Workshop: Create a Robust AI Strategy — From Plan to Execution, by Arun Chandrasekaran, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner (3/12/2024 09:00 AM)
• Top Trends in AI, by Frances Karamouzis, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner (3/12/2024 12:00 PM)

Chief Data and Analytics Officer (CDAO)

The CDAO is a management role that has recently evolved as the responsibilities of the Chief Data Officer (CDO) have broadened to encompass analytics. Gartner analysts saw this role coming, and a few years ago, they created a Gartner advisory service specifically for it. The research and guidance of that service are represented in a track and several additional sessions at the summit:

• So You Want to be (a great) CDAO, by Sally Parker, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner (3/11/2024 11:00 AM)
• How CDAO Must Lead Data-Driven Change Management for Business Impact, by Sarah James, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner (3/12/2024 09:00 AM)
• The CDAO Playbook for Generative AI, by Rita Sallam, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner (3/12/2024 2:00 PM)

Large-Scale Data Architectures

Large-Scale Data Architectures (which Gartner often calls data ecosystems) involve a large-scale design that describes the many components of a data environment. This includes numerous datasets, data platforms, tools, use cases, interfaces, and how these components integrate and interact in cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments. A well-designed and curated cloud data architecture is now a critical success factor for high-value D&A programs.

• Ask the Expert: What Should CDAOs Know About Modern Data Architectures? by Robert Thanaraj, Director Analyst, Gartner (3/12/2024 09:00 AM)
• Data Ecosystems: Simplify the Delivery of Complex Data Management Infrastructure, by Adam Ronthal, VP Analyst, Gartner (3/11/2024 01:00 PM)
• Ask the Expert: Everything You Wanted to Know About Cloud Data Management but Were Afraid to Ask, by Rick Greenwald, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner (3/12/2024 02:00 PM)
• Do You Know Where Your Data Is? How to Implement Multi-Cloud Data Governance, by Nina Showell, Principal Analyst, Gartner (3/13/2024 04:30 PM)
• Data Lakes, Data Warehouses and Lakehouses: How to Choose, by Roxane Edjlali, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner (3/13/2024 10:30 AM)

Selecting Software Vendors and Products

This is an area of guidance that has distinguished Gartner’s advice to clients for decades. Tips in this area will be shared in several summit sessions (as listed below) alongside sessions that discuss recent Gartner Magic Quadrants.

• How to (Not) Buy Software Like Everyone Else, Rick Greenwald, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner (3/11/2024 02:45 PM)
• Roundtable: Which Database to Choose for Your Use Case, by Rick Greenwald, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner (3/11/2024 11:00 AM)
• What Innovations and Vendors Are Shaping the Future of Data Management? By Aaron Rosenbaum, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner (3/11/2024 02:45 PM)

Data Fabric

Data Fabric has become the leading-edge paradigm for data management development, deployment, and automation. Garter defines the data fabric as an architecture and set of best practices for unifying and governing multiple data management and data semantics disciplines, including data integration, quality, active metadata, master data, pipelines, catalogs, and more. The diverse tools of a data fabric must interoperate deeply in both development and production. Without data fabric, organizations struggle with data availability and access, data standards, governance, data engineer productivity, and time to use for analytics and other data products.

• Data Mesh v/s Data Fabric? Evaluate the Benefits and Cautions Before Making Your Decisive 2024 Investment, by Ehtisham Zaidi, VP Analyst, Gartner and Robert Thanaraj, Director Analyst, Gartner (3/11/2024 12:45 PM)
• Money, Love, Power… and Metadata: 4 Things That Matter, by Adam Ronthal, VP Analyst, Gartner (3/12/2024 02:00 PM)
• Active Metadata — Magic, Myth, Miracle or Machine? by Mark Beyer, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner (3/12/2024 12:00 PM)

Data Management for AI, ML, and LLM

Data Management use cases for AI, ML, and LLM are a moving target that many Gartner clients and other user organizations are pursuing today. This ongoing evolution will be addressed in several summit sessions:

• 5 Things That Keep Data Management Leaders Up at Night, by Thomas Oestreich, Managing Vice President, Gartner (3/11/2024 11:00 AM)
• Workshop: Data Management for LLM Deployments: Unlocking the Path to Success, by Ramke Ramakrishnan, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner (3/11/2024 11:00 AM)
• How Generative AI Is Changing the Way We Manage Data — Get Ready for It! by Melody Chien, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner (3/11/ 2024 02:45 PM)

Conclusion

There is still time to register for the 2024 Gartner Data and Analytics Summit, coming up in Orlando (March 10-13, 2024). I encourage you to register ASAP at this link.

If you live or work outside North America, you have other summit options to consider because the D&A Summit will repeat in São Paulo (March 26-27), Mumbai (April 24-25), London (May 13-15), Tokyo (May 21-23), and Sydney (July 29-30). Details for those events are listed here.