Iowa
Technology
Summit
DATA TRACK
Building an AI-Ready Enterprise Data Foundation
APR. 7 / 3:00 PM - 3:50 PM / DEEP DIVE
About
Organizations across all industries are accelerating their adoption of artificial intelligence, yet many struggle to realize meaningful value because their underlying data environments are not prepared for AI at scale. This session explores the core architectural, governance, and operating model components required to build an enterprise-grade data foundation that can safely and effectively support advanced analytics and AI initiatives.
Takeaways
- Designing modern data architectures for AI (Lakehouse, data products, semantic layers)
- Metadata-first thinking: quality, lineage, cataloging
- Making data governance an enabler, not a blocker”
Speaker
Neeraj Deo
Vice President, Data Engineering
Athene
Neeraj Deo is the Vice President of Data Engineering at Athene, where he has spent over a decade progressively growing his career while building and modernizing enterprise-scale data platforms. He leads complex, mission-critical initiatives with a consistent record of execution excellence, delivering secure, cloud-native, and cost-efficient data solutions that drive business outcomes. Prior to joining Athene, Neeraj spent more than a decade at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as a technology consultant, advising banking and financial services clients across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Venkat Gupta
Senior Vice President & Chief Data Officer
Athene
Venkat Gupta, Senior Vice President and Chief Data Officer at Athene. In this role, Venkat leads the Enterprise Data Management organization and drives the advancement of Athene’s data, analytics, and AI capabilities. He partners closely with leaders across the business and with the Enterprise Strategy and Innovation team to accelerate AI adoption and strengthen data-driven solutions that support Athene’s platforms and growth.
Venkat brings more than 25 years of experience in data, analytics, AI, and automation across the insurance, healthcare, and life sciences industries. Prior to joining Athene, he served as Vice President and Practice Leader for Insights & Data at Capgemini, leading a $250M portfolio and a global team of 1,200+ professionals. Venkat holds an MBA from the University of Iowa and a bachelor’s degree in Instrumentation Technology from Kuvempu University.
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