{"id":2509,"date":"2026-10-08T08:24:29","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T07:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nas01.tallpaul.net\/wordpress\/?p=2509"},"modified":"2026-10-08T08:24:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T07:24:53","slug":"ibm-think-on-tour-london-2026-what-to-expect-and-why-it-matters-for-financial-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nas01.tallpaul.net\/wordpress\/2026\/10\/ibm-think-on-tour-london-2026-what-to-expect-and-why-it-matters-for-financial-services\/","title":{"rendered":"IBM Think on Tour London 2026: What to Expect, and Why It Matters for Financial Services"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--\nWordPress blog post: IBM Think on Tour EMEA 2026, London\nHow to use: in the WordPress editor, open the \u22ee menu \u2192 Code editor, paste everything below this comment, then switch back to the Visual editor.\nBefore publishing: upload Think-on-Tour-EMEA-2026-Agenda.pdf to Media and replace PDF_URL (two places) with its link.\n\nTitle:    IBM Think on Tour London 2026: What to Expect, and Why It Matters for Financial Services\nSlug:     ibm-think-on-tour-london-2026\nExcerpt:  On 14 October, IBM Think on Tour EMEA comes to London. Here's what's on the agenda, who's speaking, and why I think it's worth a day of your time if you work in financial services or insurance.\nCategory: Insights (plus Financial Services & Insurance once that category exists)\nTags:     IBM Think, Agentic AI, Digital Sovereignty, Hybrid Cloud, Financial Services, Events\n--><\/p>\n\n\n<p>AI is moving fast, and so are the organisations trying to turn it into real business value. In my conversations with financial services and insurance clients this year, the question has shifted from <em>&#8220;should we use AI?&#8221;<\/em> to <em>&#8220;how do we get it out of the pilot stage, safely, and at a cost we can defend?&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That question is exactly what <strong>IBM Think on Tour EMEA 2026<\/strong> sets out to answer when it comes to London on <strong>14 October<\/strong>, under the theme <strong>&#8220;Winning the enterprise AI race&#8221;<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"IBM Think on Tour comes to London on 14 October 2026, and we&#039;d love to see you there.\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oZKNNYZ4YQY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The essentials<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Main event:<\/strong> Wednesday 14 October, 08:00\u201318:00, Magazine London, 1 Ordnance Crescent, Greenwich Peninsula, SE10 0JH<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Welcome evening:<\/strong> Tuesday 13 October, 18:30\u201321:00, an informal dinner at Guildhall, Gresham Street, City of London, EC2V 7HH<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Register:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ibm.com\/events\/think\/london\">ibm.com\/events\/think\/london<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What you&#8217;ll see and hear<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The day is built around five themes. Here&#8217;s how I&#8217;d summarise each, and what I&#8217;d be listening for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Agentic AI.<\/strong> How leading enterprises are deploying AI agents that work together across the business to speed up decisions and coordinate workflows, with real-world use cases rather than slideware.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Trusted data.<\/strong> Turning fragmented information into a strategic asset, with the governance and AI-ready foundations that regulated firms need before any of the AI work can scale.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Automation.<\/strong> Using AI-driven automation to simplify complexity, improve visibility and build operational resilience across the IT estate.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Digital sovereignty and hybrid cloud.<\/strong> Protecting data, keeping full transparency and deploying AI with accountability, moving beyond compliance towards control as a genuine advantage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Quantum.<\/strong> What emerging quantum technologies mean for building a secure, future-ready foundation for AI.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who&#8217;s speaking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The line-up mixes IBM leadership with clients who are already putting these technologies into practice. Speakers listed include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Ana Paula Assis<\/strong>, SVP and Chair, IBM Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rob Thomas<\/strong>, SVP, IBM Software and Chief Commercial Officer<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dr Alessandro Curioni<\/strong>, IBM Fellow and Director, IBM Research Europe \u2013 Zurich<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Massimo Proverbio<\/strong>, Chief Data, AI and Technology Officer, Intesa Sanpaolo<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fred Vasseur<\/strong>, Team Principal, Scuderia Ferrari HP<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Vice Admiral Sir Andy Kyte<\/strong>, Chief of Defence Logistics and Support, Ministry of Defence<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gabriel Bertoli<\/strong>, Chief Digital &amp; Transformation Officer, L&#8217;Or\u00e9al Research &amp; Innovation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Between sessions there are scheduled tours of the Think Forum, short Techbyte sessions and the chance to book 1:1 meetings with IBM experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why it&#8217;s worth a day if you work in financial services or insurance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For banks and insurers, AI isn&#8217;t held back by a lack of ideas. It&#8217;s held back by the things that come with being regulated: operational resilience obligations, data residency, model governance, and the need to explain every decision to a board and a supervisor. That&#8217;s why I think this year&#8217;s agenda is particularly relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Digital sovereignty, trusted data and automation for resilience aren&#8217;t side topics here; they sit alongside agentic AI as headline themes. And with a Chief Data, AI and Technology Officer from one of Europe&#8217;s largest banking groups on the main stage, you&#8217;ll hear how a peer is approaching the same trade-offs you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just as valuable is the room itself. Some of the most useful conversations I have happen over coffee with people facing the same challenges in different organisations. Think brings senior technology and business leaders from across the region together for a full day, and that&#8217;s hard to recreate any other way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Agenda<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s the event overview and agenda that went out with the invitations. Timings and speakers may change, so check the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ibm.com\/events\/think\/london\">IBM Think London page<\/a> for the latest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/nas01.tallpaul.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Think-on-Tour-EMEA-Agenda-1.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:800px\" aria-label=\"Embed of Think on Tour EMEA Agenda.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-c6ea0c0c-cc49-490b-b843-63fef56ea11f\" href=\"https:\/\/nas01.tallpaul.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Think-on-Tour-EMEA-Agenda-1.pdf\">Think on Tour EMEA Agenda<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/nas01.tallpaul.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Think-on-Tour-EMEA-Agenda-1.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-c6ea0c0c-cc49-490b-b843-63fef56ea11f\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Join us<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If this sounds relevant to you and your organisation, we&#8217;d love to see you there. You can register at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ibm.com\/events\/think\/london\">ibm.com\/events\/think\/london<\/a>, message me and I&#8217;ll ensure customers are looked after. If you have any questions, or you&#8217;d like to set up a conversation on the day, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/chapmanp\/\">message me on LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ibm.com\/events\/think\/london\">Register for Think London<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>Views are my own and do not represent IBM&#8217;s positions or statements. Event details are taken from IBM&#8217;s published event page and agenda, and may change.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AI is moving fast, and so are the organisations trying to turn it into real business value. In my conversations with financial services and insurance clients this year, the question has shifted from &#8220;should we use AI?&#8221; to &#8220;how do we get it out of the pilot stage, safely, and at a cost we can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nas01.tallpaul.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nas01.tallpaul.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nas01.tallpaul.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nas01.tallpaul.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nas01.tallpaul.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2509"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nas01.tallpaul.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2514,"href":"https:\/\/nas01.tallpaul.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2509\/revisions\/2514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nas01.tallpaul.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nas01.tallpaul.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nas01.tallpaul.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}