Predictions for data and AI in 2027: Meet the FWRD panel

Ask five data and AI leaders where AI is headed in 2027 and you’ll get five very different answers. On November 5, we’re doing just that at FWRD 2026.

Fast FWRD is the session where the event turns its attention to next year, with leaders from Mondelēz International, ServiceNow, Snowflake, Deloitte and Ataccama. Each panelist brings one signature prediction for the year ahead, and the rest of the panel weighs in. We got everyone together ahead of the event to prepare, and we came away with a few clues about what’s in store. For the full story, join us at the event.

Meet the panel

Peter Stojanovic, Editor of HotTopics and a regular interviewer of FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 executives, moderates.

Camilla Björkqvist, Senior Director Global Data Governance & Transformation at Mondelēz International, leads the data governance work behind the company that makes Oreo, Ritz, and other snack favorites. Mondelēz made a deliberate choice about data ownership before it started building AI agents, and her prediction explains why that order matters. She’ll also share what has to be true when a consumer asks an AI assistant about an Oreo product. What does she think data owners need to start doing differently? You’ll have to tune in for that one.

Juan Sequeda, Principal Data Strategist & Researcher at ServiceNow, has spent his career working on semantics. His prediction splits organizations into two groups. Which group yours lands in may come down to how you feel about eating your vegetables. We’ll let him explain.

Chris Child, Lead Product Management for Data Engineering Products at Snowflake, led a team of data engineers early in his career. He knows the pain of an early-morning wake-up call about a dashboard that didn’t refresh. His prediction is about what the data engineer’s job looks like next, and he’s set himself a bold timeline.

Donovan Spronk, Partner in the AI and data practice at Deloitte, sees how enterprises approach AI from the first prototype. He’ll share where governance teams fit into that picture today, and what might bring them to the table sooner, with the EU AI Act firmly in view.

Jay Limburn, President of Ataccama, closes out the predictions with a view on who will build the AI stack in 2027. Hint: he expects some new names on the list. He’ll also weigh in on whether master data management is about to have its second act.

We’re keeping score on how these predictions play out next year, and will check back at FWRD 2027 to see who called it.

There’s more! Customer stories, Ataccama ONE demos & 2027 roadmap

The predictions panel is only one part of the day. FWRD 2026 opens with Rewind, where data leaders share how they built trust in AI this year. Isaac Gabay, VP of Data & AI at Lennar, will walk through Lennar’s path to AI readiness and how his team builds trust in the AI agents it runs in production. Jo Riseborough of Lloyds Banking Group and Chantale Boulanger and Nickolaos Mikedis of iA Financial Group will share their own stories of success with data modernization, master data management, and reference data management.

You’ll also see the Ataccama ONE platform in action, with demos on grounding AI agents in quantified quality scores and governed context. Straight after the panel, Jessie Smith, Ataccama’s Chief Product Officer, will offer an exclusive look at how the panel’s predictions connect to the 2027 Ataccama product roadmap.

Have a question? Bring it along and drop it in the chat during the live Q&A.

Registration is open now. On November 5, press play on what’s next in data trust.