As artificial intelligence continues to transform the modern corporate landscape, organizations are increasingly finding themselves confronted with a persistent and challenging obstacle: while AI technology is largely ready for deployment, the underlying data ecosystems supporting it are often falling short. To tackle this critical issue head-on, data integrity leader Precisely has announced a major virtual event scheduled for October 8, titled Precisely Now: Where Data Meets AI.
Designed specifically for data, analytics, and AI leaders navigating the complex transition from experimental pilots to production-scale operations, the upcoming event aims to move beyond standard best-practice frameworks. Instead, organizers intend to present a fresh corporate vision and concrete technological solutions designed to help enterprises bridge the gap between their ambitious AI strategies and the current capabilities of their data infrastructure.
The urgency of this initiative is underscored by recent industry findings. According to IDC’s newly released 2026 Data Intelligence MarketScape, 86% of organizations have intensified their focus on data management specifically because of AI initiatives. However, despite this heightened attention, artificial intelligence proofs of concept continue to fail to reach full production at alarming rates. Consistently, data quality issues are being cited as the primary culprit behind these setbacks.
By bringing together industry veterans, independent analysts, and prominent enterprise leaders, Precisely Now seeks to confront these challenges through a combination of product strategy presentations, expert analysis, and unfiltered peer conversations.
Why This Moment Matters to Data and AI Leaders
The central tension in the current technological landscape revolves around a fundamental mismatch: advanced models and machine learning frameworks are readily available, but the data foundations required to fuel them reliably are frequently fragmented, ungoverned, or untrusted.
This disconnect has transformed data intelligence from a background operational task into a first-order infrastructure decision. Enterprises are realizing that sustainable success in AI is not merely a function of having the largest budgets or the most sophisticated models. Rather, it depends heavily on the accuracy, consistency, and contextual readiness of the underlying data.
Precisely designed its upcoming virtual event to address this exact reality. Rather than offering theoretical advice, the program is structured to provide attendees with a comprehensive look at market trajectories, proprietary product innovations, and real-world lessons learned by organizations that have grappled with these exact data complexities.
What’s the Agenda for Precisely Now?
The one-hour program has been carefully organized to deliver a complete, multi-faceted perspective on the current state of enterprise AI, moving seamlessly from macroeconomic market trends down to internal enterprise execution.
The event kicks off with a keynote address from Precisely CEO Walid Abu-Hadba. Drawing on a rich career spanning senior leadership roles at major technology pillars including Microsoft, Oracle, and Sage, Abu-Hadba will share his unique perspective on how this technological shift differs from past eras. He will outline what this moment demands of enterprises as they attempt to move AI initiatives out of isolated test environments and into core production systems.
Following the opening remarks, Abu-Hadba will be joined by Stewart Bond, IDC Research Vice President and author of the new 2026 Data Intelligence MarketScape. The two will engage in an exclusive, candid conversation examining what enterprise buyers are currently getting right—and wrong—when it comes to data infrastructure. Bond, who has spent months evaluating vendors and charting the trajectory of the data intelligence market, will offer valuable insights into why data readiness has become the defining factor for AI viability.
A major focal point of the event will be a product strategy presentation delivered by Precisely Chief Product Officer Matt Waxman. Waxman is set to unveil major new product announcements developed specifically in response to the most pressing pain points voiced by customers and the broader market. These challenges include fragmented point solutions, governance frameworks that prove impossible to enforce at enterprise scale, and AI agents attempting to act upon data they cannot fully trust. The unveiling represents a cornerstone of the event’s forward-looking agenda.
To ground these strategic and technical discussions in operational reality, the event will also feature a candid customer panel. Moderated by David Woods, Senior Vice President of Global Services at Precisely, the panel brings together Kevin Guyot, Vice President of Data Analytics at Lake Michigan Credit Union, and Jeannine Roberts, Vice President of Customer Operations at Charter Communications. Both executives, who serve as valued members of the Precisely Customer Advisory Board, will discuss their respective AI journeys without holding back. They will share the roadblocks they encountered, the strategies they used to overcome them, and the hard-won lessons they would impart to industry peers facing similar obstacles.
Who Should Attend Precisely Now?
The virtual event has been tailored specifically for professionals holding leadership responsibilities in data management, analytics, and artificial intelligence strategy within their respective organizations. Organizers have encouraged attendees to invite relevant colleagues across departments to foster a unified organizational approach to data readiness.
Industry observers note that the organizations currently succeeding with AI are those that recognized early on that the true barrier to artificial intelligence was never the algorithm itself, but rather the integrity of the data foundation supporting it. Precisely Now is intended to provide leaders with an honest assessment of what that required foundation looks like, alongside a clear, accelerated path toward achieving it.
Attendees can expect to walk away with genuine perspective on market directions drawn from rigorous vendor evaluations, practical stories and troubleshooting strategies shared by enterprise leaders knee-deep in implementation, and an exclusive first look at new technological innovations designed to accelerate AI initiatives using trusted data.
Data and analytics leaders looking to navigate the gap between their strategic AI aspirations and their current data capabilities can secure their attendance and learn more about the program by visiting the official registration page for Precisely Now: Where Data Meets AI.
