BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//ChamberMaster//Event Calendar 2.0//EN METHOD:PUBLISH X-PUBLISHED-TTL:P1H REFRESH-INTERVAL:P1H CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Vancouver BEGIN:DAYLIGHT RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU DTSTART:20070101T000000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:Pacific Daylight Time END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU DTSTART:20070101T000000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:Pacific Standard Time END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20261124T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20261124T203000 X-MICROSOFT-CDO-ALLDAYEVENT:FALSE SUMMARY:Vancouver Chapter - Control the Chaos\, Capture the Value: Practical Decisions for the CIO's AI Agenda DESCRIPTION:From a CIO's perspective\, your employees are already using AI\, whether IT has approved it or not. Meanwhile\, agentic AI is moving from vendor demos into production roadmaps faster than most governance models can adapt. CIOs face two pressures at once: enabling the business without losing control\, and preparing infrastructure\, budgets\, and teams for AI systems that don't just answer questions but take action.This session takes a practical\, decision-focused look at both. It starts with the questions that determine success before any code is written: which projects to pursue\, and when to build versus buy. From there\, we'll cover how to put a governance framework in place that brings shadow AI into the open instead of driving it further underground\, and how to create a clear IT support path for the tools employees actually want to use. The second half turns to agentic AI: how to audit readiness\, where AI should run\, and what the real total cost of ownership looks like once hardware\, scaling\, and ongoing operations are included.Expect a candid\, architecture-level discussion that includes routers\, RAG\, and agent design\, along with the realities of on-premises versus cloud deployment. You'll leave with frameworks you can apply to your own AI roadmap the following week.Key takeawaysA practical lens for choosing the right AI projects and making build-vs-buy decisionsHow to design a governance framework that reduces shadow AI without stifling adoptionWhat an "agentic audit" reveals about your organization's readiness for autonomous AIA clearer picture of AI total cost of ownership\, including how to plan and manage a hardware budgetStraight talk on sizing and design choices: routers\, RAG\, agents\, and on-premises vs. cloud trade-offsSpeaker: John Encizo\, Field CTO and Director of Enterprise AI for North America\, LenovoJohn Encizo is the Field CTO and Director of Enterprise AI for North America at Lenovo. He started in IT doing desktop support for a hospital during the Y2K years and has since worked his way up through the ranks\, serving as a systems administrator\, server engineer\, Solution Architect and global SME on Lenovo infrastructure platforms. As an expert generalist\, he focuses on business\, technical and AI strategy through the lens of digital transformation\, process optimization\, solution architecture and design thinking. He often consults with customers on infrastructure platforms and datacenter design strategies by analyzing future trends\, working with organizations to identify technology and process gaps and helping executive leaders re-imagine their use of business technology as a transformation engine.Agenda6:00pm Arrival 6:00pm - 8:00pm Hors d'oeuvres/Beverages + Presentation8:00pm - 8:30pm NetworkingOpen to CIOCAN Members \nThank you to our Sponsor X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

From a CIO'\;s perspective\, your employees are already using AI\, whether IT has approved it or not. Meanwhile\, agentic AI is moving from vendor demos into production roadmaps faster than most governance models can adapt. CIOs face two pressures at once: enabling the business without losing control\, and preparing infrastructure\, budgets\, and teams for AI systems that don'\;t just answer questions but take action.

This session takes a practical\, decision-focused look at both. It starts with the questions that determine success before any code is written: which projects to pursue\, and when to build versus buy. From there\, we'\;ll cover how to put a governance framework in place that brings shadow AI into the open instead of driving it further underground\, and how to create a clear IT support path for the tools employees actually want to use. The second half turns to agentic AI: how to audit readiness\, where AI should run\, and what the real total cost of ownership looks like once hardware\, scaling\, and ongoing operations are included.

Expect a candid\, architecture-level discussion that includes routers\, RAG\, and agent design\, along with the realities of on-premises versus cloud deployment. You'\;ll leave with frameworks you can apply to your own AI roadmap the following week.

Key takeaways

Speaker: \;John Encizo\, Field CTO and Director of Enterprise AI for North America\, Lenovo

John Encizo is the Field CTO and Director of Enterprise AI for North America at Lenovo. He started in IT doing desktop support for a hospital during the Y2K years and has since worked his way up through the ranks\, serving as a systems administrator\, server engineer\, Solution Architect and global SME on Lenovo infrastructure platforms. As an expert generalist\, he focuses on business\, technical and AI strategy through the lens of digital transformation\, process optimization\, solution architecture and design thinking. He often consults with customers on infrastructure platforms and datacenter design strategies by analyzing future trends\, working with organizations to identify technology and process gaps and helping executive leaders re-imagine their use of business technology as a transformation engine.

Agenda

6:00pm &ndash\; Arrival \;

6:00pm - 8:00pm &ndash\; Hors d&rsquo\;oeuvres/Beverages + Presentation

8:00pm - 8:30pm &ndash\; Networking

Open to CIOCAN Members \;


Thank you to our Sponsor


LOCATION:1088 Cambie St. Vancouver BC V6B 6J5 UID:e.1797.1649609 SEQUENCE:3 DTSTAMP:20261027T132440Z URL:https://cioassociationofcanada.growthzoneapp.com/upcoming-events/Details/vancouver-chapter-control-the-chaos-capture-the-value-practical-decisions-for-the-cio-s-ai-agenda-1941436?sourceTypeId=Hub END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR