AI Beyond the Hype: Where Are IT Leaders Actually Seeing Value? - CAIO Inspired Summit Panel

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Overview

In this opening panel from the CMO & CAIO Inspired Summit at Syon Park, London, in October 2026, Douglas Hamandishe of Medway Council is joined by Hitesh Patel (IHG Hotels & Resorts), Sam Sahana (Ergeny Investments) and Xavier Vallee (Tour Partner Group) to separate genuine business value from the hype.

The panel shares real use cases, from process automation and the reinvention of business intelligence to inventory management, loyalty personalisation and software engineering. They are candid about how they measure return on investment, the hidden costs of ownership and the mistakes they have learned from along the way.

Key takeaways

  • The biggest returns come from re-engineering and automating whole processes, where tasks that took days can be done in minutes, rather than simply making existing work a little faster.
  • Generative AI lets businesses bring unstructured data into decision-making, so leaders can understand why a number has moved, not just that it has.
  • Tie AI initiatives to measures the business already cares about, such as cost to serve, operating cost, working capital or revenue, and know which line of the P&L you expect to improve.
  • Results can beat the business case, but the total cost of ownership, including data, retraining and talent, is easy to underestimate.
  • Uncontrolled experimentation rarely scales: focus on fewer, bigger priorities, put data first and invest in colleague education.

Watch the full session on YouTube: AI Beyond the Hype: Where Are IT Leaders Actually Seeing Value?

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