In this conversation, senior community leaders Robin Sutara, Field CDO at Databricks, Manca Vitorino, Director of Data Ecosystem at LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Roisin McCarthy, Founder of Women in Data®, share powerful career advice, reflect on how community has shaped their journeys, and discuss their vision for the future of the Data & AI sector. Together they touch on:

• Finding the right time to make a career move
• The difference allies and mentors can make
• Why representation and role models matter
• How community builds confidence and helps us fight imposter syndrome

Your skills, ideas, and contributions deserve to be seen. When the right people can see your work, great things happen. This interactive panel session, including speakers from international data conference SQLBits, will help you turn great work into recognised impact by amplifying your visibility, strengthening your professional presence, and positioning yourself for new opportunities across your career.

Hear from three panellists with diverse experiences as they share practical tips, real-world examples, and lessons learned on articulating your value, communicating technical expertise to different audiences, and using storytelling to make your work more memorable and influential. You’ll gain insights into self-advocacy, personal branding, and visibility management - helping you build confidence, spot opportunities, and move from being overlooked to truly in-demand. They will also touch on the value of conferences and how both attending and speaking at events like SQLBits have contributed.

SQLBits is a world-leading, event-driven organisation for data professionals, known for delivering hands-on, real-world insight into how modern data platforms are built, run, and scaled. With deep technical content covering everything from databases to analytics, it provides exceptional learning and professional growth opportunities.

No matter where you are in your data strategy journey – just getting started, levelling up, or optimizing at scale – this session will walk you through how to build or adapt your data strategy.  We will discuss what can go wrong when you don’t have one, proven best practices, and practical ways to get started or accelerate momentum.

What you’ll gain:

• Understand why your data strategy is a strategic asset that drives measurable business outcomes
• See how data roles and personas connect into the strategy, enabling alignment, governance and execution
• Learn best practices you can apply immediately
• Leave with actionable steps that can apply across industries 

🏅 Earn CPD hours with this accredited webinar. Simply follow the instructions during the webinar to gain your certificate and badge.

Join us for an inspiring Women in Data® meet-up where we celebrate the stories of resilience, growth and success in the world of technology. Hear from three incredible guest speakers as they share their journeys of overcoming challenges, navigating unique experiences, and thriving in their tech careers. This event aims to empower and encourage more women to explore the vast opportunities in technology, showcasing the diverse paths and possibilities within the industry. Whether you’re already in tech, or considering it as a career choice, this is a chance to connect, learn and inspire.

Understanding the role of data and analytics in policing and the work taking place to unlock its potential, keeping ethical considerations and privacy concerns at the heart of any developments.

We will take the audience through the development of the research portal built for the Healthy & Sustainable Places Data Service as part of the Smart Data Research (SDR) UK network. University of Leeds is one of the 6 hubs for SDR UK and the portal enables researchers to look for datasets, check the metadata and make access requests, plus keep up to date on news, events and activity in the sector and understand the health and sustainability of places. The project used the Five Safes Framework with an emphasis on transparency around metadata sharing and quick access to Tier 0 and 1 data.

Having completed this session, you will be equipped with the awareness of the FOSS Python libraries, Splink, and Great Expectations, and how these can be integrated into Databricks to improve data quality and record linkage.

An evening of recognition, impact and celebration

Step into an unmissable celebrity hosted Gala celebrating the visionary leaders, rising stars, innovators and teams driving meaningful change across the industry. Join your peers for the exclusive reveal of the Women in Data® Twenty in Data & Tech – Series 8, honouring 20 outstanding role models and trailblazers across the sector.

On the evening you can expect

Welcome drinks, three-course dining and live entertainment 

The exclusive reveal of the Women in Data® Twenty in Data & Tech – Series 8

10 further prestigious recognition categories celebrating the people, teams and organisations making real impact