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The Data Community Event 2026

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Bringing data, people, and AI together for real-world results

The Data Community event welcomed data and business professionals from across the world to the Gtech Community Stadium on 26th January 2026.

The event marked the next chapter for the community formerly known as Data Vault User Group. An expanded scope and more opportunities for the community to expand their knowledge and network.

Check out the highlights from the event, get your hands on slides from expert-led presentations, and join our next event below.

Event Speakers

Find out more about the presentations from the day and access videos and slides from the day.

Panel

Four leading voices in data and AI

From Data Foundations to AI Impact: Building Trust, Scale & Value

Join our expert panel as they unpack why data and AI projects often fall short, covering everything from messy data and legacy systems to unclear goals and poor governance. The speakers offer practical, experience‑driven advice to help organisations strengthen their foundations and improve AI readiness and delivery.

Francesco Puppini

Professor, Keynote Speaker, Data Modeling Innovator, R&D Engineer and Author of ‘The Unified Star Schema’

The best Data Model for AI

Text-To-SQL is great. However, today, it does not work. We often use the term "hallucinations", which sounds fancy, but here is the harsh truth: AI does not know how to write SQL. On top of this, AI doesn't know how to read our minds.

So, how can we fix this?. Well, the first step is to build the best data model for AI...

Adam Sobey

Mission Director for Sustainability at The Alan Turing Institute

Data-Centric Engineering at scale: How do we automate workflows for large-scale emissions reductions?

AI is reshaping transport and infrastructure, helping us understand assets, cut emissions and optimise maintenance. But doing this at scale means creating thousands of bespoke models. In this talk, Adam Sobey shares success stories and unveils a new approach to automating ML pipelines to drive major emissions reductions.

Alex Higgs

Product Manager/ Owner at Business Thinking Ltd.

Nobody Gets Here Alone

Alex reflects on a career in the data industry shaped by unexpected turns, difficult choices, and moments that tested his sense of self.

Drawing from experiences across academia and industry, this talk invites the audience to reconsider what progress and success really look like in data-focused work.

Stephen Nwoye

Co-Founder - The AI Workshop, Senior Data Engineer for the NHS,
Researcher, Data Engineering Coach

Giving Your Organization a Competitive Edge in the AI Era

Unlock the real potential of AI in analytics. NHS expert Steven Nwoye exposes the limits of tools like PowerBI and shows how a smarter, AI-powered data catalog can protect sensitive data while delivering truly actionable insights.

Discover how treating data as a product, not a by-product, can give your organization a real competitive edge.

Neil Strange

CEO of Business Thinking and Chair of the Data Community

Welcome to the Data Community

Data engineering has come a long way, and the next decade promises even greater change. In this talk, Neil Strange traces the journey from early BI to today’s interconnected data ecosystems, revealing how stronger foundations, renewed modelling practices, and thoughtful human–AI collaboration will shape the future of the discipline.

Data Community Conference delegates listening to a presentation by one of our experts

Our Conference

Our conference is the data event you don't want to miss. Hundreds of data professionals from around the world come together to learn, network, and pick up some freebies!

Learn more about our annual conference and register your interest for this year's event by clicking the button.

Learn more

Data Vault User Group Conference brochure

Delegates networking at our Data Community Conference