For CFOs: D2A2 Insights - 2026 Predictions and Prescriptions
The 2026 D2A2 Insights Predictions and Prescription webinar, with the authors of the annual D2A2 Insights Report, delivered a powerful session on the critical changes taking place digital, data, analytics and AI (D2A2).
Key Themes Covered:
• The 12 transformative shifts reshaping D2A2 in business
• The future of AI governance, trust, and measurement (beyond ethics talk)
• Aligning technology innovation with business strategy, value, and workflows
• The rise of “headless,” local, and modular architectures for scale and agility
• Why smaller, smarter models and human-centered governance are the future
• Prescient advice on ROI, change management, use case prioritization, and more
Below is the full edited edition of the webinar. Don’t miss the insights from the experts and hosts that follow the video.
Insights from the Panelists:
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Steve Rosvold – Host, CFO.University
1. On the Importance of D2A2 to CFO success
“CFOs who effectively use D2A2 will create value for their business while improving the trajectory of their career.”
Lead a discussion on the 2026 Insights with your executive colleagues to move the needle on your D2A2 initiatives.
2. On Tailoring for Impact:
“The whole headless architecture gets to be this idea of tailoring presentations to…a specific, very specific audience…from a CFO perspective, make sure we’re tailoring presentations.”
AI strategy isn’t one-size-fits-all, CFOs must insist on relevance for their audience.
3. On AI Governance’s Evolution:
“Shifting the model from an oversight model to a data supply chain model is really interesting. I think those are terms that I think CFOs will grab onto and really important.”
The role of the CFO is extending from oversight to actively stewarding data ecosystems.
4. On Governance and Trust:
“Governance is turning into…really in the AI space turning into trust. And who that trust needs to be with is all of our stakeholders…really insightful and takes that whole governance concept to a next level.”
Elevating trust as the modern foundation for governance and organizational resilience.
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Prashanth Southekal – Founder, D2A2
1. On Proactiveness and Predictive Analytics:
“Predictive analytics, in my view, is all about proactiveness. Prediction means proactiveness.”
Success in D2A2 will belong to organizations that anticipate, not just react.
2. On Use Case Value:
“Insights is something like which you didn’t know at all. Like I found with one client…just increasing their SKU price by 1%, they would improve their gross profit by 8.2%. So that’s a true insight.”
Real value comes from insights that reveal actionable, unexpected business opportunities.
3. On Purposeful Implementation:
“Map every use case…to the 3 main goals an enterprise has—growth, efficiency, and risk management. Why are you embarking on this…site implementation?”
Purpose and alignment should drive every AI and data initiative.
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Dr. V Bala Balasubramanian – Strategic Advisor, Life Sciences
1. On Data as a Product:
“Data products are going to be important. Data quality, data governance, they all come into play…encourage the individual functional areas to have data ownership.”
Empowering teams with local data ownership fosters better quality and accountability.
2. On Small vs. Large Models:
“Small language models are going to become the norm…you can actually run small language models more efficiently on a domain which is more controlled and constrained.”
Efficiency and precision are leading many industries to smaller, smarter AI models.
3. On Change Management’s Importance:
“It’s not IT savvy anymore. It’s AI savvy. We have business users who want to use it, but how do you use it effectively for their business problems and decision-making?”
Widespread adoption takes AI literacy, employee buy-in, and purposeful change management.
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Arun Marar – AI & Optimization Expert
1. On Neglecting Classical AI:
“Because of the advent of GenAI, we believe that the classical AI has been neglected…this is going to get a reemergence…in 2026 and beyond.”
Balance and integration, don’t sleep on proven ClassicalAI/analytics for real ROI.
2. On Agent Commerce:
“You’re gonna have an agent work on behalf of you. So the agent can actually negotiate prices, see the inventory level, look at the delivery windows…”
Agent AI will soon revolutionize trusted, autonomous commerce and customer experience.
3. On Process Alignment:
“One of the keywords I would use is alignment. You need to be aligned with the process and the solution because…everybody’s going to be cogs in the wheel.”
Alignment across teams and tech is non-negotiable for successful rollout.
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Sumi Singh – Founder & Chief AI Officer, Gale180
1. On Cognitive AI vs. Order Taking:
“AI is going more from an order taker to reasoning…how we do that’s going to be super interesting.”
The shift to cognitive AI will redefine business processes, decisions, and finance.
2. On Multimodal Integration:
“Workflows need to be built around real context…audio, visual, gestures, text, environmental information, all that needs to be integrated together.”
The future of work will blend every mode of data, embrace true context and richness.
3. On Stress-Testing Reasoning Systems:
“The best thing that you can do is to create a clean room, a safe simulation stress testing environment where you allow some of your users to stress test your reasoning systems.”
Rigorous testing is key as cognitive AI enters high-impact enterprise roles.
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Tobias Zwingmann – Managing Partner, Rapid.ai
1. On Running AI Off the Cloud:
“Right now we are seeing…open weight models that can actually compete with proprietary models…hardware…became more affordable. I recently bought a mini AI supercomputer…”
Local, affordable AI will become a reality—even for complex enterprise tasks.
2. On ROI Frameworks for AI:
“There will be essentially two tracks…productivity AI…engineered AI solutions…Don’t measure every AI solution under the same scope.”
CFOs: fit the framework to the AI, not the other way around.
3. On Selecting Use Cases:
“Before you actually go and look for use cases, set a value threshold for yourself. What’s the minimum impact you need in order to get started?”
Stay disciplined—prioritize high-impact use cases to avoid wasted effort.]
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Valentina Tomov – D2A2 Governance & Ethics Lead
1. On Trust as the New Governance:
“Governance is no longer going to be…a side committee…It’s a core infrastructure…You have to prove control.”
Proactively measuring and building trust into AI is now a foundational obligation.
2. On Social Science in AI Teams:
“Incorporate…social scientists or anthropologists on your team because they’re…trained to think across cultures, notice…biases, and…how the local translates into these larger questions.”
Human-centered AI means cross-disciplinary teams excel.
3. On Guardrails for Innovation:
“When you have controls…it’s a misconception that this is going to hamper innovation. It’s actually going to help…because your teams will feel more comfortable when they have guidelines.”
Good governance enables, not stifles, innovation and growth.
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Final Word
D2A2 is not a future trend, it’s a now imperative. Download the full report, share with your team, and begin mapping YOUR roadmap today!
Video Chapters:
Introduction – 1:59
Review of Last Years Report 2:00 -5:59
2026 Insight 1 Headless Architectures Will Drive Modern Systems 6:00- 8:36
2026 Insight 2 AI-Native Solutions Will Redefine Data Foundations 8:37 -10:56
2026 Insight 3 Data Observability Will Be The Heart of AI Governance 10:57 – 14:10
2026 Insight 4 Data Products and Data Mesh Will Be Part Data Strategy 14:11 -17:50
2026 Insight 5 Classical AI Will Complement Generative AI 17:50 – 21:46
2026 Insight 6 Agentic Commerce Will Be the Cornerstone of Agentic AI Workflows 21:47 – 26:22
2026 Insight 7 Reasoning LLMs Usher In The of Cognitive AI 26:23 - 30:38
2026 Insight 8 Hybrid Interfaces Enable True Multimodal Intelligence 30:39 – 33:36
2026 Insight 9 Enterprises Will Turn to Small Language Models (SLMs) 33:37 – 37:27
2026 Insight 10 Local and Offline AI Workflows Reach Critical Mass 37:28 – 43:54
2026 Insight 11 AI Governance Will Evolve Towards Measurable Accountability 43:54 – 51:00
2026 Insight 12 ROI Frameworks Will Discipline AI Investments – 51:01- 58:04
2026 Insights Sponsor Thank You and Report Access 58:05 – 59:41
2026 Insights Audience Questions and Panelist Discussion 59:42 – 1:14:58
2026 Insights Summary and Closing 1:14:59 -1:16:50
Special Thanks to Scott Scowcroft of The SCOTT Treatment for the Creative Design and Production of the webinar and videos.
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