Evan Digney

Every enterprise has a data strategy. Far fewer have turned it into measurable, board-level performance. In this executive panel, senior leaders join Databricks VP of Product Craig Wiley to share what separates organizations that are generating real outcomes from those still building the case. They'll discuss the architectural decisions that paid off, the organizational obstacles they didn't see coming, and how Lakebase and Genie are accelerating the journey from insight to action. This is a peer-level conversation — not a vendor pitch — for executives who want an honest look at what it takes to become a genuinely data-intelligent enterprise. Audience Q&A will be a central part of this session.

Modern airlines need more than dashboards. They need intelligence at speed. Etihad Airways is transforming its analytics landscape by moving from traditional BI platforms to Databricks AI/BI, redefining how data is accessed, understood and acted upon across the enterprise. This session tells the story behind that shift, beginning with a bold pilot in Catering that demonstrated the power of generative, natural-language insights and sparked immediate executive engagement from day one. We’ll explore Etihad’s journey from complex, siloed reporting to an AI-first, self-service experience powered by Databricks Genie, turning data into an always-on business co-pilot. Attendees will learn how this transformation accelerated speed-to-insight, reduced technical debt, and scaled rapidly across diverse business units. We’ll conclude with a demo of our current Genie implementation and a forward look at Etihad’s evolving roadmap in the Databricks ecosystem, offering practical lessons for anyone.