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🎯Invitation-Only CXO Roundtable

AI Strategy Is Business Strategy

Building Durable Competitive Advantage in the Age of AI
Vina Enoteca – Palo Alto, CA
October 15, 2026
5:00 – 9:00 PM PT

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    Meet The Panel

    Voices from Forrester, CriticalRiver & Industry Leaders

    Brian Hopkins brings Forrester’s research on AI-native interfaces and agents, Dr. Vijay Gurbaxani brings UC Irvine’s multi-year study on durable advantage, and Anji Maram hosts the evening’s conversation.

    Session Host
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    Anji Maram
    Founder & CEO
    CriticalRiver Inc. and MeeruAI

    Anji Maram brings a vision-led approach from CriticalRiver and Meeru AI to customers: enterprise AI solutions with deep business context built in, capturing long-term value and a competitive advantage for businesses.

    Welcome & Context · Fireside Moderator · Closing
    Guest Speaker
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    Brian Hopkins
    Vice President of Emerging Technology &
    Principal Analyst
    Forrester Research, Inc.

    As Vice President of Emerging Technology and Principal Analyst at Forrester, Brian Hopkins helps organizations navigate the rapidly advancing fields of emerging technology, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

    Analyst Session · Fireside CXO Roundtable
    Featured Speaker
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    Dr. Vijay Gurbaxani
    Taco Bell Professor of Business and Computer Science, Paul Merage School of Business, UC Irvine
    Senior Advisory Board Member, CriticalRiver Inc.

    Dr. Vijay Gurbaxani is the Founding Director of UC Irvine’s Center for Digital Transformation. He advises senior leaders and boards globally on the value and strategy of AI-driven transformation.

    Featured Session · Fireside CXO Roundtable
    The Stakes

    Why This Conversation Matters

    AI is no longer a technology decision. It’s a business strategy decision.

    Most organizations still treat AI like they treated cloud or mobile, bolting it onto existing plans.

    Most AI investment still measures the wrong thing: productivity, not advantage.

    The Strategic Imperative

    Durable competitive advantage is harder to build and easier to lose, which is exactly why so few organizations get there.

    This roundtable explores a different path: treating AI as core to business strategy, not bolted onto existing plans.

    So what actually separates a bolt-on AI capability from a business strategy built to last?

    That’s the
    conversation.
    The Payoff

    You’ll Leave Knowing

    • 01 Why AI-native interfaces and agents are making bolt-on AI strategies obsolete
    • 02 Why CEO-owned strategy and governance are no longer optional
    • 03 How leading organizations turn scattered pilots into “big bet” investment portfolios
    • 04 How to build an operating model that compounds advantage, not productivity
    • 05 How to pressure-test your 2027 plans before the board does
    Forrester’s Research

    What Brian Hopkins
    Will Unpack

    Forrester’s latest research tracks a shift already underway: AI-native interfaces and agents are changing how customers engage with businesses, faster than most strategies have caught up to. It also shows just how far most organizations still are from proving any of it pays off.

    15%
    of AI decision-makers report a measurable earnings lift
    1 in 3
    can tie AI spend directly to profit and loss
    25%
    of enterprise AI spend expected to shift into 2027

    Sources: Forrester’s State of AI Survey, 2025 (1,576 global AI decision-makers), and Forrester’s Predictions 2026: Artificial Intelligence.

    Hopkins will make the case that this shift is exactly why CEO-owned strategy and governance can no longer be an afterthought bolted onto existing plans; it has to be the plan.

    Dr. Gurbaxani’s Model

    The AI Flywheel Framework

    Drawing on UC Irvine’s multi-year study of enterprise transformation, Dr. Gurbaxani’s framework aligns five dimensions around a single operating model, and when they align, the flywheel spins faster, compounding into a self-reinforcing loop of durable advantage.

    • Vision
    • Education
    • Know-How
    • Talent
    • Technology

    Operating Model

    This is the framework Dr. Gurbaxani will unpack live during his session.

    The Evening

    Agenda

    Agenda Highlights
    • Arrival & Networking Reception
    • Speaker Sessions & Fireside CXO Roundtable
    • Dinner & Closing Remarks
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