The future
is ours
to .
The annual conference for operations, transformation and technology leaders in Banking, Insurance, Healthcare and BPO.
Welcome to Capacity26
Automation is scaling. AI agents are joining the workforce. And the pressure to prove it’s all worth it is rising faster than most organisations can keep up with.
The leaders who own the future aren’t waiting to find out if it paid off. They’re building the evidence as they go.
Capacity26 is built for the people responsible for how organisations actually run and change. Operations leaders. Transformation leaders. Automation and AI leads. CIOs and CTOs.
Different roles. One conversation that matters.
There are questions every leader is sitting with right now:
- Are you backing the right things?
- Is the ROI still there once the project team has moved on?
- Are you in control of what AI is costing you, or just watching the bill?
Real challenges. Honest conversations. Genuine peers.
You’ll hear from leaders doing this for real, spend time with peers carrying the same pressure, and leave with a clearer read on how to use data and AI to focus on what matters, backed by the confidence to prove it.
This is where leaders doing the hard work come to think, connect, and move forward. Come and join them.
An exceptional lineup of speakers sharing real-world expertise and proven operational impact.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
CHARLENA GAULIN
Owning the future at scale
Charlena Gaulin leads operations across Commercial Banking, Wealth Management, and Capital Markets at CIBC, one of Canada’s largest banks. She’s flying in to share what that scale of responsibility looks like in practice.
Pressure is coming from three directions at once: regulators demanding a human behind every AI decision, a board demanding ROI, and an operation that must keep delivering while much is unresolved.
In this opening keynote session, Charlena shares what it really takes to scale AI transformation inside a regulated bank, where the accountability doesn’t move, even when the work does.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
HELEN SHARMAN
What space missions teach us about getting it right
In 1991, Helen Sharman became the first Briton in space, making real-time decisions on which her life depended.
As humans push forward in space exploration, the discipline that kept her alive up there looks a lot like the discipline which operations leaders are trying to build down here. Communication and trust are vital to know when to override the system in order to survive under pressure.
Helen closes Capacity26 London with lessons from operating in an extraordinary environment, and what today’s leaders can learn from space missions where technology and people combine to achieve stellar success.
Candice van Rheede
Nedbank Insurance
Cindy Knoesen
Nedbank
Khushma Kerai
EY
Shefaly Yogendra
Mike Hobday
HFS Research
Dr. Tracy Rea
Tania Argente-Morgan
Capco
David Polley
KPMG Ireland
Bhavesh Vaghela
ActiveOps
Phil Moody
ActiveOps
Chris Davies
ActiveOps
Emma Salthouse
ActiveOps
Zowie Lees-Howell
ActiveOps
One day. Nine sessions. The questions Operations, Technology and Transformation leaders are actually asking right now.
From the uncomfortable truth about agentic AI, most pilots never make it to production, to the capacity trap that quietly swallows what automation was supposed to release, to what “in control” even means once AI tokens show up as a cost the CFO can’t ignore.
This isn’t theory. It’s CIBC and the leaders running large-scale operations sharing exactly what they’re doing about it.
8:30 – 9:30
Breakfast & Registrations
9:30 – 9:45
Welcome
The future is ours to own
Operations is changing faster than ever, with human effort, digital labour, and AI working side by side, redefining what a high-performing operation looks like. In this opening address, we set the scene for Capacity26: why the future of operations belongs to those who choose to shape it, not wait for it, and what that means for how we manage capacity, control the cost of AI, and lead with confidence.
9:45 – 10:30
Keynote
Owning the future at scale
How CIBC, one of Canada’s largest banks, is navigating AI transformation, human-in-the-loop accountability, and continuing to deliver strong, sustainable ROI in an evolving landscape.
10:30 – 11:00
Presentation
The truth about agents
Agentic AI promises autonomous workflows and cost cuts at scale, but most pilots never reach production, and regulators are demanding human oversight of every consequential decision. A frank panel on what agentic AI is actually delivering in operations: where it's working, where it isn't, and what regulators are watching.
11:00 – 11:30
Coffee Break
11:30 – 12:30
ActiveOps Platform Showcase
ActiveOps Platform: building the future of operations
Every operation today has two workforces: the people you employ and the automation and AI you've invested in. In this session, we'll introduce the ActiveOps Platform and our vision to bring people, automation and AI into one connected picture of capacity, so you know what's actually working, what isn't, and what to do about it.
12:30 – 13:30
Lunch Break + Platform Labs
13:30 – 14:00
Presentation
The Capacity trap
Automation gets rolled out, the project wraps up, everyone celebrates, but then the capacity it was supposed to free up quietly disappears. That's the capacity trap. In this session, a major financial institution shares how they avoided it: using Decision Intelligence not just to find where automation would pay off, but to make sure the capacity it created was real, released, and put to work. A practical, honest look at getting automation right, all the way to the last mile.
14:00 – 14:30
Panel Session
Staying in control when the machine is running
The CFO used to ask one question about operations: are we doing more with less? Now AI has introduced a third resource into the operational model - one without established governance, or an established cost of getting it wrong. How do you build a cost model for something that didn't exist three years ago, and what does good AI cost governance actually look like?
14:30 – 15:00
Panel Session
Augmented, not replaced
When agents take on the repetitive and the predictable, your people get time back. But there's a harder question nobody warns you about: time back to do what? Released capacity doesn't reinvest itself, and culture doesn't adapt just because the technology did. This panel brings together operations leaders who are about to open up on exactly that: the resistance they expect, the reskilling still ahead, the uncomfortable conversations yet to be had. What will it actually feel like to work alongside an agent? What's likely to change, what won't, and what would they do differently if they were starting the journey again tomorrow?
15:00 – 15:30
Coffee Break + Platform Labs
15:30 – 16:20
Closing Keynote
What space missions teach us about getting it right
In 1991, Helen Sharman became the first Briton in space, making real-time decisions on which her life depended. As humans push forward in space exploration, the discipline that kept her alive up there looks a lot like the discipline which operations leaders are trying to build down here. Communication and trust are vital to know when to override the system in order to survive under pressure. Helen closes Capacity26 London with lessons from operating in an extraordinary environment, and what today’s leaders can learn from space missions where technology and people combine to achieve stellar success.
16:20 – 16:30
Conference Close
By Invitation Only
The ActiveOps Awards Gala Dinner, recognizes our customers who are committed to operational excellence. Enjoy a night of celebration in one of London’s Heritage spaces.
We’re at Exhibition White City, London on 8th October
A beautifully restored Victorian space in the heart of West London, Exhibition White City has been part of the city’s story since 1899. With its iconic tiled walls, factory arch windows and an atmosphere that blends heritage with contemporary design, it’s a venue with genuine character.
This is where it starts.
Places are limited – register now and be part of the conversation.