Navigating the Data Landscape in 2026:
Turning Data Chaos Into Business Value

Winston Thomas

Winston brings over 20 years of journalistic experience to CDOTrends.com. As the previous editor at Computerworld Hong Kong, CIO Asia and PCWeek Asia, he followed, edited and wrote how the Internet and the rise of the digital economy impacted businesses across various industries. Most recently, Winston served as N. Asia editor of CMOInnovation. As the Editor-in-Chief of CDOTrends.com, he is bringing together intriguing articles, insights from leading thinkers, in-depth lessons from practitioners, and various thought leadership materials to develop a new resource for CDOs and other digital practitioners. Fascinated by new technology trends, he is constantly looking at how digital is reshaping our future lives.

Besides his communication skills, he is well-versed in building conference and marketing programmes externally and internally. Recently, he produced Total Security Conference 2016, Big Data and Business Analytics Forum 2016 and Future Workplace Forum 2016. Previously, he also launched CIO Asia Awards and helped to create the Computerworld Hong Kong Readers’ Choice Awards (today Computerworld Hong Kong Awards under Questex Asia).

As a copywriter, Winston has contributed to South China Morning Post (for finance and IT sections), Asia Week and IT Malaysia. He has also contributed technology-based articles for inflight magazines, including Cathay Pacific’s The Club and Gulf Air magazine, and recently to Benchmark Magazine.

Previous to his career in the media industry, he was a commodities broker and an abattoir manager in Singapore. He currently holds a B Sc. (Biology) with Merit, loves playing the piano and running marathon events.

Chip Schenck

Chip Schenck is a senior data, AI, and go-to-market strategist at IBM, where he works at the intersection of enterprise data platforms, generative AI, and business transformation. In his current role as Principal Strategist, Chip partners across product, engineering, sales, and executive teams to help organizations translate advanced data and AI capabilities into practical operating models, scalable platforms, and measurable business outcomes. He is known for shaping strategy, positioning, and commercial motions in emerging and fast-evolving markets—often building the playbook before one exists.

Prior to IBM, Chip held senior strategy and innovation roles at DataStax—where he ran a similar mandate—as well as at Shutterstock and Meredith Corporation, driving data-led product strategy, platform development, and new revenue models across global media and technology businesses. Across these roles, he has helped build and scale multiple data and technology businesses from inception through significant growth, working hands-on in complex, unstructured environments to move organizations from experimentation to repeatable execution.

Chip speaks with authority on data and AI not as abstract technologies, but as core business capabilities—grounded in strategy, operating discipline, and the organizational change required to make them work in the real world.

Neil Koo

Neil Koo is the Head of Data, responsible for enterprise analytics, AI use cases, and data governance. He has defined and executed the organization’s data roadmap, leading large scale cloud migration and the evolution toward a modern lakehouse architecture built on the medallion pattern. His focus on the lakehouse has brought business users on a journey of trust and continuous improvement, underpinned by treating data as a product and translating that foundation into tangible commercial outcomes.

Rakshith Rao

Rakshith Rao is a high-impact technology and sales leader with over 20 years of experience driving digital transformation and modern data adoption across the Asia-Pacific region. He has led major enterprise initiatives in banking, telecommunications, and healthcare — empowering organizations to unlock real-time insights and scale innovation.

Rakshith blends entrepreneurial execution with enterprise strategy, having founded and led three technology startups. He has also held leadership roles at Apigee, Google and DataStax, delivering business outcomes with marquee customers across the ASEAN region.

Winston Thomas

Winston brings over 20 years of journalistic experience to CDOTrends.com. As the previous editor at Computerworld Hong Kong, CIO Asia and PCWeek Asia, he followed, edited and wrote how the Internet and the rise of the digital economy impacted businesses across various industries. Most recently, Winston served as N. Asia editor of CMOInnovation. As the Editor-in-Chief of CDOTrends.com, he is bringing together intriguing articles, insights from leading thinkers, in-depth lessons from practitioners, and various thought leadership materials to develop a new resource for CDOs and other digital practitioners. Fascinated by new technology trends, he is constantly looking at how digital is reshaping our future lives.

Besides his communication skills, he is well-versed in building conference and marketing programmes externally and internally. Recently, he produced Total Security Conference 2016, Big Data and Business Analytics Forum 2016 and Future Workplace Forum 2016. Previously, he also launched CIO Asia Awards and helped to create the Computerworld Hong Kong Readers’ Choice Awards (today Computerworld Hong Kong Awards under Questex Asia).

As a copywriter, Winston has contributed to South China Morning Post (for finance and IT sections), Asia Week and IT Malaysia. He has also contributed technology-based articles for inflight magazines, including Cathay Pacific’s The Club and Gulf Air magazine, and recently to Benchmark Magazine.

Previous to his career in the media industry, he was a commodities broker and an abattoir manager in Singapore. He currently holds a B Sc. (Biology) with Merit, loves playing the piano and running marathon events.

Romain Barraud

Romain is heading AI and Data Science at bolttech, an insurTech unicorn valued more than USD 2 billions and whose main investor is the Pacific Century Group.

He was born and raised in France and has been living in Hong Kong for more than 9 years. He holds a Master of Science in Telecommunications as well as a master's in accounting in Finance from French universities, and an MBA from HKUST. He began his career at Orange, the French Telecom operator, where he worked in engineering, finance, and sales respectively in Spain, France, the UK and finally moved to Hong Kong primarily by interest for the Asian culture and the Chinese language.

When he is asked a fun fact about him, Romain likes mentioning that he started running daily 30 years ago due weight issues and that he has already run more than the distance of the Ecuator.

Abhishek Ravi

Abhishek is a seasoned technology leader serving as Field CTO for Data Intelligence and Data Integration, partnering with enterprises across the APAC region to unlock the full potential of their data ecosystems. He brings over nine years of rich experience driving data transformation across the EMEA region, giving him a rare blend of global perspective and deep domain expertise. With a passion for turning complex data challenges into strategic business advantage, Abhishek is a trusted advisor who bridges innovation and execution at the intersection of Data Fabric.

Winston Thomas

Winston brings over 20 years of journalistic experience to CDOTrends.com. As the previous editor at Computerworld Hong Kong, CIO Asia and PCWeek Asia, he followed, edited and wrote how the Internet and the rise of the digital economy impacted businesses across various industries. Most recently, Winston served as N. Asia editor of CMOInnovation. As the Editor-in-Chief of CDOTrends.com, he is bringing together intriguing articles, insights from leading thinkers, in-depth lessons from practitioners, and various thought leadership materials to develop a new resource for CDOs and other digital practitioners. Fascinated by new technology trends, he is constantly looking at how digital is reshaping our future lives.

Besides his communication skills, he is well-versed in building conference and marketing programmes externally and internally. Recently, he produced Total Security Conference 2016, Big Data and Business Analytics Forum 2016 and Future Workplace Forum 2016. Previously, he also launched CIO Asia Awards and helped to create the Computerworld Hong Kong Readers’ Choice Awards (today Computerworld Hong Kong Awards under Questex Asia).

As a copywriter, Winston has contributed to South China Morning Post (for finance and IT sections), Asia Week and IT Malaysia. He has also contributed technology-based articles for inflight magazines, including Cathay Pacific’s The Club and Gulf Air magazine, and recently to Benchmark Magazine.

Previous to his career in the media industry, he was a commodities broker and an abattoir manager in Singapore. He currently holds a B Sc. (Biology) with Merit, loves playing the piano and running marathon events.

Winston Thomas

Winston brings over 20 years of journalistic experience to CDOTrends.com. As the previous editor at Computerworld Hong Kong, CIO Asia and PCWeek Asia, he followed, edited and wrote how the Internet and the rise of the digital economy impacted businesses across various industries. Most recently, Winston served as N. Asia editor of CMOInnovation. As the Editor-in-Chief of CDOTrends.com, he is bringing together intriguing articles, insights from leading thinkers, in-depth lessons from practitioners, and various thought leadership materials to develop a new resource for CDOs and other digital practitioners. Fascinated by new technology trends, he is constantly looking at how digital is reshaping our future lives.

Besides his communication skills, he is well-versed in building conference and marketing programmes externally and internally. Recently, he produced Total Security Conference 2016, Big Data and Business Analytics Forum 2016 and Future Workplace Forum 2016. Previously, he also launched CIO Asia Awards and helped to create the Computerworld Hong Kong Readers’ Choice Awards (today Computerworld Hong Kong Awards under Questex Asia).

As a copywriter, Winston has contributed to South China Morning Post (for finance and IT sections), Asia Week and IT Malaysia. He has also contributed technology-based articles for inflight magazines, including Cathay Pacific’s The Club and Gulf Air magazine, and recently to Benchmark Magazine.

Previous to his career in the media industry, he was a commodities broker and an abattoir manager in Singapore. He currently holds a B Sc. (Biology) with Merit, loves playing the piano and running marathon events.