Connecting the dots: data skills in an age of AI acceleration
Value now comes from interpreting outputs, exercising judgement, spotting risk, and knowing when - and how - to challenge what AI returns.
This shift has profound implications not just for data teams, but for the whole organisation.
On Thursday 9 July, senior data, technology, HR and transformation leaders will come together at Imperial College’s Scale Space for Connecting the Dots: Data Skills in an Age of AI Acceleration - a half‑day, in‑person event focused on one critical question:
How do organisations build the data skills their people need for AI to deliver value responsibly and at scale?
Join us to connect the dots: an event for data, AI and HR leaders
This is the third event in our Connecting the Dots series, designed to bring cross‑functional leaders together - within and across organisations - to tackle shared challenges that no single function can solve alone.
Many organisations are discovering a new risk:
AI can make organisations look data‑driven, while masking weak data capability underneath. Decisions feel faster and more confident - but leaders and managers may lack the data literacy to question assumptions, recognise bias, or understand the limits of the underlying data.
This is where partnership matters.
Data and technical leaders understand the models, the pipelines and the risks.
HR, L&D and people leaders shape capability, learning, incentives and culture at scale.
Without alignment between these groups, data skills remain siloed in specialist teams - and AI impact stalls.
This event is designed to help leaders connect those dots:
clarifying how data skills are evolving, who owns the associated risks, and how to build organisation‑wide data fluency that enables AI to thrive.
Key Details:
📅 Thursday 9 July 2026
🕗 8.30am - 1.30pm
📍 Scale Space, White City, London
🥐 Networking Breakfast and Lunch included
Islem Rekik is the Director of the Brain And Signal Research and Analysis (BASIRA) laboratory and an Associate Professor at Imperial College London. She is the awardee of two prestigious international research fellowships (EU Marie Curie Fellowship & TUBITAK 2232).
In 2024, she was the recipient of the prestigious “Tunisian AI Award” from the Tunisian AI Society (𝗧Λ𝗜𝗦), recognizing Top AI Pioneers and was featured in the I-X news as well as the Realites magazine. Together with BASIRA members, she conducted more than 100 cutting-edge research projects cross-pollinating AI and healthcare - with a sharp focus on brain imaging and network neuroscience.
She has delivered 40+ invited keynotes, talks, seminars and lectures including prestigious international conferences (MICCAI, CVPR, ISBI, Wellcome trust). She is a member of the organising committee of MICCAI 2023 (Vancouver), 2024 (Marrakesh) and 2025 (South Korea). She will serve as the General Co-Chair of MICCAI 2026 in Abu Dhabi.
In addition to her 160+ peer-reviewed publications in top journals including IEEE TPAMI (IF: 20.8) and BMJ (IF: 93), she is a strong advocate of equity, diversity and inclusiveness in AI and research. She is the former President of the Women in MICCAI (WiM), and the co-founder (and now former President) of the international RISE Network to Reinforce Inclusiveness & diversity and Empower minority researchers in Low-Middle Income Countries (LMIC).
Hosted by Corndel and Imperial Executive Education at Scale Space, the event will feature:
- A keynote: AI as the Interface, Humans as the Interpreters
Exploring how AI is reshaping workforce skills, and why human judgement remains central to responsible AI use. - A cross‑functional panel: Are We Undervaluing Data Skills in the AI Rush?
A candid discussion with leaders from Corndel, Imperial and leading organisations on how data capability is being overlooked, and what that means for risk and value. - Facilitated roundtables
Where data, HR and transformation leaders work together on the biggest data skills risk in their organisation today, who truly owns that risk and one concrete action to address it
