On the Frontier: The CTO Agenda 2026

On 25 February, join CTOs and senior business leaders to explore practical ways to turn AI, resilience and service excellence into decisions you control in cyber security and digital performance - leading experience, risk and AI outcomes.

Please note that registration for this event is now closed. We hope to see you at the next one!

Event details

  • Date: Wednesday 25 February 2026
  • Time: 9:00 – 17:00
  • Location: The Skyline London, Tower Suites, 100 Minories, London, EC3N 1AP

What is On the Frontier?

This is a curated, CTO and senior-level leadership event focused on how organisations are using AI, secure-by-default service strategies, and modern IT operations to drive competitive advantage, resilience, and measurable business impact – not just theory.

♦ Get practical frameworks you can apply immediately
♦ Learn how peers are using AI to improve service outcomes
♦ Understand how to build security-forward operations that enable growth

Who should attend

CTOs and senior technology leaders responsible for experience, AI adoption, security outcomes and service design.

Why this matters now

Your remit as a CTO or a senior business leaders has expanded – from “running IT” to being accountable for employee experience, AI readiness, and organisational resilience, often without equivalent control, authority or headcount. This event brings peers, practitioners and researchers together to share what’s working, what isn’t, and the operating models leaders are adopting.

What you’ll be able to do after this event

  • Decide faster on AI solutions, using patterns from top‑quartile organisations.  Grounded in behaviours, not vendors or tools.
  • Move from enablement to safe and durable AI adoption with governance, workflows and accountability.
  • Cut human‑driven cyber security risk at scale by turning visibility into behavioural change and board‑level assurance.
  • Lead digital experience with evidence so conversations with the business shift from anecdote to data, and credibility rises.

How the day is structured

Context: what top‑quartile leaders are doing differently.
Practical: how AI becomes durable adoption – governance, change playbooks, and in‑app Copilot scenarios you can deploy now.
Risk: turning vulnerability and SOC capability into board‑level confidence
Experience: using DEX evidence to reduce drag and raise credibility.
Peer learning: what’s working now, and the 30‑day action plan you can lift and run the next day.

Day structure (9:00-17:00)

 

09:00 – Arrival, breakfast & networking

09:25 – Morning: The new CTO mandate

How expectations are shifting across AI, experience and risk – and what leading organisations are doing differently.

Highlights:

  • Opening remarks
  • Terence Tse on AI, uncertainty and decision-making

10:40 – Break

10:55 – Late morning: Making strategy real
Embedding AI in operations, reducing human risk, and moving from enablement to outcomes.

Highlights:

  • Ross Hale on AI that actually sticks
  • Oz Alashe on human risk & behavioural security

12:00 – Lunch & networking

13:15 – Afternoon: Accountability in practice
Board priorities, executive confidence through experience data (DEX), and practical leadership actions.

Highlights:

  • Board priorities → practical controls (Andrew Morris & Vlad Birgauanu)
  • Proving impact with DEX (Lionel Johnstone)

14:05 – Break

14:15 – Late afternoon: What actually works now
Peer lessons and leadership under pressure — what’s working in service, AI & security today.

Highlights:

  • Panel Discussion
  • Sarah Furness on calm execution under pressure

15:35 – Close & networking

Highlights

 

Catching the Wind: AI, uncertainty, and the vessels that move us forward

Terence Tse – Global AI Strategist | Advisor to organisations using AI for competitive advantage

Turn AI into a board‑ready plan, today. In a world of geopolitical fragmentation, technological volatility and shifting economics, stability has given way to adaptability. This keynote reframes AI – and Microsoft Copilot – as an enabler, not a destination – accelerating decision‑making, revealing new options, and giving leaders the agility to change course as conditions shift. You’ll leave with a strategic lens for evaluating AI opportunities.

 

Human Risk & Behavioural Security

Oz Alashe MBE: Cybersecurity & Human Risk Leader | CEO & Founder, CybSafe | Former UK Special Forces

Reduce cyber risk by changing everyday behaviour – at scale. This session gives leaders a clear blueprint to cut material cyber risk by focusing on people, habits and decision‑making rather than piling on more tools. You’ll learn which behaviours to hard‑wire, how to create the conditions for secure choices under time pressure, and why small, well‑designed nudges can deliver outsized reductions in real‑world incidents – and compliance pain.

 

H.A.B.I.T.S. for calm, decisive execution when stakes are high

Sarah Furness: Leadership & Resilience Strategist | Former Combat Helicopter Pilot

Leadership under pressure. Sarah distils how leaders can stay composed, think clearly and act decisively in volatile conditions – bringing a resilience‑first perspective that energises final takeaways before the event close. She is a leadership and resilience strategist and former combat helicopter pilot, and she’ll focus on practical habits leaders can apply immediately. You’ll leave with a simple, 60‑second reset you can deploy before critical moments.

 

Customer panel: What’s working now – service, AI & security

Jon Fox, Head of IT and Facilities | The Fostering Network  •   Linda Trafford, CRM System Owner | The Fostering Network  Naomi Hulston, Chief Executive Officer | Catch22   •   Stuart Hogg, IT Manager | Land Use Consultants

Plays you can sponsor in the next 30 days. Hear how peers modernise service experience, turn AI (including Copilot) into measurable outcomes, and embed secure‑by‑default habits. Leave with concrete 30‑day actions and metrics you can stand behind with your exec team.

 

From AI enablement to AI that actually sticks

Ross Hale, Transformation & AI Practice Lead | Wanstor

Shift from pilots to a Microsoft operating model built to last – defined ownership, strong governance, and actionable instrumentation. Ross will unpack live Microsoft Copilot examples – wins and misses – and show how to scale safely, not just quickly. You’ll leave with practical patterns to embed AI, sidestep common traps, and expand what delivers value.

 

Board priorities in 2026 → practical controls

Andrew Morris, Head of Information Security | Foresight Group • Vlad Birgauanu, Head of Security | Wanstor

What boards are asking – and the evidence they expect. Andrew frames the risks, Vlad converts them into deployable controls, rhythms, and metrics leaders can sponsor. You’ll leave with the three risks that move the loss curve, a minimum‑viable hardening checklist for the next 30–60 days, and leadership habits that make controls stick.

 

The executive view of experience: Turning DEX into board‑ready outcomes

Lionel Johnstone, Digital Experience Specialist

Lionel will show how digital experience turns day‑to‑day experience signals into board‑ready evidence – moving from “service metrics” to proof of what’s improving and what to fix next. You’ll leave with the core outcome areas to anchor on: predictive support (silent fixes), business‑driven insights, experience‑led metrics, and sustainability/lifecycle impact.

Our Partners

We’re proud to bring you insights from some of the most influential names in technology and security:

  • Microsoft – Strategic vision and innovation
  • Riverbed – Observability and performance excellence
  • Exclaimer – Making every email a branded, measurable touchpoint – marketing control, zero IT tickets.
  • CybSafe – Secure by Default leadership
  • BT Wholesale – The network and voice layer your future service model runs on – designed for resilience.

About Wanstor

At Wanstor, we help organisations stay ahead by delivering technology solutions that enable smarter, faster, and more connected ways of working. With deep expertise across sectors such as Not‑for‑Profit, Housing Associations, Legal Services, Consultancies, Professional Services, and Hospitality, we understand what it takes to create real business value through technology.

Our focus is on future‑ready IT services that combine cloud, cybersecurity, and AI‑driven innovation to give you clarity, resilience, and competitive edge. As an award‑winning Microsoft Solutions Partner, we work alongside leading technology providers to help organisations embrace modern platforms, unlock insights, and achieve their strategic goals.