Infrastructure—not innovation—is the largest barrier to AI at scale

Why your AI strategy is only as good as your infrastructure

HotTopics Food for Thought In partnership with 

Enterprise AI adoption is accelerating across every industry, but many organisations are discovering that innovation is only as strong as the infrastructure beneath it. As AI workloads expand across increasingly fragmented hybrid environments, technology leaders are confronting a growing challenge: weak data foundations, operational complexity, governance gaps, and resilience concerns are becoming major barriers to scalable AI value.

This moderated executive roundtable will bring together senior technology leaders to examine what true AI readiness looks like beyond pilots and experimentation. The discussion will explore whether organisations are modernising with intent rather than speed to support trusted AI at scale, how resilient data environments are becoming critical to business performance, and why leadership alignment is now as important as technology investment.

Event details

📍 Location: HMS Belfast, London

🗓 Date: 8th July 2026

🕛 Time: 12:30 PM - 3:00 PM 

👥 The Hosts: Peter Stojanovic, Editor, HotTopics

🎤 Speakers: Richard Haines, Head of Technical Sales UKIMEA at Hitachi Vantara | Veebs Devendran, AI & High Performance Data Platforms Sales Specialist for EMEA at Hitachi Vantara

Richard Haines leads Hitachi Vantara’s Technical Sales team across the UK&I, the Middle East, and Africa, driving digital transformation through cutting-edge data solutions. He previously headed Sales Consulting at Kyocera Document Solutions UK and spent over two decades at HPE, leading large-scale data centre transformation programs. At the UKI Exchange Forum, Richard will share insights on how organisations can leverage integrated ecosystems and technical innovation to achieve resilience, agility, and sustainable success.

Veebs Devendran is the EMEA AI & High-Performance Data Platforms Sales Specialist at Hitachi Vantara. With over a decade of experience in enterprise sales and technical pre-sales, he helps organisations unlock the value of AI through scalable data platforms and innovative solutions, such as Hitachi iQ developed in collaboration with NVIDIA. Known for his collaborative approach, Veebs partners with customers to translate complex data challenges into meaningful business transformations.

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