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State of Data 2026

The annual event for Belgian data leaders and practitioners.

April 2nd, 2026 — Leuven, BELGIUM

How was it

🎥 Watch selected sessions

A selection of sessions from State of Data 2026 is now available.

How was it

Talk to your data

Rushil Daya & Stijn De Haes

Talking to data as a new interaction layer alongside BI Why most challenges are not technical, but about data foundations How data products enable context, quality, and access control

The Reality Check - Panel

Moderated by Maja D’Hondt

With speakers from Swift, UCB, Stibbe, and Atlas Copco - What worked (and what didn’t) in real data initiatives - Lessons learned across industries - What teams would do differently today

Your Cloud Strategy After the Hyper-scale Era

Niels Claeys

When hyperscaler dependency becomes a risk What sovereignty actually means in practice Architectural patterns to reduce dependency

Note:

Customer case sessions (imec, Brussels Airlines, Luminus) were shared exclusively during the event and are not published publicly.

Note:

Customer case sessions (imec, Brussels Airlines, Luminus) were shared exclusively during the event and are not published publicly.

Event details

Format

Evening event with: focused talks, live demo, panel discussion, structured networking, food & drinks

Capacity

We keep it small by design.
Registration closes once all seats are assigned.

Date & time

Thursday, April 2nd 2026
16:00 - 22:00 (talks start at 16:30)

Location

The Dataminded HQ in the historical centre of Leuven, at Vismarkt 17.

How was it

🎥 Watch selected sessions

A selection of sessions from State of Data 2026 is now available.

What we focused on

One evening to step back and look at what actually works.

State of Data brings together people who are building, running, and evolving data platforms and organisations to share real experiences, compare approaches, and challenge assumptions.

This year, we focus on three topics that keep coming back in every serious data conversation:

State of Data brings together people who are building, running, and evolving data platforms and organisations to share real experiences, compare approaches, and challenge assumptions.

This year, we focus on three topics that keep coming back in every serious data conversation:

1. Agentic AI

What does it take to move from demos to production? - From “Hello World” to production-ready AI - What value AI systems actually bring in practice - Why data foundations are often the real bottleneck - How to make “talk to your data” work in reality

3. EU digital sovereignity

What happens after the hyperscale era? - When cloud strategy becomes a constraint - Which workloads should move and which shouldn’t - What realistic options exist today in Europe - How to think beyond data residency

2. Data products at scale

How do you turn data into something the business can actually use? - How organisations accelerate time-to-value with data products - Why data products bridge the gap between data and business - The role of data contracts, context, and ownership Customer cases (Brussels Airlines, Luminus) were shared live during the event.

The Reality Check

A discussion focused on real-world experience: what worked, what didn’t, and what teams would do differently today. Panel speakers: Koen Van Aken — Data Manager, Swift Nassim Haddad — Head of DT Artificial Intelligence, UCB Erik Valgaeren — TMT Partner, Stibbe Tom Delesie — Manager Data and Analytics, Atlas Copco Moderated by Maja D’Hondt

The Reality Check

What to expect

One day to step back and see the bigger picture

The State of Data event by Dataminded `brings together data leaders and practitioners once a year to compare notes, challenge assumptions, and figure out what's next, together.

State of Data is an ongoing conversation.