There was overwhelming interest in the 120+ lectures. The use cases of exhibitors together with their customers were particularly popular. In them, data providers and companies showed how AI and data are now intertwined with their business structure. This gave visitors a concrete picture of the impact of data and AI in practice.

Many exhibitors chose their own time slot this year and filled it as they saw fit. For example, Collibra showed how to unlock business value with data, Neo4j showed how a knowledge graph makes enterprise data AI-ready, and Springbok Agency talked about the efforts required to actually become AI-ready.

"Get to know each other and go into the fair to the companies that can help you," Frans Feldberg (VU professor) concluded his talk. And that was exactly where the strength of Data Expo lay: an exhibition floor full of knowledge, advice and inspiration, where exhibitors actively took visitors into the practice of data.

Exhibitors showed how their solutions make a real difference. For example, at DTX you could win a barbecue with the prompt that burns the most tokens, Bearpoint brought your sketch to life and Dataddo surprised with a magician. There was also a lot of buzz at Optimizely, where visitors could use AI to create their ultimate scent. In addition, many more booths showcased creative, interactive and hands-on experiences, making data tangible for visitors.

Van Mossel Automotive Group is the largest car dealer in the Netherlands and Belgium and now operates in seven countries. With more than 500 branches and over 10,000 employees, the company is among the absolute top in the industry. Through organic growth and strategic acquisitions, Van Mossel continues to develop at a rapid pace. An impressive achievement, but also quite a challenge.