Connection with the Community

Anyone walking through the exhibition hall quickly realized that Data Expo wasn’t just about as many sales pitches as possible. The atmosphere was primarily one of sharing knowledge: meeting each other, running into old acquaintances, making new connections, and hearing how others deal with the same data and AI challenges.

In between substantive discussions, you could play a round of XL Jenga at Nippur, play a game of Pong at Xebia, and see Soverin’s pigeon mascot wandering the exhibition floor. Need a new profile picture? At Circle One, you could upgrade your LinkedIn profile on the spot with a professional portrait. At Conscia, the aroma of fresh stroopwafels greeted you as you approached, and at SUSE, visitors walked away a little later with a green chameleon plush toy tucked under their arm. Data—boring? Anyone who walked through the Jaarbeurs over these two days knows better.

Last year, we also worked hard on a new initiative: Woman @ Data Expo. At booth #5 at the Jaarbeurs, ten women’s communities joined forces to attract more women to tech and retain them in the sector.

“We want to connect women in IT and give voice to women’s perspectives. Men simply think differently; they’re wired differently. We all benefit from a better reflection of society in IT products.”

Carina de Vries | Dutch Women in Tech

In addition to all the inspiration, interactive activities, and great conversations at the booths, there was, above all, a tremendous amount to learn. And learning was exactly what the Data Expo audience wanted. With an average of xx seats filled per session, the rooms were well-attended on both days.

The topics? They came straight from everyday practice. From storytelling and setting up pilots more efficiently to context, AI agents, governance, legal, and compliance. Not just talking about what data and AI might one day mean, but showing what’s already happening today, the challenges organizations are facing, and—perhaps even more importantly—what we can learn from them.