BBC 2025 Agenda

This workshop illustrates hands-on, best-of-breed analysis techniques that can work together seamlessly to produce superior business solutions. Watch how a process model transforms when business rules and decisions are added. Work through a case study iteratively to demonstrate how business rules, decisions and vocabulary can dramatically improve your business requirements.

Do you have data quality problems? This workshop shows how business concepts and business rules can help you get out of the perpetual problem of creating complex logic to compensate for your data issues. Make your models come to life. Prepare your designers to develop intelligent screen designs, work out smart usage scenarios, and create test scripts. Enable your business to achieve true business agility, pinpoint customization, and world-class quality in customer service.

Learn How To …

• Simplify business process models by an order of magnitude or more.
• Be a true partner in business innovation.
• Use a Why Button to put business knowledge at workers’ fingertips.
• Understand how business vocabulary and business rules can fix data quality problems

Project success is only possible when stakeholders speak the same business language. The Business Terms Model (BTM), also known as the “Conceptual Data Model” (which is not the preferred term and we’ll explain why), captures a Common Business Language for a particular initiative. With more and more data being created and used, combined with intense competition, strict regulations, and rapid-spread AI and social media, the financial, liability, and credibility stakes have never been higher. Therefore, the need for a Common Business Language has never been greater.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Appreciate the value of a Common Business Language and how a data model can visually depict terms with precision.
• Position the BTM within the context of the Align > Refine > Design framework.
• Read and build a BTM, and address three challenges before they occur.

In an age of increasing complexity where time is precious, building meaningful connections with stakeholders is becoming more challenging. Business Analysts must find new innovative ways to engage their audience. In recent years the concepts of ‘Visual Thinking’ and ‘Sketchnoting’ have grown in popularity with many companies now starting to recognise the power of visualisation as a means of exploring complex problems, making information easier to retain and recall, generating ideas, creating engagement and so much more…

This hands-on workshop aims to provide BA’s with a practical introduction to Visual Thinking and Sketchnoting. It will explain what visual thinking is and why it is such a powerful tool for BA’s to capture the attention of their teams and stakeholders. Attendees will get a firm grounding in the building blocks of visual thinking with practical exercises that will help to build confidence and overcome ICD (“I can’t draw”) syndrome! 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand what visual thinking is and how it can help BA’s in their work
• Learn how to create a Business Analysis visual dictionary (no art training necessary!)
• Be able to apply principles of design, structure & layout
• Gain useful tips and tricks to help get started with ‘sketchnoting’ (visual note-taking that helps improve understanding and retention)
• Understand the tools of the trade and be given useful references to allow delegates to further explore this exciting field!

Prioritization, or more specifically deciding what you will and will not build, is a key decision teams and organizations make on a regular basis.

You could even say that it is the most important activity that product people, including business analysts, do. Yet many organizations use ineffective approaches to prioritization that adds more confusion than clarity, and leaves teams focusing on who screams loudest.

Additionally, prioritization approaches vary widely depending on your context. You take a different approach to deciding what you do when you manage an excruciatingly long backlog than when you’re building software to support a new process.

Come to this workshop to learn some key prioritization principles, experience some simple, yet powerful prioritization techniques, and engage with others to figure out the proper prioritization techniques for your context.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Learn key prioritization principles that enables focus and clarity.
• Experience simple, yet powerful prioritization techniques that you can use back at work the week following BBC.
• Engage with others to figure out the proper prioritization techniques for your context.

The term “elicitation” means to bring out, or expose. The requirements of a project are often hidden and must be elicited to be understood, analyzed, and validated by the stakeholders.

To act as a Business Analyst, the professional must be able to obtain this information from different elicitation techniques. Many of those will involve a complexity of communication and consideration of cultural, behavioral, and psychological factors.

This practical workshop applies the techniques of Stakeholder Analysis and Interviews for a study case of improvement in recyclable waste collection in the city of São Paulo. Attendees assume the role of a company hired by the city hall to investigate the context, understand the expected outcomes, and map the requirements for a successful project. The instructor makes use of theatrical techniques of role-playing characters to simulate interview and meeting situations.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Conduct investigative elicitation techniques.
• Understand effective communication as an essential competence for elicitation.
• Experience and overcome communication problems with different interviewees’ profiles in case studies with characters played by the instructor.

Get your hands dirty with data! Come to this tutorial for a hands-on workshop experience where you will get a dataset, some tools, and time to explore the world of data analysis.

We will explore SQL, Business Intelligence, and AI tools as means to analyze your data. There is no need to come in with prior knowledge of the tools – we will provide training during the session. Additionally, we will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each type of solution and provide some best practices, tips, and tricks for using each tool.

This workshop will have demonstrations, guided practice, and supervised analysis, so be sure to come with your laptop, charger, and curiosity!  

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Gain hands-on knowledge of data analysis tools such as SQL, Business Intelligence, and AI
• Discuss when each of these tools is appropriate to use
• Get practical tips, tricks, and best practices for analyzing daTA

We want to live in a world in which AI and Machine Learning propel our workforce’s productivity and elevate the customer experience in our businesses. We can, and we will…but how?

Join our workshop to embark on an insightful journey through the core concepts of AI, NLP, and ML. Led by an experienced AI/ML expert, this ‘AI Crash Course’ will unravel the strengths, flaws, limitations, and capabilities of these technologies.

By the end of the workshop, you’ll not only understand the fundamentals but also gain practical strategies and tools to drive your business transformation through the effective integration of AI technologies and Change Management. Be prepared to unlock new possibilities and shape the future of your organization with AI.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Dive into an “AI Crash Course” to gain a comprehensive understanding of fundamental concepts underpinning AI/NLP/ML.
• Learn about the strengths, flaws, limitations and capabilities of AI technologies.
• Understand the workforce’s consequential fears with AI technologies and equip team for the digital transformation.

One of the biggest challenges with driving change or solving problems is not understanding your user; and how change will affect them.  Am I asking the correct questions? Do my stakeholders know or understand what it is they want? Do I even have the right stakeholder? These, and many more questions can complicate our thought process as we aim to collect the best data possible. The last thing we want is a disappointing outcome. Through  the use of Lean and Design Thinking principles, we will immerse ourselves into an exciting and highly interactive on-your-feet-experience demonstrating the key elements to understanding our users. We will identify their processes, preferences and needs through the techniques of User Personas, Empathy Maps, Current State Mapping and User Needs & Enablements. At the end of the session, not only will you have made new friends, but you will be empowered with the skills to drive effective change within your projects and further advance how thinking differently can lead to better results!

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand why Personas and Empathy are essential to problem solving
• Identify waste within your user processes
• Advancing User Needs into Enablements

With all the advancements in data and AI technology, companies are getting more and more comfortable giving employees – and sometimes even customers – access to insight-generating and decision-making tools. How do we know if these tools are returning the right information? How can we give these tools, and therefore the users, the best chance of success?

It all begins with setting the right foundation – ensuring that vocabulary is consistent so that we can all speak the same language. We then need to agree upon rules, which lead to clean data and explicit knowledge, which is the foundation for good inputs into AI.

In this presentation, Vanessa will discuss how to build a stable foundation to enable strong insights, focusing on implementation practices, cultural adoption, and tips and tricks that she has learned over the years.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand how to implement more consistent vocabulary, stronger rules, cleaner data, and more reliable AI
• Learn why stable foundations lead to better outcomes for data and AI
• Gain implementation tips and tricks

In an era of never-ending business transformation, change agents face the challenge of maintaining a stable foundation amidst continuous pivots in the marketplace. Sasha will emphasize the need for both strength and resilience in today’s business environment. She will discuss the critical personal and organizational skill of ‘keeping a cool head’ and how robust Business Architecture tools can provide the necessary framework for navigating change effectively. Learn how to balance business agility with stability, ensuring your organization continues to excel operationally despite ever-shifting trends and challenges. Discover how to become the calm center in the storm of change.

What you will learn in this session:

• Discover how Business Architecture tools help navigate both internal and external disruptions with a “cool head”
• Turn constant organizational pivots into structured, sustainable change using proven frameworks
• Build organizational resilience that balances agile transformation with operational excellence

Do you have a great idea for a product, but you aren’t sure how much it will cost and how to pitch it? Accurate product estimation is a critical aspect of successful project planning and execution. This session will guide you through the entire estimation process, starting with product discovery and culminating in a reliable business case. We will walk you through the planning and execution of a great discovery phase and provide examples of methods and deliverables. You’ll learn how to build and break down the first release into user-centric epics and features, ensuring every development consideration is covered in your estimates. We’ll also explore how discovery work impacts the accuracy of delivery forecasts and tie it all together with a business case to demonstrate business value. Gain insights and practical tools to enhance your confidence in product estimation and ensure stakeholder buy-in.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Execute a powerful product discovery
• Define critical first release product features
• Analyze your team size and first release costs

Are you leadership material? If you are finding yourself questioning why you have been overlooked for promotions or job offers, it has likely nothing to do with your talent, accomplishments or skillsets. Executive presence is the bridge that takes you from talented to triumphant. Executive presence is the telegraph that signals to people that you are in charge or deserve to be perceived as a person of influence. In this presentation, we consider the 3 components of executive presence that make you leadership material. We present ideas that will help you advance in your careers and exude qualities of a true leader. This presentation is grounded in reality and based on corporate research, nation wide surveys and real data from technology companies who have performed extensive work in this field.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understanding of executive presence
• Analysis of what it takes to go from talented to triumphant
• Evaluation of the components of executive presence

Curious about the profound impact of AI on your world and its transformative role in the workplace? Business Analysts, this is an engaging session designed specifically for you! Join Rochelle as she delves into a fascinating real-life case study of an innovative AI solution developed by a forward-thinking startup. You’ll uncover the intricacies of AI implementation, exploring the various stages from conceptualization to execution, and discover how business analysts play a crucial role in ensuring successful outcomes at each step of the process.

In addition, Rochelle will discuss the evolving landscape of AI technologies and the unique opportunities they present for professionals in the field. You’ll learn about the essential skills that are in demand and how you can leverage your existing analytical abilities to seamlessly transition into the exciting realm of AI technology.

Don’t miss this invaluable opportunity to expand your knowledge, enhance your skill set, and stay ahead of the curve.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand the landscape of developing AI solution within a start-up company
• Gain skills required to succeed as a Business Analyst in implementing an AI solution
• Discover transferable Business Analysis skills that is essential to AI solution delivery

How do you achieve different results? By thinking differently of course! But how do you think differently? Albert Einstein once said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them”. As business analysts, consultants, team leads, product owners, and managers, we all have a need to effectively problem solve. Lean and Design Thinking methodologies can enable you and your teams to think outside the box. (differently). Buzzwords like “Lean UX” or “Lean Start-Up” are commonly searched on a Google. These methodologies have common tenets that are essential in pursuing solutions through new, possibly more unconventional, methods. During the session, a case study will be reviewed and together, we will examine how to successfully use these principles. We will also leave time for Q&A to cover specific questions related to high-impact techniques.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Tenets of Lean/Design Thinking
• How these methodologies led to better outcomes
• Learn Hands-On High-Impact Techniques

Are you wondering if business architecture is for you? Navigating into business architecture by way of business analysis can be a natural progression for some, but it is not for everyone.

In this session, Breanne will describe what business architecture is, differences it has from business analysis and also show some skills and mindset needed to help you answer if business architecture is for you. She will also review her journey from business analysis into business architecture covering why as well as lessons learned and give you some pointers on how to get started.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand key differences and similarities between BA and business architecture
• Discover lessons learned from making the shift from BA into business architecture
• Uncover key questions to ask yourself if you are curious if business architecture is for you

In today’s dynamic business environment, the role of a business analyst has evolved beyond traditional problem-solving. Business analysts are increasingly expected to act as trusted business partners and advisors, driving strategic decisions and delivering value across the corporation.

Do you know what your executives need? Where are positioning yourself?

This session will explore key areas and approaches in positioning oneself within their company or client’s organization.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• How to be your Executives’ Trusted Advisor
• Understand the Role of a Trusted Business Partner or Strategic Advisor
• Apply Strategic Thinking and Business Acumen
• Enhance Communication and Relationship-Building

In 1950, science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov wrote a series of short stories that imagined the development of “positronic” robots with artificial intelligence. The explosion of the everyday use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has changed life as we know in society, so much so that we cannot image our lives without it. Yet in Asimov’s stories, humanity wrestled with the moral implications of that technology. In today, we face those same struggles. As analysts, developers and architects, we have a professional obligation to ensure that solutions we develop, especially those involving AI and Machine Learning, promote benefits to society and do not cause harm. Just like the Jedi guarding the Stars Wars universe, we should be guided by justice and equity in the pursuit of knowledge and extending capabilities through responsible AI use and application. In this session Joy will explore impacts of AI citing cases, contrast the responsible approaches to AI, and encourage accountability.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Identify the various applications of AI
• Recognize intended and unintended impacts
• Compare responsible approaches to AI developments and uses

In this session, you’ll learn how to break down strategic goals into OKRs and strategies, ensuring alignment with your organization’s value creation. You’ll explore how value is enabled through value streams and capabilities, defining the architecture that supports your strategic objectives. Henrik will also dive into elicitation and prioritization, using value maps as the foundation for requirements elicitation, enabling you to focus on the most impactful areas. Finally, you’ll gain insights into phased capability uplifts, ensuring an agile continuous improvement and strategic alignment throughout the process.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Breaking down goals to OKR:s, identify value and define strategies to realize the value
• The architecture of value: How value is enabled via value streams and capabilties
• Value elicitation and prioritization: How to use the value map as stating point for requirements elicitiation

With technology evolving at a breakneck speed it is becoming ever more challenging to decipher between useful and wasteful uses of that technology. It has become all to common for solutions to be imposed on problems rather than being designed to address them.  What is needed is a healthy balance between future thinking and tangible business value.  It is imperative to be aware of what the future looks like but we have to be cautious in how we get there.

Working with cutting edge technology paints a unique conundrum. While it can be exciting with obvious benefits, experts are scarce and limited case studies can make it difficult to navigate. It is easy to build and design when a simple google search or phone call to a colleague returns an abundance of information.

This presentation will harness the speakers experience working on large, multi year, digital transformation projects and focus on the key skills and techniques that have technology to deliver the value that is needed.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• How to understand the importance of balancing future thinking with practical business value
• How to lead effectively in an environment with rapidly evolving technology
• How to enable innovation

Join us for a dynamic discussion on the evolving role of business analysts in today’s fast-paced business environment. Share your insights on how to position yourself as a trusted advisor, enhance communication, and overcome decision-making blocks to drive strategic decisions and deliver value across your organization.

Participants are welcomed onto “Corporate Island” and formed into tribes. In the distance, Exile Island can be seen. The event opens with Survival Training. Tribes share what they already know about skills used to survive in the corporate jungle — stakeholder engagement, intelligent disobedience, conflict resolution, etc. Each team will then be assigned a topic and given a “luxury” — a packet of information on their topic. Tribes must prepare and present a summary of the topic to the Tribal Council. Following the Council meeting, each tribe will be given a challenging situation to address. The challenge will requires application of what was learned during Survival Training. Tribes must work together to develop a solution to the challenge and design an interactive way to show the other tribes how they would address this challenge. Performances will be assessed and scored by the Tribal Council. Will your tribe remain on Corporate Island?  Or will you be sent to Exile Island?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Learn key corporate survival skills such as stakeholder engagement, intelligent disobedience, and conflict resolution
• Apply learned survival skills to common challenges in the corporate world
• Address the challenge with a compelling recommendation; the tribal council will be scoring you!

The Immersive Sessions are spread across three session slots and as interactive group exercises it is compulsory to attend all three session slots, in order to complete the exercise and be fair to your fellow participants. No dipping in and out!

Start/End Times:

• Part 1: 1:30-2:00 pm
• Part 2: 2:10-2:50 pm
• Part 3: 3:00-3:30 pm

Stop letting complex data hold your business back.

While 90% of U.S. executives believe their customers highly trust their companies, only 30% of consumers actually do (PwC ’24 Trust Survey). This disconnect reflects an ongoing business challenge: how to harvest actionable intelligence and actually act on it?

When over 50% of consumers will leave after only one bad experience (Zendesk ’24 CX Trends Report), loss in trust not only lowers LTV but also undermines the viability of a business.

This breakthrough session shows you how to transform overwhelming information into clear, powerful decisions that build customer trust and business growth. Through real-world examples, we’ll demonstrate how effective communication, simplified processes, predictive analytics, modern decisioning technologies, and practical empathy can uncover opportunities for successful customer engagement.

Learn how to harvest the true potential of your data and harness the hope that lies in every data point. 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Spot and assist at-risk customers before they leave
• Uncover the benefits of empathy as a mechanism to client lifetime value
• Reduce compliance violations by 85% through automated risk screening
• Turn business users into data-powered decision makers
• Break down data silos that slow you down

If your team uses, or claims to use, an agile approach you’ve probably been asked to lead, or at least play a key role in, backlog refinement.

Backlog refinement is the often misunderstood activity in agile approaches that business analysts are uniquely qualified to excel at.

As long as you understand what it’s intended to accomplish.

Hint: “writing stories” isn’t it.

Join Kent McDonald to find out how to up your backlog refinement game and be the product person everyone wants on their team.

In this session you’ll learn

• The true purpose of backlog refinement
• Tips for effective backlog refinement
• Techniques for getting your team the information they need to build the right thing.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Learn how to maintain a manageable backlog
• Discover how to keep your team focused on the right things to build
• Collaborate with your team to identify information they need to build that right thing

Facilitation presence is the underrated superpower behind every great co-design session. It’s how you hold a room, guide tough conversations, and make people feel heard and inspired to contribute. In this dynamic session, you’ll learn what facilitation presence really looks like—and how AI can help you assess and grow this critical skill.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Define facilitation presence and why it matters for business analysts and design facilitators
• Identify real-world behaviors that build or break presence in co-design settings
• Use genAI to assess your facilitation presence and create a targeted learning plan

Participants are welcomed onto “Corporate Island” and formed into tribes. In the distance, Exile Island can be seen. The event opens with Survival Training. Tribes share what they already know about skills used to survive in the corporate jungle — stakeholder engagement, intelligent disobedience, conflict resolution, etc. Each team will then be assigned a topic and given a “luxury” — a packet of information on their topic. Tribes must prepare and present a summary of the topic to the Tribal Council. Following the Council meeting, each tribe will be given a challenging situation to address. The challenge will requires application of what was learned during Survival Training. Tribes must work together to develop a solution to the challenge and design an interactive way to show the other tribes how they would address this challenge. Performances will be assessed and scored by the Tribal Council. Will your tribe remain on Corporate Island?  Or will you be sent to Exile Island?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Learn key corporate survival skills such as stakeholder engagement, intelligent disobedience, and conflict resolution
• Apply learned survival skills to common challenges in the corporate world
• Address the challenge with a compelling recommendation; the tribal council will be scoring you!

The Immersive Sessions are spread across three session slots and as interactive group exercises it is compulsory to attend all three session slots, in order to complete the exercise and be fair to your fellow participants. No dipping in and out!

Start/End Times:

• Part 1: 1:30-2:00 pm
• Part 2: 2:10-2:50 pm
• Part 3: 3:00-3:30 pm

Replacing a core application with a custom-built software package is a challenging task requiring careful planning, communication and solid C-Suite support. Success hinges on three key steps:

1. Understand Requirements and Define the MVP: Thoroughly grasp the business needs to identify the Minimum Viable Product (MVP), ensuring essential features are prioritized for a quicker launch and a solid foundation for future enhancements.
2. Review Requirements for Clarity: Regularly review and clarify requirements with stakeholders to avoid misinterpretations and costly revisions, keeping the project on track.
3. Re-evaluate Requirements and Manage Change: Continuously adapt to evolving requirements through effective change management, maintaining alignment with project goals and ensuring open communication.

By focusing on these areas, attendees of this discussion will help organizations to successfully replace a core application, ensuring the new software meets business needs and delivers value.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand requirements, what’s MVP?
• Review requirements for level of understanding
• Re-evaluate Requirements and Manage Change

In an ever-changing landscape it is more important than ever to engage the organization by effectively leveraging collaboration. Sustainable growth and resilience rest on the ability to excel at bringing the business together and having cohesive and innovative approaches to problem solving and overcoming challenges. Being able to maximize overall performance and strategic alignment can be difficult due to traditional silo’s which are barriers to change. Communication styles combined with behavioral tendencies can make it difficult to break down these barriers. Julia will discuss communication strategies to bring the organization together to work towards a common vision, foster an open dialogue, and minimize resistance to change. It will also be discussed how individual behaviors change the impact and reception of communication strategies. The goal is to integrate business units by offering a clear view of what each level of the organization needs to effectively diminish silos.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Participants will be able to identify gaps in communication, symptoms of organizational silo’s, and what break downs in communication look like.
• Participants will leave with actionable techniques to address these barriers to change.
• Participants will learn strategies to maintain a more collaborative organization that is cohesive, innovative, and geared towards reducing silo’s.

Participants are welcomed onto “Corporate Island” and formed into tribes. In the distance, Exile Island can be seen. The event opens with Survival Training. Tribes share what they already know about skills used to survive in the corporate jungle — stakeholder engagement, intelligent disobedience, conflict resolution, etc. Each team will then be assigned a topic and given a “luxury” — a packet of information on their topic. Tribes must prepare and present a summary of the topic to the Tribal Council. Following the Council meeting, each tribe will be given a challenging situation to address. The challenge will requires application of what was learned during Survival Training. Tribes must work together to develop a solution to the challenge and design an interactive way to show the other tribes how they would address this challenge. Performances will be assessed and scored by the Tribal Council. Will your tribe remain on Corporate Island?  Or will you be sent to Exile Island?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Learn key corporate survival skills such as stakeholder engagement, intelligent disobedience, and conflict resolution
• Apply learned survival skills to common challenges in the corporate world
• Address the challenge with a compelling recommendation; the tribal council will be scoring you!

The Immersive Sessions are spread across three session slots and as interactive group exercises it is compulsory to attend all three session slots, in order to complete the exercise and be fair to your fellow participants. No dipping in and out!

Start/End Times:

• Part 1: 1:30-2:00 pm
• Part 2: 2:10-2:50 pm
• Part 3: 3:00-3:30 pm

I hate to break it to you, but Business Processes are alive and well despite what some may be saying – ignore processes at your own risk. In the days of picky customers and their diminishing loyalty, we have to connect the dots to assure that everything works together to deliver on intentions and expectations. Our work (i.e. processes) must be traceable to our strategy so that our investments in change will be fruitful. In this lightning-fast session, Roger will highlight the critical aspects of processes and their role in holding everything else together to assure outcomes as we employ digitalized solutions enriched by innovative AI capabilities.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Why processes still
• How digitalization and AI contribute to process design and performance
• The process for process 2.0

New to Generative AI? Curious what all the buzz is about?

Step into AI Playtime—a high-energy, hands-on session where you’ll discover the power of AI through experimentation, laughter, and a little friendly competition. This immersive experience is designed for AI beginners who are ready to get their hands dirty (in the best way!).

Join a team of fellow attendees and dive into an engaging, interactive case study where you’ll explore:

• How various AI tools can boost creativity and productivity
• How to create multimedia outputs using AI—like podcasts, videos, and even songs
• Surprising ways AI is already transforming industries today

Whether you’re cautious or curious, this session is your sandbox for safe, playful exploration. You’ll try real tools, tackle real scenarios, and see how AI could impact your work, your business, and your world.

• Collaborate with peers
• Experiment with emerging tech
• Compete in an AI-powered challenge
• Have fun while learning something truly game-changing

No experience? No problem.

Come with questions. Leave with insights, inspiration, and maybe even a few new friends.

Let’s play with AI—and imagine what’s possible.

Please bring your laptop for this session.

The Immersive Sessions are spread across three session slots and as interactive group exercises it is compulsory to attend all three session slots, in order to complete the exercise and be fair to your fellow participants. No dipping in and out!

Start/End Times:

Part 1: 1:30-2:00 pm
Part 2: 2:10-2:50 pm
Part 3: 3:00-3:30 pm

Build better corporate governance with the help of Kaizen consultants, using scalable no-code platforms like Kintone!

How many times have you answered ‘It depends’ when someone asks you a question? Why does it always depend? It depends on the information that forms the setting for an idea, an event, a statement, or a problem. This is a complex set of facts that describe the current state of a process, the facts of a situation and the desired outcome for a change. All these things are summarized in what we call context.

Context is essential to understand for business analysis professionals. Context is mentioned 188 times in the BABOK®. How can you understand context? There are many techniques that will unlock the context complexity and simplify understanding of the area that we need to study. Come and learn how to quickly use analysis to describe context.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Define context and it’s purpose in business analysis practice
• Learn how to apply visual techniques to simplify complex ideas
• Learn techniques to quickly understand complexity to focus your analysis work

The role of “business analyst” brings more questions than answers at NES. It’s not a role that is well understood or well socialized. It was so quietly implemented that it was several months before 4 BAs even knew each other were in the organization before they took a chance and got lunch as a group to talk all things BA. Nearly 3 years later and they have built a little Community of Practice, now with a group totaling 8. They’ve navigated project hurdles, influenced some matrixed reporting for project implementation, and have sold the value of Business Analysis enough to double their size.  The BAs of NES will share their journey and the value it has brought to their respective silos to have a small-but-mighty peer group in an organization that is learning to embrace and understand their role and the value they bring.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Appreciate the benefits of a BA Community of Practice.
• Empower learners to start their own COP to support each other in learning and development.
• Learn why it really doesn’t take a lot to build a COP.

The Hard Thing About OKRs

In the past few years interest in using OKRs to drive organizational performance has seen a resurgence thanks to thought leaders such as Marty Cagan, Jeff Patton, and Jeff Gotthelf. The struggle is real when it comes to OKR implementation in organizations of any substantial size. Confusion remains about what OKRs are, how they differ from KPIs, and what leaders need to do to empower their teams to align to a strategy based on OKRs. This combination talk and workshop will discuss case studies and explore activities based on real world scenarios and examples from very large organizations that have struggled with implementing OKRs. It will also introduce a framework for thinking about strategy in a way that can feed your OKR implementation with helpful tools to take back to your organization. Throughout this session, participants will learn skills and thoughtful implementation approaches.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Identify a Business and a Product OKR
• Describe the Areas of Concern in Product Thinking
• Write a Product OKR

Come see what happens when curiosity meets cutting-edge technology. In this lively showcase session, participants from the AI Playtime experience will present the innovative solutions they created using generative AI tools to address a variety of real-world business challenges.

From creative prompts to clever applications, explore the impressive range of outputs that highlight AI’s potential across different tools. The session will conclude with an open discussion and reflection on the use of AI—what worked well, what didn’t, and how participants felt about engaging with these tools. Whether you’re an AI enthusiast or just getting started, this session offers fresh inspiration and practical insights into the possibilities of working with AI.

Agents won’t define the next wave of AI — it will be shaped by the infrastructure that makes them usable, scalable, and domain-relevant. As AI becomes more accessible, differentiation won’t come from building another solution. It will come from orchestrating secure, high-quality data, integrating human expertise, and enabling real-world workflows that drive outcomes — not just outputs.

Think of AI infrastructure not just as cloud compute but as the ecosystem: accelerators, domain-specific toolkits, secure data pipelines, orchestration layers, and customizable LLM marketplaces. This is where real value lives — and companies with deep operational expertise can create durable moats. The future of AI is practical, domain-based, and workflow-first. And it’s already being built.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Appreciate how ChatGPT can do impressive things without necessarily building a better bot.
• Understand how the real breakthrough created by GenAI is making the entire operation smarter and more personalized.
• Apply use cases to show how GenAI can allow for fewer reasons to call customer service.

Value Streams are key artifacts that a BA will model for a business. Rather than just focus on the use of enabling Capabilities or implementing Processes as the constituent elements of Value Stream Stages, which is like arguing whether light is a wave or a particle when it behaves as both, a deeper understanding can be had by also focusing on Outcomes.  Outcomes are states of Business Objects (key things of interest to the business), which are needed or produced by enabling Capabilities or implementing Processes.  This set of relationships is what holds a BA model together, allowing other forms of business descriptive knowledge to be cross-referenceable. However, Outcomes are often given short shrift in the construction of Value Streams, which is unfortunate as “Outcome is King”! This session will explore the deeper semantics of Value Streams that have emerged as a result of the OMG’s new BA Core Metamodel (BACM) standard enhanced with relevant concepts from both the BABOK and BIZBOK.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand role of Business Objects, Capabilities, Processes, and Outcomes in OMG’s BA Core Metamodel (BACM)
• Appreciate how essential the modeling of Business Objects and Outcomes correctly is to BA modeling
• Rethink how to model Value Streams by checking consistency of Outcomes for affected Business Objects

“Without strategy, execution is aimless. Without execution, strategy is useless” —Morris Chang 

Healthy and sustainable change requires both. Unfortunately, we live in an instant gratification, get there yesterday, it will change tomorrow anyway world. How do you gain buy in to engage strategically with rapid execution? Join Lora and Rachel for a session where they will share with you why strategy is more important than ever, how to build excitement for it and perform the necessary engagement with efficiency and follow through.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• What does it mean to change strategically
• Why is strategy critical even more so today
• How to execute strategy with efficiency and excitement

Experience common business analysis situations and explore the tools and techniques that enable you to facilitate great outcomes regardless the challenges that may emerge.

Come enjoy a safe place to practice applying different approaches to the many types of stakeholder “characters” you might encounter in your analysis journeys. From those overly eager and passionate about certain elements to those that swing from uninterested to feeling like they’re trying to challenge your every move.

Dive in and be facilitated by fellow passionate business analysis professionals where *you* guide yourself on how you can engage stakeholders at all levels, in different environments, and organizational structures.

Immerse yourself in a setting where you as the participant get the opportunity to learn and focus on situations relevant to you.

Fasten your seatbelts, come have some fun, and enjoy the ride facilitating to greatness!

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Confidence and keenness to facilitate yourself the very next day
• Able to engage teams before, during, and after any session with effective approaches
• Experience tactics and techniques to facilitate from small groups to larger audiences

The Immersive Sessions are spread across three session slots and as interactive group exercises it is compulsory to attend all three session slots, in order to complete the exercise and be fair to your fellow participants. No dipping in and out!

Start/End Times:

• Part 1: 8:10-8:40 am
• Part 2: 8:50-9:30 am
• Part 3: 9:40-10:20 am

As a business analyst consultant moving from organization to organization or project to project, it is essential to be flexible, engage stakeholders, and demonstrate how you bring value. The key to success is onboarding quickly and building trust with stakeholders. This short presentation will give you practice tips on how to join a new project and confidently become a trusted member of the team while driving value for the organization.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Demonstrating Value Fast
• Embracing Change
• Essential Skills

Many of the disagreements that become elevated to conflict often are the result of misunderstandings and miscommunications. This session will look at some of the typical causes and different ways of dealing with conflict on a project.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understanding potential causes of conflict
• How individual personalities play into conflict
• How to promote servant leadership to team members

As a business analysis professional, you have more influence over your career growth than you might think. Instead of waiting for opportunities to come to you, it’s time to take a proactive approach. In this session, we’ll explore practical strategies to build essential skills, stay ahead of industry trends, and create a strong professional brand. You’ll gain actionable insights on how to position yourself for new opportunities, expand your influence, and take control of your professional journey with confidence.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Understand that your career is your responsibility
• Develop a plan to prepare you for career growth
• Learn how important it is to build and leverage your network

Experience common business analysis situations and explore the tools and techniques that enable you to facilitate great outcomes regardless the challenges that may emerge.

Come enjoy a safe place to practice applying different approaches to the many types of stakeholder “characters” you might encounter in your analysis journeys. From those overly eager and passionate about certain elements to those that swing from uninterested to feeling like they’re trying to challenge your every move.

Dive in and be facilitated by fellow passionate business analysis professionals where *you* guide yourself on how you can engage stakeholders at all levels, in different environments, and organizational structures.

Immerse yourself in a setting where you as the participant get the opportunity to learn and focus on situations relevant to you.

Fasten your seatbelts, come have some fun, and enjoy the ride facilitating to greatness!

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Confidence and keenness to facilitate yourself the very next day
• Able to engage teams before, during, and after any session with effective approaches
• Experience tactics and techniques to facilitate from small groups to larger audiences

The Immersive Sessions are spread across three session slots and as interactive group exercises it is compulsory to attend all three session slots, in order to complete the exercise and be fair to your fellow participants. No dipping in and out!

Start/End Times:

• Part 1: 8:10-8:40 am
• Part 2: 8:50-9:30 am
• Part 3: 9:40-10:20 am

a-nat-o-my,  A study of the structure or internal workings of something.

Forty-seven percent of Agile products do not fully meet the business needs, and eleven percent of Agile projects fail.

Many believe they know how to write a user story, but they don’t. The mis-aligned user story results in stakeholder miscommunication, developer rework, and overall poor product quality.  Let Dagmar show you how to craft a successful, high-quality user story!

In this session, let’s learn:

• The intention behind the Agile Manifesto Values (it does not mean “no” process or “no” documentation!).
• The major cause for Agile project failure.
• To recognize a business rule from a requirement, and how write each.
• How user story components are related.
• Review an aligned user story.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Writing high-quality user stories
• Writing high-quality business rules

Business Architecture is attracting professionals from many backgrounds with a variety of levels of experience for good reasons. There is a never-ending emphasis on transformation due to digitalization, new business models, shrinking time in market, and new capabilities such as AI that are driving new products, services, and new ways of working. Business Analysts want to go higher and wider. Enterprise Architects want to understand business drivers before launching expensive technology implementations. Strategy leaders want to see their great plans trace to real solutions implementation sooner. Those coming to the table will have disparate qualifications, education and expertise but they all must work together to architect better and faster multi-dimensional results with lower risk in a world of growing complexity.

For those coming to the profession it means that some new skills will be needed. This session will lay out a competency framework for Business Architects at the beginning of the Business Architecture journey and also for those striving to advance to senior leadership levels. It is based on a year long effort to articulate what’s needed by a small group of respected industry leaders. Join, learn and help contribute to the definition of what is needed to grow as a Business Architect.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• The competencies so far
• The levels of Business Architecture maturity and needed competencies
• Contribute to the knowledge needed in an open discussion forum

Meredith works for MERS of Michigan, a small organization that partners with those who serve Michigan communities to provide services that support a secure retirement. In line with the strategic objective to Make it Easy to work with MERS, and a relatively new “cloud first” position, MERS is migrating its CRM system to the cloud and responding to staff feedback about their CRM system while applying business architecture principles. Sasha was engaged last summer to guide this initiative and provide architecture expertise.  In this interactive presentation, Sasha and Meredith will show you how we are:

• Architecting a slice of our business by narrowing our scope to value streams, capabilities, processes, and information supported by our CRM functionalities
• Engaging business leaders, sponsors, and stakeholders as champions for business architecture by showing that we will migrate a CRM that better supports their business needs
• “Right-sizing” business architecture principles to deliver results
• Preparing to replicate our learnings to continue to build out our business architecture assets

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand how to engage leadership in business architecture
• Apply business architecture techniques for short-term results
• Use system transformation as a catalyst for process change

Experience common business analysis situations and explore the tools and techniques that enable you to facilitate great outcomes regardless the challenges that may emerge.

Come enjoy a safe place to practice applying different approaches to the many types of stakeholder “characters” you might encounter in your analysis journeys. From those overly eager and passionate about certain elements to those that swing from uninterested to feeling like they’re trying to challenge your every move.

Dive in and be facilitated by fellow passionate business analysis professionals where *you* guide yourself on how you can engage stakeholders at all levels, in different environments, and organizational structures.

Immerse yourself in a setting where you as the participant get the opportunity to learn and focus on situations relevant to you.

Fasten your seatbelts, come have some fun, and enjoy the ride facilitating to greatness!

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Confidence and keenness to facilitate yourself the very next day
• Able to engage teams before, during, and after any session with effective approaches
• Experience tactics and techniques to facilitate from small groups to larger audiences

The Immersive Sessions are spread across three session slots and as interactive group exercises it is compulsory to attend all three session slots, in order to complete the exercise and be fair to your fellow participants. No dipping in and out!

Start/End Times:

• Part 1: 8:10-8:40 am
• Part 2: 8:50-9:30 am
• Part 3: 9:40-10:20 am

Since the turn of the century, organizations have tried a variety of ways to make better use of the software they use to run their operations. This is especially the case for tech enabled companies in industries such as insurance, financial services, retail, healthcare, and government. In order to build the right software in the right way, these organizations try to emulate the ways of working of tech companies who build software as their main activity. This adoption of the product model introduces “product people” to internally used software and provides an opportunity for business analysts to make substantial contributions. In this 20/20 insight talk, Kent McDonald, introduces the product model, describes “product people” and explains the relevance for business analysts.

This 20 minute presentation will be followed by an open discussion.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Learn how tech enabled organizations use the product model to build the right software the right way
• Understand how business analysts can be identified as “product people”
• Discover the opportunities that the product model presents for business analysis professionals

As enterprises embrace Generative AI, a subtle shift is underway, where LLMs are giving way to their smaller and nimbler counterparts. Join Pierre and Swami as they introduce Small Language Models (SLMs) – a cost-effective alternative for business professionals that offers better data security, privacy, and accuracy. Based on real-life scenarios, they present an optimal SLM solution approach, the advantages driving their adoption, the key differences to LLMs, and how they can be orchestrated as part of powerful agentic AI solutions. With a collection of use cases, they show how business analysts can contribute their collective skills and knowledge to fine-tune the SLM continuously. Pierre and Swami also show how SLMs benefit business analysts – from improved requirement gathering to test case development, as well as better decision support and client interactions.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Keeping abreast of current trends in Generative AI
• Understanding the unique benefits of Small Language Models
• Discovering where Small Language Models readily bring business value

In a fast-paced business environment, where employees are constantly bombarded with information, capturing attention has become increasingly difficult.

Leveraging time-tested storytelling techniques made popular in movies, TV, books, and other media, this course will teach you how to cut through the noise and create clear, actionable, and persuasive messages that resonate with your audience and drive results, no matter the medium or the distance.

Attendees will examine the science of storytelling, discovering how it connects and engages with audiences we aim to educate, motivate, inspire, and influence. They will be equipped with a practical framework to identify, outline, and craft their own business stories backed by real-life examples.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• The Science Behind Story
• The Heart of a Story: Tension and the Stakes
• Using the Hero’s Journey Storytelling Framework

Financial analysis can seem daunting, especially if you’re ‘not a numbers person’. But don’t worry! In this power talk, Laura will demystify the cost/benefit analysis element of the financial analysis technique using real-world examples. She’ll walk through several scenarios, comparing costs and benefits to make informed business decisions. No jargon, just practical insights.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Gain practical skills to compile and compare costs vs. benefits.
• Learn to balance costs against financial and other benefits for informed decision-making.
• Acquire tools to effectively use cost-benefit analysis in business decision-making.

Interviewing is a key technique to elicit information from stakeholders on projects. Whether a single stakeholder or a group, knowing how to conduct a professional interview will get us the information and data we need to create requirements, develop processes, and do our other work. The more our stakeholders can trust in our skills, the more information they will contribute. We all know of excellent interviewers, but how do we do it ourselves? What kinds of questions do we ask and when, and for which stakeholder and scenario? Are there some question types that are better used with individuals than with groups? At the same time, how do we document responses accurately and efficiently? Learn the answers from Pamela Paterson, an IT business analyst and best-selling author.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Master the principles of effective stakeholder interviewing
• Differentiate between question types for different scenarios
• Recognize common challenges in stakeholder interviews and how to overcome them

In today’s data-driven world, the role of a Business Analyst (BA) is evolving rapidly. This session will explore how BAs can elevate their roles to become “proxy” Data Scientists, bridging the gap between business needs and data science capabilities. Attendees will learn how to leverage their existing skills in data analysis, business process improvement, and stakeholder communication to drive data-centric decision-making and add significant value to their organizations.

As organizations strive to harness the power of data to drive strategic decisions, there is a growing need for Business Analysts to develop competencies that bridge the gap between traditional business analysis and advanced data science techniques. This session will provide participants with the knowledge and tools to make this transition, ultimately empowering them to drive more informed and impactful business strategies. Through engaging in 3 case studies and call to action to make the transition to upskilling.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Identify Key Data Science Competencies
• Develop a Personalized Learning Plan
• Implement Data Science Techniques in Business Analysis for 3 Case Studies

As Technology rapidly advances, encroaching upon traditional cognitive tasks, the demand for human strategic thinking has never been more critical. This interactive presentation explores the urgent need to cultivate strategic mindsets within organizations to ensure continued relevance and success in a tech-driven world. We’ll explore why cultivating a strategic mindset in the current business landscape is crucial, particularly given current advancements in technology, workplace culture shifts, and business performance pressures.  Participants will gain practical, immediately actionable tools and approaches for developing their own strategic thinking and how to build this competency in their teams and create a culture that cultivates and celebrates strategic thinking.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Identify and overcome barriers to adopting a strategic mindset
• Apply methods to incorporate better and more strategic thinking into current key initiatives
• Use powerful questions to encourage strategic thought and create a culture that values long-term, innovative thinking

In an era of rapid technological advancements and shifting market dynamics, enterprises must be adept at navigating future trends and technologies to stay competitive and thrive. This talk will delve into the key trends shaping the future landscape, from AI and automation to digital maturity and sustainability. Halil will explore the concept of enterprise transformation, providing actionable insights and strategies to lead successful transformations. Attendees will learn how to harness emerging technologies, foster a culture of innovation, and align organizational goals to future-proof their businesses. Join Halil to unlock the potential of future readiness and drive impactful change in your organization.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Identifying Future Trends and Technologies
• Designing and Prioritizing Enterprise Transformation
• Applying Critical Success Factor

The future has arrived! What does good business analysis look like in the future? Using AI, business analysts can transform their organization’s processes, uncover deeper insights, automate repetitive tasks, and provide predictive recommendations with unprecedented accuracy. We will look at the evolution of AI over the last several months and how it is impacting business analysis. We will also take a deep dive into the AI Accelerator Framework from our book FUTUREPROOF, a structured approach to successfully adopting analysis practices for AI.  We will look at examples of Agentic AI and how the AI Accelerator Framework and foundational BA skills come together to deliver successful analysis. The fusion of AI with business analysis empowers analysts to go beyond traditional methods, leveraging data-driven frameworks to shape strategy, optimize processes, and deliver measurable results.

In our era where AI technologies are being adopted at an unprecedented pace, it’s more important than ever to put the true essence of humanity at the forefront. “Boost your human at work” is about embracing and amplifying the qualities that make us deeply human—empathy, connection, and creativity. This session isn’t just a talk, it’s a call to action. Through practical tips and tools, we will explore how these human attributes are not just complementary to technological advancements but are essential for our success and well-being.  It’s about bringing our full, authentic selves to work, cherishing the qualities that make us wonderfully human while, all while thriving in a time defined by rapid technology advancements.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Celebrate Empathy: When we genuinely care for one another, we lay the foundation for a more cohesive and thriving work environment.
• Strengthen Connections: Build and maintain meaningful relationships that is as resilient as it is productive. True connection goes beyond emails and meetings.
• Ignite Creativity: When we unlock our creative potential, we not only enhance our own work but also inspire those around us.

The Immunization Information Systems (IIS) program at the CDC has developed many guidance documents, resulting in a vast knowledge base. To better search, summarize, and help users update this information, we partnered with two teams at CDC’s Informatics and Data Analytics Branch to create AI Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) proof-of-concept chatbots:

• The CDC HL7 team, who focus on data exchange standards, are full partners design, testing, and quality assurance.
• The CDC CDSi (Clinical Decision Support for Immunizations) team is at the beginning of their journey; we expect their trajectory to mirror the HL7 team’s.

We will discuss the process of working alongside these business teams to create a fit-for-purpose AI Chatbot.

The new chatbots use publicly available, trusted sources to ensure accurate responses, highlighting the importance of high-quality documentation, clear terminology, and structure. These proof-of-concept bots are currently improving the efficiency of managing guidance documentation.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Discuss how AI can assist and accelerate updating high-accuracy content.  
• Learn how to lead teams from nascent AI understanding to being advocates for AI
• Understand the importance of good education and culture in rolling out AI initiatives  

Why can decisions be so difficult to make, and how can our thinking go so wrong? Accurate observation and analysis are critical if we are to provide good advice to stakeholders and good requirements to implementors. But what we perceive isn’t always the whole story. In this immersive session, learn about how the mind works and how the very structure of our brain can cause us to miss data, consider wrong information, and jump to conclusions — and what we can do about it. Participants will act as different parts of the brain, to see how the flow of information can be sidetracked and undermined. We’ll introduce different brain structures, cognitive biases, and models of how the brain operates. We’ll also experience them in action in a simulation of information flows in the brain. We’ll finish with a discussion of real-life examples. Participants will gain a fuller understanding of the mind, and how to use it better.  (Creative & Facilitation help by K. Claycomb, S. Helmers, B. Casteele)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand a model of how the brain filters and processes information
• Learn about some common cognitive biases: what they do, how to recognize them and how to adjust for them
• Improve their ability to help stakeholders make decisions

The Immersive Sessions are spread across three session slots and as interactive group exercises it is compulsory to attend all three session slots, in order to complete the exercise and be fair to your fellow participants. No dipping in and out!

Start/End Times:

• Part 1: 1:20-2:00 pm
• Part 2: 2:10-2:50 pm
• Part 3: 3:00-3:40 pm

The Dysfunction Mapping Technique is a new and engaging technique, created by Michael Lloyd, that unifies the team while they traverse the process of documenting the symptoms / dysfunctions, understanding the purpose of the change, through designing the solution and measures.

With this new technique, your team and leadership can easily understand the scope and vision of the problem and be confident the solution will effectively provide resolution. You will leave the session with new understanding and actionable techniques you can implement immediately, providing clarity for the project team and leadership and effectively increasing your chances for project success.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Identify Dysfunctions Versus Symptoms
• Utilize the Dysfunction Mapping Technique
• Articulate the Value of the Dysfunction Mapping Technique

They lived in a world where laptops graced the dining table, conference calls merge with school drop-off, and the quest for work-life balance feels like juggling clouds – elusive and intangible.  In this session, you will hear from moms and their grown-up children – on how they shifted from striving for balance to fostering work-life integration. There will be real life stories of joys and struggles that evolved to strengthen family bonds and energize professional pursuits.  They will shed light on how they created daily rhythms not from obligation, but as meaningful rituals that appreciated work, school, and family moments.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Redefine the narrative – it’s not work versus life
• Ripple effect on families – integrating work and life fosters deeper connections
• Practical tips for integration – tools and techniques to use in your own family

Why can decisions be so difficult to make, and how can our thinking go so wrong? Accurate observation and analysis are critical if we are to provide good advice to stakeholders and good requirements to implementors. But what we perceive isn’t always the whole story. In this immersive session, learn about how the mind works and how the very structure of our brain can cause us to miss data, consider wrong information, and jump to conclusions — and what we can do about it. Participants will act as different parts of the brain, to see how the flow of information can be sidetracked and undermined. We’ll introduce different brain structures, cognitive biases, and models of how the brain operates. We’ll also experience them in action in a simulation of information flows in the brain. We’ll finish with a discussion of real-life examples. Participants will gain a fuller understanding of the mind, and how to use it better.  (Creative & Facilitation help by K. Claycomb, S. Helmers, B. Casteele)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand a model of how the brain filters and processes information
• Learn about some common cognitive biases: what they do, how to recognize them and how to adjust for them
• Improve their ability to help stakeholders make decisions

The Immersive Sessions are spread across three session slots and as interactive group exercises it is compulsory to attend all three session slots, in order to complete the exercise and be fair to your fellow participants. No dipping in and out!

Start/End Times:

• Part 1: 1:20-2:00 pm
• Part 2: 2:10-2:50 pm
• Part 3: 3:00-3:40 pm

Knowledge-intensive processes incorporate lots of decisions and decision knowledge. In analogy with the Business Process Modelling & Notation Standard (BPMN), the Decision Model & Notation standard (DMN) was developed, that allows modelling decisions and processes separately. Decision table models offer unique features to capture the business logic of those decisions effectively and correctly by the business, and can be made explainable using plain natural language. Decision models also allow to provide explanations, advice and support, where current solutions (helpdesk support, FAQs, generative AI chatbots) are expensive or do not meet real customer demands.

This session takes you from the secrets behind knowledge-based decision intelligence to decision table methodology and explainable decision services, including best practices, examples and experiences, for modeling decision rules by domain experts in real business situations (insurance, finance, healthcare, …).

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• How to organize the full lifecycle of business decisions: from specification to execution and explanation
• How to shape related decision rules into correct and agile decision models
• A simple method to capture business knowledge and construct decision models in the DMN standard

There is no doubt that communication is the biggest challenge for any business. Perhaps the biggest challenge of life in society. Being able to clearly explain what is intended and understand undoubtedly what is said by others depends on establishing a common language, with terms and meanings shared by consensus.

In this session, attendees will create a concept model and define the terms to be used in all communication of a new business development project. This new business is based on a mobile app for scheduling services in different organizations (cinemas, restaurants, labs, government, or any other). Other artifacts such as the Business Model Canvas, Value Flow, and Business Rules will be offered and must be adjusted to align with the defined vocabulary.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Make the analyst capable of gathering knowledge and obtaining consensus among stakeholders from different areas on the main terms related to the business.
• Conduct the definition of corporate vocabulary in a collaborative way with stakeholders.
• Develop skills to define the business vocabulary that will be used in all documents related to business requirements and rules.

The Immersive Sessions are spread across three session slots and as interactive group exercises it is compulsory to attend all three session slots, in order to complete the exercise and be fair to your fellow participants. No dipping in and out!

Start/End Times:

• Part 1: 1:20-2:00 pm
• Part 2: 2:10-2:50 pm
• Part 3: 3:00-3:40 pm

They lived in a world where laptops graced the dining table, conference calls merge with school drop-off, and the quest for work-life balance feels like juggling clouds – elusive and intangible.  In this session, you will hear from moms and their grown-up children – on how they shifted from striving for balance to fostering work-life integration. There will be real life stories of joys and struggles that evolved to strengthen family bonds and energize professional pursuits.  They will shed light on how they created daily rhythms not from obligation, but as meaningful rituals that appreciated work, school, and family moments.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Redefine the narrative – it’s not work versus life
• Ripple effect on families – integrating work and life fosters deeper connections
• Practical tips for integration – tools and techniques to use in your own family

Recent digital advancements, despite substantial investments in AI and big data, show limited economic returns. This presentation analyzes five large-scale digitalization programs, using AI as a primary tool, aiming for the highest ROI. Each case study analyzes the impact of AI based digitalization at the level of enterprise architecture and value chain of companies. It pinpoints critical obstacles—complexity, managerial capability, and compatibility—as sharp knives impeding organizational performance in comprehensive AI-based transformations. These factors are critical in understanding why organizations often struggle to achieve the intended outcomes and ROI from AI-driven programs. Yury summarizes key principles for Enterprise Architecture’s four layers, offering a roadmap to overcome hurdles and accelerate the transition to AI-powered businesses.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Analyze case studies of AI based implementations
• Understand key failure factors of AI implementations
• Recommend elements of EA architecture to mitigate risk of failure

Why can decisions be so difficult to make, and how can our thinking go so wrong? Accurate observation and analysis are critical if we are to provide good advice to stakeholders and good requirements to implementors. But what we perceive isn’t always the whole story. In this immersive session, learn about how the mind works and how the very structure of our brain can cause us to miss data, consider wrong information, and jump to conclusions — and what we can do about it. Participants will act as different parts of the brain, to see how the flow of information can be sidetracked and undermined. We’ll introduce different brain structures, cognitive biases, and models of how the brain operates. We’ll also experience them in action in a simulation of information flows in the brain. We’ll finish with a discussion of real-life examples. Participants will gain a fuller understanding of the mind, and how to use it better.  (Creative & Facilitation help by K. Claycomb, S. Helmers, B. Casteele)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand a model of how the brain filters and processes information
• Learn about some common cognitive biases: what they do, how to recognize them and how to adjust for them
• Improve their ability to help stakeholders make decisions

The Immersive Sessions are spread across three session slots and as interactive group exercises it is compulsory to attend all three session slots, in order to complete the exercise and be fair to your fellow participants. No dipping in and out!

Start/End Times:

• Part 1: 1:20-2:00 pm
• Part 2: 2:10-2:50 pm
• Part 3: 3:00-3:40 pm

Is your acceptance criteria is giving you a headache? Feel like you aren’t grasping all of the nuance in certain stories? Does the dev team ask for “more detail” and then complain that the stories are way too big for a sprint? Check out example mapping. This technique is a flexible method for eliciting information, diving into details, and communicating requirements. This format translates well and creates understanding, especially if you use Gherkin or BDD, but also works wonders in non-agile environments.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• The power of Example Mapping
• Experience Example Mapping in small groups
• See how examples can translate into stories, acceptance criteria or traditional requirements.

Join this dynamic group of women in technology as they share their strategies, stories, and techniques to overcome struggles, create positive outcomes, and achieve success. This moderated panel discussion begins with inspiring presentations from the three panel members sharing their key insights, and then moves to an interactive discussion with the audience to answer your questions, and to provide guidance and practical learnings to support your journeys.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Practical strategies for building resilience and adaptability
• Understand how your mindset enables positive change
• A framework of actionable steps that can be personalized for your journey

Ninja（忍者）is originated in the feudal era in Japan as practitioners of a martial art, often employed for espionage.

Ninjas applied various communication techniques to fulfill their duties, such as,

• Gain a trust of others
• Compliment others, making them feel good.
• Pretend to be ignorant or fool
• Be a good listener
• Read non-verbal communication
• Knowing the opponent

This presentation demonstrates how we can apply Ninja’s techniques to various business scenarios when dealing with stakeholders, such as,

• How to get not so supportive stakeholders engaged in the business initiatives. 
• How to collect information or requirements from resisting stakeholders. 
• How to deal with a difficult customer. How to read stakeholder’s mind by observing non-verbal communication.                                      

Ninja time is long past. However, most of the techniques are based on human psychology, thus, can be applied to business scenes regardless of time and place.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Effective communication techniques to be applied as a Business Analyst
• Strategies for engaging stakeholders through effective communication
• Managing people in various business scenarios

The ability to craft compelling business cases is crucial in today’s competitive business landscape. However, creating business cases without a deep understanding of the underlying issues and potential solutions can lead to missed opportunities and ineffective projects. This session is not just a theoretical exercise, but a practical guide designed to equip professionals with the skills to develop impactful business cases that stand out and drive successful project proposals, immediately applicable in your work.

Participants will delve into essential techniques such as comprehensive problem analysis, evaluating both financial and intangible costs and benefits, and choosing the most suitable solutions for the enterprise. This session will inspire attendees to challenge conventional thinking, embrace a mindset of thorough analysis, and master the art of business case writing to advocate for their projects effectively.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Develop business cases that address key issues, align with strategic goals, and thoroughly evaluate costs and benefits.
• Create compelling business case documentation that stands out and supports effective project proposals.
• Effectively promote business cases to senior management to secure approval and organizational alignment.

With the rise of AI and hybrid work, it’s more important than ever that we bring the Human to work, and to do that, we need to start with ourselves. Come join this interactive session and learn a new approach to cultivate connection with anyone, now. Cassandra will start the presentation by reflecting on who we are and identifying the various roles that shape us. From there, you’ll briefly explore the world of emotional intelligence and learn techniques to build our self-awareness. Remember, every moment is an opportunity to be human, to connect, and to be present. Are you ready to take it?

This 20 minute presentation will be followed by an open discussion.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand the basis of emotional intelligence and its importance in driving connection
• Learn techniques to build your awareness and presence
• Apply the techniques in real time to build connection with fellow attendees

Wouldn’t it be great if stakeholders came to us with nice, neat “problems” or “opportunities”? Reality is quite different, people have a natural tendency to think in terms of solutions rather than problems. This might mean that stakeholders seize upon an assumed solution right at the start of a project…

This is an area where business analysis can help. By working with stakeholders to understand the aims and outcomes they are trying to achieve, we can potentially help them identify solutions that are quicker, cheaper and better than the one that first sprang to mind.

And who wouldn’t want a better solution, quicker?

In this practical session, you’ll hear:

  – What the ‘solution illusion’ is, and why it is best avoided

  – A range of practical techniques for understanding problems and opportunities

  – How focussing on outcomes can lead to innovation

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand what the ‘solution illusion’ is and why it is best avoided
• Understand a range of practical techniques for assessing problems and opportunities
• Understand how focussing on outcomes can lead to innovation

This is your chance to get out of your comfort zone and prove that you are serious about meeting your peers. Sign up for a Dutch-treat dinner and we’ll tell you at which (very nearby) restaurant to meet for a meal (everybody pays for their own dinner). Get to know your colleagues in a relaxed setting over good food and favorite beverages. You might just meet somebody who can solve that burning issue you’ve been working on or whom you can help with your experience. “This was a little awkward for the first few minutes and then we had a great time!”

Meet at the conference registration at 6 pm.

Sign up in the conference app Whova under “Community -> Meet Ups -> Dinner with Friends” to be placed in a dinner networking group. We have reserved spots at the following restaurants, all within a 2 minute walk from the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown:

1. Rosso Italian
2. The Vig
3. Blanco Cocina
4. The Arrogant Butcher
5. Mancuso’s
6. Latha
7. Miel De Agave
8. Blue Hound

Understanding the underlying “why” behind a project or product is crucial. Without it, prioritization is a nightmare, and scope tends to creep. In order to truly understand the reasons behind a project, it’s necessary to talk about outcomes and benefits.

In this practical and hands-on session, you’ll hear about the importance of defining, refining and managing benefits throughout the project or product lifecycle. You’ll hear about techniques for the early analysis of problems, the definition of desired outcomes, right through to the tracking and realization of benefits.

During this session you’ll hear techniques for:

• Defining problems/opportunities and desired outcomes
• Understanding and mapping different types of benefits
• Ensuring that the most beneficial features/requirements are given the focus they deserve
• Crystallizing all of this into a clear “why” that can be used to help ensure there is a shared understanding

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Define problems and desired outcomes
• Understand and categorize different types of benefits
• Create a benefits dependency network (BDN)

Business Architecture provides a strong foundation for business-wide transformation, digitization and optimization and is the basis for having an agile business. Given the inherent complexities, making the right choices in what to change is not simple. Avoiding duplication and sub-optimization means that all of the moving parts must be classified, well understood and inter-connected before change can confidently begin. Business Architecture subject areas are numerous. Processes and capabilities and other important domains are complex enough. Being able to find the interconnections among them is even more so. A well-formed Business Architecture can help untangle the confusion and deliver inherently adaptable solutions.

This session will introduce some of the critical elements needed:

• Stakeholder Value Orientation
• Business Concepts / Information models
• Business Processes
• Business Capabilities
• Business Measurement
• Change Prioritization
• Process / Capability Alignment

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Learn what aspects of Business Architecture will be right for your needs
• Enhance your Business Analysis skills with a higher and wider perspective
• Practice some key Business Architecture techniques

In this 3-hour workshop, delve into the transformative power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the realm of business analysis. Explore the fundamentals of responsible AI, learning how to navigate ethical considerations and ensure transparency in AI-driven decisions. Discover how to build a compelling business case for AI adoption, highlighting the potential value and risks for stakeholders. Finally, gain hands-on experience with common AI tools and use cases tailored specifically for business analysts, equipping you with practical skills to leverage AI effectively in your projects.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Analyze the ethical implications of AI in business analysis and evaluate strategies for implementing responsible AI practices within your organization.
• Construct a robust business case for AI adoption by identifying key benefits, potential risks, and strategies to address stakeholder concerns.
• Apply AI tools and methodologies to real-world business analysis scenarios, enhancing your ability to leverage AI in optimizing processes and decision-making.

In a world where technology—especially AI—is reshaping the workplace, it’s no surprise that change can feel overwhelming. This session, Human Change Un-Squeezed, equips you to navigate this uncharted terrain with clarity and purpose, transforming resistance and confusion into trust, cohesion, and results that are both effective and human-friendly.

We’ll begin by exploring how our brains naturally react to change, especially under the pressures of AI integration. Understanding the neurology behind change responses is crucial: it sheds light on why teams may resist and reveals strategies to foster adaptability. Next, we’ll dive into the principles of co-creation, a powerful approach that transforms change from something imposed to something shared. Discover how involving your team in the AI transition can turn hesitancy into commitment, creating a strong foundation for sustainable success.

You’ll then get hands-on with the Change Adoption Canvas, a practical tool to build trust and clarity. Through this exercise, you’ll learn to map out change impacts, align team goals, and address concerns, making AI-driven change manageable and even exciting. Finally, we’ll reflect on how to un-squeeze change within yourself—how to manage your own reactions and lead by example as technology transforms your organization.

By the end of this session, you’ll have both the insights and tools to not only navigate AI-driven change but to lead it confidently, ensuring that your team feels empowered and engaged. Let’s chart a course from confusion to cohesion, unlocking the potential for growth and success in this new era of work.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand the Neurology of Change in the Human Brain
• Master the Key Principles of Co-Creation to Swap Resistance for Results
• Get Hands-On with a Tool to Boost Trust, Clarity, and Commitment
• Identify How to Un-Squeeze Change in Yourself

Will your proposal make the cut?  Will the Business Value Barracudas fund your project?  Businesses (and Barracudas) only fund projects that they believe will deliver value.  And that value has to be presented in a way that emphasizes factors the business cares about.  In this hands-on session, participants will learn to establish and measure business value using tools such as goals, OKRs, and KPIs.  The difference between needs, issues, and problems will be explored and clarified.  Participants will also learn about the structure of an effective business case and will practice developing a cost/benefit summary and an executive summary.  At the end of the session, small groups will fine-tune their “pitch” based upon a persona that they develop for one of the Barracudas.  And then…sound check!  Lights up!  The Barracudas will take the stage.  Each team will have the opportunity to present their pitch to the Barracudas and will receive coaching on its effectiveness.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Identify business value: distinguish between needs, issues, and problems
• Define a valuable outcome for the business and establish appropriate measures
• Summarize your findings and present a business case targeted at a particular audience

In today’s fast-paced business environment, companies face increasing pressure to optimize operations, reduce waste, and enhance customer satisfaction. This Lean Business Challenge is an immersive, hands-on workshop designed to equip participants with practical skills in applying Lean principles to re-engineer business processes. Using a dynamic and interactive format, participants will be tasked with transforming a fictional operation into a model of excellence.

Participants will navigate through various scenarios, identifying and eliminating different types of waste, optimizing key processes, and ensuring that improvements are sustained. This session will not only provide a thorough understanding of Lean tools and techniques but will also emphasize the importance of continuous improvement and standardization in maintaining operational excellence. This session offers a comprehensive view of how different components of a business interact and affect overall performance.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Participants will…

• learn to identify process waste
• learn how making small improvements can impact customer satisfaction, business operations, and process optimization
• will experience using these techniques in a fun, hands-on, and interactive demonstration

This workshop is designed specifically for intermediate users who are familiar with ChatGPT-like platforms and ready to deepen their expertise. Throughout the session, participants will explore the dynamic capabilities of generative AI and its practical applications in a modern professional setting. The workshop will start with a brief refresher on the core functionalities of generative AI, followed by an exploration of advanced prompt engineering, customization of AI interactions, and strategies for integrating generative AI tools into everyday workplace tasks.

Participants will engage in hands-on exercises that demonstrate how generative AI can streamline workflows, enhance creative problem-solving, and drive innovation across various business functions. We will dive into real-world case studies, discuss ethical considerations, and explore the balance between human insight and AI efficiency. The workshop is designed to be interactive, encouraging participants to share their experiences, troubleshoot challenges, and collaborate on creative solutions. By the end of the session, attendees will not only have a deeper understanding of generative AI’s potential but will also be equipped with practical strategies to leverage these technologies for greater productivity and enhanced decision-making in their work environments.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Enhance understanding of advanced prompt engineering techniques to obtain more precise and contextually relevant outputs.
• Identify and apply practical strategies for integrating generative AI into daily work processes, including content creation, data analysis, and decision-making.
• Analyze real-world case studies to explore successful applications of generative AI in various business functions and assess potential ROI.
• Discuss the ethical and practical considerations of generative AI use in the workplace, including data privacy, bias, and accountability.
• Share practical uses

Are you ready to transform the way you gather and manage requirements? Join our Design Thinking workshop, where innovation meets empathy! In today’s fast-paced business world, understanding and prioritizing customer needs is essential. Let’s dive into the exciting realm of Design Thinking—a methodology that keeps the customer at the heart of every decision.

This workshop will reshape your approach to requirements elicitation, prioritization, and management. You’ll learn to use powerful tools to uncover, define, and prioritize high-value requirements. With a hands-on approach, you’ll gain the skills to lead impactful Design Thinking workshops that engage customers and stakeholders in identifying what truly matters.

Embark on this journey toward customer-centric success with us! Let’s empower each other through education and practical insights.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Take a customer-centric approach to requirements elicitation and management
• Leverage tools that will help discover, define, and prioritize the highest requirement value
• Gain hands-on experience to facilitate design thinking workshops to engage customers and other stakeholders in establishing the most important requirements.