AI is rewriting what data teams do - faster than most teams can adapt. The strategy is the easy part. The hard part is the patterns we've stored, the identities we've built around the way things used to work, and the safety it takes to let it go. Drawing on her work at MPB, and on running her first marathon the day after this keynote, Nikki shares what real evolution takes. With over 18 years’ experience driving transformation, growth, and operational efficiency through data, she is guiding MPB’s shift into an AI enabled, insight-driven organisation. Her work sits at the intersection of people leadership, data strategy, technology, and organisational change - aligning capability, governance, and culture to deliver measurable value. In this keynote, Nikki will explore what it really means for data teams to evolve in an AI-enabled world. Beyond the strategy, tools, and roadmaps, she will look at the human side of transformation: how teams build trust, let go of old patterns, develop new capabilities, and create the conditions for change to take hold. Drawing on MPB’s own data journey, Nikki will share how strong foundations, scalable data products and a culture of insight can help organisations move from ambition to action. She will also reflect on the parallels between organisational change and personal challenge, using her first marathon as a lens for the discipline, discomfort and resilience required to keep moving forward.