The AI Advantage: Maximising Value across the Microsoft Ecosystem

Sign-in, lunch and networking.

Opening remarks, event objectives and an overview of the afternoon. 

As organisations look to turn AI ambition into real business value, Aberdeen City Council offers a compelling example of transformation in action. In this customer keynote panel, Andy McDonald and Steve Roud from Aberdeen City Council join Simon Drake and Megan Robertson from Hitachi Solutions to share how the council are modernising services and unlocking greater value from its Microsoft investments.

The discussion will explore Aberdeen’s journey across citizen services, HR, social care and wider digital operations, sharing how the council is unlocking greater value from Microsoft investments to improve services, protect its citizens, empower employees and support future innovation.

Panelists: 

• Andy McDonald – Executive Director, Corporate Services, Aberdeen City Council
• Executive Director – CorporateSteve Roud – Chief Officer Digital & Technology, Aberdeen City Council
• Simon Drake – UK General Manager, Hitachi Solutions
• Megan Robertson – Lead Functional D365 Consultant, Hitachi Solutions

Chair:

• Amy Horne, UK Head of Marketing, Hitachi Solutions

Microsoft’s perspective on the Frontier Firm, AI transformation and the latest innovations across Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement. 

Finance is no longer just a back-office function; it is a strategic enabler of growth, agility and innovation. In this customer session, The Royal Mint will share how it transformed its finance operations to create a more efficient, data-driven and future-ready organisation.

The session will explore the drivers behind the transformation, the challenges of modernising legacy processes, and how The Royal Mint has leveraged technology to streamline operations, improve visibility and support better decision-making across the business. Attendees will gain insight into how the organisation is reducing manual effort, increasing operational efficiency and creating a stronger foundation for future innovation.

Speaker:

• Richard Hobbs – CIO, The Royal Mint

Key AI innovations and agentic capabilities helping organisations drive efficiency, automation and insight in ERP. 

Refreshments provided.

Trust in AI is built long before an agent goes live. This session explores the practical foundations required to deploy AI responsibly, including governance, data quality, ownership, accountability and change management. Hear how the Environment Agency is approaching these challenges and preparing for the next phase of AI adoption.

Speaker:

• Sam Bartlett – Data and AI Lead, Environment Agency

Hitachi Rail shares how it is driving AI adoption across the organisation by focusing on people, not just technology. From an initial HR pilot to a wider rollout, hear how digital communities, champions and practical use cases are building confidence, changing everyday ways of working and delivering measurable productivity gains.

Speakers:

• Andrew Long – Digital Communities & Talent Lead, Hitachi Rail
• Paul Cooper – Head of Digital Transformation Office, Hitachi Rail

Tips for embedding and scaling AI, including governance, adoption, data readiness and the latest developments across Microsoft Azure and AI suite including, Fabric and Agent 365. 

Refreshments provided.

Choose from interactive peer discussions and expert-led sessions, including:

• Roundtable: Lessons in Scaling AI: Discuss common barriers, lessons learned and practical approaches to operationalising AI.  
• Roundtable: The Value of Getting User Experience Right: How to make small design investments pay off across a project.  
• Showcase: Agent 365 in Action: Demonstration of Microsoft’s new control plane for agents – observe, govern and secure.

Continue the conversation with drinks, canapés and networking with customers, Microsoft representatives and Hitachi Solutions leaders.