Hampshire AI - Lessons from Microsoft on AI Adoption

Hampshire AI returns with fresh perspectives on AI leadership and transformation!

Join us on 24th March 2026 for an evening exploring what AI adoption really means for leaders, moving beyond hype and tooling to real organisational impact.

We’re delighted to welcome Marc Esmiley, Head of Product – Financial Services Commercial Engineering – at Microsoft, where he leads product and engineering initiatives for customers across the financial services sector. Drawing on Microsoft’s AI strategy and real-world customer experience, Marc will share how organisations are shifting from experimentation to scaled AI impact, and why leadership, operating models and skills transformation are now critical success factors.

Marc will cover how leaders can set clear AI strategies, make pragmatic investment decisions, evolve engineering and delivery practices, and support their people through significant changes in roles, capabilities and ways of working. The session will place strong emphasis on responsible leadership, long-term value creation and building organisations that are ready for continuous AI-driven change.

Discover how forward-thinking leaders are navigating the AI shift and preparing their organisations for the next phase of intelligent transformation.

About Marc

Marc Esmiley leads product and engineering initiatives across Microsoft customers in the Financial Services Industry. He works closely with senior executives to help organisations shape AI and cloud strategies that deliver real business outcomes while managing risk, resilience, and organisational change. Marc has extensive experience leading large-scale transformation programmes and is particularly focused on leadership, skills evolution, and building modern operating models for the AI era.

There will be opportunities to network before and after the session. Bringing together senior voices from industry and applied AI, the event will explore the opportunities and challenges of AI adoption at scale, and what effective leadership, skills transformation and responsible AI strategy mean for achieving lasting, real-world impact.

Register now for this free event!

Info: This session will focus on what AI adoption really means for leaders, beyond the hype and tooling. Drawing on Microsoft’s AI strategy and customer experience, I’ll explore how organisations are navigating the transition from experimentation to scaled impact, and why leadership, operating models, and skills transformation are now the critical success factors. The talk will cover how leaders can set clear AI strategy, make pragmatic investment decisions, evolve engineering and delivery practices, and support their people through significant changes in roles, capabilities, and ways of working. The emphasis will be on responsible leadership, long-term value creation, and building organisations that are ready for continuous AI-driven change.

Info: Marc will answer any questions pre-submitted by the audience

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Axis Conference Centre, 3 Venture Road, Southampton, United Kingdom

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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