Vention Unplugged: Agentic AI - ship it or sink with it

Join us on Thursday, 8th October 2026 for the latest edition of Vention Unplugged - hosted by Vention in partnership with NewDay at their HQ in Central London - designed for senior technology leaders wrestling with what it actually takes to move agentic AI from demo to production. The evening will open with a short lightning talk from Glyn (Vention) and Elham (NewDay), grounding the discussion in a real-world example of shipping AI in an enterprise setting. From there, we'll move into networking and a candid panel discussion. Together, we'll move beyond the AI demo cycle to unpack the real engineering, regulatory, operational, and organisational challenges of shipping agentic systems - including insights on deploying AI in regulated environments. This discussion brings together proponents and sceptics for a grounded, opinionated exchange - covering what's genuinely hard, where teams get stuck, and what leaders need to do differently to turn AI ambition into working systems. Attendees will leave with a clearer picture of the barriers that slow enterprise AI deployment, and practical takeaways on capability-building, governance, and operating model changes. The panel discussion will be moderated by Glyn Roberts, CTO of Digital Solutions at Vention and our guest speakers for the event include: Gareth Tupper, Director of Engineering at NewDay with extensive experience scaling high-growth companies and leading complex technology organisations Rija Javed, is the Engineering Leader at Meta and has extensive experience as a CTO and technology lead. Prior to working at Meta, she held senior positions at MarketFinance, Wealthfront Inc. and Zynga. Chris Hughes, Head of Screening Engineering at LSEG Risk Intelligence, where he leads the engineering behind World-Check with a focus on AI initiatives across Risk Intelligence ​Agenda: 5:30 – 6:15 PM - Welcome Reception & Networking 6:15 – 6:30 PM - Lightning talk (Glyn & Elham) 6:30 – 7:30 PM - Panel discussion and Q&A 8:00 – 9:00 PM - Post-Panel Networking Why attend? Hear candid, practitioner-led lessons on what it really takes to ship agentic AI in production Get practical insight into the engineering, regulatory, and operational barriers that slow AI deployment Network with engineering and business leaders tackling the same challenges Take away actionable guidance on governance, capability-building, and operating model changes We'll be providing food and drinks, you'll be able to take part in our giveaways and there'll be some gifts waiting for those who attend!