Quick Facts
• A ready-to-use letter is on the DIS website. Open the More menu and choose Convince Your Boss.
• Group tickets save 15% for 2-4 people and 20% for 5 or more.
• Prices increase on 22 January and 9 April 2027.
• All sessions are available on demand for five weeks, so the whole team benefits.
Why managers say no
Most requests to attend a conference are turned down for one of three reasons. The manager cannot see what the company will gain. The timing feels wrong. Or the cost looks more like a personal perk than an investment.
None of these is really an objection to learning. They are objections to a request that has not been framed in business terms. The task is to show attendance for what it actually is: a fast and comparatively inexpensive way to solve problems your organisation already has.
Building the business case in five steps
Start with a problem, not the event. “We are struggling to move our AI pilots into production” is a far stronger opening than “I would like to go to a conference”. Identify one to three challenges your team or organisation faces right now, and make them the centre of your request.
Connect specific sessions to those challenges. Review the programme and pick stages and sessions that address your problems directly. At the 2027 Data Innovation Summit, every Foundation Days session is framed as a practitioner question, such as how to prove AI’s return on investment or how to stop data pipelines breaking downstream. That makes it easy to draw a direct line from the agenda to your priorities.
Show the full value of the ticket. A ticket includes much more than the talks. It includes hands-on workshops, Executive Round Tables, and access to more than 100 exhibitors you can evaluate in one place instead of through months of separate vendor meetings. It also includes recordings of every session for five weeks, meals and the evening networking programme. Listing these makes the value tangible.
Make the cost feel proportionate. Compare the ticket price with a single day of external consulting, or with the cost of one poorly chosen vendor. Propose booking before the early-bird deadline. If several colleagues could benefit, suggest a group booking: it saves 15-20% and means your team returns with a shared understanding.
Commit to a return. Promise a short briefing within two weeks of the event covering the key insights, the most relevant case studies, the contacts you made, and three concrete actions for your organisation. Offer to present it to your team. This commitment does more than anything else to turn a request into an investment.
What the request letter should contain
A good request letter is short and specific. It names the event, the dates and the location. It explains why attending matters now, in terms of the business problem it addresses. It lists the sessions you plan to attend, sets out the total cost and what is included, and states what you will deliver afterwards.
The Data Innovation Summit team has written this letter for you. You can download it from the event website by opening the More menu and choosing Convince Your Boss, then adapt it with your own priorities and details.
Answering the usual objections
If your manager asks why you cannot just watch the videos, point out that recordings are indeed included. Most of the value of being there comes from conversations, round tables and peer benchmarking that do not happen online. If three days away seems too long, explain that you can attend the two Foundation Days only, or Industry Day only. If the budget is tight this quarter, suggest booking before 22 January 2027 to secure the lowest price.
Frequently asked questions
Link the event to a current business problem, name the sessions you will attend, show the full value of the ticket and commit to sharing a written briefing afterwards.
Yes. Open the More menu on the summit website and choose Convince Your Boss.
Yes. Groups of 2-4 participants receive 15% off, and groups of five or more receive 20% off.
About the Data Innovation Summit
The Data Innovation Summit is the largest and most influential annual applied data, analytics and AI event in the Nordics, organised by Hyperight in Stockholm since 2016. The 12th edition, DIS2027X2, takes place on 18–20 May 2027 at Kistamässan in Stockholm under the theme “From Data & AI to Enterprise Capability”.
The summit brings together more than 3,500 practitioners, business leaders, technology providers, start-ups and academics from over 50 countries. The programme runs across fifteen stages: two Foundation Days dedicated to data, analytics and AI capabilities, and an Industry Day covering five sectors.
The summit is a hybrid event, with every session streamed live and available on demand.
Regional editions are held in Dubai, Singapore and Sydney.
Learn more at datainnovationsummit.com.