Conference Description
Key Takeaways
- Enterprise-focused conference exploring artificial intelligence adoption with emphasis on data sovereignty and technological flexibility
- Covers hybrid cloud architecture, automation platforms, application modernisation, security practices, and edge computing
- Designed for IT leaders, architects, developers, and decision-makers from finance, healthcare, telecommunications, automotive, public sector, and media industries
- Features technical breakout sessions, product demonstrations, expert consultations, and structured networking opportunities
- Held at Hotel Alvear Icon in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Introduction
Red Hat Summit: Connect 2026 Buenos Aires brings together enterprise technology professionals to examine how organisations can implement artificial intelligence strategies while maintaining control over their data and infrastructure choices. The conference addresses a pressing concern for large organisations: how to harness AI capabilities without becoming locked into proprietary ecosystems or surrendering data governance to external providers. As regulatory frameworks around data residency and AI governance continue to evolve across Latin America and globally, the intersection of open source technology and sovereign AI deployment has become increasingly relevant for enterprises navigating digital transformation.
About This Event
This in-person conference forms part of Red Hat’s global Summit: Connect series, which extends the company’s flagship annual event to regional audiences. The Buenos Aires edition focuses specifically on enabling organisations to adopt AI technologies while preserving flexibility in their infrastructure decisions. The programme combines keynote presentations with technical breakout sessions, hands-on product demonstrations, one-on-one expert consultations, and dedicated networking time. An expo hall provides attendees with opportunities to explore solutions and engage directly with technical specialists.
The event’s central theme—expressed in Spanish as “El poder de elegir” (The power to choose)—reflects a broader industry conversation about avoiding vendor dependency while still accessing enterprise-grade AI capabilities. This positioning resonates particularly with organisations that must balance innovation ambitions against compliance requirements, budget constraints, and existing infrastructure investments.
Artificial Intelligence and Data Sovereignty
The conference places significant emphasis on what organisers describe as “purposeful AI”—artificial intelligence implementations that serve specific business objectives rather than technology adoption for its own sake. This framing acknowledges that many enterprises have moved beyond initial AI experimentation and now face practical questions about scaling deployments, managing costs, and ensuring compliance with data protection regulations.
Data sovereignty emerges as a recurring theme throughout the programme. For organisations in regulated industries such as financial services and healthcare, the ability to control where data resides and how AI models access sensitive information represents a fundamental requirement rather than a preference. The conference explores how open source approaches can provide transparency into AI systems while enabling deployment across hybrid environments—spanning on-premises data centres, public cloud platforms, and edge locations.
Red Hat AI, the company’s portfolio of AI and machine learning tools, features prominently in technical sessions. These tools are designed to integrate with existing enterprise infrastructure rather than requiring wholesale platform changes, an approach that addresses common concerns about AI implementation complexity and total cost of ownership.
Hybrid Cloud and Infrastructure Modernisation
Beyond AI-specific content, the conference addresses foundational infrastructure topics that underpin successful AI deployments. Red Hat OpenShift, the company’s Kubernetes-based container platform, receives substantial attention as organisations increasingly adopt containerised architectures to improve application portability and operational consistency across environments.
The relationship between container platforms and AI workloads has become increasingly important as machine learning models move from development into production. Containerisation enables organisations to package AI applications with their dependencies, simplifying deployment across different infrastructure environments while maintaining consistent behaviour. For enterprises operating hybrid cloud strategies—combining private data centres with public cloud resources—this portability directly supports data sovereignty objectives by enabling workload placement decisions based on regulatory and business requirements.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux continues to serve as the foundation for many enterprise deployments, and sessions explore how the operating system supports AI workloads, security hardening, and edge computing scenarios. Edge computing receives particular attention as organisations seek to process data closer to its source, reducing latency and addressing data residency requirements by keeping sensitive information within specific geographic boundaries.
Automation and Operational Efficiency
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform features in sessions addressing operational challenges that often accompany AI and cloud initiatives. As infrastructure complexity increases with hybrid deployments and AI workloads, manual configuration and management approaches become unsustainable. Automation platforms enable organisations to codify operational procedures, enforce consistency across environments, and reduce the human effort required to maintain expanding infrastructure footprints.
The connection between automation and AI extends beyond infrastructure management. Organisations increasingly apply AI capabilities to enhance automation itself—using machine learning to identify optimisation opportunities, predict potential failures, and recommend remediation actions. This convergence represents an evolution from rule-based automation toward more adaptive operational approaches.
Industry Context and Digital Transformation Pressures
The conference arrives at a moment when enterprises across Latin America face intensifying pressure to modernise technology infrastructure while managing costs and regulatory complexity. Financial services organisations must balance innovation with stringent compliance requirements. Healthcare providers seek to leverage AI for improved patient outcomes while protecting sensitive medical data. Telecommunications companies require scalable, automated infrastructure to support expanding network demands. Public sector entities navigate procurement constraints while pursuing digital service improvements.
Open source technology has gained substantial enterprise acceptance over the past decade, moving from cost-saving alternative to strategic foundation for many organisations. The model’s transparency—enabling organisations to inspect, modify, and audit the software they depend upon—aligns with growing concerns about technology supply chain security and vendor independence. For AI applications specifically, open source approaches offer visibility into model behaviour and training data that proprietary alternatives may not provide.
Who Should Attend
The programme targets technical and business leaders responsible for enterprise technology strategy and implementation. Chief Information Officers and Chief Technology Officers will find strategic content addressing AI adoption frameworks and infrastructure investment decisions. IT managers and architects can explore technical implementation details across hybrid cloud, automation, and security domains. DevOps engineers and developers gain exposure to tools and practices for building and deploying modern applications.
The event particularly suits professionals from organisations actively evaluating or implementing AI initiatives, those managing hybrid cloud environments, and teams responsible for infrastructure modernisation programmes. Attendees from regulated industries may find the data sovereignty and compliance discussions especially relevant to their operational contexts.
Practical Value for Attendees
Beyond educational content, the conference structure facilitates direct engagement with technical experts and peers facing similar challenges. Expert consultation sessions provide opportunities to discuss specific organisational situations and receive tailored guidance. Networking sessions connect attendees with professionals from diverse industries, enabling knowledge exchange about practical implementation experiences. The expo hall offers hands-on exposure to current product capabilities and roadmap directions.
For organisations at various stages of their AI and cloud journeys, the event provides both strategic perspective and tactical detail—helping leaders understand where the technology landscape is heading while equipping practitioners with concrete approaches for their immediate projects.