Sovereign AI at the Application Layer - Enterprise, Finance, and Data
An AI Alliance Meetup, co-hosted with Neo4j and IBM | October 7, 2026 | IBM One Madison Avenue, New York
Every enterprise now has the same problem in a different form. The data that would make a model useful is the data you are not allowed to move. It sits inside one firm, under one regulator, in a schema few have mapped. The interesting work in AI has quietly shifted from training bigger models alone to developing systems to utilize the data enterprises have.
This afternoon is about how that is actually built. Potential topic areas:
Context. Structuring the data inside a firm so a model may reason.
Federation. Connecting institutions to train and evaluate to move an industry forward.
Privacy. The architecture that makes cross-institution work permissible.
Regulation. Why banks are now being asked to do this. What institutions may or may not allow connecting with closed models.
Aligned with these topics sits Project Tapestry, the AI Alliance's consortium driven open-weights model effort. We will open with where it stands: Milestone 0 complete, Milestone 1 underway, and the ecosystem as it develops.
This is a technical afternoon for engineers, architects, and data leads. Join with hard questions and connect with others facing similar challenges.
📅 Agenda
2:00 PM: Doors open and refreshments
2:30 - 2:40: Welcome and Housekeeping
2:40 - 2:55: Tapestry Updates
Tentative Speaking Agenda (confirmed by 10/1)
Part 1: The stack
2:40 - 3:20: Context is the product: memory and context graphs on financial data · Neo4j
3:20 - 3:45: Federated learning in regulated industries
3:45 - 4:00: Privacy-preserving architecture between institutions
4:00 - 4:15: Break
Part 2: Why enterprises and banks care right now
4:15 - 4:35: The regulated stack: what open source is being asked to solve
4:35 - 4:50: Partner Lightning talk: Practitioner view, from inside a financial institution
4:50 - 4:55: Close and where to go next
5:00 - 6:00 PM: Food and networking
Speakers for the remaining sessions are being confirmed and will be added as they are announced. Register now to be notified and keep your spot.
Space is limited to 150 attendees. Due to capacity, our team will confirm registration closer to the event date. Registration confirmations will close Monday, October 5 at 5:00 PM EDT so confirmed registrations can be confirmed with building security.
Getting in
Enter through the ground floor IBM entrance at One Madison Avenue and bring photo ID. The auditorium is on the 10th floor. Please arrive by 2:00 for a 2:30 start.
This is an AI Alliance event.
Code of Conduct We expect our members to treat each other like family, so please click here to read our Code of Conduct. If you see someone violating it, please speak with your event organizer or reach out to the event hosts on this page.
The AI Alliance is a non-profit community of 200+ member organizations across 29 countries, including leading enterprises, researchers, and more than 25,000 individuals.
Through world-class events, online events, and workshops, members leverage their diverse perspectives and innovative minds to foster meaningful relationships, solve challenging problems, and define the future of AI.