QlikWorld 2023: Event recap!

Welcome to your one stop shop for all things QlikWorld 2023! Read our daily log from the event – including highlights, news, and our biggest takeaways from Las Vegas. Want to know more? Sign up for our event – Qlik REWIND: Trends, Takeaways, and FAQs from QlikWorld 2023!

Wednesday, 19 April recap

“The art of the possible.”

The last full day at QlikWorld was nothing short of outstanding! Between the Product Keynote, the premiere of our “Let’s Get Vizzical” video in front of 2000 attendees, more demos and chats at the stand, and an absolutely epic Appreciation Night hosted at Allegiant Stadium, the conference couldn’t have winded down on a better note.

Here’s a breakdown of Wednesday’s highlights and key takeaways!

Qlik’s Product Keynote Session:

At the top of the general session, just as 2,000 people took their seats, we premiered our latest video – Let’s Get Vizzical! Our team got together and filmed this video back in March, and introducing it to the audience at QlikWorld was one of the highlights of our week in Vegas.

To properly kick the day off, James Fisher, CPO at Qlik, took the stage to showcase Qlik’s product roadmap for 2023 and beyond. A main theme of his presentation was the planned acquisition of Talend by Qlik, and exactly how it will benefit customers by creating one company, and one experience.

Next, Josh Good, VP Product Marketing Data Analytics at Qlik, took the stage for two demos: one focused on data integration, the other on analytics. Following Josh’s presentation, Syngenta (a Global Transformation Award winner) joined the stage to discuss their journey with Qlik.

And after Stewart Bond of IDC joined EMCEE Katie Linendoll for a chat about navigating uncertainty with Qlik, the incredible John Vonathan – external keynote speaker – recounted his incredible journey as the first rescue diver to reach the soccer team and coach that found themselves trapped in a cave in Thailand in 2018.

The session was jam-packed with exciting announcements and reveals – here’s our key takeaways:

• The art of the possible: Qlik’s planned acquisition of Talend will reveal the opportunities that arise when data integration and analytics are made available on a singular cloud platform
• Upskilling is key: Empowering users to easily build interactive dashboards is a key component of Qlik’s vision moving forward
• Analysing the future is the future: Predictive and prescriptive analytics are changing the game. Both will become available in Qlik Sense in 2023 
• AI is here to stay: Qlik’s ChatGPT integration was revealed in public for the first-time ever during the session, where Good showed how users will be able to use AI to find and return data sets directly into Qlik Sense – the feature should be available in the not-too-distant future!
• Customers drive Qlik’s roadmap: Dozens of improvements were delivered in 2022, and many were the direct result of customer and partner feedback
• What’s coming in 2023: Improvements and additions to come from Qlik in 2023 include Excel Author Reporting, Data Preparation, New Qlik Cloud Regions, and more
  

James Fisher ended his keynote with the following three messages, which he said embody Qlik’s philosophy as it moves forward:

• Cloud first. Not Cloud only.
• Migration made easy.
• Acting on customer feedback.

Following the session, our team returned to the booth where we continued to engage with customers and partners throughout the day for incredible conversations, demos, and sharing of ideas.

Our fave breakout sessions from Day Three

Throughout the day, we also attended a number of breakout sessions – here’s a couple of our faves:

A QlikWorld Live Special: The Data Mix with Brian and George featuring Mike Capone and Lori Silverman

Our friends at The Data Mix podcast hosted Qlik CEO Mike Capone and woman in tech, Lori Silverman for a chat about all things Qlik and the future of Analytics. The session was great – our favourite moment came when Lori Silverman said that “intuition is data that cannot be ignored.” We couldn’t agree more!

^Our friends at The Data Mix podcast hosting Qlik CEO, Mike Capone

3 Essential Steps for Trouble-Free Migration to Qlik Cloud: Siemens & Vizlib

Admittedly, we’re a little biased, but we thought that our co-hosted session with Siemens was pretty amazing. We got together with one of our customers to talk about how Vizlib helped Siemens bring their analytics into the modern era with customization capabilities, cross-functional use cases, and Writeback functionality.

Fun fact: Vizlib is critical in over 400 use cases now that Siemens has moved to Qlik Cloud! You can read how we’ve helped other customers to achieve their goals on our website.

Event: Appreciation Night at Allegiant Stadium

The day was capped off with an INCREDIBLE event at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Plenty of food and drinks were served, and there was tons of entertainment, including playing games and touring locker rooms! The night was the perfect way to cap off a great week in Las Vegas, and our team had an amazing time.

Our thoughts on the day:

As we did yesterday, when all was said and done, we asked our team to sum up QlikWorld day three in one word (or two!), and here’s what they had to say:

Andrew Cantle, CRO : “Fantastic”
Grant Horun, Enterprise Account Executive: “Tubular”
Michael Nordström, Head of Qlik Products: “Engaging”
Luke Tolchard, Product Manager: “Fulfilling”
Jane Li, BI Developer: “Exhilarating!”
Bertie Stevenson, VP Sales: “Revealing”
Lucas Santos, Partner Account Manager: “Pleasant”
Stuart Kelly, Head of Channel and Strategic Partnerships : “Vital”
Karl Fredberg Sjöstrand, Senior Product Manager: “No-brainer!”
Andy Thomas, Senior Customer Success Manager: “Surprising”
Najib Ali, Business Development Representative: “Collaborative!
Katie Hester, Head of Brand and Content: “Groovy”
Martin Mahler, CEO: “Vizzical!”

Tuesday, 18 April recap

“Data is the antidote to uncertainty”

Day two at QlikWorld 2023 was incredible! The Vizlib team started early, attending the opening session first thing in the morning, before diving into breakout sessions, one-on-one meetings, and demos at the stand.

Following the conference, we had a blast at Top Golf Las Vegas with nearly 70 customers and partners!

Here’s a run-down of the team’s day two highlights and takeaways:

QlikWorld General Session

This was the opening session for the first live QlikWorld since 2019, so we knew it would be good before we even took our seats! Katie Linendoll – an Emmy-award winning speaker and tech expert – opened the event, before Qlik CEO Mike Capone took the stage to deliver his keynote speech. 

Later, Crawford Del Prete, IDC President, spoke about his predictions for the future and the era of “Intelligent Automation.” Next, Ford and Harman (who are both Vizlib customers!) appeared to discuss how Qlik, Chat GPT and Vizlib Collaboration have shaped their data analytics path for the future.  

Then, the winners for the Global Transformation Awards were announced, and the session came to a close!

Key Takeaways from the General Session 

• Data is the antidote to uncertainty
• The right tools are what give you the power to seize the opportunities in your data
• Qlik Cloud: When it comes to Qlik Cloud, things are only getting bigger, better, and faster
• The relationship we have with our data is about to change! Fuelled by AI and ML, the time and effort associated with creating is about to drop exponentially, which means business will move faster than ever – and analysing your data in real-time will continue to become even more critical
• Qlik + Talend means one end-to-end solution to solve unique business problems with data
• Hot take: is printing to PDF really dead? Did you hear this hot take from the keynote session? Our team doesn’t think printing to PDF is going anywhere, any time soon, but this comment certainly got our attention!

Global Transformation Award winners 

• Honda
• Merck (a Vizlib customer!)
• Syngenta
• Caixa Bank

Back at the stand, the team was busy speaking with customers and partners, like JBS, Verizon, and Crider Foods.

^The team demo-ing, chatting, and having fun at the stand on day two!

Our fave breakout sessions from Day Two at QlikWorld 2023 

Building a Collaborative BI Space with JBS: JBS is a Vizlib customer that successfully deployed Vizlib’s suite of products across their organisation to maximise efficiencies and drive Qlik Sense adoption.

 

At QlikWorld, JBS hosted a breakout session focused on the successful delivery of a company-wide collaborative BI space (and touched on how Vizlib has helped them achieve success in this area!)

Our favourite quote from the session was during a discussion about how JBS bakes “collaboration hours” into their BI team’s training and day-to-day operations:

“It’s much easier as an analyst to ask questions if others are asking good questions around you.” 

^Our customer, JBS, hosting an amazing breakout session about collaborative BI (and giving Vizlib a shout-out in the process!)

The Qlik Product Roadmap: Qlik’s Product Management Leadership team hosted this 45-min session to review their key areas of focus for 2023 and beyond within Data Integration, Analytics, and Foundational Services. 

LeNovo’s Digital Transformation Journey: LeNovo is a Vizlib customer, and at QlikWorld this year, they hosted a session to discuss their migration to Qlik Cloud. 

Partner Event: Top Golf

We capped off day two with a round at Top Golf! Joined by nearly 70 partners and customers, we spent the evening chatting, playing, and enjoying being together again after several years of virtual events. It was a blast!

Our thoughts on day 2 of QlikWorld 2023

After all was said and done, we asked our team to sum up QlikWorld day two in one word (or two!), and here’s what they had to say:

Andrew Cantle, CRO : “Fantastic”
Grant Horun, Enterprise Account Executive: “Exciting!”
Michael Nordström, Head of Qlik Products: “Interactive”
Luke Tolchard, Product Manager: “Insightful”
Jane Li, BI Developer: “Fun!”
Bertie Stevenson, VP Sales: “Smooth”
Lucas Santos, Partner Account Manager: “Promising!”
Stuart Kelly, Head of Channel and Strategic Partnerships : “Potential-filled”
Karl Fredberg Sjöstrand, Senior Product Manager: “Appreciation”
Andy Thomas, Senior Customer Success Manager: “Energising”
Najib Ali, Business Development Representative: “Electrifying!
Katie Hester, Head of Brand and Content: “Thought-provoking”
Martin Mahler, CEO: “Certain”

Monday 17 April recap

Today, we’re talking about what to expect from this event – and the Vizlib team – over the next few days!

 

It feels (to us!) like it’s been forever since QlikWorld was last hosted as an in-person event – but this year, after a four-year-long wait, teams from all over the world are finally reuniting in Las Vegas for an epic return to this incredible event.

It’s been a pretty remarkable journey for both Qlik and Vizlib since 2019, with plenty of milestones and changes happening over the last four years.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the biggest news, announcements, and updates from Vizlib  since 2019:

• In 2019, Vizlib attended QlikWorld as a team of 10. This year, we’re returning 13-strong, with Vizlibbers from our Product, Sales, Marketing, and Industry Solutions teams in attendance!
• To that end, Vizlib has seen exponential growth over the past few years, expanding from just under 30 employees to over 150 today, with team members in the US, UK, and Europe. 
• Since 2019, Vizlib has added dozens of new extensions, many in direct response to customer feedback, including exciting improvements to Sheet Menu and Custom Report.
• Over the last four years, Vizlib has grown our customer base from just over 20, to over 1200 customers – including a number of exciting new enterprise clients, like Verizon, Airbus, and Ford, just to name a few.
• We’ve achieved ISO27001 accreditation – the only auditable international standard that defines the requirements of a robust ISMS (Information Security Management System).

 

^Vizlibbers hosting a huge crowd at QlikWorld 2019!

 

Qlik has been busy, too! Since 2019, they’ve continued to accelerate innovation in data analytics for clients and users around the world, including expanding their relationships with key partners like AWS and Databricks and – most recently – announcing their acquisition of Talend, a global leader in data integration.

This year also saw Qlik once again acknowledged as a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for BI and Analytics Platforms – continuing to pave the way in innovation and vision for the future.

Crucially, Qlik has also continued to bring their communities together through virtual and in-person events over the last four years, including – most recently – their phenomenal QlikWorld Tour, which saw events hosted in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. The Vizlib team followed the tour and sponsored events in Dallas, New York, Philadelphia, Toronto, Delft, and Amsterdam!

^Vizlibbers in attendance at the QlikWorld Tour in Dallas, Texas

And now, once again, Qlik is bringing together its global communities of users, customers, and partners – this time in Las Vegas, where we’re all reuniting in-person for the first time in four years!

Our team is on the ground in Vegas and can’t wait for things to get going. At QlikWorld in 2019, we announced several new features and product updates – including Vizlib Collaboration and Vizlib Advanced Analytics, which are now used by teams all around the world as an integral part of their day-to-day Analytics operations.

This year promises to be even more exciting – from exciting announcements (stop by to hear more about Vizlib Data Vision!) to learning more about how Vizlib supports your journey to Qlik Cloud, and (of course) plenty of fun and swag on stand – QlikWorld 2023 is guaranteed to be one for the books, and we can’t wait for things to officially kick off.

We’ll be updating this blog with daily highlights and takeaways from QlikWorld 2023, so stay tuned for the news, announcements, and fun from this year’s event – you can find all of it, right here. See you at Stand #230!