Watch more of .local London 2026 → https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4RCxklHWZ9tH01MTlChYwUqN8Cm2tl2r The question has changed. Boards across EMEA are no longer asking “where is our data?” They’re asking, “Who has the legal authority to see our data, and can we prove, technically, that the answer is only us?” With the EU AI Act, EU Data Act, European Data Governance Act, GDPR, DORA, and the US CLOUD Act converging at once, most organizations still can’t give a confident answer. In this fireside chat, lead competitive intelligence manager and former Gartner analyst Vivek Bhalla sits down with Matt Johnson, MongoDB EMEA Field CTO, for a candid conversation about what “data governance” really looks like in practice: understanding where data lives, which laws apply, and how to put the right technical and organizational controls in place. Matt will share how MongoDB helps enterprises strengthen their data governance posture—through capabilities such as flexible deployment options, encryption, access controls, and auditing—while acknowledging the shared responsibility of operating on global cloud infrastructure. This session will look at the internal pressure when the board asks hard questions, how organizations balance regulatory demands with agility, and why the ability to move and localize data across clouds and regions without rewriting applications is becoming a critical business requirement. 00:00:00 - Introduction & Session Welcome 00:00:32 - Navigating Global AI & Data Regulations (EU AI Act, DORA, GDPR) 00:01:59 - How Data Scrutiny Shifting Boardroom Conversations 00:05:16 - Why Data Governance Moved to the C-Suite 00:08:12 - Paper Compliance vs. Real-Time Technical Controls 00:10:12 - Centralized vs. Decentralized Governance Teams 00:11:59 - Best Practices for Strengthening Access and Auditing 00:15:34 - The Data Sovereignty Pyramid Explained 00:19:21 - Balancing Technical Effort vs. Business Reward Scenario 00:20:52 - The Monday Morning Data Governance Checklist 00:22:04 - Technical Focus: Proving Data Longevity & Encryption-in-Use Subscribe to the MongoDB for Developers YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MongoDBDevelopers?sub_confirmation=1 Sign-up for a free cluster → https://www.mongodb.com/cloud/atlas/register Subscribe to MongoDB YouTube→ https://mdb.link/subscribe Visit Mongodb.com → https://mdb.link/MongoDB Read the MongoDB Blog → https://mdb.link/Blog Read the Developer Blog → https://mdb.link/developerblog MongoDB for Developers YouTube Channel → https://www.youtube.com/@MongoDBDevelopers

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