BASDA Summit 2026

Save the date, secure your Early Bird ticket and join your peers and industry experts shaping the future of business software.

Join us for the BASDA 2026 Annual Summit

'Beyond AI Hype – Innovation and Transformation in Business Software'

This is an all-day event, finishing with an awards and networking reception

Artificial Intelligence dominates the headlines - but what’s happening beyond the hype?

Join us in 2026 for a forward-looking member event focused on real innovation and genuine transformation in business software. This event will cut through the noise to explore how organisations are using technology in practical, measurable ways to drive efficiency, growth and competitive advantage.

Our event will also take place shortly after the publication of HMRC’s new strategy, giving members a timely opportunity to hear directly from HMRC on its priorities, direction and implications for the software development industry. This event will provide valuable insight into what the strategy means in practice and how our industry should be preparing for what comes next.

Designed specifically for the business software developer community, this event will bring together industry leaders, practitioners and technology experts to share insights, case studies and perspectives on what’s working today and what’s coming next. Expect thoughtful discussion, honest debate and actionable takeaways you can apply within your own organisation.

While speakers will be announced shortly, the programme will focus on:

• Moving beyond AI buzzwords to real business outcomes
• How modern business software is transforming operations, decision-making, and customer experience
• Lessons learned from successful (and challenging) transformation journeys
• What innovation leaders should be prioritising now for 2026 and beyond

This is an opportunity to connect with peers, gain fresh insight, and help shape the future direction of business software within your sector.

🎟️ Early Bird Offer – Limited Availability

Early bird tickets are now available at a discounted member rate until 28 February. Places are limited, so we recommend booking early to secure your seat and lock in the best price.

Agenda:

09.00 Registration, Breakfast and Networking

10.00 Welcome & Opening Remarks

10.15 Tom Skalycz, Chief Technology Officer, HM Revenue and Customs

With one of the largest IT estates in the UK, even Europe, HMRC’s CTO, Tom Skalycz, provides an exclusive insight into their technical strategy leading into the next decade and beyond, and how this is evolving to meet all their tax duties and accompanying transformation, including the OECD’s Tax Admin 3.0.

This session will explore both the external interfacing developmental plans – critical to the provision of our members' services - along with the internal transitions to strategic platforms, architecture and how these provide the potential for far greater data federation and exchange plus informing how we may need to pivot services to optimise these platforms and further stimulate our collective innovation agendas.

Tom will also touch on new ways of working within HMRC that will positively change HOW this strategy is getting delivered.

11.15 Coffee Break & Networking

11.30 Interactive Session: Shaping Software Standards

Join an early-stage conversation with HMRC post the launch of their software strategic approach – which BASDA and a number of our members have been key contributors to – in order to help shape their resultant set of software standards, which will be pivotal to our industry’s commercial and technical success.

Together with a set of key policy principles, these standards aim to ensure a thriving, quality, innovative, equitable and competitive business software landscape, serving the entire ecosystem.

This interactive session is your opportunity to:

• Explore priority areas for developers
• Identify barriers and key enablers to adoption
• Contribute to the design of practical, industry-aligned standards

Led by Chris Simons, Deputy Director, Intermediaries at HMRC and BASDA CEO, Kevin Hart, this session will be a great opportunity to help shape how these standards will be developed and implemented.

Crucially, it is also your opportunity to help define not just what good looks like, but critically, what doesn’t – along with ensuring that we have clarity on expectations, oversight and appropriate enforcement.

Have your say. Collaborate. Build upon last year’s Summit to help shape a ‘thriving’ business software future.

14.00 JP Marks, First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive, HM Revenue and Customs

JP Marks brings invaluable insights from his leadership at HMRC and will share perspectives on the latest strategic priorities that will impact our industry.

In his presentation, JP will set out HMRC’s strategy to 2030 and beyond, exploring why deep partnership with software providers is critical to delivering a modern, resilient tax system.

He’ll highlight the importance of fostering an open working culture, where collaboration and transparency enable great innovation and better outcomes and touch on work already undertaken (and underway) in the (9) months since he took the reins.

Attendees will gain insight into HMRC’s automation and transformation agenda, including the evolving role of AI, the growing interdependencies across the tax ecosystem, and why working in the open and collaborating with software partners is pivotal to achieving long-term, system-wide change, and discuss key enablers in achieving this.

15.00 Scenario Planning facilitated by Kevin Sefton, Founder and CEO, untied

This interactive scenario planning workshop will explore the tax system and the ecosystem with key issues arising across various stakeholders and the resulting mitigations needed. Participants will examine key issues affecting different stakeholders, identifying gaps, interdependencies and opportunities for improvement. The session is designed to foster collaborative thinking and practical problem-solving, with success defined by participants gaining new insights and leaving with actionable ideas and potential plans to take forward within their organisations and beyond.

16.15 Closing Remarks

16.20 Reception & Networking

17.30 Ends

Speakers:

JP Marks, First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive, HM Revenue and Customs

John-Paul (JP) Marks started as First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive of HM Revenue and Customs on 6 April 2025.

Since January 2022, he had been Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government, where he was responsible for the development, implementation and communication of government policies and Principal Accountable Officer, leading the Civil Service in the Scottish Government.

He was appointed Director General, Work and Health Services at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in April 2019. Before this, he was a Director General for Operations on temporary promotion from March 2018.

His roles outside the Civil Service include Chair of the Civil Service Lifeboat Fund.

Tom Skalycz, Chief Technology Officer, HM Revenue and Customs

Tom joined HMRC in November ‘21 as Chief Technology Officer. With a varied experience between public and private sector, Tom has moved within various parts of IT to be as well-rounded as possible. A software developer by heart with a big focus on business value it was a natural move into architecture (both Solutions and Enterprise).

Chief Technology and Design Office (CT&DO) was formed in CDIO to provide strategic technology leadership for HMRC both in terms of what shape the technology takes and how HMRC go about delivering it. CT&DO has responsibility for high level technology design (Architecture and Service Design) and detailed Architectural Solution Design for all enterprise wide programmes and projects and policy impacting work.

Chris Simons, Deputy Director of the Strategic Approach team in the Intermediaries Directorate in HMRC

Chris' team are responsible for agreeing HMRC’s overall approach to intermediaries in the tax system, including our specific approach to those intermediaries that exploit their position to cause harm. He also leads our work to implement the intermediaries strategy in the tax software and umbrella company markets.

Chris previously led the programme implementing the Off-Payroll Working reforms that took effect in 2021. Prior to that, he has led large operational compliance teams and been the Permanent Secretary’s Principal Private Secretary.

What Previous Attendees Said:

' My observation is more about the way that BASDA came across on the day....I've been attending the Annual Summit for a number of years, there's no doubt in my mind that in the last couple of years BASDA is showing a growing confidence in itself. This growth reflects well on the organisation and, more importantly, elevates the status of the Association in the eyes the external attendees.'

'The talks assisted us in future business strategic planning and the event was a great way to network with other software providers that face similar issues to ourselves.'

' Really varied bunch of topics. Learned about lots of areas I wasn't familiar with before.'

' The summit educated me and demonstrated that by attending I would be better placed to service my clients in the future.'

Cost to Attend:

Members: Early Bird Offer - £99 + VAT + Eventbrite fees

We've kept costs down and held the price steady, so you get the same great event and an early bird offer. And ... if you are booking for more than 1 attendee from your organisation use the code 'MULTIPLE' at checkout to avail of a discounted rate of 15% on your booking.

By attending the Annual Summit you will:

• Hear first-hand experiences and gain practical and insightful information, enabling your organisation to be aligned and understand opportunities to innovate and collaborate through HMRC’s vision and key supporting programmes.
• Hear from key specialists about opportunities along with the developing landscape that is, and will further transform business operations.
• Have the opportunity to meet with peers from across the industry and enjoy networking with them.

Benefits of attending include:

• Access to the valuable insights to help ensure that your business is/will be fully fit for purpose to fully capitalise upon future needs and opportunities.
• Receive guidance and advice from industry experts, speakers and your peers throughout the day.
• Network with your peers – extend your business and personal network.