Main Day Two - Wednesday, November 13, 2024

8:00 am - 9:00 am Executive Breakfast and Registration

9:00 am - 9:15 am SSON Welcome & Opening Remarks

9:15 am - 10:00 am Fireside Chat: Reimagine the Modern Finance Leader – Strategize for Growth and Profitability in a Dynamic Market

As Finance leaders’ responsibilities expand in scope and complexity, the finance function’s impact also expands. Join leaders to benchmark top priorities and implementation best practices including: leveraging insights to enhance forecasting, optimizing cash management, expanding revenue streams and reconsidering organizational frameworks in an evolving economic landscape. In this discussion leaders will:  

  • Explore what the finance function means today and leading market trends CFOs are taking about 
  • Unpack forecasting considerations, cash management and risk mitigation in a dynamic market  
  • Debate what CFOs are prioritizing to grow their business, steps they are taking to initiate opportunities and resourcing considerations 
  • Brainstorm sustainable revenue generating strategies to keep up with profitability demands 

A series of 25-minute consultative meetings with service providers that can help provide insights and value to your roadmaps, strategies, and plans for the quarters to come: based on mutual availability and personal preference. 

1:1 Business Meetings

10:00 am - 10:25 am 1:1 Business Meetings

A series of 25 minute consultative meetings with service providers that can help provide insights and value to your roadmaps, strategies, and plans for the quarters to come: based on mutual availability and personal preference. 

1:1 Business Meetings

10:30 am - 10:55 am 1:1 Business Meetings

This is an opportunity to select some common challenges that you would like to collaborate with your peers on. In groups of roundtables, we will discuss and explore ideas and areas of opportunities.  

Challenge Rounds

10:00 am - 10:25 am Challenge Round:Maximize Returns through Reinvention—Leverage Technology to Boost Efficiency and Cut Costs

How do you create an outcome-focused strategy and budget for new tools for your organization? Dive into best practices of identifying opportunities for investment that fits into your organization’s goals without being blinded by the shiny new tools on the market. Benchmark different automation with fellow execs that can be implemented to create cost savings for the business and increase productivity, giving you the ROI you are looking for. 

Challenge Rounds

10:30 am - 10:55 am The Future Workforce - Drive Change and Empower Your Team to Embrace New Tools

Win hearts and minds through change management techniques to boost employee buy-in, productivity and retain talent. Hear best practices to address STEM and technology fears, communicate value and discover how top organizations are empowering their teams to support business initiatives.

11:00 am - 11:30 am Networking Break

11:30 am - 12:00 pm Streamlining Contract Review and Gaining Efficiencies

Contract management is a critical yet time-consuming task for finance teams. This discussion will focus on how automating contract review can enhance efficiency, reduce risk, and support compliance across finance functions. 


  • Examine the benefits of automation in reducing manual contract review time 
  • Discuss strategies to minimize financial risk and improve accuracy. 
  • Share best practices for integrating automation into existing finance processes 

 


A series of 25-minute consultative meetings with service providers that can help provide insights and value to your roadmaps, strategies, and plans for the quarters to come: based on mutual availability and personal preference. 

1:1 Business Meetings

12:00 pm - 12:25 pm 1:1 Business Meetings

A series of 25 minute consultative meetings with service providers that can help provide insights and value to your roadmaps, strategies, and plans for the quarters to come: based on mutual availability and personal preference. 

1:1 Business Meetings

12:30 pm - 12:55 pm 1:1 Business Meetings

A series of 25 minute consultative meetings with service providers that can help provide insights and value to your roadmaps, strategies, and plans for the quarters to come: based on mutual availability and personal preference. 

This is an opportunity to select some common challenges that you would like to collaborate with your peers on. In groups of roundtables, we will discuss and explore ideas and areas of opportunities.  

Challenge Rounds

12:00 pm - 12:25 pm Challenge Round: Become a Digital Storyteller –Leverage Data Reporting and Analytics for Better Business Insights

Utilizing data analytics for impact is top of mind when creating value for the business. This can result in better decision making, improved prioritization, the ability to uncover hidden opportunities to save or invest and so much more. But how do you share that story? Analyze strategies to effectively communicate and leverage those insights for impact.  

Challenge Rounds

12:30 pm - 12:55 pm Challenge Round: Transform vs Fix – Finding the Right Balance in Your Role

With the expansion of the CFO’s mandate, leaders are implementing more strategy in addition to their traditional finance activities. In addition to reporting, there is a strong emphasis on meeting growth and profit expectations, communicating value to investors, building efficient teams and ensuring compliance with regulations. How do you manage your time and resources to fulfill the expectations of a CFO today? Discuss best practices, challenges and leadership techniques to unpack the role of the modern CFO. 

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Executive Luncheon

2:00 pm - 2:45 pm Empowering Innovation Through Citizen Development

In today’s fast-paced technical landscape, CFOs are uniquely positioned to drive value by empowering non-technical employees to solve business challenges. Citizen Development, using no-code or low-code platforms, allows employees to quickly design and deploy solutions tailored to specific needs. This approach enhances agility, improves customer experience, and captures business value.

 

·       Enable faster, cost-effective innovation by equipping teams with no-code/low-code tools.

·       Respond to evolving business demands more efficiently, enhancing both operational performance and customer satisfaction.

 

2:45 pm - 3:10 pm 1:1 Business Meetings

A series of 25 minute consultative meetings with service providers that can help provide insights and value to your roadmaps, strategies, and plans for the quarters to come: based on mutual availability and personal preference. 

2:45 pm - 3:10 pm Bring your Own Challenge


3:15 pm - 3:40 pm 1:1 BUSINESS MEETINGS

3:15 pm - 3:45 pm Gen AI as a Catalyst for Innovation - Explore Opportunities to Power the Future of Finance

Generative AI is making a strong entry into the business landscape, yet no one has cracked the code on the best way to leverage it within an organization. Understanding the potential applications of Gen AI within the finance function and how it can integrate into the existing ecosystem is top of mind. Address some of the most pressing organizational needs and unlock optimized solutions for finance to increase efficiency.

  • Discuss the potential impact of GenAI technologies in the finance function and for the business as a whole
  • Understand risks and challenges associated with these technologies
  • Hear real life use cases of how GenAI is being used within finance and best practices of implementation

 

3:45 pm - 4:15 pm Networking Break

4:15 pm - 4:40 pm 1:1 BUSINESS MEETINGS

4:15 pm - 4:40 pm AI Impact on Finance – Becoming a Digital Leader to Support Transformation

To keep up with the ever-advancing technological landscape, CFOs need to effectively advocate and lead digital delivery to embrace the full benefits. Incorporating AI tools, technologies and capabilities to improve finance reporting and operations is currently on every finance leader’s tech roadmap. However, leveraging this technology will require a reboot on your operations and how you deliver value to your customers.

  • Evaluate where AI can be applied to your finance transformation to solve efficiency or performance gaps and how it will impact operating models and business operations
  • Hear real life use cases of impactful AI transformation stories from industry leaders and the role that the CFO took in owning or supporting the transformation
  • Outline steps you can take to upskill your leadership to support digital investments

Jasmine Ahmedt, Business Transformation Leader

 

4:45 pm - 5:45 pm Networking Reception