PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Artificial intelligence is reshaping how finance functions operate — from forecasting and reporting to risk management and capital allocation. Yet many CFOs and senior finance leaders face a widening gap between the pace of AI innovation and their organization’s ability to evaluate, adopt, and govern it responsibly.
AI: Turning Buzz into Business Value is a practical, executive-level program designed to close that gap. Rather than offering abstract theory, this program equips finance leaders with a working toolkit — frameworks, use cases, and hands-on exposure to AI applications — that can be applied directly to core finance functions: FP&A, treasury, controllership, audit, and investor relations.
Participants will explore how leading finance organizations are using AI to accelerate close cycles, improve forecast accuracy, automate compliance and controls, and generate deeper strategic insight from financial data. The program also addresses the leadership dimension of AI adoption: how to build organizational readiness, manage change, evaluate vendor and build-vs-buy decisions, and establish governance and risk guardrails appropriate for a finance function. Delivered through a mix of case studies, live demonstrations, and interactive exercises, the program is designed for leaders who need to make confident, informed decisions about AI investment and implementation — without needing to become technologists themselves. Who should attend: CFOs, VPs of Finance, Controllers, Treasurers, FP&A leaders, and other senior finance executives responsible for technology strategy, transformation, or team capability building.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Speak the language of AI with confidence — understand core concepts (machine learning, generative AI, agentic AI, LLMs) well enough to evaluate vendor claims and lead informed conversations with technical teams.
- Identify high-value use cases — map specific AI applications to finance workflows such as forecasting, variance analysis, reconciliation, cash flow management, and financial reporting.
- Evaluate build-vs-buy and vendor options — apply a practical framework for assessing AI tools and platforms against cost, risk, integration complexity, and strategic fit.
- Build a governance and risk framework — establish controls for data privacy, model accuracy, auditability, and regulatory compliance appropriate to finance data.
- Lead organizational change — develop a roadmap for upskilling teams, managing adoption resistance, and redefining roles as AI takes on routine analytical work.
- Quantify ROI and business impact — construct a business case for AI investment that resonates with the board and other executive stakeholders.
- Anticipate what’s next — understand emerging trends (agentic finance workflows, autonomous reporting, AI-augmented decision-making) and how to position the finance function for continued disruption.
SPEAKERS
Phil Frankenberg | Principal, PF Strike Point LLC, Former CEO, President & CRO, Growth & Revenue Advisor
Phil Frankenberg has spent more than 25 years operating at the C-suite level, identifying what is constraining a business’s growth and building the plan to resolve it.
He has served as CEO, President, and Chief Revenue Officer across retail, CPG, fintech, consumer health, and enterprise technology, founding and scaling two companies to nine-figure revenue before their acquisition: Crimzon Rose International ($125M, acquired by Li & Fung) and Ballet Jewels ($100M+, acquired by GMA Accessories). Over the course of his career, he has built enterprise relationships with national retailers including Walmart, Target, Kohl’s, Nordstrom, Macy’s, JCPenney, Kroger, and Walgreens, and has operated across consumer products, hospitality, skincare, and enterprise technology.
Today, as Principal of PF Strike Point LLC, Phil applies that same operating discipline to the businesses he advises: identify the real constraint on growth, build a focused plan to address it, test it with a disciplined, KPI-driven pilot, and remain engaged through execution. His approach is defined by results rather than promises.
Arnie Leap | Former CIO, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Adjunct Professor, NYIT, Executive Technology Advisor
Arnie Leap has spent thirty-five years in technology, the last twenty as a C-level executive, including twelve years as Chief Information Officer of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM. He ran the operating environment of a public, multi-brand gifting company — the systems that take an order, move inventory, collect payment, serve a customer, and give finance a number it can defend.
While he held that chair, the company grew from $735 million to $2.21 billion, handled more than twenty million orders a year, and integrated six acquisitions, treating growth as an operating problem, not a press release.
He moved the customer experience onto public cloud, automated warehouses ahead of peak season, and rebuilt identity on a zero-trust model, because payments, customer data, and AI workloads cannot sit behind an old castle-and-moat. AI, he put where it changed cost-to-serve and conversion, starting with in-house conversational commerce years before the current wave.
Leap now advises on enterprise platforms, sustainable transformation, and AI, and teaches AI ethics and governance at New York Institute of Technology, where he also serves on the Dean’s Executive Advisory Board for the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences.
Dave Reilly-Madan | Growth Specialist Digital Transformation Leader,AI Enthusiast
Dave Reilly-Madan is a startup and growth specialist who has spent more than 25 years founding, building, and scaling companies, taking organizations from early concept through successful transition. As a former business owner and industry leader, he has sat on the same side of the table as the finance leaders he now serves, giving him genuine empathy for the rhythmic cycles and pressures placed on FP&A and Controllership teams.
For more than 25 years, Dave has worked closely with finance and operations leaders helping them modernize the processes that keep finance and operation running and evolving.
Today, Dave focuses on the intersection of business growth and artificial intelligence, helping organizations understand how AI will reshape decision making, workflow design, and talent needs across the finance and operations function. He is currently working with an enterprise client on AI assisted software development, giving him a firsthand, current view into how AI is changing the way technical and business teams build and delivered, and the value it drives for the business.
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SPONSOR PARTNERS
Thank you to our valued Sponsor Partners. This event is open to members, sponsors, and special guests.
