Subject to change – please do not print.
Morning registration & name-badge collection, then grab some breakfast & coffee/tea.
Johan Olsson, CFO (UK), Volvo
The automotive industry is currently going through the largest transformation in its history, thanks to changing consumer behaviour and digital disruption – and Volvo Car UK is leading from the front.
As the pioneering market for Volvo Cars globally, Johan Olsson, Chief Financial Officer for Volvo Car UK will share his insights on how his company is implementing a direct-to-consumer strategy that will ensure consumers remain at the heart of all they do as they switch from a franchise to agency model.
This will include an overview of the changing consumers needs he foresees, as well as how to find efficiencies and unlock value during a time of change. Johan will also talk about the CFO’s role in substantially changing a business model, where the Finance Division should focus their time to maximise value and what the associated risks and benefits to the financial statements are.
Linda Weston, MD & Head of Core Product, Barclaycard Payments
Too busy addressing rising costs, pressured supply chains and a recently decentralised workforce to focus on strategizing, optimising, and innovating? In this presentation, we’ll explain how by enhancing your payments strategy, CFOs can create efficiencies, drive down costs and keep better control on company spending. The key to this? Unlocking insight from payments data. CFOs can deliver value across their organisations by analysing their payments trends and implementing processes that release untapped value from their supply chains. Join Linda to learn how a bespoke payments strategy could drive bottom-line returns for your business.
Irina Kremleva, Head of Revenue Management DACH, PepsiCo
We all know about the need (where appropriate) of changing from Waterfall to AGILE, about embracing the change, and driving the business and digital transformation in our fast changing world. However, according to BCG research, only about 1 in 4 transformations succeeds in the short and long run, and the success rate has been trending downward.
So what can we do to improve the survival rate of the desired changes and get closer to the full potential promised in the business cases?
We will talk about the key pillars of Change management, about one-size-fits-all myth and about psychological resistance to change.
Naomi Hill, VP Finance, CFO EMEA at IBM
IBM has continued to evolve, transforming over decades. Our firsthand experience positions us well to lead clients in their transformation journeys and reduce risk by leveraging lessons learned from our own internal transformation.
IBM is leveraging hybrid cloud and embedding AI into our workflows to create disruptive business value and drive change across all our functions.
Julia Unkel, CFO, Allianz Partners
Sanja Keranovic, CFO (Serbia), Dr Oetker
Jean Luc Midena, Group CFO, Bouygues UK
James Levy, CFO, Azur Group
This panel will discuss the changing role of the CFO, what are the key skills and competencies that a CFO must possess in order to fulfill their duty? The day-to-day financial focus is still necessary but is diminishing in proportion to the demands of business leadership. Fundamental finance skills are still paramount, but other skills are necessary to provide the service that the CFO of today and tomorrow is expected to provide.
Valentina Smirnova, Head of Finance Operations, AXA Partners
Stephen Faulkner, VP, Global CFO Industry Lead, UiPath
As CFOs navigate rising inflation, supply chain constraints, a tight labour market, ESG demands, and regulatory uncertainty, maximising the value of their digital transformation strategies has never been more critical.
The path from vision to value has many pitfalls: designing the robust governance structure, building an effective centre of excellence and selecting the right technologies such as cloud automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and purpose-built tools.
Join UiPath host Valentina Smirnova, Head of Finance Operations at Axa Partners, who’ll share her automation journey with AXA navigating these macro-economic and political challenges.
Hester Scotton, CFO, Law Debenture
The last two years have shown us that businesses face a constant flow of external challenges bought by anything from global pandemics to war to the looming threat of a global recession. To address those challenges, many organisations have seen their transformation agenda morph into the need to constantly evolve their working practices. As Finance professionals, we need to rethink our ways of working to support this journey.
In this session, we will look at how Finance can help shape organisational culture and why culture is key to successfully delivering continuous change and, ultimately, business strategy
Kathryn Sherratt, Finance Director, Post Office
Culture has been around for millions of years. Stone age man had it. Flocks of birds have it. And maybe AI has or will have it?
Culture is everywhere…..yet what is it and does it really matter? A useful obsession or an unhelpful distraction? As emotional intelligence makes way for culture intelligence (CQ) and the legacy of Covid takes root how can organisations navigate a seemingly tougher tightrope of achieving a contemporary culture which appeals and delivers for all. How do we bring together the diverse in an inclusive fashion. On a day to day basis, how do you feel it, touch it, see and hear it?
Jean Luc Midena, Group CFO, Bouygues UK
James Levy, CFO, Azur Group
Julia Unkel, CFO, Allianz Partners
Sanja Keranovic, CFO (Serbia),Dr Oetker
Our panelists continue reflecting on the tools and skills needed for current and future CFO’s:
Matt Miller, CFO, National Nuclear Laboratory
In this presentation Matt Miller, CFO of NNL, will discuss and consider some of the measures and interventions that finance teams may need to consider when delivering organic growth.
Lara Martini, Non-Executive Director, AQA
Most company reports already include a mention of sustainability. The shift from ESG as a matter of compliance to having a strategic plan for Net Zero and integrating sustainability in your business model will require more than just compliance, however – and calls for active support from the finance function, including new KPIs, new risk assessment and, in some cases, a dedicated financial plan.
Sarah-Jayne Martin, Director, Finance Automation, Quadient
Companies around the world are bracing for a potential economic downturn. With the prospect of a recession looming, business leaders are looking for ways to tighten up their processes.
Hear strategies finance and accounting teams can take to set their company up for success regardless of external factors, and how AR automation can help create long-term stability.
Economic uncertainty can be difficult to navigate, but there are steps you can take, starting today, to make sure your finance team is buttoned up and ready for anything.
Becky Glover, Finance Director, VNC Automotive
Clive Webb, Sr Insights Manager, ACCA
Richard Moorin, Head of Finance, Sage
Mark Jackson, VP, Marketing, Sage
Discover how the role of Finance is evolving, as we examine the idea of the ‘redefined CFO’. Join our experts as they talk through trends uncovered in recent research, including how transformed business models have demanded different leadership styles across sectors. Finance executives must now deliver purpose-driven strategies, with enough flexibility to embrace digitisation and entirely new ways of working.
Matthew Collins, Group CFO, Scott Bader
Matthew will outline some of the issues faced through the Business Transformation activities across Scott Bader, including how the existing finance team was challenged and upskilled through the recruitment of external talent with a focus on driving and delivering change.
The key message will cover the empathetic manner in which this transformation was managed in and given Scott Bader’s Employee Ownership Status, and how empowerment, trust and transparency become a key culture across the Finance Team.
Csaba Farkas, Head of Global Accounting & Tax Consultancy, TMF Group
2022 will be remembered as the year when the global tax community committed to a significant change, the introduction of the minimum global tax rate. This is just a continuation of all the international efforts to make the tax systems more suitable for the digital age. The focus is on fair tax policies that will allow taxation where consumers are located and that will reduce the variations in tax rates. Companies will need to assess how the changes in tax policies impact their operations, cash flows and investment decisions. Due to Tax administration 3.0, the pressure mounts on businesses to transfer their tax departments. This session will help you understand the implications of tax administration 3.0, the key drivers for companies to transform their tax departments and how these drivers should be assessed in light of the global trends around digitalisation, tax enforcement and global alignment.
Sanja Keranovic, CFO (Serbia), Dr Oetker
“Nothing is as constant as change.” Heracle
There is no better time to apply this sentence than today. Nowadays, in the era of digital transformation, pandemic, inflation, the generation of millennials, we realize that change is the only constant we can count on. This is why we have to ask ourselves what is happening with leadership today. Is leadership in some kind of a crisis? What can motivate our people today? And how hard is it to keep everything stable in a financial world?
Muthumari Duraisamy, Exec Director Finance Functions, Vanderlande
This talk will cover:
The evolution of the CFO role – CFOs are number 2 next to CEOs and becoming more powerful.
The CFO as an entrepreneur – eases the CEO to develop & challenge the organization-wide strategy & on-time execution.
The CFO as a partner to the business – being agile, value creation, supporting during uncertainty, digital era, and innovation.
The death of traditional financials, and transformation to integrated reporting even in board & management reviews, non-financial KPIs, sustainable investments, and reporting.
CFOs taking on board for organizational talent retention and shortage, as it has led to huge financial impacts in recent years in many organizations.
Rocco Del Campo, Group CFO, Rehegoo Music Group
Cecily Dixon Brown, Divisional Director, Finance Strategy & Transformation, St James’s Place
Most of us have at some time encountered the frustration of Finance being labelled “the bean counters” and “the fun police”. While recognising the value of our important regulatory and reporting roles, it’s typical for some (even within Finance itself) to see us as focused on viewing things through the rear-view-mirror.
This view is old fashioned and doesn’t reflect the full value a modern and highly functioning Finance team can bring to the business.
How do we move Finance on from this reputation and evolve the way we see ourselves and what we can offer? How do we help our colleagues around the business understand the value Finance can bring beyond the very important role we play in historical reporting?
Kerem Yilmaz, CFO, Trillium
With multiple challenges facing companies in 2022 (inflation, post-covid uncertainty, supply chain issues) and the need to adapt to technological change, the role of the CFO has never been more important.
Kerem Yilmaz, CFO at Trillium Flow Technologies, will discuss the strategic maneuverers he has incorporated to ensure cutting through the noise to allow rigorous decision making, aligning your board and to turn the table on key issues affecting your value creation plan.
Jules Radford, VP Financial Operations, Inmarsat.
Join HighRadius as our panel discusses the controversial topic of the impact Artificial Intelligence (AI) has on finance. We’ll be diving into where AI is being used across the finance departments, how AI was implemented and the challenges faced, and finally, is AI just a jargon or is there scope for it to really transform a business.
Martin Watson, Sales Director, CCH Tagetik UKI
Today’s unpredictable economic events mean pivoting faster and more often to meet short-term profitability and business challenges. This requires a new approach to FP&A: extended planning and analysis (xP&A) as Gartner refers to this.
Meanwhile, ESG & Sustainability has suddenly become the new ‘must have’, as regulators and all stakeholders expect long-term, planet-conscious value creation.
Sander Rutten, Business Process Manager, NN Group
NN Group is a financial services company providing pensions, insurance, banking and investments to approximately 18 million customers. With over 15,000 employees across 11 countries, the company has its roots in the Netherlands with a history that stretches back over 175 years.
Csaba Farkas, Head of Global Accounting and Tax Consultancy, TMF Group
Hana Biskova, Digital Transformation Principal, HighRadius
Touted as the future of Accounts Receivables, the Autonomous Receivables software is a combination of the world’s first AI-enabled Integrated receivables platform.
The digital assistant, Freeda, is set to fundamentally alter the way analysts work by putting order-to-cash on auto-pilot mode.
The Artificial Intelligence Engine and Freeda Virtual Assistant for Credit-to-Cash enables teams to leverage machine learning for accurate decision making, predict future outcomes and automate routine labour-intensive tasks.
Michael Judd, Sr Director, Office of Finance, Board
In this world of constrained resources, continuous change and expanding volumes of data, our traditional ways of planning no longer serve our organisational needs.
We know we need to transform planning, but the path is unclear, costly and fraught with risk. In this session, finance transformation professional, Michael Judd will share his experience in transforming xP&A, and the practical steps CFO’s can take to unlock their finance resources and deliver value.
The session will conclude with time for practical discussion.
Paul McHanon, Finance Director, Finance Business Transformation, Impellam Group.
James Kearns, Commercial Director, Kefron
Impellam Group PLC is one of the largest Talent Acquisition and Managed Workforce Solution providers in the UK and has been on a global transformation journey for the last 18 months, replacing their global ERP system in order to support financial analysis and reporting across the Impellam Group.
Russell Jaques, Sales Manager, Medius
Ashley Matadeen, Product Owner, Liberty London
AP automation and P2P isn’t a simple journey. Most success stories aren’t realistic, so this session showcases the ups and downs of a real project of how Liberty London utilized analytics and investigative techniques to understand and action their P2P/AP process. Hear their journey of modernizing payables using AP automation.
Erik Saito, Senior VP, Workiva,
David Grant, Managing Director, Forvis
Kylee Dickie, Head of Group External Reporting, National Grid
In this era of mounting risk and uncertainty, leaders of large-scale organisations know they need more clarity and control across all their corporate entities. With data integrity and global collaboration now leading priorities, they can no longer afford to keep their reporting processes disconnected. Join Workiva as we speak to Forvis and National Grid to discuss common pain points we see with maintaining transparency and integrity across complex multi-entity organisations, and how they are embracing technology innovation to overcome them.
Stephen Faulkner, VP, Global CFO Industry Lead, UiPath
Join this peer-to-peer discussion facilitated by a UiPath expert on best practices and leveraging the full potential of automation with RPA, AI and ML.
This session is for Finance leaders and organisations that have implemented an automation strategy and would like to share best practices and learn from their peers.
Tomas Guerra, Head of Finance (Chile), Warner Bros. Discovery
The world is experiencing what is the biggest global shift in work for decades. It’s come at a time when much was already transforming. Automation was reshaping industries and changing our jobs. And long gone are the days when the CFO’s work was defined by finance and accounting.
As companies move beyond the uncertainty of the pandemic into a renewed focus on driving growth, the mentality of the CFO will need to shift from accounting to value creation and focusing on broader strategic issues and exerting influence across the business in pursuit of value.
Charlene Abdul, Head of Finance, University of the Arts London
Since Covid, Health and Wellbeing has been prioritised by many organisations. Flexible working, Employee Assistance Programmes, mental health support and employee education are some of the resources employers provide. Yet, despite research showing that lack of movement – particularly sitting for extended periods of time – can be harmful, Finance professionals are still sitting for over 8 hours a day, with many expected to work for longer periods. Cardiology experts reviewing evidence in the journal Circulation say “no amount of physical activity is enough to combat the dangerous health effects of sitting for hours each day.”
This talk will highlight the importance of movement for self and for business, and facilitate reflection to encourage movement for success.
Sarah Watson, Director of Finance and Technology, Make-A-Wish
Make-A-Wish UK is part of a global movement that was established in the UK in 1986 to create life-changing wishes that revive the childhood that critical illness often takes away.
Digital Transformation enables us to connect our community so they can focus on delivering the magic of a wish. We will share our journey to date, the challenges and transferable knowledge and most importantly the impact this is making to our ability to deliver on our mission.
Andy Collis, CFO, Moneypenny
This talk will take a detailed look at the US growth strategy used by Moneypenny, spearheaded by their CFO, Andy Collis. It’ll include a focus on how to maintain the company culture, including M&A’s, and scaling rapid growth profitably.
Justin Cini, Head of Finance & Strategy EMEA, AirBnB
Finance functions are facing new and ever-changing challenges in listed companies, as a result we have an opportunity to add more value by moving from just controllership to also driving strategic proactive growth. One avenue is to help foster innovation with in-house startups.
Julia Unkel, CFO, Allianz Partners
Automation is an accelerator for transformation and innovation – also within the Finance arena. A prerequisite for automation is standardization and simplification of core operating procedures, harmonizing the process landscape across the organization. Finance automation tools automatically manage time-consuming tasks like gathering, verifying and consolidating data. These tools maximize efficiency and accuracy while making finance tasks a lot easier to manage.
Mohamed El-Rouby, CFO, Pharmanovia
How to detect and articulate the stories behind data sets and communicate data finding in visual, oral, and written contexts for various audiences and the public.
Apply data visualization best practices to their work, including choosing the right chart type for the situation and avoiding visualization techniques that can mislead an audience.
Effectively present data visually to enhance audience comprehension of findings and insight
