Join this year's Accounting for the Future conference themed Risk, resilience and reinvention. From 24 to 26 November, ACCA is bringing together global leaders, innovators and forward-thinkers to help you turn complexity into opportunity.
Conference highlights
Join us – and thousands of fellow ACCA members around the world – to earn over to 21 units of free CPD and explore critical trends shaping the future:
Navigating risk
Tackling global economic volatility, trade shifts and climate-driven supply chain disruptions with strategic foresight.
Mastering the tech frontier
Cutting through the hype on agentic AI, understanding autonomous finance functions and driving cyber resilience at machine speed.
Reinventing our impact
Fostering ethical leadership, bridging generational divides and owning our evolving roles in a data-driven world.
Global economic resilience: the impact of geopolitics, trade and AI in 2027
The global economy is experiencing its fourth major shock this decade amid conflict in the Middle East and surging energy prices. However, the AI boom continues to boost growth and fuel soaring stock markets. So, what will drive the economic winds of 2027? Could geopolitical and trade risks outweigh the AI boom? Our panellists discuss the key issues and how finance professionals need to build resilience in the face of instability and insecurity.
Speakers: Tanya Beckett, Spyros Andreopoulos, Monika Sztajerowska, Jonathan Ashworth
Evolving roles in a data-driven age
This panel will look at the role accountants can assume when it comes to improving the quality of data-driven decision-making within their organisations. It will explore the types of data both financial and non-financial available for decision making and how to assess its value. Panellists will also examine the new responsibilities facing accountants as both technology tools and data gathering evolves.
Speakers: Dev Ramnarine FCCA, Chengai Ruredzo FCCA, Alistair Brisbourne
Reinventing business, creating opportunity
As we look forward to an increasingly complex world, finance professionals will be uniquely placed to help organisations transform themselves and unlock real growth possibilities. Our panel of experts will explore how finance leaders can balance resilience, innovation and strategic foresight amid technological disruption, talent shortages and geopolitical uncertainty, to enable transformation, stronger decision-making and sustainable long-term value creation in the future.
Speakers: Francesca Lagerberg, Mohammad Kashif Javaid FCCA, Jane Thostrup Jagd, Claire Lindridge
Making confident decisions in uncertain times
In uncertain times, waiting for perfect information can leave us stuck, hesitant or second-guessing ourselves. This session explores how to make sound decisions when the 'right' answer is not obvious. We'll look at how to separate what you know from what you don't, identify what may be holding you back, and how to take action while staying agile. You'll leave with practical tools to make better decisions, trust your judgment, and move forward with greater confidence.
Speaker: Helen Tuddenham
Weather-proofing your supply chains
Climate- and weather-related disruption is reshaping supply chains. This panel's discussions looks at the strategic risks this creates for organisations, industries and economies, and examines practical approaches to building resilient supply chains through sustainable sourcing, supplier partnerships, procurement, investment and collaboration. Our panel of experts will discuss how finance professionals can enable resilience by supporting better decision-making, investment, governance, reporting and assurance, while creating long-term business value.
Speakers: Tim Doubleday, Lim Fen Nee, Alexander Njombe FCCA, Emmeline Skelton
Agentic AI: where it works and where it fails
Agentic AI doesn't just draft or advise, it can complete entire workflows autonomously. That is a paradigm shift compared to previous forms of automation or augmenting tasks with Generative AI. This panel cuts through the hype to ask the questions finance leaders actually need answered: which workflows are genuinely ready for agentic AI in the next 6 12 months, where does autonomous execution create unacceptable risk, and what 'finance-grade' controls are non-negotiable before deployment. Drawing on new research, panellists will offer a practical roadmap for piloting agentic AI without losing control of it.
Speakers: Alistair Brisbourne, Alec Manning FCCA, Beadle Navaraj, Akm Boby
The entrepreneurial small practitioner
Today's most successful accountants do more than manage numbers, they help businesses grow. This panel discussion will explore how finance professionals can build and expand their practices by growing alongside their clients. Our experts will cover improving access to finance, effectively promoting advisory services and developing resilient client relationships that withstand economic uncertainty. Join us as we share practical strategies for creating entrepreneurial professionals.
Speakers: Sarah Whale FCCA, David Simpson, Adnan Charania
The autonomous finance function
Finance functions are evolving to become autonomous with artificial intelligence promising further advances. For CFOs the next big step may be integration of agentic AI. This panel will examine what a fully autonomous finance function looks like; the key investment decisions required, how to time them and the risks involved. Our speakers will also explore the potential implications for CFOs as the technology blurs the traditional lines between finance and other business functions.
Speakers: Lis Rhodes, Graham Davies, Harshad Balakrishnan, Clive Webb
Preparing for the inevitable: cyber resilience at machine speed
AI is changing the economics and speed of cyber risk. Vulnerabilities can increasingly be discovered and exploited at machine speed, while remediation, governance and assurance still largely operate at human speed. Meanwhile, AI is becoming an increasingly powerful tool for defenders. This panel explores what cyber resilience means in practice: how to prioritise risks, make better investment decisions, clarify accountability and assurance, and prepare the organisation to operate through disruption. It will also examine the role that finance, risk, audit and boards must play alongside cyber teams.
Speakers: Jay Vinda, Courtenay Brammar, Nhamo Nyakambangwe, Rachael Johnson
Navigating ethics for trust
Organisations and finance professionals are navigating increasing ethical complexity as technology, leadership, culture and public expectations reshape how judgment is exercised in practice. Drawing on ACCA's latest research, the panel will explore how these pressures connect: from the opportunities and risks of AI use, to the role of leadership in reinforcing trust, accountability and ethical judgment. We will also consider what practical support, governance and professional capability are needed to help the profession apply its ethical principles credibly.
Speakers: Daniel Malan, Obichukwu (Obi) Nwazota, Sophia Lovell, Sarah Lane
Skills for a changing workplace
Many finance departments struggle to establish effective collaboration across generational divides. This could prove a key obstacle to knowledge sharing, career performance and finance team effectiveness. This panel discussion brings together professionals from across the generations to explore the policies and practices that facilitate mixed-age cooperation, including two-way mentorships, team building, training and inclusion initiatives.
Speakers: Cristina Guṭu FCCA, Joanna Perry, Sowmya Narayan, Jamie Lyon FCCA
Recognisably human: standing out in the age of AI
AI is already changing how we get hired, noticed and promoted. So wherever you are in your career, from newly qualified to CFO, this practical session is about building a personal brand and showcasing the part of your value that no filter, human or algorithmic, can challenge.
Speaker: Richard Etienne