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Business school education is changing to keep up with the rapidly evolving finance profession. Jim Washam, Dean of the Neil Griffin College of Business at Arkansas State University, and DJ Masson, Clinical Professor of Finance at Indiana University's Kelly School of Business, discuss the state of business school education and how business schools are evolving to meet the needs of students, as well as those of employers who can't seem to find enough talent. This episode is sponsored by AARP.

It’s not just about reporting on the data. CFOs who leverage data-driven insights are serving as strategic advisors by shaping business strategy and driving the organization forward. Bryan Hipsher, CFO of Dun & Bradstreet, explains data strategy, getting data right, and how his department transforms data into analytical insights, yielding smarter decisions that benefit every function at the company.

Welcome to a special three-part series of AFP Conversations, The Road to Treasury Optimization, where we take a deep dive into how the treasury landscape is transforming in the Asia-Pacific region. What should you consider when you’re looking to enhance liquidity management? How has the pandemic accelerated finance and treasury transformation? And what does the future of digital treasury look like? We answer these questions and more. This series is a companion to the Executive Guide: A Treasurer’s Guide to Centralization, as underwritten by Standard Chartered. If you want to learn more about the topics covered in this series, visit AFPonline.org/TreasuryCentralization. In this podcast we discuss how the pandemic has accelerated finance and treasury transformation. We explore challenges encountered during transformation projects and processes that had to be re-engineered.

In this podcast we address how MUFG's clients are responding to a very complex operating environment. From Covid, to High Inflation, Interest Rate increases and Strained Supply chains, we discuss how companies can best operate their working capital to be resilient, maintain the course and help the company using a multitude of tools available. We also discuss how companies can see an increased return on cash by using their own balance sheet for payables processing. 

What do you do when you’re tasked with solving a big problem using only the resources you already have? Dr. Simone Ahuja makes the case that with a growth mindset and a simple toolkit of strategies you can generate high-value solutions. Dr. Ahuja is the founder of Blood Orange, a global innovation and strategy firm headquartered in Minneapolis, and the co-author of the international bestseller, Jugaad Innovation. During the AFP 2022 Certification Keynote Breakfast, sponsored by PNC, Dr. Ahuja will share her five-step process to innovation that will help you gain support for new ideas and create greater impact. Want to hear more? Register for AFP 2022, October 23-26, in Philadelphia: https://conference.afponline.org/registration

Effective leaders need to be able to see the big picture. Chloe Demrovsky, president & CEO of Disaster Recovery Institute International, is a globally recognized thought leader. She has been a commentator for national news outlets, presented on global risk at events across five continents and conducted on-site briefings for government officials. During the AFP 2022 Monday Executive Keynote, sponsored by PNC, Demrovsky will leverage key findings from Disaster Recovery Institute research to review the decisions leaders must make in a post-COVID world. She will also provide tactical insight on how to strengthen and improve enterprise-wide business continuity practices to address various risks. In this episode of AFP Conversations, Demrovsky shares how she became a resilience professional and why resilience should be a strategic investment for organizations.

An organization’s greatest asset is its people. Dr. Lisa Bélanger is an award-winning researcher who helps leaders and teams optimize performance, productivity, and innovation through leading-edge scientific research. With a PhD in behavioral medicine, Bélanger is the CEO of ConsciousWorks, a consulting firm that supports leaders and teams in maximizing their mental capacity and performance.  Dr. Bélanger is the AFP 2022 Wellness Keynote. Drawing on psychology, behavioral science, and neuroscience, she will empower attendees to take control of their behaviors and offers daily practices to think more clearly, make better decisions, be more productive, build resilience, and have more energy. In this episode of AFP Conversations, Dr. Bélanger shares practical ways to incorporate mindfulness into our everyday lives. She also shares the most effective ways to manage short-term and long-term stress while providing practical exercises and strategies that require little time but offer significant gains in mental strength.

Stacey Vanek Smith is a longtime public radio reporter and host, highly regarded for her insight and journalism on work, business, and economics; I mentioned her Indicators podcast, she is also a correspondent and host for NPR’s Planet Money and Marketplace, and her work has appeared in Time Magazine, The New York Times, and People Magazine. Vanek Smith is also the author of Machiavelli for Women: Defend Your Worth, Grow Your Ambition, and Win the Workplace. Stacey is also the FP&A keynote speaker at AFP 2022 coming in October; the title of her keynote presentation will be Numbers and Narratives: Seeking a Story Among the Indicators.

We are experiencing a historic acceleration in the pace of change in our world. Artificial intelligence, digitization, robotics, 3D printing, and the rise of purpose-driven enterprises are reconfiguring how industries operate. These changes divide us into two camps: the “Disruptors” and the “Disrupted”. AFP CEO & President Jim Kaitz recently sat down with 2022 AFP Annual Conference MindShift Keynote Kaihan Krippendorff to discuss what makes companies and individuals thrive in the face of disruption. Krippendorff is an entrepreneur, author, consultant and CEO who is is known for his ability to turn difficult concepts into easy-to-understand ideas that drive meaningful outcomes and actions. In his MindShift Keynote at AFP 2022, he'll break down the underlying patterns of disruption and with compelling stories of successes, failures, and yet-unknown innovations, teaches practical tools to help you take action and become a Disruptor. 

In this episode of AFP Conversations, AFP President and CEO Jim Kaitz sits down with Laila Ali, an undefeated world champion boxer, entrepreneur TV, personality, author, and wellness advocate. Ali is also the Sunday Keynote at AFP 2022, October 23-26 in Philadelphia.  As the youngest daughter of Muhammad Ali, Laila Ali has developed the values of hard work, determination, courage, and self-belief that have guided her throughout her unique career. Listen in to hear how Ali's career has evolved and how all of us can adopt an all-in attitude like hers to successfully navigate our own careers. Learn more about Ali and register for the conference at AFP2022.org.

What makes some companies succeed at creating an analytics hub within finance, while others fall short?  Larry Maisel, President of DecisionVu, joins AFP's Director of FP&A Practice Bryan Lapidus to discuss how to navigate the challenge that digital transformation presents.  They discuss the role of executives in project success and provide lightning-round definitions of often-confused terms.

In this episode, AFP President and CEO Jim Kaitz and AFP 2022 Keynote Speaker Adam Grant discuss how to change our thinking to evolve the way we work—both on the individual level and at the organizational level. 

In this episode of AFP Conversations, AFP President and CEO Jim Kaitz chats with Shawn Kanungo, innovation strategist, on how financial professionals can be disruptors.  Kanungo was the MindShift keynote speaker at AFP 2021.

In this episode of AFP Conversations, AFP’s Glenn Douglas chats with Brooke Lazizi, senior destination services manager for the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau. Ahead of AFP 2022, October 23-26 in Philadelphia, we wanted to hear about all the fun things to see and do in the city. Philadelphia is full of life—from the murals painting the sides of buildings, to the cutting-edge research happening at Penn—the city of brotherly love is a fantastic gathering place for curious people with a zest for learning something new. Listen in to hear about what made Philadelphia land a top spot on National Geographic, Condé Nast, and Travel + Leisure must-see lists, what’s going on in the arts scene and food scene, what’s off the beaten track—and whether Brooke has ever run up the Rocky steps.

The notion of creating digital payers out of B2B buyers can be intimidating to corporations. But as many companies learned the hard way during the pandemic, steering their B2B buyers away from paper checks and other outmoded payment methods, although challenging, is necessary for survival.  In this episode of AFP Conversations, Tom Hunt, AFP’s director of Treasury and Payments Services, speaks with Flint Lane, the CEO and founder of Billtrust. Flint has set the strategic direction of the company since its founding in 2001. Under his leadership, the company has enjoyed significant growth providing invoice-to-cash services to companies throughout North America.  Listen in as Flint and Tom discuss how accounts receivable teams can lead the charge for transitioning B2B buyers into digital payers. 

Treasury departments grapple with RTP, or Real-time Payments, every day. How are your fellow treasury professionals dealing with RTP now, and what will the landscape look like in the future? In this episode of AFP Conversations, Tom Hunt, AFP’s director of Treasury and Payments Services, speaks with payments industry expert Steve Ledford from The Clearing House. Steve has advised leading banks, financial services firms, and payment organizations in the US and globally for more than 30 years. His work has focused on payments, advising clients on business strategy, product development, IT and infrastructure planning, operations and the deployment of new payment systems. Listen in as Steven and Tom discuss use cases, volume, and Request for Payment, to get a full picture of the current RTP landscape.

Kevin Belli thinks that great data is only great when it adds value, improves decision-making and resource prioritization, and enhances an organization’s financial health. The ability to promote the FP&A discipline and partner with internal customers are among a host of skills that are key to the development of that next finance rockstar. In this edition of the AFP Conversations Podcast, Kevin Belli SVP, Financial Planning + Analysis at AARP joins AFP’s Director of FP&A Practice, Bryan Lapidus, FPAC to talk about the key differentiators that set the finance rockstars apart. As technology advances, everyone from the CFO to first-year financial analysts and treasury specialists has had to keep pace with that change. Kevin and Bryan discuss how the role of finance professional is changing the importance of data literacy. Finance teams must not only leverage complex data sets but—more importantly—demonstrate the necessary skills to transform this data into meaningful and strategic guidance for the organization.  

LIBOR is set to be discontinued by the end of this year, and it’s important that corporates are ready for the transition. Libor is written into over 220 trillion dollars in contracts around the world. Most of those are set to mature before mid-2023. That being said, the Alternative Reference Rates Committee has estimated that about a third won't mature by that timeframe. In this edition of the AFP Conversations Podcast, Tom Hunt director of Treasury and Payments Services at AFP, speaks with Nathaniel Wuerffel, a Senior Vice President in the Markets Group of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Deputy Head of MOMA—the open market trading desk—for Domestic Markets. Listen in as Nathaniel recommends actions you can take both before year-end and before mid-2023.