All Speakers
The Real-Time Payments Revolution
Join Nick Stanescu, EVP and Chief FedNow® Executive at Federal Reserve Financial Services for a fireside conversation with AFP President & CEO Pat Culkin. Together they will offer a forward-looking perspective on the rapid evolution of real-time payments, from instant settlement expectations to emerging infrastructure and use cases. The discussion will highlight what is changing and what comes next, addressing key trends, challenges, and implications for treasury and finance professionals navigating the shift to always-on payments.
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The Intersection of the Economy, Policy, and Geopolitics
As a long-time journalist and commentator in the fields of political and financial reporting, Michelle Caruso-Cabrera is uniquely positioned to connect the interplay of geopolitics with U.S. economic policy and how each is impacting the global economy. In this talk, Caruso-Cabrera zeroes in on key geopolitical issues and the top risks impacting the global economy. She offers timely analysis and detailed commentary on complex topics affecting the global network, to help treasury and finance professionals better anticipate risk and make informed decisions in a volatile global environment.
The Real-Time Payments Revolution
Join Mark Gould, Chief Payments Officer at the Federal Reserve Financial Services, for a forward-looking perspective on the rapid development of real-time payments. From instant settlement expectations to emerging infrastructure and use cases, this keynote explores what’s changing—and what comes next. Following brief remarks, AFP President & CEO Pat Culkin joins Gould for a dynamic fireside chat, addressing key trends, challenges, and implications for treasury and finance professionals navigating the shift to always-on payments.
How to Compete in the Expertise Economy
The modern economy is in constant flux due to technological change, and so are the skills demanded of employees. The leading authority on future-proofing companies, David Blake, shares his framework that allows organizations to identify and map the skills they need from employees to reach their goals in different business areas. Blake explains how, in order to survive the future of work, treasury and finance executives need to develop new strategies that address their own skills gaps, gauge the aggregate sum of skills within their organizations and build the workforces of the future.
The Other Side of Change: Who We Become When Life Makes Other Plans
In this powerful and deeply human talk, cognitive scientist Dr. Maya Shankar shares transformative insights from her book The Other Side of Change, blending cutting-edge behavioral science with moving personal stories. Drawing from her own life-altering experiences and interviews with individuals who’ve faced profound upheaval, Dr. Shankar explores how we can rethink our relationship with change—not as something to survive, but as a profound opportunity for reinvention and growth. She offers practical strategies for navigating disruption, helping treasury and finance professionals unlock resilience, tap into new potential and embrace change as a catalyst for becoming their most authentic selves.
Leading Change & Managing Tensions When Change is Continuous
Most change efforts stall because leaders get stuck choosing between competing priorities. What if we viewed opposing forces as having worthwhile contributions to the project at hand? Business Strategist, Tim Arnold introduces “AND” thinking—a practical way to harness healthy tension so teams can move from resistance and division to resilience and unity. Attendees learn five key tensions to balance: innovation/consistency, facts/feelings, short/long term, planning/action, and complexity/simplicity. Attend this session to gain knowledge and acquire skills to effectively communicate and make decisions when viewpoints collide. Walk away with an actionable blueprint to lead change with greater clarity, confidence, and alignment.
When looking to innovate and/or address complex problems, should you lean into analysis and spreadsheets, or your heart and your gut? In this talk, bestselling author, Jake Knapp shows why the conventional wisdom on data and intuition is all wrong. Taking attendees inside Google, where he co-founded Google Meet, Knapp shares lessons from a decade of investing in successful startups, illustrates unconventional approaches from his New York Times best-seller Sprint, and offers a brand new take on Steve Jobs and his magical intuition. Audience members leave with a practical toolkit to strengthen their own intuition and — no matter their role — think more like a startup founder to forge deeper connections with customers and deliver fantastic products.
Intentional: How to Finish What You Start
Setting goals is easy; following through is the real challenge for most people. In this interactive keynote, productivity and performance expert, Chris Bailey reveals that the gap between intention and action isn't simply about discipline, but about the hidden values driving our decisions.
Drawing on his acclaimed book, Intentional, Bailey shares science-backed tools to help protect priorities from daily distractions. Through a research-based "would you rather" exercise, attendees discover their core values in real time and learn to use the "Rule of Three" to set daily intentions, reframe productivity around meaningful work, and overcome procrastination to achieve what truly matters most.
Can I Have Your Attention? Leading in the Age of Distraction
In today's hyper connected workplace, distraction has become more than a productivity issue—it's a strategic liability that prevents teams from focusing on what matters most. Learn how to reclaim attention as a leadership priority with bestselling author Curt Steinhorst, who combines personal experience overcoming ADHD with a decade researching the economics of attention in modern organizations. You'll discover practical approaches to help your team focus without micromanaging, build rhythms that protect attention across roles, and use clarity as a force multiplier for execution. The result? Teams that can break free from constant interruption and zero in on work that creates real value—transforming attention from your scarcest resource into your strongest competitive advantage.
Watch the video below for a preview of Curt Steinhorst's keynote.
The Serious Business of Humor, Humanity & Resilience
There is a misconception in today’s corporate world: that treasury and finance professionals must suppress their sense of humor in the work environment to be taken seriously. On the contrary, research tells a different story. Building on her bestselling book, Humor, Seriously, Jennifer Aaker delves into the behavioral science of humor, and why it fuels creativity, fosters resilience, and strengthens teams and organizations. Aaker shares stories from inspiring leaders and tactics that can be deployed to bridge the trust gap, cultivate cultures of levity, unlock agility in the face of change; including concrete tools for embracing humor with a purpose in your personal and professional life.
Why the Merchant’s Voice is Critical in Payments Innovation
The Business to Consumer landscape has seen a rapid shift in payment transactions from the use of checks and magnetic strip cards, with most taking place at a physical location, to technology-enabled, faster payments, same day ACH, cryptocurrency, tap transactions, digital wallets and PayFacs, to name a few. In the face of these developments, it’s critical for merchants to also have a voice in the development of this evolving payment ecosystem. CEO of the Merchant Advisory Group, John Drechny discusses the current payment landscape and how merchant collaboration is leading to better outcomes.
Charisma and Leadership: The Science of Trust, Influence and Rapport
You only get one chance to make the right first impression. Within a few seconds, people judge your level of intelligence and trustworthiness. For the first time, science and technology have taken charisma apart, figured it out and turned it into an applied science: In controlled laboratory experiments, researchers could raise or lower people's level of charisma as if they were turning a dial. This talk covers the science of charisma; the keys to making fantastic first impressions, and the secrets to having that "Wow effect", that "boardroom presence" to quickly establish credibility, trust, and rapport.
Reimagination in a Time of Change
The circumstances of the last 3 years accelerated many previously developing trends at an exponential pace (e.g., distributed and hybridized work; increased use of AI, etc.). It also magnified existing issues such as the limits of short-term thinking, changes in trade, evolving technology and the impact of various supply chain disruptions. It is imperative that treasury and finance professionals successfully analyze such anticipated changes to better invest in capabilities that won't be out of date by the time they are in-place. In the face of an ever-evolving technological landscape, Erica Orange shares strategies for challenging core thinking to better identify and translate trends into actionable strategies, while creating new future-proofed opportunities for your organization.
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In Conversation with John Cena: Be A Work in Progress
John Cena attributes his success to remaining completely authentic and his never give up attitude, but his path to becoming who he is today was far from easy. From being bullied as a kid to having to sleep in his car, Cena never let his challenges define him. Achieving blockbuster success across multiple industries, Cena shares inspiring stories from his unique journey and how authenticity, positivity, hope and the drive to continually challenge himself has shaped his career.
John will be available for photos in the exhibit hall for a limited time after his keynote!