AFP Conversations

Practically everyone who works in an office has attended a big trade show or conference at some point. But who finds all the keynote speakers and educational session leaders? In this episode of AFP Conversations, John Gibson, PMP, Director of Education and Projects for the Association for Financial Professionals, explains how he and his team identify, assess and book nearly 150 speakers and session leaders every year for the biggest event in treasury and finance.

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Technology strategist and best-selling author Salim Ismail explains why some organizations are growing exponentially rather than in a traditional linear fashion. These exponential organizations grow 10 times faster than their traditional peers -- and they will have a dramatic impact on finance and treasury and finance teams.

Michael High, head of planning, appraisal and reporting for Shell, is tasked with making the company's new, multi-billion-dollar Deepwater line of business less risky and expensive. High talked about his role with the Deepwater project and his career, including his time as an intelligence offer in the United States Army and how it prepared him for a career in FP&A.

John Drzik, president of Marsh Global Risk and Specialties and chairman of the Global Risk Center for Marsh & McLennan Companies, talks about risk and how technology, geopolitical changes and broad societal trends are radically shifting the risk landscape.

Jer Thorp is a digital artist who combines science, art, culture and data into his data visualizations. He's also the former Data Artist in Residence for The New York Times. Thorp will speak at AFP 2017 in October, and he'll address an audience of financial planning and analysis professionals on the challenge of making data more human. www.AFP2017.org.

You might think that a company transporting thousands of tons of cargo containers by boat around the world is the last place you'd find blockchain in use. In fact, the shipping industry is practically ground zero for blockchain and distributed ledger technology.

In this episode of AFP Conversations, Jody Cleworth of Marine Transport International explains why his company has embraced blockchain, and the challenges of converting a supply chain from legacy technology.

Dan Gardner, co-author of best-selling "Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction," argues that pundits are notoriously inaccurate at predicting the future, and that ordinary people actually produce better forecasts. In this episode of AFP Conversations, Gardner explains how FP&A and finance professionals can turn themselves into superforecasters. He will also keynote the inaugural FinNext.

Bitcoin has many skeptics in the West but in Africa it could transform payments. In this episode of AFP Conversations, host Ira Apfel spoke to Elizabeth Rossiello, co-founder of BitPesa, a Nairobi-based payments and FX startup which operates in six African nations, about the promise and challenges of bitcoin.

Best-selling author and NPR correspondent Shankar Vedantam explains how hidden psychological factors shape the decisions made by corporate treasury and finance professionals every day. Vedantam is the keynote speaker at AFP2017.

Currency hedging expert Wolfgang Koester breaks down the results of a new survey on FX impacts and their negative effect on the bottom line. Are corporations doing a better job mitigating FX risk? Koester, the co-founder of FiREapps, gives his thoughts.