The bluEPrint by Executive Platforms

At North American Food Safety & Quality 2023 we sat down with Julie McGill of Trustwell to talk about one of the most exciting tools available to Food Safety and Food Quality professionals: Real-Time Visibility tools that can connect people directly and precisely to produce, products, and goods at any point in the journey from origin point to point of sale to the final customer. Things that would have seemed like science fiction even ten years ago are now everyday tools, and the best is still yet to come. This is creating a revolution in Risk Management, Waste Reduction, Recall Planning, QA/QC, and also connects the FSQ team to other facets of the business to share data and incorporate them into decision-making processes that did not use to include them. Being able to move from reactive to proactive without increasing headcount sounds too good to be true, but it is happening right now thanks to real-time visibility. Give this episode a listen to learn more! --Julie McGill is the Vice President of Supply Chain Strategy and Insights at Trustwell, (formerly FoodLogiQ and ESHA Research). From food and supplement manufacturers to retail grocers and restaurant chains, food companies around the world use Trustwell software as their trusted source for nutrition labeling, supplier management, recalls and traceability in the food industry.Julie monitors food regulations, is engaged with evolving industry work, advises, and educates internal stakeholders and external partners on impacts to the food supply chain. Prior to joining FoodLogiQ, Julie led initiatives in foodservice and convenience retail at GS1 US. She also was a founding team member at Transora, which was one of the first GDSN data pools. Julie started her food and beverage career at Coors Brewing Company in Golden, Colorado.She participates on various industry initiatives and is the co-chair of the AIM North American Food Supply Chain workgroup, co-chair of the PTI Technology and Retail FSMA 204 workgroups, and serves on the PTI Leadership Council. -- Trustwell is on a mission to change the food industry. Combining FoodLogiQ’s supply chain management software with Genesis’ nutritional analysis and label development solution, the Trustwell platform creates the food industry’s only software platform connecting product development and regulatory-compliant labeling into supplier compliance, enhanced traceability, and automated recall management. We are committed to advancing innovation and technology in the food industry together with our customers while delivering the highest standards of products and services.www.trustwell.com

At the 2024 edition of the North American Finance Executive Summit series we sat down with Dr. Kelly Richmond Pope, a professor at DePaul University and a national instructor with Becker Professional Education, to talk about fraud. Senior executives working in Finance need to understand fraud, both because they are their organizations’ best line of defense against it, and also because so often the opportunities for fraud are connected to their roles and responsibilities. In this wide-ranging interview with a forensic accountant, author, and award-winning documentarian we explore motivations and examples of fraud that the attendees of NAFES24 need to understand, as well as how Becker helps Finance professionals educate themselves and even receive certification for expertise on the issues of fraud. Give this episode a listen!Dr. Kelly Richmond PopeProfessor, Author, Documentarian,and National Instructor for Becker Kelly Richmond Pope is a forensic accountant, a professor at DePaul University, and a filmmaker who analyzes corporate crime. Her 2017 documentary on Rita Crundwell's embezzlement from the city of Dixon, Illinois, All the Queen’s Horses, won the HBO Spotlight Award for Best Documentary at its World Premiere in 2017 and the Golden Laurels Award at the 2018 Beloit International Film Festival. In 2023, her book Fool Me Once: Scams, Stories, and Secrets from the Trillion-Dollar Fraud Industry was published by Harvard Business Review Press.--Becker Professional EducationBecker, known for more than 60 years as the leader that people trust for the best in CPA Exam Prep, has over the years invested in an extensive library of CPE courses, designed both for credentialed and non-credentialed accounting and finance professionals. With more than 700 On Demand courses available for streaming 24/7, and 100+ scheduled Webcasts per month, Becker has you and your team covered. Also, as a strategic partner of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), we’ve enhanced every aspect of our CMA Exam Prep to be as close as you can get to the exam. Becker remains fully committed to CPA Exam Prep, with over 1 million candidates and counting! We are proud to share that the top 100 accounting firms and an expanding clientele of corporations, rely on us for their staff’s exam preparation.www.becker.com

At the 2023 edition of the Biomanufacturing World Summit series we sat down with Diluks De Silva to talk about one of the most important topics everyone working on the future of medicine today is facing: If the next generation of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products really is everything we think it is going to be, where are we going to get all the skilled technical operations experts and senior leaders we will need as our specialized and relatively niche part of the larger pharmaceutical manufacturing industry takes center stage? This is not a small challenge, and it is not one with an easy solution. A lot of people are needed with very specific skillsets that currently only relate to a small and little-understood part of an industry that has always had to compete for young people against other business sectors. What can be done, what is being done, and what still needs to be done to meet the demands CGT and other ATMP manufacturers are going to have now and in the future? Give this episode a listen to learn more.  -- Compliance Architects LLC delivers high-value compliance, quality, and regulatory consulting services to companies directly regulated by the U.S. FDA and other global regulatory authorities. With capabilities ranging from quality systems implementations to audits, inspection readiness, enforcement remediation, and outsourced compliance services, Compliance Architects LLC has the experience, expertise, and delivery capability to significantly improve your company’s business outcomes. Jack Garvey is CA’s founder and CEO, a chemical engineer and a practicing regulatory attorney, and has spent his entire career helping companies navigate the challenges at the intersections of science, engineering, business, and law. www.compliancearchitects.com

At the most recent edition of the North American HR Executive Summit we sat down with Jessica Jones, the VP of Human Resources & Legal Compliance at Alliance Technical Group. Jessica hosted a themed lunch discussion on culture transfer strategies during mergers and acquisitions, and in this interview she shared some of the key takeaways from that conversation. M&A activity is one of those topics where HR professionals have a lot of important work to do in a tight time frame, but are often reluctant to talk about specifics. One of the great advantages of the themed lunch discussion format is that it’s an hour around the table with people who opted into this specific topic because it’s relevant to their own experiences and expertise. What an opportunity for like-minded people to share best practices and lessons learned on an important but specific and sometimes sensitive topic. Give this episode a listen!  -- Jessica JonesVP of Human Resources & Legal Compliance at Alliance Technical GroupJessica Jones specializes in helping companies establish fair policies and procedures that help support employees while protecting the company. With Alliance, she has helped the company with dramatic growth and shifting its HR/business operating strategies. Jessica has redesigned all aspects of the company’s Human Resource structure (on-going project), while ensuring the protection of the Company’s values and building culture. She enjoys all facets of HR from benefits and compensation to employment and labor law. She has extensive experience with greenfield and turn-around projects, HR project management and analytics, acquisitions and culture transfer.

In preparation for the upcoming North American Information Security Summit taking place this June 16-18 in Denver, we spoke with Cynthia Kaiser, a Deputy Assistant Director with the FBI’s Cyber Division who leads the FBI’s cyber threat intelligence, cyber policy, and cyber partner engagement efforts. She offers an overview of how the FBI works with companies to address cybersecurity threats, updates relevant to Chief Information Security Officers, and also offers a preview of some of the content she plans to talk about in her presentation at NAISS24. Don’t miss this episode! Cynthia KaiserDeputy Assistant Director, Cyber Division at Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)Cynthia Kaiser is a Deputy Assistant Director with FBI Cyber Division, where she leads the FBI’s cyber threat intelligence, cyber policy, and cyber partner engagement efforts.Cynthia has covered cyber, technology, and counterintelligence issues for almost 20 years for the FBI, served as a PDB Briefer in two presidential administrations, and has led FBI cyber threat analysis and served as an FBI election lead since 2017. In these roles, she has reshaped FBI information sharing and collaboration with the private sector and federal, state, and local government officials to be robust, proactive, and aimed at imposing risks and consequences on malicious cyber actors.Cynthia is also passionate about increasing diversity in cyber and tech professions. She was named a Women Tech Leader Ambassador by GovCIO in 2022, a Top Government Tech Leader to Watch by WashingtonExec in 2023, and received Cyber Guild’s “Warrior Award” in 2023. She holds a Master’s degree in security policy focused on science and technology and an Executive Master’s degree in leadership.

At the 2023 edition of the North American Supply Chain Executive Summit series we sat down with Steven LaBruzzy, a Value Engineering VP and Supply Chain Expert at Celonis, to talk about how an evolving business landscape offers opportunities for supply chain professionals to rethink and reevaluate their systems and processes, tactics and toolkits. As businesses move from reactive responses to unprecedented disruptions into proactive planning for a less stable working environment with a more diverse range of challenges, what should they be thinking and doing differently? What should they be learning about, and who should they be partnering with? For all this and more, give this episode a listen.  -- Steven is a Value Engineering Vice President and supply chain expert at Celonis.  Steven’s 25 years’ experience as a management consultant and leading technical and value-oriented engineers affords him insights and lessons learned from helping hundreds of companies and operating units improve their business processes.  Today, Steven heads up a team of value engineers focused on finding, framing and fixing valuable business problems in their enterprise processes through process mining.  Steven and his team are proud to have helped nearly 100 diverse manufacturing, energy, automotive and distribution Celonis customers realize over $700M in cost reduction and working capital improvements.  -- CelonisCelonis enables customers to optimize their business processes. Powered by its leading process mining technology, Celonis provides a unique set of capabilities for business executives and users to continuously find improvement opportunities within and across processes, and execute targeted actions to rapidly enhance process performance. This optimization yields immediate cash impact, radically improves customer experience, and reduces carbon emissions. Celonis has thousands of implementations with global customers and is headquartered in Munich, Germany and New York City, USA with more than 20 offices worldwide.www.celonis.com

At North American Food Safety & Quality 2023 we sat down with Kim Daniels and Cheryl Alesso of RQA to talk about the power of proactivity in Food Supply Chains, some of the big trends food and beverage manufacturers are facing right now when they look at their operations, and what companies can do when they need specific expertise and extra hands in moments of crisis. This is a wide-ranging conversation that touches on everything from supplier relationships to crisis management to auditing and inspections to the importance of after-action remotes to learn lessons that can be applied moving forward. Give this one a listen!--Kim Daniels is RQA’s Director, Crisis & Risk Management.  She has more than 20 years of experience in the food and beverage alcohol industry including Quality, Food Safety, Recall, Crisis Management, Supply Chain Management, GFSI Auditing, Governance and Consumer / Customer Care.  Since 2018, Kim has consulted in a variety of consumer products industries including preparing organizations for GFSI audits, conducting 3rd party due diligence audits, training on Recall, Crisis Management, Food Defense and Allergen Cross Contact Prevention, leading global Consumer Care gaps analysis and optimization and supporting organizational program maturity development, design, and strategic talent planning initiatives. Kim was the Director of Quality Excellence at Diageo responsible for Design Quality, Supplier Quality, Manufacturing Quality and Consumer / Customer Quality. Kim was responsible for developing and delivering Global Quality strategy and identifying best practices solutions to improve organizational effectiveness.  She implemented Diageo’s first Consumer Care program for North America and Latin America, developed a Global Consumer Care strategy, completed a 12-month program focused on developing Woman in Leadership for Supply Chain Excellence and received two President Spirit of Supply awards for Brilliant Execution in Global QualityExcellence and Crisis Management. Kim holds an Associates in Science, and an undergraduate and MBA in Organizational Leadership. She is certified in the following disciplines:  Certified CQI & IRCA FSSC Lead Auditor, Implementing SQF Systems, FDA FSMA PCQI for Human Food, Foreign Supplier Verification Program, Intentional Adulteration Vulnerability Assessment, HACCP, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Supply Chain Professional, and as an Agile Scrum Master. --RQA, Inc.Founded in 1989, RQA is the global leader in providing quality assurance and food safety consultancy, training and services to the food and beverage industry. RQA offers Retail Quality Audits, Counterfeit Investigations, Consumer Complaint and Product Retrieval, Crisis Planning and Management and Product Recall Services globally. RQA Food Forensics™ is the leading provider of foreign material identification services. FSMA compliance training includes PCQI for Human and Animal Foods, Foreign Supplier Verification Program, and Food Defense Programs. RQA’s consultancy team also assists with the development of these programs.www.rqa-inc.com

At the 2023 edition of the Biomanufacturing World Summit series we sat down with Yash Sabharwal, the CEO and Co-Founder of QbDVision, to talk about a real opportunity available to companies working in the Life Sciences right now. So many new and exciting things are happening right now as the biopharmaceutical industry prepares to create the next generation of ATMPs like Cell and Gene Therapies —and at the same time most companies are behind the curve on adopting many digital solutions— what if everyone working in this space collaborated together to forge interconnected, interoperable, self-reinforcing systems? In a ‘growing the pie gets everyone a bigger slice’ mindset, service- and solution-providers contributing to a shared infrastructure that speaks the same language, moves data where needed seamlessly, documents and demonstrates compliance, and offers users a shared training base is going to produce a better outcome for everyone without the wasted effort of competition. What would that look like in real terms? Yash and other industry leaders like him are actively building a community approach to how their tools work together to help everyone. Give this episode a listen to learn more!-- Yash SabharwalDirector, CEO, Co-FounderYash Sabharwal is an accomplished inventor, entrepreneur, and executive specializing in the funding and growth of early-stage technology companies focused on life science applications. He has started 3 companies and successfully exited his last two, bringing a wealth of strategic and tactical experience to the team.--QbDVision, Inc.QbDVision is an innovative software company pioneering the development of modern digital solutions for the pharma/biotech industry to accelerate the manufacturing development cycle, increase the probability of technical success, and help get therapeutic breakthroughs to patients that much faster.For many of the newest therapies being developed, the associated manufacturing processes are complex and the next generation of software solutions need to move the industry away from document-centric and spreadsheet-centric information management. QbDVision has assembled a group of industry veterans with 100+ years of collective experience in process development, tech transfer, pharmaceutical quality, and regulatory compliance to develop the next generation of structured data solutions that will dramatically increase R&D efficiency.www.qbdvision.com

In preparation for the 2024 edition of the North American Sustainability & Responsibility Summit series we spoke with Craig Stokes of Carbonfuture about the carbon removal market, a topic area that is both little understood, and what most people do know is dated. Carbon removal markets are actually a quickly maturing space that is now taking a major role in many organizations’ Sustainability journeys thanks to effective MRV: Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification. In this conversation Craig gives us some concrete examples of what carbon removal looks like in real terms, what people need to know to make informed choices, and why now is the time to get involved. Give this episode a listen! -- In 2021, Craig became interested in the climate space after learning about the destruction of our oceans and planet due to global warming. As a sailor and scuba diver, it horrified him that his children may never get to swim on a living reef. With over 20 years of commercial experience in sales, business development, and product marketing, Craig is inspired to apply his background and experience to such an important role and go to work each day with a real purpose. -- Carbonfuture is the Trust Infrastructure for durable carbon removal. Today, the Trust Infrastructure consists of two products that seamlessly connect the entire carbon removal lifecycle: Carbonfuture MRV+, the most comprehensive MRV solution for durable CDR, and Carbonfuture Marketplace, the leading marketplace for durable CDR.At Carbonfuture, we build trust throughout the carbon removal journey with our rigorous, data-driven approach, ensuring unmatched quality and reliability of carbon removal. We empower suppliers by providing the essential project support and finance needed to transform their carbon removal projects into fully certified carbon credits. For corporate buyers, we offer access to portfolios of carbon removal credits adhering to the highest quality standards and provide visibility at each step of the carbon removal lifecycle. We work with some of the world’s most ambitious climate leaders such as Microsoft, Swiss Re, and the World Economic Forum First Movers Coalition. carbonfuture.earth

In preparation for the upcoming North American Information Security Summit taking place this June 16-18 in Denver, we spoke with Leo Howell, Georgia Tech’s Interim Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, about some of the issues that interest, excite, and challenge him most as an IT professional and security expert. Leo will be hosting a themed lunch discussion at the summit revolving around the nexus of cybersecurity, robotic process automation, and Artificial Intelligence, and in this interview we discuss some of what he wants to share with the delegates who sign up to join him in the conversation, as well as some of the things he hopes the group collectively gets into that will be based on their individual experiences with this important and universal subject matter. It promises to be a terrific conversation, and Leo gives a great overview of the topic area as well as offers some insights about how much more there is to say. Give this episode a listen! -- Leo HowellInterim Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at Georgia TechLeo Howell, a visionary IT leader with over two decades of experience, currently serves as the interim vice president for IT and chief information officer at Georgia Tech. In this role, he provides vision, leadership, and oversight in the development and implementation of information technology. He is also responsible for establishing the strategic direction of how the university handles its information technology resources. He formerly served as the Institute’s chief information security officer (CISO). He previously served as the CISO of the University of Oregon where he showcased his leadership in cybersecurity and information technology. His dedication to leveraging data for decision analytics sets him apart. Leo holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Electronics from the University of the West Indies, and an MBA from NC State University. As a CISSP and CISA, he demonstrates deep knowledge and commitment to cybersecurity. Leo’s distinguished career is marked by strong collaborative leadership and the recognition of data as a strategic asset for decision-making in the ever-evolving information technology and cybersecurity landscape.

At the most recent edition of the North American HR Executive Summit we sat down with Kristen Bailey, Paradox’s VP, Talent Acquisition, to talk about how technology is challenging and changing some of the tried, tested, and true approaches to Talent Acquisition. TA has always been an area of special expertise among HR professionals, and many organizations attribute their success at becoming employers or choice to how they attract and recruit their people in the first place. With that said, traditional methods can be time intensive, repetitive, and vulnerable to conscious and unconscious biases. All of that can be addressed and improved upon using the latest generation of HR tools and technologies. In this discussion we explore what HR leaders need to know about the evolving nature of recruiting. Give it a listen! --Kristen BaileyVP, Talent Acquisition Paradox Kristen has dedicated her life’s work to building TA organizations that drive business success. Prior to joining Paradox, Kristen spent 12 years at Amazon, last serving as Director of Talent Acquisition. Now, she is responsible for building the teams, systems, and strategies that help Paradox scale. And yes, that means thinking about how we use Paradox tech at Paradox! -- Paradox Inc.Paradox is building the world’s leading conversational recruiting software to drive automation with a human touch. Serving global clients with hiring needs across high-volume hourly and high-skilled professional roles, our conversational assistant Olivia does the work talent teams don’t have time for — streamlining tasks like screening, interview scheduling, and more through fast, easy, mobile-first interactions. We just acquired Traitify, adding simple, visual personality assessments to our product offering.We support some of the world’s largest employers — including Unilever, McDonald’s, CVS Health, Nestle, Lowe’s, and L’Oreal — and have been honored with numerous awards, including Human Resource Executive’s Best HR Product of 2019 and consecutive honors in 2020 and 2021 as one of Forbes Top Startup Employers. Paradox was recently named the 225th fastest growing company in the country in the Inc 5000. To learn more, visit www.paradox.ai.

For this special episode of Executive Platforms' bluEPrint Podcast series we had some of the top speakers from the 2024 edition of the North American Finance Executive Summit series sit down and speak to the challenges and opportunities submitted by attendees of the event as they filled out their delegate profiles, weighted by popularity.    With topics ranging from talent acquisition, development, and retention, to digital transformation and data analytics, to operational and organizational effectiveness, to the evolving role of the Finance leader in a changing business landscape, and much more, this wide-ranging conversation will see five senior executives from five very different companies speaking to the issues, ideas, innovations, and inspirations that matter to all of them as prompted by their peers. It is a fantastic deep dive into what is most relevant to Finance executives today. Give it a listen!Our roundtable panelists are…Moderator:Tim Caudill Regional VP Solution & Value Advisory, Americas JedoxPanelists:Joshua Dickinson SVP & CFO North America Schneider ElectricJennifer Kirk SVP, Global Controller and CAO MedtronicBrenda Lovcik SVP & CFO TrexTom Dillon Chief Financial Officer, McDonalds USA McDonald’s

In preparation for the 2024 edition of the North American Sustainability & Responsibility Summit series we sat down with the leader of Deloitte’s Sustainability practice in the United States, Steven Goldbach. Every organization right now is on its own Sustainability Journey, and whether they have been making steady progress for many years, or they are just beginning to focus on where they want to go, there are so many issues and ideas to understand. While every journey is unique, that does not mean everyone needs to invent their own solutions to the challenges other organizations have already faced. Where can organizations and leaders best share their collected discoveries of what works and what drives further progress? How does collaboration work on something this broad and deep with this many stakeholders and potential partners? Deloitte has conversations every day with groups of all shapes and sizes. What should we all be thinking about further when we think about our impacts and our shared future? Give this episode a listen for more!-- Steven leads Deloitte’s Sustainability practice in the US. This practice serves the complex and novel challenges our clients face across issues such as climate change, DEI, and other challenges associated with creating a more sustainable future. We help clients make measurable progress on all dimensions of these challenges by bringing to the table all areas of Deloitte's expertise.Prior to assuming the leadership of this practice, Steve served as Deloitte’s US Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) more than 8 years. Over his time as CSO, the US firm made a major pivot in strategy, focusing on winning as an integrated firm. Prior to joining Deloitte, Steve was the head of the New York Office at Monitor Group, and head of strategy for Forbes. Steve has co-authored two bestselling books – Detonate: Why – and how – corporations must blow up best practices (and bring a beginner’s mind) to survive (Wiley, 2018), and Provoke: How leaders shape the future by overcoming fatal human flaws (Wiley, 2021). Thinkers50 has nominated Steve as a finalist for the 2019 Distinguished Achievement Award in Strategy and in 2021 for the Distinguished Leadership AwardSteve holds degrees from Queen’s University at Kingston, where he serves on the Global Advisory Board of its Smith School of Business, and Columbia Business School. He and his wife live in Manhattan with their young daughter.  -- Deloitte Services LPDeloitte Sustainability is driven by the conviction that solving the most pressing challenges for people and planet is simply smart business. With a global network of experienced professionals connected through insights, technology, industry depth, and a shared passion for responsible growth, we help guide organizations through the complexities of the ever-changing climate and equity horizon. From assisting with identifying risks to navigating regulatory landscapes, enabling responsible value chains, charting paths to net zero, and engineering equitable outcomes, we help create measurable progress towards a sustainable future.www.deloitte.com

At the 2023 edition of the Biomanufacturing World Summit series we sat down with Kristin Smith and Hannah Kinney of Sharp Services to talk about some of the challenges pharmaceutical manufacturers face when dealing with packaging, and how the right decisions can improve capabilities, reduce wait times, and increase capacity, especially as it relates to changes and updates that could potentially bottleneck the industry's supply chain. In a business landscape where the rate of innovation keeps accelerating, the product pipeline coming to market is full, and regulatory requirements are frequently adjusted in relation to packaging and labeling, it has never been more important to understand the options available to scale up packaging production and make adjustments quickly to ensure a steady flow of products to patients. Give this one a listen! --Sharp is a global leader in pharmaceutical packaging and clinical trial supply services. For 70 years, we’ve provided solutions to pharma and biotech clients from phase I trials through to commercial launch and lifecycle management. With facilities in the United States, United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands and 30+ clinical depots globally, covering every region of the world, we are engineered to deliver.  Through our partnership with Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing we offer specialist isolator-based filling of vials, syringes, cartridges and containers, as well as lyophilization and terminal sterilization.Learn more at www.sharpservices.com

At last year’s edition of the North American Sustainability & Responsibility Summit series we sat down with Tricia Murphy of Diligent to talk about setting Sustainability goals, working towards those goals, and documenting that work in a way people can rely upon. Across all industries, companies are incorporating green programs and Sustainability strategies into their long-term business plans, and as with so many other things, “What gets measured gets managed. What gets counted counts.” Being able to illustrate and communicate what is being done, when it is being done, where it is being done, and who is doing it is a vital part of achieving Sustainability goals. What does that look like in real terms? Give this conversation a listen to learn more! -- Diligent is a leading GRC SaaS company that gives organizations the tools and solutions they need to bring clarity to complex risk, elevate impactful insights and get ahead of a world that is constantly changing. With solutions across governance, risk, compliance, audit and ESG, Diligent empowers more than 1 million users and 700,000 board members and leaders to make better decisions, faster. No matter the challenge.Diligent ESG, our carbon accounting solution, automatically collates your data and produces up to 80 different pre-configured audit-ready reports, presenting a single source of truth for your organization.diligent.com

FP&A, EPM, AI, and the Future of Finance Software — A Conversation with Tim Caudill of JedoxAt the 2024 edition of the North American Finance Executive Summit series we sat down with Tim Caudill, Jedox’s Regional VP Solution & Value Advisory, Americas, to talk about how the next generation of technologies becoming available to senior Finance executives. In many ways the Finance team is ideally suited to take these new capabilities and run with them: They have access to all the relevant data, and they are already comfortable both with automation and analytics. What do senior leaders need to know about these powerful new tools, and what should they be thinking about as they break down silos and connect all facets of the company to these digital communication and collaboration channels? It is an exciting time for Finance, and technology is one of the major drivers of that positive energy. Give this conversation a listen to learn more!--Jedox is the world’s most adaptable planning and performance management platform that empowers organizations to deliver plans that outperform expectations. Over 2,800 organizations in 140 countries trust Jedox to model any scenario, integrate data from any source, and simplify cross-organizational plans across all business systems. Jedox enables a culture of decisiveness and confidence so teams can plan for opportunities, react quickly to changes, and uncover what they didn’t know was possible.For further details, kindly visit: www.jedox.com.

At the 2023 edition of the North American Supply Chain Executive Summit series we sat down with Dheeraj Prasad to talk about how AI is helping supply chain organizations reduce waste, improve processes, enhance sustainability, and empower workers. From end to end of the value chain, AI-enabled automation is transforming how companies use data and allow their teams to be more productive without increasing headcount by using the right data to create an accurate demand forecast, which improves S&OP, and inventory management, and on and on step-by-step. Throughout the organization, people are freed from mundane repetitive tasks and data analysis to focus on the issues that matter most, which both boosts productivity and job satisfaction. What does training and coaching a workforce to engage with these tools effectively look like? How should supply chain organizations build trust for AI systems that are directing and prioritizing work? Listen to this episode for more! -- Zebra/AntuitServing Fortune 1000 companies globally, antuit.ai – now part of Zebra Technologies – is rethinking the way retail and consumer products companies use AI to solve business problems.Antuit.ai offers solutions that inform the most important business decisions, empowering companies to digitally transform their businesses to achieve substantial business results.antuit.ai

At the 2024 edition of the North American Finance Executive Summit series we sat down with Tom Hood, AICPA & CIMA’s EVP — Business Engagement and Growth, to explore one of the most topical and timely topics out there at the moment: How is Generative AI going to impact me? Senior Finance leaders are in a particularly exciting place with this new and emerging technology, as their function already has a lot of familiarity and comfort-level with different forms of automation, and data already flows into their department. Is there an opportunity for Finance to be at the forefront of their organization’s adoption of Generative AI? What would that look like in real terms, and what should Finance professionals be thinking about and learning about as they prepare themselves for the future? How are associations like AICPA & CIMA helping people get up to speed, stay informed and engaged, and understand both the challenges and the opportunities of this exciting new tool? For all this and more, give this episode a listen! --Tom Hood, CPA, CGMAEVP – Business Engagement and Growth AICPA & CIMATom Hood, CPA, CITP, CGMA is currently the EVP Business Growth & Engagement for AICPA-CIMA and the Business Learning Institute.Tom recently stepped onto the global stage of the largest association of certified professional accountants in the world, representing over 690,000 CPAs, CGMAs, and students. He was named the second most influential person in accounting by Accounting Today Magazine for the tenth year.His focus is elevating and accelerating the role of CPAs and CGMAs in corporate and management accounting.In 2012 LinkedIn recruited Tom as one of their Top 100 Influencers and he now has a following of over 730,000. He is a member of Forbes Finance Council and was inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame. He is the former CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs and former CFO of a highway construction company. He has a Master’s in Finance from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Loyola University of Maryland.He lives in Baltimore with his wife Sharon. --AICPA & CIMAThe Association of International Certified Professional Accountants® (the Association), represents AICPA® & CIMA®. We advance the global accounting and finance profession through its work on behalf of 696,000 AICPA and CIMA members, students and engaged professionals in 192 countries and territories. Together, we are the worldwide leader on public and management accounting issues through advocacy, support for the CPA license and specialized credentials, professional education and thought leadership. We build trust by empowering our members and engaged professionals with the knowledge and opportunities to be leaders in broadening prosperity for a more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient future.cgma.org 

For this special episode of Executive Platforms' bluEPrint Podcast series we had some of the top speakers from the 2023 edition of the long-running North American HR Executive Summit series sit down and speak to the challenges and opportunities submitted by attendees of the event as they filled out their delegate profiles, weighted by popularity.   With topics ranging from employee and talent attraction and retention, to employee engagement and succession planning, to DEI and corporate culture, to leadership development and how technology is transforming HR’s capabilities, to employee wellbeing, with an emphasis on mental health, this wide-ranging conversation will see four senior executives from four very different companies speaking to the issues, ideas, innovations, and inspirations that matter to all of them as prompted by their peers. It is a fantastic deep dive into what is most relevant to HR leaders today. Give it a listen!Our roundtable panelists are…Moderator:Shane YountPresident & CEOCompetitive Solutions, Inc. Panelists:Rob KowalskiChief People & Organization OfficerNovartisDr. Johné BattleSVP & Chief Diversity Inclusion OfficerDollar General CorporationSara BowenVP of Global Equity, Diversity & Inclusion and Employee Listening & Organizational ResearchBoeing

At the 2023 edition of the Biomanufacturing World Summit series we sat down with Brian Curran to talk about one of the biggest issues biopharmaceutical manufacturers need to address: 80% of them are still working from paper records. Far from keeping things simple, analog records recorded by human operators in the moment and either filed away or perhaps manually inputted into a digital record at a later date creates all sorts of problems. It reduces productivity. It makes troubleshooting more difficult. It makes regulatory compliance more time-consuming. It frustrates talented employees who find themselves doing repetitive, less-interesting work. Meanwhile, even the best team will have human error creep into manually collected and processed data. What should senior executives who still have paper as part of their processes on their plant floors do about it? Give this episode a listen!--Brian Curran SVP Manufacturing Excellence Success MasterControl, Inc.Brian Curran oversees the success of MasterControl’s Manufacturing Excellence (Mx) solution in the quest to digitize the 80% of life sciences manufacturing, large and small, that still use paper for their batch records or device history records. Curran has the privilege of working externally with Mx customers and internally across MasterControl from R&D to sales, services, and support to ensure Mx success and adoption.Curran joined MasterControl in 2002 to direct and expand MasterControl’s product lines. In 2017 he switched to focus on bringing Mx to market, which happened mid-2019 and now has well over 100 customers who have completed hundreds of thousands of production records.Curran began his career with IBM, where he led consulting engagements with Fortune 500 companies, such as MCI, Bellsouth, and others. After this he held several director and VP level product management positions for software companies serving the telecommunications and web analytics sectors. Curran has an MBA with an information systems emphasis. --MasterControl Inc. provides cloud-based software to empower manufacturers in life sciences and other regulated industries to digitize and streamline their processes to reduce errors on the shop floor. Our mission is to help our customers bring life-changing products to more people sooner.Manufacturing Excellence is a modern MES designed to simplify manufacturing execution for manufacturers of all sizes. It delivers proven results in the metrics that matter – from faster review and release, more throughput, and fewer human errors. Learn how to take a smarter approach to manufacturing at mastercontrol.com.