Event
The Finance Think Tank
A half-day, in-person event for finance leaders dedicated to moving beyond reactive reporting and building an intelligent, predictive, and strategic finance function for tomorrow.
Auckland
Thursday 13 November 2025
Toroa - Commercial Bay
Finance is no longer just about the numbers; it's about strategy.
But while the demand for insight grows, manual processes are holding your team back. Agentic AI is no longer a future concept - it's the new benchmark for efficiency, and the gap between reactive and predictive finance is widening daily.
The question isn't if your function will change, but if you will lead it.
Introducing The Finance Think Tank: an exclusive, half-day event designed to provide a practical roadmap. We’ll move past the hype to help you build an agile, intelligent finance function that drives real business advantage. Join your peers and gain the tools to lead the change.
Why attend?
Invest one morning to sharpen your strategic edge for the year ahead. You will leave with:
A clear vision of the future
Go beyond the buzzwords. Our thought leaders will demystify Agentic AI and its real-world impact on finance, giving you a clear view of the data-driven trends shaping the New Zealand landscape in 2025.
A blueprint for success
Discover a proven blueprint for success. Step through a real-world case study of financial transformation. You'll hear about the challenges faced, the solutions implemented, and the tangible results achieved on the path to a smarter finance function.
Practical, actionable skills
Whether you're in FP&A or core Finance Operations, you’ll leave with actionable strategies and new techniques to drive immediate value for your team.
Who should attend?
This event is specifically curated for finance professionals responsible for driving strategy, efficiency, and growth, including:
-
Chief Financial Officers (CFOs)
-
Chief Information Officers (CIOs)
-
Heads of Finance & Finance Directors
-
Financial Controllers
-
Heads of Financial Planning & Analysis
-
Finance and FP&A Managers & Analysts
-
Finance Operations Leaders
Hear from thought leaders.
Patrick Loughnane
Director of Enterprise Solutions
Jonathan Brabant
New Zealand Director
Esther Monks
Industry Advisor
Luke Bebbington
Strategic Industry Advisor
Benjamin Patricks
APAC Workday Financials and Adaptive Insights Lead
Agenda: Your roadmap for the morning
-
Kick-Off & The Strategic Vision
-
Jonathan Brabant
New Zealand Director, Workday
-
-
CFO’s guide to AI readiness and value
-
Esther Monks
Industry Advisor
-
Luke Bebbington
Strategic Industry Advisor
The modern CFO’s role has evolved from financial discipline to driving technological and cultural change. Yet, with 77% of CFOs struggling to get value from AI, a new approach is needed. Drawing on our new research with ADAPT, Winning with Agentic AI: A CFO’s guide to AI readiness and value this session provides a framework for finance and IT leaders to lead the change and empower their teams with new technology.
Key Takeaways:
- Embrace the CFO’s role as a leader of cultural and workforce empowerment.
- A practical framework for bridging the gap between AI hype and business value.
- Strategies for fostering an AI-curious culture in a compliance-first environment.
-
-
Customer Case Study: Binance
-
Patrick Loughnane
Director of Enterprise Solutions
As part of the world's largest blockchain ecosystem and a registered Financial Services Provider in New Zealand, Patrick works for a business that facilitates billions of on-spot transactions every day.
Patrick will share his insights on building a scalable, global finance operation with Workday.
-
-
Networking & Coffee Break
Connect with peers and speakers.
-
Accenture Partner Spotlight
-
Benjamin Patricks
APAC Workday Financials and Adaptive Insights Lead, Accenture
-
-
Group discussion on AI
-
Esther Monks
Industry Advisor
-
Luke Bebbington
Strategic Industry Advisor
Towards Zero Day Close: How AI Is Reshaping the Modern Finance Team
At this interactive workshop we will explore how to:
- Accelerate the financial close and enhance accuracy by using AI to automate data reconciliations and accounting.
- Bolster internal controls and manage risk with AI that provides continuous auditing and automatically flags anomalies for fraud and compliance.
- Provide strategic business insights by leveraging AI-powered analytics to move beyond basic reporting and deliver predictive, data-driven recommendations to your stakeholders.
-
-
Networking Lunch
Discuss the morning's takeaways and build valuable connections over a complimentary lunch.
Thank you to our partner community.