Keynote Speakers Announced for Digital CPA Conference

Rapid technological advancement and innovation present an enormous opportunity for the accounting profession to reimagine its role as trusted business advisors, and the Digital CPA (DCPA) conference connects CPAs and firm leaders with insights, business model strategies and tools to transform their practices to maximize the opportunity.

DCPA 2023, hosted by CPA.com and the AICPA & CIMA, will take place at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas Dec. 3-6, 2023. Virtual attendance options are also available.

The theme of this year’s conference is Inspire. Connect. Accelerate. The agenda has expanded to include a track focused on audit transformation, adding to an event which has already become the profession’s leading resource for client advisory services (CAS) content. The three-day program also includes sessions on practice and talent management, emerging technologies and new service line opportunities.

Featured keynote speakers will frame the focus of the conference and help paint a macro view of today’s operating environment. They include:

• Pascal Finette, an innovation expert and futurist with nearly three decades of experience in the tech industry, will discuss the impact generative AI will have on the accounting profession and lead an experiential roundtable exercise where attendees can map out their own artificial intelligence use cases.
• Cassie Kozyrkov, chief decision scientist at Google, will explore how to safely and effectively use data and artificial intelligence to drive transformative decision-making.
• Dr. James Johnson, a distinguished professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, will demonstrate how shifting demographics are creating major changes in the business world and how to navigate their effects to recruit and retain top talent.
• Okorie Ramsey, chair of the AICPA and Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, and Lindsay Stevenson, chief transformation officer, BPM, will join the AICPA Town Hall panel discussion, airing live from DCPA.

The conference will also feature special addresses from Barry C. Melancon, CEO of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, representing AICPA & CIMA, who will provide a professional issues update and Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com, who will give his annual state-of-the-union on the Digital CPA landscape, including insights from practitioners and leaders at the forefront of today’s transformational business climate.

Attendees will also have the chance to participate in several roundtable discussions with peers and like-minded professionals to discuss real-world challenges and opportunities.

“We are entering another major paradigm shift in firm and client capabilities with generative AI. As we approach Digital CPA, there is tremendous interest from both the firm and vendor community around the overall opportunity and impact.” said Asgeirsson. “As we have done with cloud computing over the past decade, the Digital CPA community will play a defining leadership role in developing the strategies and plans on how best to leverage AI for the accounting profession. This will definitely be a DCPA not to miss.”

The event, which sold out in 2021 and 2022, moved to the ARIA in 2023 to allow for expanded content and accommodate growing on-site attendance. This year’s conference is expected to set new records for both live and virtual attendance. Practitioners who register before Sept. 30 can save with early-bird pricing and discounted registration fees.

Visit digitalcpa.com for more details on the event and access to on-demand and live webcasts aimed at continuing the conversation beyond DCPA, including the upcoming session “Generative AI, The Great Equalizer,” Oct. 24 at 2 p.m. ET.