The AFP 2025 Executive Institute, sponsored by PNC Bank, is promising something treasury and finance leaders rarely get: space to step away from the daily grind and wrestle with the forces reshaping their profession.

Billed as an exclusive track within AFP’s annual conference, the Executive Institute is designed for CFOs, treasurers, and other senior finance leaders. The goal? Turn today’s disruption—whether it’s AI, cybersecurity, or global cash management—into a roadmap for tomorrow.

Keynotes That Hit the Nerve Points

This year’s lineup puts attention and AI under the spotlight. Curt Steinhorst, a leadership performance expert, will kick things off on October 27 with a session on reclaiming focus in a distraction-saturated workplace. It’s a subtle but telling nod: in finance, attention is capital.

On October 28, Theresa Payton, former White House CIO and now a leading cybersecurity strategist, takes the stage with a keynote on artificial intelligence. Expect equal parts promise and peril—Payton is known for balancing AI’s transformative power with its very real risks.

From AI Policy to Supply Chains

Beyond the keynotes, programming dives straight into today’s most pressing headaches:

• AI in practice: from freeing up time for strategic decision-making to drafting enterprise-wide AI policies.
• Reshoring realities: how treasury can shore up supply chains that are being pulled closer to home.
• Global liquidity: fresh approaches to concentrating cash across borders.

Roundtables and peer-driven discussions give execs a chance to stress-test strategies against others facing the same regulatory, technological, and geopolitical pressures.

Why It Matters

Finance leaders are increasingly expected to play chief navigators when uncertainty strikes. That could mean steering through shifting supply chains, rethinking cash visibility, or figuring out where (and how) AI belongs in the enterprise.

“No one leads alone in today’s dynamic landscape,” said Pat Culkin, President and CEO of AFP. “The Executive Institute bridges leading minds with peer-tested best practices, emerging technologies, and bold ideas.”

PNC Bank, the sponsor, clearly sees the same opportunity. “The Institute creates a rare space for executives to engage with peers and explore emerging ideas and technologies that will shape the future,” said Emma Loftus, EVP and Head of Treasury Management at PNC.

Who Gets In

The Executive Institute isn’t open to all AFP attendees. It’s reserved for the C-suite and senior finance practitioners: CFOs, VPs of Finance, treasurers, assistant treasurers, and controllers. Registration for AFP 2025 is required, with an early-bird discount available until September 19.

The Bigger Picture

If last year’s finance playbook was about cost control and efficiency, 2025 looks to be about navigating AI’s uncertain rise, keeping cyber risks at bay, and building resilience into supply chains. The AFP Executive Institute is positioning itself as the crossroads where these discussions converge—away from quarterly deadlines, but close to the strategic realities finance leaders face.