Fall 2026 Agenda

Rising healthcare costs and unpredictable claims volatility are putting increasing pressure on margins and financial planning. At the same time, CFOs must preserve affordable, competitive benefits to attract and retain the workforce that keeps the business running. This session will highlight how finance leaders can take greater control of healthcare spend by improving transparency, reducing risk, and focusing on the true drivers of cost. We will share practical strategies for building a sustainable benefits structure designed for 2026 and beyond—one that protects profitability without simply shifting costs to employees. Learning Objectives: 1. Control Cost Growth & Reduce Volatility – CFOs can get ahead of rising healthcare spend and mitigate the financial shock of high-cost claims through smarter cost drivers and earlier intervention. 2. Protect Margins & Free Up Capital – Reduce healthcare’s drag on the P&L so dollars can be reinvested in growth, talent, and strategic priorities. 3. Deliver Transparency & Measurable ROI – Provide clear visibility into where healthcare dollars are going and tie solutions to defensible, hard-dollar financial outcomes. 4. Create Sustainable Savings Without Cost Shifting – Achieve long-term healthcare cost control while preserving a competitive benefits experience that supports retention and productivity.

Most finance AI pilots don’t survive contact with the close or the forecast. Some do.

Join Vantage Airport Group, Board and Wipro for a session on what separates them. Vantage’s finance team will walk through what they actually put into production across planning, forecasting and reporting — what they deliberately left alone, what it took to get there, and how they measured the business value.

We’ll cover:

• The business drivers behind the decision to modernize
• What made it into production, and what stalled
• Connecting internal and external data to build an AI-ready foundation
• Lessons learned, and how they measured ROI

As benefit costs continue to grow, finance leaders are looking beyond annual renewals to uncover new opportunities for value creation, efficiency and risk reduction.

For many organizations, benefits are now among the largest and fastest-growing employee-related expenses. Yet much of the focus remains on annual renewals and incremental cost reductions. This session explores where the bigger opportunities may exist. From healthcare purchasing to retirement plan governance, we’ll examine how organizations are reassessing costs, risks and responsibilities to improve efficiency, reduce complexity and create greater value for both the business and its workforce.

• Benefits have become a finance, risk and governance issue, not just an HR issue
• The largest opportunities often lie beyond annual renewals and vendor negotiations
• Many organizations are carrying complexity and risk that no longer create value
• Leading employers are exploring new approaches to purchasing, governance and risk allocation
• Better economics, lower risk and stronger employee outcomes are not mutually exclusive
• A modern benefits strategy should be evaluated with the same rigor as any other major business investment

• Build workflows that automatically flag non-compliance risks
• Train teams on embedding compliance checkpoints into daily tasks
• Improve visibility through compliance dashboards and alerts
• Reduce audit risk by aligning operational compliance with financial reporting