2025 October Forum Agenda

Platinum Partner Breakout Sessions

Presented by CRF’s Platinum Partners

Breakout sessions will be hosted by Creditsafe, Handle.com and Nuvo. Please review the session details HERE. Please include your registration for one of these sessions on the Forum registration form.

SAP Best Practices Round Table Session

Moderated by CRF

This is an interactive peer-to-peer informal discussion session that encourages participants to ask questions, share lessons learned, discuss internal and external resources and address process wins and issues remaining. Find out what your colleagues are experiencing.

The following topics will be discussed:

• Implementation & Migration to S4/Hana
• Bolt-on solutions that are working or NOT working
• What SAP modules participants are currently using
• IT resource concerns
• External consultants
• And more!

Please include your registration for this session on the Forum Registration form, or contact Angela about your interest in participating. We also ask that you submit any questions or topics you would like the group to discuss.

Lunch

Join us for a welcome lunch to kick-off the October Forum! Grab some food and network with fellow attendees before the Opening Session begins.

Opening Comments

The Dreaded “F” Word in Business: Fighting Fraud from Acquisition to Operations

Presented by Mike Thibodeaux, Vice President, and Sherri Correll, Sales Director, Experian 

Fraud is one of the fastest-growing threats facing businesses today and the tactics used by bad actors are evolving at lightning speed. In this eye-opening session, a leading fraud expert will reveal how fraud schemes infiltrate organizations at every stage, from customer acquisition and onboarding to daily operations and accounts receivable. Attendees will gain practical strategies to detect red flags early, leverage technology to strengthen defenses, and implement proactive policies to safeguard revenue and reputation. Whether your role touches credit, finance, risk management, or operations, you’ll walk away with actionable insights to keep your organization ahead of the fraud curve.

AI in O2C: Governance, Oversight, and Smarter Growth

Presented by Ali Kidwai, Director of Product and Engineering, Bectran

As AI reshapes finance and credit, executives face a critical question: how do you gain efficiency without sacrificing oversight? This session explores how manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors can harness AI to its fullest—eliminating inefficiencies, accelerating decision-making, and enabling teams to focus on strategic priorities. With the right governance and quality controls, leaders can keep humans strategically in the loop while protecting cash flow, reducing risk, and driving scalable growth.

Break

Grab some coffee, tea, water or soda…chat with attendees…then return refreshed for another session!

Mission Critical (Vendor): Should You Choose to Accept It

Presented by Michael Papandrea, Counsel, Lowenstein Sandler LLP; Bradford Sandler, Partner, PSZJ Law; Conrad Ragan, Director, Alvarez & Marsal; Andy Malueg, Manager – Revenue Cycle Management, Amcor Flexibles

With the current economic and political climate causing volatility and uncertainty in capital markets and global supply chains, 2025 has seen a continued resurgence of chapter 11 filings, leaving creditors in search of ways to maximize recoveries on their claims. This program focuses on perhaps the most powerful means of doing so: critical vendor treatment. The panelists — a creditors’ rights attorney, a financial advisor specializing in creditors’ rights, and a credit practitioner — will discuss what critical vendor treatment is, the quid pro quo involved, and the key considerations and pitfalls for trade creditors to weigh. The panel will do a deep dive into the terms of critical vendor treatment and provisions of post-petition trade agreements that typically are (or at least should be) negotiated in a trade agreement. This session provides a unique opportunity to hear and ask questions of industry experts as they tackle a hot button issue from multiple different perspectives. You don’t want to miss it!

Find Your Way To Lead

Presented by Peter Hodge, Author

Join Peter Hodge, author of White Blaze Leadership, for an exploration of the core principles that define authentic and resilient leadership. Drawing from the themes of his newly published work, Peter offers a thought-provoking perspective on how leaders can navigate uncertainty, inspire trust, and build lasting impact using insights from his experience of hiking the full 2,200 miles of the Appalachian Trail. This session invites attendees to reflect on leadership as a journey, one that demands clarity of vision, purposeful decision-making, and a commitment to guiding self and others forward.

Networking Reception

Join us for a networking reception to cap off the first day of the Forum! Enjoy cocktails, appetizers and great company.

Breakfast

Fuel up with coffee and breakfast before heading into the morning sessions! This is also a great opportunity to chat and network with other attendees.

Opening Comments

Opening comments and reminders from the CRF team.

 Tips and Tricks to Embrace AI and Enhance Career Progression​

Presented by Sarah-Jayne Martin, Global Finance Automation Solutions, Quadient

Finance is no longer a simple back-office function. It has transformed into a value driver that influences business strategy and is core to an organization’s success.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has played a central role in that transformation, and as the technology evolves, finance continues to evolve with it.

Quadient and the Credit Research Foundation have joined together for an insider session designed to give you the inside track on the latest advancements transforming finance, and how they will impact your career.

Join us to discover:

• AI’s marketplace evolution
• How AI streamlines the purchase-to-payment process
• The technology optimizing the credit-to-cash journey

Credit Risk in a Volatile Economy: Lessons from Audit & Compliance

Presented by Timothy Lietz, National Practice Leader, Risk & Compliance, Jefferson Wells

This session will provide practical ways to shore up credit risk posture using internal audit tools.

The discussion will include:

• Key risk indicators (KRIs) for AR and credit
• Integrating audit findings into credit decisioning
• Business continuity, fraud controls, and third-party risk

Break

Grab some coffee, tea, water or soda…chat with attendees…then return refreshed for another session!

Strategic Leadership in Credit & Finance: Three Pillars of Influence for Finance Professionals

Presented by Phillip Becker, Sr Credit Risk Manager III, Coca-Cola Bottlers’ Sales & Service Company; Toni-Marie McLean, Sr Director GPO Invoice to Cash, Johnson & Johnson; Craig Lydigsen, Head of Credit Risk & A/R Administration, Nestle USA

Credit and Accounts Receivable (AR) professionals are increasingly recognized as strategic leaders rather than back-office operators. This session, from a practitioner’s perspective, explores three pillars of influence. The first to leverage IT to deploy automation, integration, and analytics that strengthen credit decisions. The second, implementing robust credit risk mitigation strategies that balance growth with protection of cash flow followed by securing a seat at the executive table to shape conversations on liquidity, working capital, and enterprise resilience. Attendees will gain insight into how credit leaders can align technology, governance, and strategy to elevate their role and deliver measurable impact across the organization.

Lunch

Sponsored by:

Refuel and refresh to prepare for the afternoon sessions while chatting with fellow attendees.

The Role of Unsecured Creditor Committees: Unlocking Value During and After Bankruptcy

Presented by Andrew Behlmann, Partner, Lowenstein Sandler; Eric Chafetz, Partner, Lowenstein Sandler; Jeremy Kleinman, Partner, Burke Warren Mackay & Serritella PC; Conrad Ragan, Director, Alvarez & Marsal 

Unsecured creditor committees play a critical role in ensuring creditor interests are represented throughout the bankruptcy process. This session will explore both the immediate benefits of committee participation and the lasting impact of post-confirmation committees. From enhancing recoveries to strengthening oversight, attendees will gain a clear view of how these structures create value during reorganization and beyond.

Agentic AI in Credit: Turning Customer Data into Accurate Working Capital Forecasts

Presented by Elaine Nowak, Global VP of Product Marketing, Sidetrade and Kelly Adolph, Regional Sales Manager, Sidetrade

The next leap in credit and finance isn’t about dashboards—it’s about agentic AI that learns, adapts, and drives decisions. By combining your own customer experience with insights drawn from a wider data lake of peer accounts, organizations can move beyond static models and guesswork. This session shows how agentic AI can dynamically forecast working capital, detect early warning signals in customer payment behavior, and optimize terms to protect cash flow. Credit leaders will walk away with a roadmap for blending proprietary experience with collective intelligence to build sharper forecasts and stronger financial resilience.

Break

Grab some coffee, tea, water or soda…chat with attendees…then return refreshed for another session!

How to Make Use of Big Data & Integrate More & Better Data into Your Existing Systems or Processes

Presented by Yesinne Alvarez, Partnerships & Alliances Manager, Creditsafe USA

Are you planning to automate data elements into your customer onboarding or credit risk review process? Explore how customer monitoring can help your teams be more proactive given the bankruptcy levels seen in 2025.

Are you looking for ways to integrate business information and credit data into your marketing/CRM system, sales pipeline system and collections workflow tools? This session will cover the basics of integrating business data into your existing systems. We will cover the basics of how it works, what to expect, what questions to ask and unique ways to integrate business information to add more value to the systems and platforms you already have.

This session is not full of technical jargon but will give you an explanation of some of the terminology that may come up as you consider data integration.

Electronic Signatures in Credit & Finance: Ensuring Digital Agreements Hold Up in Court

Presented by David Reinauer, Product & Implementation Manager, Bectran; Mark Kirkorsky, Managing Attorney, Law Offices of Mark A. Kirkorsky; Jason Kirkorsky, Attorney, Law Offices of Mark A. Kirkorsky

As credit applications, contracts, and terms and conditions move online, electronic signatures have become the backbone of modern credit and finance operations. But with convenience comes risk: disputes over identity, enforceability, and compliance can unravel agreements if not managed correctly. This session explores the evolving legal landscape for e-signatures, the requirements for enforceability, and the practical safeguards, multi-factor authentication, audit trails, and consent disclosures, that credit practitioners must implement. Attendees will gain clear strategies to protect their organizations, reduce risk, and confidently rely on digital agreements that stand up in court.

Breakfast

Sponsored by:

Join us for coffee/tea and breakfast to fuel up for the final day of the Forum!

Economic Update

Presented by Steve Isberg, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow, Credit Research Foundation

Steve Isberg, PhD. will share his insights and observations on economic indicators.

Open Forum

The Open Forum is often one of the most highly rated sessions at our live events. This is an open discussion session giving all attendees a chance to participate – ask questions and/or provide answers to others. As always, the Open Forum session allows for immediate feedback from your peers on the questions/topics that are important to YOU!

Please be sure to submit any questions or topics you would like to discuss on the registration form or email them directly to Angela.

National Building Materials Wholesale Best Practices Group Meeting

This is an independent, members-only group for senior level Credit & A/R professionals to engage in best practice processes and benchmarking conversations in an anti-trust compliant environment. The meeting includes lunch and an Economic overview presentation focused on the Construction and Building industries delivered by Macro-Economist, Richard Hastings.

For information about this group, to become a member or join as a first-time guest, please contact Matt Skudera.