Topic:  Unlocking Financial Excellence as an AI CFO 2.0: Making the Future & AI Work for Finance, Today

Speaker: Julianne Averill, Managing Director & CFO, Danforth Advisors

Presentation:
AI is no longer a future concept. It’s reshaping how CFOs lead today. In this session, we’ll get beyond the hype to the topics that matter most for finance executives: which tools deliver real value, how to ensure secure and effective data analysis, and where to find practical training your team can actually use. We’ll also cover how to get better results with smarter prompting and how to build a future ready finance org today. Whether you’re scaling AI across the enterprise or just getting started, you’ll walk away with insights you can act on now.

Speaker's Bio:

Julianne Averill is a trailblazing CFO and healthcare AI strategist with over two decades of experience transforming finance, data science, and digital innovation across leading institutions like Bank of America, Deloitte, and Neumora Therapeutics. Currently a Managing Director at Danforth Advisors, she leads growth for the firm’s San Francisco region while serving as an interim CFO/CBO to high-impact companies at the crossroads of healthcare and technology.

Julianne has played a pivotal role in advancing billions in fundraising and M&A activity and has helped bring AI-powered biopharma and digital health innovations to global markets. Her leadership is known for fusing financial rigor with visionary strategy to accelerate scale, value, and mission alignment.

Julianne holds dual degrees from CSU Fresno (B.S. and M.S. in Business Administration), a Business Analytics certificate from Harvard University, and is a CPA, SHRM-CP, and NACD.DC certified board director.

In addition to her day job as a CFO, Julianne serves on the boards of various mission driven organizations, trains for half marathons with her Siberian Husky, Callie, and is always keeping an eye on the next breakthrough in tech and health innovation.