ACAMS Upper Midwest Chapter May 2026 Spring Summit: Automation, AI, and Oversight That Scales

Registration for this event is now closed. Please email chapters@acams.org for information. 

Overview

As financial crime grows in complexity and volume, compliance teams are under increasing pressure to do more: faster, smarter, and with greater accountability. Join the ACAMS Upper Midwest Chapter for our Spring Summit, where industry leaders, practitioners, and technologists come together to explore how automation and artificial intelligence are reshaping financial crime prevention and what it takes to govern these capabilities responsibly at scale.
This interactive summit will move beyond theory to address the real-world implications of AI across AML and financial crime operations. Attendees will gain practical insights into emerging risks, regulatory expectations, and proven approaches for deploying AI while maintaining transparency, control, and trust.
Sessions: 
Session 1: From Zero to Useful: How Financial Crime Professionals Can Start Using AI Today

Description: AI is no longer just a workplace technology… it’s already part of our everyday lives, from drafting emails and summarizing content to researching purchases and planning travel. This panel reframes AI adoption in financial crime by starting where most professionals already are: using AI as a personal productivity tool. From there, industry practitioners and technology leaders will explore how those same foundational skills translate into responsible, regulator‑ready use of AI across AML, sanctions, fraud, and investigations.
The discussion cuts through the hype to focus on what actually works today: how teams are moving from informal experimentation to defensible, explainable applications of AI that enhance decision‑making without compromising program integrity. Attendees will walk away with a clearer understanding of how everyday AI fluency can serve as the on‑ramp to meaningful, risk‑based adoption in financial crime programs.

Moderator: Bre Pedretti, Sr. Solution Consultant, Risk & Fraud Solutions, Thomson Reuters

Speakers: 
•    Carlota Balet, Head of Financial Crimes, Allianz Life
•    Jeremy Swenson, AVP, Operational Risk – Information Technology Oversight, Synchrony

Session 2: Cybersecurity in the Age of AI — What Could Go Wrong?
Description: This session explores how artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the cybersecurity landscape, enabling both defenders and threat actors to operate at unprecedented speed and scale. It also includes live demonstrations of tools to illustrate real-world risks and defenses, while highlighting common organizational blind spots and practical strategies to strengthen governance, detection, and response in an AI-driven threat environment.

Moderator: Sara Rose Ahonen, CAMS, Director, Risk Advisory Services, Kaufman Rossin

Speakers:
•    Damian Schwartz, Director, Risk Advisory Services; Cybersecurity & Compliance, Kaufman Rossin 
•    Kanishk Mehta, Director, Risk Advisory Services; Cybersecurity & Compliance, Kaufman Rossin

Session 3: Smarter Banking: 10 AI Moves
that Make a Difference 
Description: In this session, you’ll learn how to: 
•    Position AI as an accelerator built on digital foundations. 
•    Connect AI to outcomes leaders care about
•    Define the operating model (People, Process, Technology)
•    Baseline employee AI use and vendor AI exposure
•    Build a practical path to scale
Speakers: 
•    Josh Juergensen, Principal, CLA
•    Karen Leiter, Principal CLA

Session 4: Trust, but Verify: AI Governance for AML Programs
Description: AI is rapidly changing how AML programs detect and investigate suspicious activity—but it also introduces new compliance, operational, and model risk that must be governed end‑to‑end. This session breaks down a practical AI governance approach for AML: intake and decision rights, risk tiering, lifecycle controls, documentation, and monitoring. Attendees will leave with a clear checklist of governance components that align AI innovation with AML compliance expectations.
Speakers: 
•    Kyle Daddio – Financial Crimes and Sanctions Practice Leader – Grant Thornton
•    Jennifer Sowieja – Regulatory Compliance Services Grant Thornton

Agenda

Registration Opens: 10:30 AM
Presentation Start: 11:00 AM
Lunch Start: 12:00 Noon
Close of event: 3:30 PM
 

Venue

Thomson Reuters: The Landing
2900 Ames Crossing Road 
Eagan, MN 55121

Credits

4 ACAMS Credits 

*Chapter Members - in order to receive ACAMS credits for this event, please sign up with the same email address used with your Member profile

Pricing

Non-ACAMS Member Price: $100
ACAMS Members (Non-Chapter Member) Price: $50
Chapter Member and Law Enforcement: FREE

Please email chapters@acams.org for LE discount. Must have an ACAMS profile created.