In this issue
FEISV Chapter Newsletter | October 06, 2026 
Celebrating 50 Years of FEI Silicon Valley!
2026 marks FEI Silicon Valley’s 50th Anniversary! We’re excited to celebrate this incredible milestone with our Members, Partners, and friends throughout the year.
The celebration will culminate in April with a special 50th Anniversary Casino Night, and we’re making it a night to share — significant others are invited! More details will be coming soon.
But we’re not waiting until April to start celebrating! At each Keynote event leading up to our anniversary celebration, we’ll hold a special 50th Anniversary Raffle, with one lucky attendee taking home a $50 bottle of wine.
50 years of connections, leadership, and community — and plenty to celebrate!
FEI Silicon Valley Events
10/20 - Pre-PD: AI and Compliance for Finance Leaders
10/20 - Keynote: How Finance Leaders Can Harness AI Without Losing Control
11/18 - Annual Women CFOs of the Year Awards
12/09 - Annual President's Party
04/27 - FEI Silicon Valley 50th Anniversary Celebration: Casino Night - Save the Date!
Partners & Other Chapter Events
10/06- 4 Financial Modeling Fundamentals for Quality Outputs in Age of AI (Virtual) | Ramp
10/07 - Beyond SAP BPC: Rethinking Finance for the AI Era (Virtual) | FEI
10/08 - From Information to Intelligence: New Disclosure Signals and How Finance & Legal Leaders Are Putting AI to Work (Virtual) | FEI
10/08 - Strategic Financial Leadership for the Modern Creative Economy (Virtual) | FEI
10/13 - Private Company Roundtable (Virtual) | FEI
10/14 - Introduction to the Accounts Payable AI (Virtual) | FEI
10/15 - Beyond Spreadsheets: Building an Audit-Ready Fixed Asset Process for Complex Lifecycles (Virtual) | FEI
10/15 - Financial Scenario Planning: How to Prepare for Disruption and Make Faster Decisions (Virtual) | FEI
10/22 - Is Your Budgeting and Forecasting Software Built for Where You’re Going — or Just Where You’ve Been? (Virtual) | FEI
10/26 - Private Company Roundtable (Virtual) | FEI
10/28 - 10/29 - AI Update and Use Cases Conference (Virtual) | FEI
11/10 - 2026 Corporate Financial Reporting Insights (CFRI) Conference (Virtual) | FEI
Latest Trends in FEI
An expense report is flagged. Now what?
Picture the moment. An AI tool flags a travel-and-expense report as unusual. Does your team know how to confirm the finding? Can they find the supporting evidence? Do they know who decides what happens next?
That moment is the focus of our Pre-Keynote session, held ahead of the October Keynote. Using a real AIVER T&E case study, our speakers will walk through how to assess an AI-generated finding, test it against the evidence, and decide whether to escalate.
Along the way, you will gain practical guidance on:
- Choosing the right first use case.
- Checking that your NetSuite environment is ready for AI-assisted monitoring.
- Protecting privacy while still giving reviewers what they need.
- Keeping human oversight in place at every step.
Our speakers bring experience from AIVER, SOAProjects, PwC, KPMG, and EY. Past FEI Silicon Valley President Manpreet Grover will guide the discussion and moderate audience questions!
Pre-PD: AI and Compliance for Finance Leaders will be held at Pillsbury in Palo Alto on Tuesday, October 20th, from 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm Pacific.
FEISV Members & Partners: Free | Other FEI Members: $50 | Registration: Here
October Keynote: How Finance Leaders Can Harness AI Without Losing Control
Before AI can create value, finance has to be ready to use it well.
Join Gargi Ray, VP of Finance at Synopsys, for our October Keynote, How Finance Leaders Can Harness AI Without Losing Control. Gargi will explore how finance leaders can evaluate AI readiness before committing more time, budget, and organizational attention to a new initiative.
The question is not whether AI will become part of the finance function. It already is. The more important question is whether the organization has built the data foundation, cost discipline, decision rights, and adoption plan needed to turn experimentation into useful business results.
The conversation will focus on the practical questions behind responsible adoption. Is the data usable? Is the expected value clear? Does the business understand the cost of implementation and ongoing use? And is the organization prepared to change the way work gets done once AI becomes part of the process?
Moderated by Jan Robertson, Managing Partner and CFO of SiVal Advisors, this interactive session will offer a grounded way to assess AI initiatives before they become harder to steer. Join the discussion, ask the questions that matter, and leave with a clearer framework for moving forward with confidence.
Keynote: How Finance Leaders Can Harness AI Without Losing Control will be held at Pillsbury in Palo Alto on Tuesday, October 20th, from 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm Pacific.
FEISV Members & Partners, and FEI SF Members: Free | Non-Members: $135 | Registration: Here
Nominate Yourself or Another Deserving Woman CFO
Hard work deserves to be seen. Put your name forward, or someone else's.
Strong CFOs often spend their careers making other people look good. They steady the numbers, guide the hard decisions, and mentor the people coming up behind them. Recognition tends to come last, if it comes at all.
Nominations are now open for the 4th Annual Women CFOs of the Year Awards, and you have a say in who gets the spotlight. You can nominate yourself. You can nominate a colleague, a mentor, or a leader you have watched make a difference. Either way, you decide whose story gets told.
Honorees will be recognized in five categories:
- Public Company CFOs at organizations with a market capitalization of $1 billion or more
- Public Company CFOs at organizations with a market capitalization below $1 billion
- Private Company CFOs at organizations with revenue of $50 million or more
- Private Company CFOs at organizations with revenue below $50 million
- Non-Profit Organization CFOs
Think of the woman who steered a company through change, helped a growing business scale with discipline, or advanced a mission when resources were tight. Her work shaped strategy, strengthened her organization, and inspired others in accounting and finance.
Now it is your chance to make sure that work is recognized...even if that woman is you!
Fill out the nomination form here. Submit nominations by the end of the day on October 30, 2026.
Don't wait for someone else to speak up. Nominate yourself or the leader who deserves it.
4th Annual Woman CFO of the Year Awards Dinner will be held at the Green Hills Golf & Country Club on Wednesday, November 18th, from 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm Pacific.
FEISV Members & Partners: Free | Non-Members: $275 | Registration: Here
Select Sponsorship Opportunities: 4th Annual Women CFOs of the Year Awards
The 4th Annual Women CFOs of the Year Awards will take place on November 18 at Green Hills Golf & Country Club, bringing together an exceptional community of leaders who are shaping the future of finance.
This event is a platform to recognize and elevate women who are driving innovation, strengthening organizations, and inspiring the next generation of financial leadership. Their impact extends far beyond their roles, influencing industries, workplaces, and communities.
Sponsoring this event is a meaningful opportunity for your organization to align with that impact. It positions your brand alongside excellence, leadership, and progress in the accounting and finance space. More importantly, it demonstrates a clear commitment to supporting and advancing women in executive roles—something that resonates with clients, partners, and employees alike.
With a range of sponsorship options available (some with limited availability), now is the time to secure your place and ensure your organization is part of this important evening.
To explore and claim sponsorship opportunities, please download the sponsorship form attached to this email.
4th Annual Woman CFO of the Year Awards Dinner will be held at the Green Hills Golf & Country Club on Wednesday, November 18th, from 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm Pacific.
FEISV Members & Partners: Free | Non-Members: $275 | Registration: Here
Don't Wait to RSVP: You are Invited to the Annual President's Party
Calendars are filling up quickly for the rest of the year, so be sure to reserve your spot on December 9th for our Annual President’s Party, returning to the beautiful Los Altos Golf and Country Club!
Join us for an evening of camaraderie and good cheer, featuring cocktails, socializing, elegant hors d’oeuvres, and fine wine.
Our organization thrives because of our gracious Partners, dedicated Members, and the time and energy you give. Your commitment continues to help us grow into one of the premier Chapters in the country. Let's celebrate together!
Annual President's Day Party will be held at the Los Altos Golf & Country Club on Wednesday, December 9th, from 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm Pacific.
FEISV Members & Partners: Free | Non-Members: $150 | Registration: Here
How AI is Creating New Jobs and What Candidates Need to Know
The conversation about AI and jobs tends to focus on what’s disappearing, but that’s only half of the story. AI is also creating work, and new categories of roles are emerging across industries. Companies are hiring for positions that have no historical precedent, and many candidates, including experienced ones, don’t yet know these jobs exist or how to prepare for them.
If you’re navigating a job search right now, understanding where the workforce is heading matters. Our Silver Partners at Vaco broke down the new AI-driven job categories reshaping hiring, how organizations are struggling to define them, and what this shift means for you as a candidate.
Learn more. Read How AI is Creating New Jobs and What Candidates Need to Know via our Silver Partners at Vaco.
FEISV Member of the Week
Harish Kumar Sivakumar is Director of Finance at embedUR Systems, with more than 10 years of progressive experience across FP&A, strategic finance, financial systems, and data architecture. He leads global finance operations across four entities in the United States and India, combining financial leadership with a forward-looking approach to data, automation, and decision-making.
Over the past two years, Harish has redesigned the finance function to connect previously siloed ERP, CRM, and HRIS data into a unified, process-driven finance environment.
With FP&A at its core, the platform supports functions ranging from revenue and receivables to executive reporting, while an AI-enabled audit layer validates figures and traces them back to their source systems. This work has helped make financial analysis faster, more reliable, and more actionable across the organization.
FEISV Partner of the Week
Vaco is a global talent and solutions firm that helps organizations solve complex business challenges by aligning strategy with the right people. As part of Highspring, Vaco combines deep industry expertise with a relationship-driven approach to deliver consulting, managed services, and talent solutions across accounting, finance, technology, and operations.
At its core, Vaco believes that growth starts with people. The company partners with clients to build high-performing teams, drive transformation, and turn change into opportunity – providing both the strategy and the talent needed to make it happen.
With a global presence and a commitment to accountability and results, Vaco doesn’t just advise, it executes, helping businesses move faster, adapt smarter, and achieve meaningful outcomes.
CONTACT:
Jonathan W. Chan
Director Client Strategy and Expansion
T: 415.366.8053 C: 805.455.8392 | [email protected]
201 Mission St. Suite 720, San Francisco, CA 94105
Special Thanks to Our Strategic Partners
Marquee Partners
Platinum Partners
Gold Partners
Silver Partners
