Adrian has over 25 years of experience building transformational businesses and supporting enterprise technology platforms at the intersection of analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), data, design, finance, technology, and visualization.

At Edward Jones, he serves as General Partner and Head of EJ Labs, leading Artificial Intelligence (AI), Analytics, Data, Emerging Technology, and Low-Code Delivery. Most recently, Adrian was General Manager and Head of Product for Microsoft Cloud for Industry – Financial Services at Microsoft, and previously ran Microsoft’s Capital Markets and Product Strategy teams.

Prior to Microsoft, Adrian was the Chief Product & Strategy Officer at OpenFin, where he led product management, design, and strategy. Previously, he co-founded Pellucid Analytics, where he served as Chief Executive Officer from founding through exit to LSEG.

His earlier experience includes over 15 years of leadership positions at a series of global investment banks, including Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, and Credit Suisse, where he was most recently Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking and Capital Markets Strats. His responsibilities included a combination of advisory work, which resulted in over $650 billion of executed transactions, as well as leading digital transformation efforts.

Adrian has over a decade of experience teaching graduate students in corporate finance, quantitative corporate finance, and product management. He earned his master’s degree in Technology Management from Columbia University, completed his undergraduate and postgraduate research degrees at the University of Technology Sydney, and is currently working towards his Ph.D. with a focus on hybrid intelligence. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Accountant designations.

Richard Chen is a seasoned corporate and securities attorney with more than 25 years of practice under his belt following his graduation from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He is the Founder and President of Brightstar Law Group, a law firm specializing in serving the regulatory and corporate needs of investment advisory firms (including wealth managers, private fund sponsors, and fintech companies). Among other things, Richard’s practice focuses on regulatory matters including investment adviser registration; compliance program development, implementation, and management; mock audits; and SEC examinations and investigations. On the corporate side, Richard’s practice focuses on advising breakaway advisors; launching and structuring ownership for advisory firms; drafting and negotiating commercial contracts; advising on employment matters; advising on mergers and other transactions; succession planning; and launching private funds (such as hedge, private equity, venture capital, and real estate funds). Before launching his practice, Richard spent many years at several preeminent law firms in New York including Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, K&L Gates, Schulte Roth & Zabel, and Arnold & Porter. Please visit his firm’s website and LinkedIn page to learn more about him and his calendar link to schedule time to speak with him.

Justin is the Chief Marketing and Digital Officer at Lido Advisors, where he leads growth marketing, brand strategy, communications, and digital initiatives that increase visibility, accelerate business expansion, and advance firmwide strategic objectives. His mandate includes building scalable marketing programs, driving digital transformation, and delivering measurable impact across all channels.

Previously, Justin served as Head of Digital Marketing and a Principal at Cerity Partners, responsible for creating brand awareness and driving sales conversion across B2B and B2C audiences. Before that, he was Head of Digital Marketing at Dynasty Financial Partners, overseeing digital lead generation and the holistic digital presence for Dynasty and its 50+ Network Partner Advisory Firms.

He began his career at LevelUp, a Google Venture, and VMware in Palo Alto, and later worked on social media for Vogue Magazine and the NBA.

Justin earned his Bachelor of Business Administration with concentrations in Entrepreneurship and Marketing from Northeastern University in Boston. He is also an Advanced Certified Sake Professional and a collector of fine wine, spirits, and other brewed beverages.

Amy Young is an Industry Advisor in Microsoft’s Worldwide FSI team, where her mandate is to help the firm’s largest Wealth & Asset Management clients realize the benefits of digital transformation. She has a 30-year career spanning equity research, corporate strategy and management consulting across the financial services, retail and energy industries. Amy holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, a BA in English from the University of Toronto and is a CFA Charterholder. She also chairs the Fintech Committee at CFA Society New York.

Timothy D. Welsh, CFP® is President, CEO and founder of Nexus Strategy, LLC, a leading consulting firm to the wealth management industry. Nexus Strategy’s primary focus is working with leading organizations to best market their products, services and technology to the independent Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) industry.

Prior to founding Nexus Strategy, Tim was Director of Business Consulting Services for Schwab Advisor Services where he led the development and marketing of practice management resources for independent RIAs. While at Schwab, Tim also held senior roles in Strategy, Marketing, Advertising, PR and Industry Content development.

Prior to joining Schwab, Tim was vice president at Merrill Lynch where he was responsible for marketing, product development and financial advisor training for the financial planning group.

Tim is frequently quoted in the wealth management media on a wide range of business management and industry topics. He is the author of a number of industry white papers, a regular columnist for RIABiz, ThinkAdvisor, and wealthmanagement.com, and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events. Tim earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA in Finance from the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business.

Tim holds the Certified Financial Planner, CFP® designation, served as an elected member of the Financial Planning Association’s National Board of Directors and is celebrating his 30th year in the wealth management industry.

William Trout serves as Director of the Securities and Investments practice at Datos Insights, focusing on technology strategy and innovation in the capital markets. He has particular expertise in platform automation; data capture, storage and analytics; and portfolio management and optimization. Within the wealth and asset management arena, his interests include investment advisory and wholesaling and distribution services, as well as private banking and trust.

Will’s research and consulting work is informed by more than more than two decades of industry experience. Prior to joining Datos Insights, Will led wealth and asset management in the U.S. and the U.K. at Celent, a division of Oliver Wyman, before launching separate advisor- and investor-focused research practices at Javelin Strategy & Research. Prior to those roles, Will spent many years in product and segment management at BBVA Compass, where he helped guide the introduction of a pioneering managed-accounts platform and the expansion of banking and investments services targeting high-net-worth and institutional investors.

An authority on digital advice delivery, Will has been widely quoted in the trade press as well as in publications such as the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal. He is also a frequent speaker at industry conferences and gatherings. In his spare time, Will is an avid runner and reader of history.

Will holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College.

Susan Theder is the Chief Marketing and Experience Officer at FMG and a member of the company’s Senior Leadership Team. Susan places an emphasis on the importance of customer-focused strategies that use data and technology to deliver personalized and customized experiences that wow.

She has a passion for helping financial professionals grow and market their businesses and is an active supporter of women and diversity initiatives. She was named CMO of the year by WealthManagement.com and a Women to Watch by Investment News.

Before joining FMG, Susan served as Chief Marketing Officer at both Advisor Group and Cetera Financial Group, where she was responsible for all aspects of marketing and advisor marketing. Before that, she was a Managing Director at Pershing/BNY Mellon and held senior positions in marketing, product management, and practice management at Fidelity Investments.

Geoff leads a team of technology experts focused on delivering secure systems that drive operational excellence for Valmark and its member offices. His team was recognized as a finalist for the Northeast Ohio Tech Team of the Year by the Greater Cleveland Partnership. He is a frequent panelist at industry events such as the Barron’s 100 Summit, Financial Services Institute, Industry Roundtables, and Box.com Works. Most recently, he was appointed to the Advisory Board of the Northeast Ohio CIO Forum. Geoff brings a forward-thinking approach to technology leadership in the financial services space.

Brian McLaughlin is Former President of Orion Advisor Tech. Prior to Orion’s acquisition in June 2022, Brian was the CEO and Co-Founder of Redtail Technology where he worked closely with advisors, broker-dealers, and industry partners for nearly two decades. Through innovation and cooperation, Brian’s touchstone has always been to make the industry a better place for those who depend upon it. He is passionate about the CRM-driven solutions Redtail Technology provides to the financial services community and enjoys getting his hands dirty in the pursuit of continuous innovation.

In addition to his behind-the-scenes work on Redtail product development, Brian is also highly respected in the industry at large, as evidenced by his many appearances as an individual speaker or panelist at industry events and through his frequent contributions to publications such as Financial Planning, InvestmentNews, and ThinkAdvisor. When he’s not focused on fintech, Brian loves spending time with his family, all things aviation, Oregon Ducks football, and Legos.

Brooke leads Sage on its mission to become the AI copilot for the wealth advisory industry. Over her career, Brooke has held various leadership roles in wealth tech, portfolio management, asset consulting, and client engagement. She has over 23 years of experience leveraging technology to scale impact and grow new businesses.

Prior to joining Sage, Brooke spent 16 years at BlackRock, where most recently she was Head of Digital Engagement, and set the vision, commercial strategy and roadmap for Advisor Center, BlackRock’s digital ecosystem and portfolio toolkit serving 100,000+ wealth advisors in the US. Prior to this, she co-founded and led BlackRock’s US Wealth Portfolio Solutions group, bringing Aladdin analytics to the wealth market and helping to drive an industry-wide shift towards more portfolio-centric engagement.

Before dedicating her focus on the US wealth ecosystem, Brooke spent the first half of her career managing money, both as a quantitative investor co-managing $10b of long-short Australian equity assets at BlackRock, and on the CIO investment team of Mercer’s then $14b flagship Australian superannuation trust. She began her career in manager research at Mercer Investment Consulting.

Brooke earned a degree in commerce from Deakin University (Australia). She is a CFA Charterholder, a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst, and a practitioner contributor to curriculum and examination development for the CFA Program.

As a global citizen, Brooke is passionate about education as the key to helping people reach their full potential. Brooke serves on the board of Global Kids Inc, a nonprofit educational organization for global learning and youth development which immerses young people from underserved communities in areas where they can build global perspectives.