BDO Alliance USA EVOLVE 2026: 12 sessions to add to your itinerary

The BDO Alliance USA EVOLVE Conference is back—and it’s shaping up to be one of the most practically useful events in the accounting calendar.

Taking place May 3–6 at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, this conference is designed for firm leaders who want to move, not just think. With keynote sessions, practice management masterclasses, and breakouts spanning AI, talent, advisory, and firm growth, the challenge isn’t finding value. There’s plenty of that. Your challenge is choosing where to spend your time.

Here are 12 sessions to keep in mind.

Day 1: Monday, May 4

The last busy season? The AI opportunity in accounting

 Time: 1pm (opening general session)
 Presenter: Christopher Kauffman, General Catalyst

AI in accounting promises transformation. But what does that actually look like for accounting firms, and where is the demonstrable return? Christopher Kauffman offers a perspective few others can: part investor, part former operator, with a front-row seat to where AI is delivering results and where it’s still hype.

Get big things done: The power of connectional intelligence

 Time: 1pm (opening general session)
 Presenter: Erica Dhawan, Author & Keynote Speaker

How do you build trust and authentic engagement across distributed, digital-first teams? In this session, Erica Dhawan will tackle that exact question. In a profession where client relationships and internal culture can make or break a firm, the ability to connect across is imperative.

Day 2: Tuesday, May 5

Pricing strategies: The 6-step smart growth framework

 Time: 11.10am
 Presenter: Jim Boomer, Boomer Consulting

Pricing is one of the most powerful levers in a firm’s growth strategy. It’s also one of the most consistently underused. Jim Boomer’s session will show how the right pricing model protects margins, while attracting better clients and creating capacity for higher-value advisory work. 

A futurist’s look at CAS: A roadmap for practice leaders

 Time: 11.10am
 Presenters: 

• Kathy Sautters, BDO Alliance USA

• Matthew May, Sorren

This is the kind of session that pulls you out of the daily grind and asks you to look further ahead. Kathy Sautters and Matthew May explore the emerging technologies, workforce trends, and cultural shifts that will reshape CAS—and translate them into practical strategies for practice leaders.

Phishing with precision: How hackers are using AI to target accountants

  Time: 11.10am
 Presenter: Roman Kepczyk, Rightworks

Cybercriminals have access to the same AI tools you do—and they’re using them to build more convincing attacks, faster. And accounting firms, with access to sensitive financial data across hundreds of clients, are a high-value target.

Roman Kepczyk breaks down how AI-powered phishing works, what real-world breaches look like, and what practical steps you can take to strengthen both your technical defenses and your team’s awareness.

The M&A survivor’s guide: What they don’t tell you about life after the deal

 Time: 1.30pm
Presenters: 

• Megan Roberts, HD Growth Partners

• Tim Petrey, HD Growth Partners

Everyone talks about finding the right deal. Nobody talks about the 18 months after signing.

Megan Roberts and Tim Petrey offer a genuinely candid session on post-merger integration: the partner dynamics, the clashing firm cultures, the integration plans that look great on paper and fall apart in practice. Whether you’re on the buy side, the sell side, or still deciding, this session will tell you things you won’t hear elsewhere.

2026 state of AI agents and how to build agent use cases

 Time: 1.30pm
 Presenter: Jon Hilton, LBMC

Jon Hilton, who leads LBMC’s AI Practice, maps the current state of the technology and charts the road ahead—covering AI companions, wearable AI, the rise of AI sovereignty, and how to develop concrete AI agent use cases for accounting firms.

The eye-roll antidote: Leading change when your team has heard it all before

 Time: 2.40pm
Presenter: Megan Roberts, HD Growth Partners

Megan Roberts draws from real leadership in growing accounting firms to share what actually builds genuine buy-in from teams. You’ll walk away with concrete tools: cynicism assessment frameworks, trust-building strategies that work on burned-out teams, and change communication approaches.

Leadership’s role in firm growth: Creating a culture of business Development

  Time: 2.40pm
  Presenter: Heather Robinson, Boomer Consulting

Sustainable growth doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because leaders make business development a shared responsibility. If your firm’s growth relies too heavily on a handful of people, this session will show you how to distribute that capability more widely and build a more durable engine.

Wednesday, May 6

Risk management for accounting firms in changing times

 Time: 8:30am
Presenters:

• Stephen Vono, McGowanPRO

• Rob Ferrini, McGowanPRO

How does risk management fit in the overall management of your firm? In this session, you’ll discover risk management tools and processes to help protect your firm from potential claims against you. Topics include ethics, tax law changes, technology, accounting engagement letter language caveats, and other emerging risk related topics you may not have thought of.

Maximizing advisory impact: Integrating HR analytics and strategy into your CAS practice

Time: 8.30am
 Presenter: Leslie Bolton, Paychex

This session explores how accountants can expand their advisory role by weaving HR analytics and strategic HR services into their CAS offerings, covering everything from financial forecasting informed by workforce data to talent management and risk reduction. 

Leslie Bolton will share actionable strategies for building and scaling an HR advisory practice within your firm, including which service offerings work, which technology solutions support the model, and how to price and structure it effectively.

Services beyond accounting and bookkeeping

 Time: 9.40am
Presenters:

• Gene Godick, G-Squared Partners

• Jon Cohen, G-Squared Partners

• Jim Granja, G-Squared Partners

• Daniel Barley, G-Squared Partners

As an outsourced accounting practice, G-Squared generates over 30% of its revenue from services other than traditional transactional accounting. 

In this session, the team will explore their business model, delving into the daily advisory services and real examples of deliverables and special projects, including exit planning and readiness, audit readiness, cap table management and modeling, profit improvement and turnaround management, and accounting department diagnostics.

Kind transparency: Say what you mean, lead like you mean it

Time: 9.40am
Presenter: Amanda Frye, Talentcrowd

There's a particular kind of professional politeness that erodes trust. It hedges and softens until your team isn't sure what you think and your clients aren't sure what you recommend.

Amanda Frye, author of 'Kind Transparency', makes the case that clarity and care aren't in tension. Her session will give you a practical framework for saying difficult things directly and why the default of ‘professional polish at all costs’ is increasingly a liability in hybrid, multi-generational firms.

See you at EVOLVE 2026

With keynotes, masterclasses, and breakouts running across three days, the 2026 EVOLVE Conference is a dense program. Use this list to anchor your schedule, and leave room to connect in the hallways. Some of the best conversations at these events happen outside the session rooms.

Stop by booth #401 and say hello to the Karbon team while you’re there