Beyond Copilot: Moving from basic AI to “Agents with Agency” in Governed Financial Workflows

Generative AI is no longer novel. Financial institutions are now at a crossroads: either continue managing a fleet of helpful “assistants” or transition to Autonomous Agents. While basic LLMs can summarise data, true “Agents with Agency” can execute complex workflows – from AML investigations to KYB verification – autonomously. However, in the high-stakes world of FSI, there remains a significant risk. We will deconstruct a manual Anti-Money Laundering (AML) workflow to show how agentic systems mimic human reasoning, and more importantly, how adopting a governance layer ensures these agents operate within safe, auditable parameters, to move beyond the “AI as a toy” narrative and explore the architectural shift required to give AI the power to act.

Breakfast Deep-Dive: Greenwashing or Planet-Proofing

Authenticity, transparency, and verifiability of environmental claims

  • How are brands using marketing to appear sustainable?
  • Do consumers “talk the talk” but not “walk the walk”?
  • Genuine planet-proofing: Ensuring verifiable actions that reduce environmental harm across the product’s entire life cycle
  • What is the commitment of businesses to ESG?

Join this expert-led, peer-to-peer deep-dive session to hear from those in the know. Take back to your business an understanding of what it takes to succeed and lessons learned from those who have been there, done that.

Delegates must pre-register interest prior to the day of the event.

Transform your Carbonation Process with Circulare CO2

  • Skytree uses Direct Air Capture technology to pull beverage-grade CO2 directly from the atmosphere for on-site use
  • Generating CO2 locally removes the risks and high costs associated with volatile fossil fuel supply chains
  • Switching to circular CO2 helps brands meet net-zero targets and satisfies consumer demand for sustainable products
  • The modular Stratus units provide a scalable and high-purity carbonation solution powered by renewable energy

Roundtable Discussions

Interactive roundtable sessions within the conference offer a unique opportunity to come together with your peers, share best practice and develop solutions to critical challenges facing the industry as a whole. Hosted by industry experts and each focused on a single issue, roundtables are an energizing way to meaningfully build your professional network and learn from the experience and expertise of others.

Each roundtable session lasts for 40 minutes and delegates may attend up to 2 roundtables.

Roundtable 1: Hosted by Aquacycl

Session 1: Turning High-Concentration Wastewater Into ROI: How One Beverage Facility Reduced Costs and Increased Operational Stability

  • A major beverage producer achieved a 5-month ROI by treating high-concentration batches on-site instead of hauling.
  • Why bad batches and variable-strength flows strain existing systems and increase operational risk.
  • How a modular, low-operator-burden system stabilized daily operations and reduced administrative workload.
  • Strategies to manage limited holding-tank capacity during peak production periods.
  • A practical decision framework beverage manufacturers can use to evaluate whether on-site treatment is the right fit.
  • Lessons learned that apply broadly across beverage operations of all sizes.

Orianna Bretschger, CEO and Founder, Aquacycl 

Session 2: Beyond a Single Product Line: Consistent, Reliable Treatment Across the Full Beverage Portfolio

  • How advanced bioelectrochemical treatment handles the full beverage range: juice, tea, coffee, sports drinks, energy drinks, spirits, and carbonated products with predictable performance.
  • Why traditional systems struggle with high variability and how decentralized treatment reduces this burden.
  • Maintaining efficiency even as product mixes shift, SKUs expand, or production schedules fluctuate.
  • Designing for growth by building treatment capacity that scales with innovation and seasonal demand.
  • Strengthening plant safety and asset protection, including how SulfideFix mitigates odors, corrosion, and exposure risk.
  • Simplifying internal workflows for operators, EHS teams, and plant managers when managing diverse waste streams.
  • Key considerations for implementing a consistent treatment approach across multi-site beverage operations.

Orianna Bretschger, CEO and Founder, Aquacycl

Roundtable 2: The Three Levers of Hidden Energy

  1. Using Waste Steam to Generate Power
  2. Reusing Waste Heat in the Process
  3. Decarbonising Heat: Electrification & Onsite Generation

Aujla, Strategic Energy Partner, DCC Energy

Greg Brown, Strategic Energy Partner, DCC Energy