Archives: Speakers

Seb Reeve is a customer experience industry leader who is always seeking to provide thought-leadership, lateral-thinking and decision-support for Fortune 1000 Enterprises who are both his customers and partners. Reeves has more than fifteen years of experience in deploying technologies to improve the user experience. He is currently one of the top managers in charge of the design, strategy and value proposition of Nuance’s Intelligent Engagement business which promotes the best practices in AI and Machine Learning to the world of Customer Experience.

Will Farnell is the founder and a director of Farnell Clarke Ltd, an innovative and pioneering accounting firm based in East Anglia and London, UK offering a fresh approach to SME accountancy and business advisory services. Farnell Clarke was one of the first firms globally to fully adopt cloud accounting technology back in 2009 and remains one of the most innovation firms in the UK. The firm has been named Best Independent Firm (East of England) three times at the British Accountancy Awards, including in 2019 and was awarded Medium Firm of the Year award at the Accounting Excellence awards in 2019. The firm also won the 100% Xero award in 2017. Will is author of ‘The Digital Firm’ a blueprint for digital transformation. He is a regular speaker on how accounting firms can leverage technology, people and process to achieve practice growth, as well as providing consulting services to support firms in becoming a digital practice.

Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Over 25 years of experience in the accountancy profession, including the last five years leading a new firm of ICAEW Chartered Accountants and the prior ten years as a Director in PwC’s Accounting Advisory group specialising in asset finance and leasing, structured products, complex IFRS advisory and leading their IFRS 16 accounting services. Chris has a wide range of experience of delivering assurance and complex advisory services to the retail sector, lessees and lessors, asset finance businesses, global investment banks and technical accounting support and multi GAAP conversions. He has also led IFRS 16 implementation engagements to FTSE100 retailers, hospitality groups and global house-hold names. In addition to his time within the accountancy profession, he has valuable experience outside having worked for two years at the IFC, World Bank Group in Washington DC USA where he provided IFRS accounting and structuring support to investment officers and structuring teams on IFRS and US GAAP and a further year as Head of Financial Reporting Controls and Risks for a life insurance company negotiating refinancing with bankers.

Toby is an ex-management consultant and veteran of the health supplements industry and has been at the helm of Grass & Co. since early 2019. Leading this dynamic, fast-growing business, Toby’s role has been to establish a trusted, premium British CBD brand with a strong platform for continuing growth. The award-winning range combines the highest quality CBD blended with complementary botanicals and vitamins to produce the best tasting CBD oils.

Under Toby’s leadership, Grass & Co. has secured high profile retail listings including Holland & Barrett, Ocado, Amazon, Revital, as well as driving direct sales through the brand’s own e-commerce site.

With a background steeped in knowledge of the health and consumer goods industries, Toby previously spent seven and a half years as Strategy Director for Glanbia’s Performance Nutrition division in EMEA, and prior to this at Diageo where he worked in Global Business Support across India, Vietnam, France, Poland, Turkey and Mexico. He also spent time at Bain, a management consultancy well known for its entrepreneurial ethos. Toby holds an Engineering degree from the University of Cambridge.

As the mastermind behind Inflo, Mark aims to transform the audit and accounting profession by making innovative technologies and broader expertise available to all. With the global audit profession facing heavy criticism after high-profile business failures and frauds, Mark has stepped forward as a voice for progress. As well as being quoted in Sir Donald Brydon’s and other audit market reviews, Mark has been called upon to support international efforts to modernise and transform the audit and accounting profession. Mark is a member of the Advisory Panel to the IAASB’s Technology Working Group as well as the Reference Group supporting the development of the IAASB’s new standards for auditing less complex entities. He also leads a US AICPA working group to tackle innovation barriers through advancing data standards. Mark’s efforts centre around developing the relevance and value of the accounting profession’s work, and ensuring accountancy offers an exciting career pathway. Mark has a strong passion for advancing the skills and expertise of his peers in the profession and Inflo now performs a key role within education, including within the ICAEW’s Chartered Accountant qualification.

Rob Brown is co-founder of the Accounting Influencers Roundtable, a think tank and door-opening club for specialists/vendors who serve the accounting/fintech profession. He runs a training company called Business Development Academy which trains busy technically smart accountants to be confident, effective work winners. He is the bestselling author of Build Your Reputation (Wiley) and his TEDx talk ‘The Personal Brand of You’ has been viewed 280K times on Youtube. He co-hosts the international podcast Accounting Influencers with Martin Bissett and is a professional host, moderator and chair for accounting/fintech events, conferences and panel discussions. He is a committed Christian, a black belt in kickboxing, enjoys backgammon, loves chocolate orange and is allergic to grapefruit.

Mark Koziel became President and CEO of Allinial Global in August 2020 after 14 years with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). In addition to leading a team of twenty-seven staff members, he is responsible for strategic planning, financial performance, and the association’s overall growth and success. From the beginning of his career at a large local accounting firm in Buffalo, New York, to his tenure as Executive Vice President of Firm Services at the AICPA, Mark has been a leader and consistent advocate for CPA firms. Well known and highly regarded within the profession, he has appeared among the top 10 of Accounting Today’s Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting and been named to the International Accounting Bulletin’s Global Accounting Power 50 List.