Women’s Leadership Series: Exploring Generative AI for Work-Life Balance (in collaboration with VSCPA)

Generative AI (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT, BingChat and Bard have upended what we thought the future would look like. Some folks are excited, some folks are scared, and some folks are just not sure what to think. In this session, we'll discuss what GenAI *can* and *cannot* do, some ways that you can use it to make your life easier, and ways to safely start exploring the technology.

Subject Matter Experts:

Ashley Francis, CPA

Ashley Francis is a CPA with 23 years of experience. She specializes in helping ultra-high net worth clients, professional fiduciaries, and trust and estate attorneys with complex tax and estate compliance and planning. She started exploring and sharing her experiences with ChatGPT in December 2022. Since then, she has been featured in a Microsoft article about CPAs using automation in their practices. She has had the honor of speaking on AI and Automation at the 2023 Microsoft Power Platform Conference as well as the AICPA's 2023 ENGAGE conference and 2023 Global Women's Leadership Summit. She is also the founder of 'Kitchen Table Automations' - a newsletter and series of classes dedicated to making AI and Automation as friendly as possible for tax and accounting professionals.

Byron K. Patrick, CPA CITP

Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP began as a CPA and then merged his passion for technology with accounting. He founded Simplified Innovations Inc., an IT Department servicing CPA firms, and later joined Botkeeper as a General Manager. Currently, he's VP of Client Success at The B3 Method Institute, helping leaders design and scale their dream accounting practices. A recognized technology leader, Byron frequently speaks at conferences and contributes to industry publications, including the Journal of Accountancy. He has been an active member of the Maryland Association of CPAs and the AICPA, holding several key positions. Living on a small horse farm in Maryland with his future wife Nikki, Byron is the proud father of an engineer and a student-athlete at the University of Pittsburgh.