Top FP&A Conferences for Mastering AI and Agentic Forecasting in 2027

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1. Introduction

AI is moving fast. Faster than most internal training can keep up with. You blink, and there is another tool. Another acronym. Another promise about agentic forecasting. It gets exhausting.

Here is the thing. Your team cannot learn this stuff from a webinar or a blog post. You need real conversations with people who have actually deployed AI in FP&A. Not salespeople. Not consultants. Practitioners.

This guide ranks the 2027 conferences worth your time if AI fluency is the goal. No fluff. Starting with the AFP FP&A Forum, here are the events where you will actually learn something useful.

2. What to Look For

Not every conference claiming to cover AI is worth attending. Some are just vendor pitches dressed up as education. Here is what actually matters:

•     Practitioner-led sessions on real AI deployments, not vendor demos: You want to hear from people doing the work. Not someone trying to sell you a subscription.
•     Hands-on workshops where attendees build, not just discuss: Sitting and listening is fine. Actually trying things yourself is better.
•     Coverage of governance for AI outputs in decision-grade work: AI can be wrong. You need to know how to catch those mistakes before they hit a forecast.
•     Tracks that cover predictive forecasting, Power BI, and the modern FP&A stack: These are the tools and skills that actually matter right now.

Keep these four filters handy. They will separate real learning from expensive distractions.

3. The 2027 FP&A Conferences Leading on AI and Forecasting

1. 2027 AFP FP&A Forum (Featured Pick)

•     Dates: March 22 to 24, 2027
•     Location: Hyatt Regency New Orleans, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana
•     Scale: Over 500 finance and FP&A professionals attend. 24+ sales free sessions run across three tracks. 10+ networking experiences are offered.
•     3 tracks: Finance and Financial Processes is track one. Technology and Data are track two. Personal and Team Effectiveness rounds things out.
•     Format: Practitioner-led sessions selected by the FP&A Forum Planning Task Force, a volunteer group of practicing finance leaders. Hands-on Principles in Practice workshops are available.
•     Credits: Educational sessions offer FPAC and CPE credits.
•     Pricing: Pricing runs from $985 to $1,785. Early pricing ends December 11, 2026. AFP members and FPAC holders get discounted rates.
•     Positioning: All finance insights with no spin. A conference for practitioners, built by practitioners.
•     Why this one leads on AI: The Technology and Data track is built around AI, agentic AI, predictive forecasting, Power BI, and Excel automation. No fluff sessions. No generic keynote about the future. The hands-on Principles in Practice workshops let attendees build finance bots and try practical AI implementation. You do not just hear case studies. You actually do the work. That is rare.

2. Vena Excelerate Finance Fest 2027

•     Dates: May 11-13, 2027
•     Focus: Vena’s flagship customer event. AI in planning and Microsoft Copilot integration are recurring themes each year.
•     Best for: Teams already running on Vena or invested in the Microsoft native FP&A stack
•     What to know: Strong on platform-specific AI use cases. Lighter on vendor-neutral practitioner content. Good if your shop uses Vena. Less useful if you are on another platform.

3. FP&A Summit Series (Finance Alliance)

•     Dates: Multiple 2027 dates
•     Location: Multi-city events co-located with the invite-only CFO Summit
•     Focus: AI in FP&A, forecasting, dashboarding, and business partnering. One-day format.
•     Best for: FP&A leaders who want a one-day regional touch on AI topics without major travel
•     What to know: Compressed format means less depth per session than a multi-day event. But lower travel commitment makes it accessible. Good for a quick hit of AI trends.

4. FP&A Trends Group International FP&A Boards

•     Dates: Year-round across many different locations
•     Location: Global events with hybrid digital and in-person options
•     Focus: Agile FP&A, driver-based planning, predictive forecasting, and AI in planning processes
•     Best for: Practitioners who want ongoing global benchmarking on AI and planning trends
•     What to know: Continuous community engagement rather than one big event. Think of this as a supplement, not your main anchor conference.

5. Gartner Finance Symposium/Xpo

•     Dates: June 2-4, 2027
•     Location: National Harbor, Maryland
•     Focus: Research-backed coverage of finance transformation, AI strategy, and data analytics
•     Best for: Enterprise FP&A leaders who want framework-level strategic guidance on AI
•     What to know: Strategic and framework-heavy rather than hands-on tactical. You get the big picture. You do not get to build anything.

6. Datarails Community Summits and FP&A Virtual Events

•     Dates: Throughout the entire calendar year of 2027
•     Location: Virtual online events and select in-person gatherings
•     Focus: Excel-based FP&A, AI in finance, automation, and financial modeling
•     Best for: Excel-heavy teams looking for short-form AI learning between major conferences
•     What to know: Lowest friction option available. Mostly virtual. Use this as a supplement between bigger events, not a replacement for them.

4. How to Choose

Picking the right event mix is simple if you follow this approach.

Pick one anchor event with deep AI content. The AFP FP&A Forum is the strongest fit for FP&A-only AI focus. You get three days, hands-on workshops, and real practitioner case studies.

Add a platform event if your team is committed to a specific FP&A tool. Vena Excelerate makes sense if you run on Vena. Skip it otherwise.

Layer virtual community sessions for continuous learning between big events. Datarails summits and FP&A Trends boards work well for this. Low effort, steady learning.

5. FAQ

Which FP&A conference covers AI most thoroughly in 2027? 

The AFP FP&A Forum. The Technology and Data track is built specifically around AI and predictive forecasting. Hands-on workshops let you actually build things.

Where can I learn agentic AI for FP&A?

Same answer. The AFP FP&A Forum covers agentic AI in practitioner-led sessions. Not theory. Real deployment stories.

Are these events worth it if my team is already using AI tools?

Yes. Even mature teams need to benchmark against peers. You will almost certainly learn something new.

6. Conclusion

Here is what separates teams that get AI right from teams that do not. The ones pulling ahead are learning from each other. Not from vendors. Not from consultants. From other practitioners who have already made mistakes and figured things out. 

The AFP FP&A Forum sits at the front of that conversation in 2027. You get three days of sales-free content. You get a Technology and Data track that actually goes deep on AI and forecasting. You get hands-on workshops where you build finance bots and test agentic workflows. And you walk away with things you can use on Monday morning.

Do not let another year go by where your AI knowledge comes from LinkedIn posts and rushed vendor calls. Go learn from people who have actually done the work. Your forecasts will thank you.