Agentic AI in Financial Crime Conference – Chicago
September 8 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
$100.00 – $500.00
The Agentic AI in Financial Crime Conference brings together financial crime practitioners, compliance leaders, and technology experts for one focused day. The subject is one the industry can no longer defer, the shift from rules-based systems to AI-driven and agentic compliance programs. Four panels. Four conversations the industry needs to have.
Where is AI delivering real value today?
What do governance and model risk frameworks actually need to look like?
How do you navigate vendor selection without getting burned?
And what does it take to build AI programs that hold up under audit and regulatory scrutiny?
The Agentic AI in Financial Crime Conference is a discussion about where AI is heading, a practical conversation about where it is now, and what responsible deployment looks like in practice.
Agenda
Check in, pick up your conference materials and name badge, and enjoy light refreshments before the program begins. This is your first opportunity to connect with fellow attendees, speakers, and sponsors in a more informal setting.
Welcome from CAFC conference leadership, setting the tone for the day ahead. This session outlines the agenda, introduces key themes, and frames the conversations that will shape the rest of the conference.
This panel examines the evolution of financial crime programs from traditional rules-based systems to advanced AI-driven and agentic capabilities. Panelists will discuss where AI is delivering measurable value today, how institutions are operationalizing AI at scale, and the path toward more autonomous, intelligent systems.
Moderator
Mike Jones
Chief Compliance Officer, SRA Consulting
Panelist
Ken Triemstra
AML and Sanctions Executive – Compliance, Block
Dr. Lubomira Minkovsky
SVP, Head of Model Development and AI, Northern Trust Corporation
This panel focuses on the governance structures and model risk management practices required to support the responsible use of AI in financial crime programs. Speakers will outline regulatory expectations and provide practical approaches to building defensible, well-controlled AI frameworks.
Moderator
Jennie Jonas
SVP, Global Head, Financial Crimes Advisory, AML Rightsource
Panelist
Thephil Russelliah Roby
VP, Risk & Compliance at Onbe
Ashish Aggarwal
Managing Director- Data, Analytics & Gen AI Transformation
Refresh, recharge, and connect during a brief networking break. This short break intends to give you dedicated time to continue conversations with peers, engage with speakers, and explore what sponsors have to offer.
Select one of three concurrent interactive workshops, each focused on a specialized topic within AI governance and financial crime compliance. Sessions are designed for hands-on engagement, practical application, and direct dialogue with facilitators and fellow practitioners.
Enjoy a complimentary catered lunch while continuing conversations and building professional connections with attendees and speakers. Whether you're following up on a panel discussion or making new connections, lunch is one of the most valuable networking opportunities of the day.
This panel addresses the practical challenges financial institutions face when selecting, validating, and implementing AI solutions. Panelists will share lessons learned from real-world deployments, including vendor risk considerations, integration challenges, and common implementation pitfalls.
Moderator
Panelist
Noordin Tharani
Chief AML Officer (interim), Interactive Brokers
Paulina Peters
Deputy BSA Officer, Old National Bank
This panel explores how financial institutions can demonstrate that their AI models are transparent, auditable, and defensible. Discussion will focus on the documentation, controls, and evidence required to satisfy internal audit functions and regulatory scrutiny.
Moderator
Panelist
Robert Reed
Chief Operations Officer, International Bank of Chicago
Celebrate outstanding contributions, hear final conference takeaways, and conclude the formal program. This session gives attendees a summary of the day's most important insights and action points.
The formal program may be over, but the conversations are just getting started. Join speakers, sponsors, and fellow attendees for a relaxed networking social, the ideal setting to continue discussions and build lasting professional relationships.
Thank you for attending the Agentic AI in Financial Crime Conference. We hope today's sessions leave you with sharper frameworks, stronger connections, and a clearer sense of where AI governance in financial crime is heading. We look forward to seeing you at a future CAFC event.
Proudly Sponsored By:
Platinum
Flagright provides a unified, AI-native operating system for financial crime compliance, trusted by banks and fintechs globally. The platform centralizes real-time transaction monitoring, watchlist screening, and case management into a single, audit-ready infrastructure that dramatically slashes false positives.
Gold
SRA Consulting supports more than 200 mid-market banks across the United States, delivering award-winning, end-to-end AI risk governance, monitoring, and third-party AI certification solutions. The firm has also developed an agentic platform designed to continuously monitor AI risk, including model drift, data leakage, and hallucinations.
Gold
AML RightSource is the leading technology-enabled managed services firm dedicated exclusively to fighting financial crime. Combining over 4,000 global compliance experts with advanced AI tools, the firm delivers tailored transaction monitoring, KYC onboarding, and robust regulatory advisory solutions.
Speakers
John C. Calderon - Moderator
Founder & Chair, Coalition Against Financial Crime (CAFC)
John Calderon is a financial crime and compliance executive with nearly 15 years of experience leading BSA/AML, sanctions, and consumer compliance programs across banks, fintech, and money services businesses. He has served as Chief Compliance Officer and BSA Officer, with a strong track record of building and remediating complex compliance frameworks under regulatory scrutiny, including consent orders and enforcement actions. He has led large-scale AML transformations, including the implementation of AI-driven transaction monitoring systems that improve detection and reduce false positives, and brings deep expertise in high-risk banking areas.
Mike Jones is a Partner at SRA Consulting, leading financial crimes and regulatory compliance services and serving as interim Chief Compliance Officer and BSA Officer for banks and fintechs. With nearly 25 years of experience, he has advised institutions ranging from $400 million institutions to some of the largest US banks on compliance, risk management, BaaS, digital assets, and AI. A former US Army officer, Mike has led remediation efforts, managed teams of 1,500, and supported compliance due diligence for acquisitions totaling approximately $7 billion. He holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, a BS from the United States Military Academy at West Point, and is both CRCM- and CAMS-certified
Ken Triemstra
AML and Sanctions Executive – Compliance, Block
Ken Triemstra, MBA, CAMS, is the Enterprise AML and Sanctions Program Lead at Block, overseeing financial crime compliance across the company's payments and digital financial services ecosystem. With more than 20 years of experience spanning AML, sanctions, KYC, and customer due diligence, Ken has held senior global compliance roles at Citi, State Street, and JPMorgan Chase, including Global Head of KYC Compliance and Head of AML Transformation. He has led complex regulatory programs and large-scale transformation initiatives across multiple countries and business lines.
Dr. Lubomira Minkovsky
SVP, Head of Model Development and AI, Northern Trust Corporation
Lubomira Ivanova Minkovsky, Ph.D., is Senior Vice President and Head of Model Development and AI within Risk at Northern Trust, leading a global team responsible for credit risk, market risk, and balance-sheet projection models for regulatory purposes, alongside advanced analytics initiatives involving machine learning and generative AI. With more than 20 years of experience in data science, statistical modeling, and financial risk, she holds a Ph.D. in Finance from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and the FRM, PRM, and RAI credentials.
Jennie Jonas
SVP, Global Head, Financial Crimes Advisory, AML Rightsource
Jennie Jonas is Senior Vice President and Global Head of Financial Crimes Advisory at AML RightSource, leading advisory services across AML, sanctions, fraud, data analytics, model risk, and emerging technology. With more than 20 years of experience, she has helped financial institutions strengthen financial crime programs and improve detection through risk-based governance and data integrity. Previously, Jennie served as Managing Director of Financial Crimes and Analytics at KPMG US and as VP of BSA/AML and OFAC Compliance at Synchrony in both the US and the UK. She holds a degree in Accounting from Cardiff University and is a Certified Fraud Examiner.
Thephil Russelliah Roby
VP, Risk & Compliance at Onbe
Thephil Russelliah Roby is Vice President of Risk and Compliance at Onbe, serving as board-appointed Compliance Officer, Data Protection Officer, and AML/Sanctions Officer. With more than 20 years of experience, she leads enterprise risk management, consumer compliance, privacy, and financial crime programs across the US, Canada, EMEA, and APAC. Previously, she held senior roles at Discover Financial Services and BMO Financial Group, building and transforming AML, sanctions, and governance programs. She holds an MBA from DePaul University, completed Yale School of Management’s Executive Leadership Program, and is both CRCM- and CAMS-certified.
Ashish Aggarwal
Managing Director- Data, Analytics & Gen AI Transformation
Ashish Aggarwal is an enterprise AI, data, and analytics transformation executive with extensive experience helping highly regulated financial institutions modernize their technology, governance, and decision-making capabilities. Most recently, he served as Managing Director of Data, Analytics and GenAI Transformation at CIBC US, leading initiatives in generative AI, intelligent automation, cloud-native analytics, and data governance. Previously, Ashish held senior roles at Freddie Mac, Northern Trust, and Regions Bank, overseeing more than 160 AI and machine-learning models and leading global teams across North America, EMEA, and APAC.
Noordin Tharani
Chief AML Officer (interim), Interactive Brokers
Noordin Tharani is Interim Chief AML Officer and Deputy Chief AML Officer at Interactive Brokers, bringing deep expertise in AML, counter-terrorist financing, sanctions, enhanced due diligence, enterprise risk assessments, and compliance technology. Previously, he served as Director of Financial Crimes Compliance at CIBC U.S., where he was the board-appointed BSA Officer for multiple private wealth and trust entities, and held AML and risk roles at SunTrust and JPMorgan Chase. Noordin holds a JD from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist.
Paulina Peters
Deputy BSA Officer, Old National Bank
Paulina M. Peters is Vice President and Deputy BSA Officer at Old National Bank, supporting enterprise oversight of AML, sanctions, and financial crime compliance. With more than 20 years of experience spanning program governance, risk assessments, investigations, and regulatory remediation, she previously served as the board-appointed BSA/AML Officer at CNB Bank & Trust, where she led the successful remediation of an OCC consent order. Paulina has also held senior roles at BMO and GE Capital and serves as Chair of the ACAMS Chicago Chapter Board.
Robert Reed
Chief Operations Officer, International Bank of Chicago
Robert M. Reed is Chief Operating Officer at International Bank of Chicago, overseeing bank operations, regulatory controls, and a growing e-commerce payments business. With more than 25 years of experience across banking operations, BSA/AML compliance, enterprise risk, and fintech, he is known for turning regulatory pressure into durable operating capability. Previously, Robert held senior roles at Ankura, BMO Capital Markets, BMO Financial Group, and OCC. He holds an MBA from the University of Notre Dame and is CAMS- and CAPFC-certified.
The Agentic AI in Financial Crime Conference is a full-day, practitioner-focused event hosted by the Coalition Against Financial Crime (CAFC). The conference brings together financial crime professionals, compliance leaders, risk executives, model risk teams, investigators, auditors, technology leaders, and AI practitioners to discuss how artificial intelligence is being deployed, governed, challenged, validated, and operationalized across financial crime programs.
This is not another “AI is coming” conference. AI is already here. The question is whether your program is ready to govern it, challenge it, implement it, audit it, and defend it.
Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Time: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Location: 111 S. Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60606
Room: Main Ballroom, 29th Floor
This conference is designed for professionals working in or supporting financial crime compliance, including BSA/AML professionals, sanctions professionals, fraud leaders, compliance officers, risk managers, model risk professionals, internal auditors, investigators, technology leaders, AI governance professionals, vendor risk professionals, regulators, law enforcement professionals, consultants, attorneys, and financial crime technology providers.
The event is especially relevant for professionals actively considering, deploying, or overseeing AI-driven solutions in financial crime programs.
The Chicago conference will focus on practical, governance-driven conversations around AI in financial crime compliance, including:
AI in financial crime: moving from rules-based systems to intelligence-driven programs
Real-world AI use cases in AML, sanctions, fraud, investigations, and alert triage
AI governance and model risk management
Vendor due diligence and implementation realities
Explainability, auditability, effectiveness, and defensibility
Human oversight and accountability
The future of financial crime professionals in an AI-driven world
AI agents, case automation, and emerging hybrid AML/AI roles
The Chicago conference will include:
4 expert-led panels
3 breakout sessions
Catered lunch
Networking opportunities
Real conversations with AFC, compliance, risk, audit, technology, and AI leaders
The conference is designed to prioritize real-world implementation, governance, oversight, and practitioner-level discussion rather than vague AI hype or sales-driven presentations.
This is a practitioner-first event. While technology providers, consultants, and sponsors may participate, the conference is designed around the real questions financial institutions, compliance teams, risk teams, audit teams, and financial crime professionals are facing as AI becomes embedded in financial crime operations.
The goal is to move beyond generic AI discussions and focus on governance, implementation, defensibility, vendor risk, oversight, and operational readiness.
Yes. The Chicago conference will include dedicated networking opportunities, including a networking hour. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with financial crime professionals, compliance leaders, technology providers, AI governance experts, investigators, auditors, and other industry stakeholders.
Yes. Catered lunch will be provided.
The dress code is business casual. Attendees are encouraged to dress professionally and comfortably for a full day of panels, breakout sessions, and networking.
The Chicago conference is expected to host approximately 150 attendees.
Registration is now open. Interested attendees are encouraged to register ASAP to take advantage of early-bird pricing which ends on 08/28/2026.
For updates, visit www.cafc.org.
Registration is available through CAFC’s official website under events.
Please visit www.cafc.org for updates.
Yes. Speaking opportunities may be available depending on panel needs, topic fit, and remaining availability.
For speaking inquiries, contact info@cafc.org.
Yes. Sponsorship opportunities are available for organizations interested in supporting the conference and engaging with financial crime, compliance, risk, audit, technology, and AI professionals.
For sponsorship inquiries, contact info@cafc.org.
The conference is designed to avoid vague AI hype and sales-driven presentations. The focus is on real-world financial crime use cases, governance challenges, implementation realities, vendor risk, auditability, explainability, and defensibility.
A certificate of participation for Five (5) continuing education credits will be provided to all attendees after the event.
Attendees should bring a valid photo ID, business cards or contact information for networking, and any materials they may need for note-taking.
At this time, the Chicago conference is being promoted as an in-person event.
The conference is hosted by the Coalition Against Financial Crime (CAFC), a professional organization serving the anti-financial crime community through events, education, certifications, thought leadership, and industry engagement.
Yes. Vendors, consultants, law firms, technology providers, recruiters, and other service providers supporting the financial crime compliance industry are welcome to attend. However, vendors are required to purchase a vendor admission ticket.
This is a practitioner-first conference designed to foster substantive conversations around AI governance, implementation, oversight, defensibility, and financial crime program readiness. To preserve the integrity of that environment, CAFC maintains separate admission categories for practitioners and vendors.
Vendor pricing is higher because vendors attend with a commercial interest and benefit from access to a highly targeted audience of financial crime, compliance, risk, fraud, sanctions, audit, and technology decision-makers.
No. A vendor admission ticket does not include sponsorship benefits, exhibit space, a speaking role, branding, product demonstration opportunities, or lead-generation rights. Those opportunities are reserved for official sponsors.
Vendors who purchase general vendor admission may attend, learn, network appropriately, and participate in the conference experience. However, they may not engage in suitcasing, unauthorized solicitation, product demonstrations, distribution of marketing materials, or any activity that functions as an unofficial exhibit or sponsorship.
Vendors who purchase a practitioner ticket will not be admitted under that ticket type and may be invoiced for the difference in ticket price. If the difference is not paid upon request, the ticket may be cancelled and refunded minus a 25% administrative fee, along with any applicable payment processing and ticketing fees.
For event updates, registration announcements, speaking opportunities, and sponsorship information, visit www.cafc.org.
For direct inquiries, contact info@cafc.org.
