IR Impact Forum – AI & Technology

Steve Wade, head of content, IR Impact

As the wave of AI and innovative technology grows, IROs must stay ahead of the curve to survive. Therefore, although it is essential to experiment with AI and technology it is important not to get stuck in an exploration loop and ensure you fully implement it and optimize its potential. To do so you first have to get the C-Suite on board! This panel will focus on the strategies and tactics IROs can use to educate the C-suite on the need to embrace AI and technology to ensure their buy-in.

• Examine the AI and technological needs of today’s IROs and assess whether recent shifts in the vendor landscape are effectively meeting those demands
• Discover the latest advancements in AI and technology and explore how they can enhance targeting strategies, refine earnings call preparations and strengthen competitive positioning
• Discuss if there is a “one stop shop” and examine how different platforms and tools are being successfully used in unison for a variety of IR functions
• Consider the crucial role AI is now playing in managing and reporting sustainability metrics, ensuring compliance with new regulations like the evolving SEC disclosure requirements
• Gather strategic insights into what the next steps in the AI and Tech evolution will be.

Moderator: Steve Wade, head of content, IR Impact

As large language models evolve beyond content generation into advanced reasoning and decision support, Investor Relations professionals have a powerful new toolkit at their fingertips.
This workshop explores how to harness the capabilities of reasoning LLMs, like GPT-4o, Gemini 1.5, and Claude 3 for strategic analysis, investor engagement and communication planning. Learn how to go beyond prompts and use AI as a thinking partner in your IR strategy

As AI technologies rapidly evolve, organizations face increasing pressure to integrate intelligent systems responsibly and efficiently. However, successful AI adoption is not just a technical challenge, it requires seamless collaboration across departments, particularly Legal and IT.
This panel will explore the strategies and tactics IROs can use to ensure successful AI adoption, implementation and usage, that balances innovation with compliance, security, and operational integrity

• Understand the specific challenges your legal and IT teams face when evaluating the implementation of AI and emerging technologies
• Learn how to foresee and address IT risks and regulatory concerns
• Best practices for engaging legal teams early to navigate regulatory and ethical considerations.
• Strategies for partnering with IT to ensure scalable, secure and unbiased AI systems.
• Identify the internal infrastructure and workforce required for the effective adoption
• Assess the importance of cross-departmental AI committees to ensure alignment of AI adoption strategies with compliance and technical feasibility
• Insights into overcoming a lack of resources in money, people and infrastructure to enhance company wide acceptance

Moderator: Steve Wade, head of content, IR Impact

Many IROs struggle to justify AI investments, expecting to demonstrate clear, measurable benefits, when AI remains a complex and often misunderstood technology among key stakeholders.
This session brings clarity by providing a roadmap for measuring the ROI of AI. Enabling IROs to quantify the success of AI, track its tangible impact and measure the results effectively proving that the effort, money and time invested in AI are worthwhile.

• Discuss what ROI actually looks like and consider the challenges around defining it
• Understand how to showcase successful AI and technology use cases and their impact on business metrics
• Debate the relevance of “hard” and “soft” benefits and examine which are most important to you, cost and time saving v employee satisfaction and retention
• Learn how your peers are monetizing the use of AI

Moderator: Steve Wade, head of content, IR Impact

Buy-side investors have long utilized technology to measure and analyze the language being used by public companies. In today’s environment, AI is further accelerating this approach for both the complexity of analysis and the proliferation across investment community.
In this workshop, understand how many investors are using this technology and how you can adjust your language to account for it. Get hands on experience with tools that can analyze your language, both in secure private settings as well as more complex analysis of public documents.

The integration of AI and innovative technology into IR workflows is inevitable, yet many IROs face resistance due to regulatory concerns, security risks, and operational disruptions. In this session we will explore how IR teams can embrace AI confidently, address fears from internal stakeholders and leverage AI for data-driven investor engagement.

• Assess how clear communication, continual training and early stakeholder alignment can streamline AI acceptance
• Consider what guard rails you can implement to ensure data privacy and protection against cyber threats and data breaches
• Explore the ethical frameworks for integrating AI, while prioritising human impact and addressing employee concerns relating to AI-driven job displacement. (you won’t lose your job to AI, but you may lose your job to someone who is using AI)

Moderator: Steve Wade, head of content, IR Impact

Investor Relations Officers are beginning to explore Agentic AI to enhance efficiency and engagement in financial communications. Unlike traditional AI, Agentic AI can autonomously analyze data, generate insights, and even interact with stakeholders without the need for constant human intervention.
This session will explore the evolution of Agentic AI, strategizing ways to enhance its opportunities while addressing the associated risks and challenges.

• • Gain insights into how your peers are utilizing agentic AI to enhance risk assessment, engage stakeholders, automate reporting and collect market intelligence
• Create a strategy for developing and scaling agentic AI ecosystems that are efficient, well-governed and future-proof
• Recognize the new risks that agentic AI poses to data security, trust and transparency and identify the steps necessary to mitigate these risks
• Consider the regulatory uncertainties surrounding agentic AI implementation and usage along with strategies to ensure compliance
• Discuss the efficiency gains associated with agentic AI and evaluate methods for quantifying operational cost reductions.

Moderator: Steve Wade, head of content, IR Impact

The next frontier in Investor Relations is here! AI agents that can think, act and collaborate.
This workshop introduces you to the world of AI Agentics. Autonomous, task-driven AI systems that can monitor markets, draft communications and even simulate investor interactions. Learn how to deploy and manage AI agents to enhance productivity, deepen insights and personalize investor engagement at scale.

In today’s competitive capital markets, finding and engaging the right investors is more critical and complex than ever before.
This hands-on workshop will give you tactical insights into how to leverage AI to identify potential investors, personalize outreach and optimize engagement strategies. Learn how to move beyond static targeting lists and embrace dynamic, data-driven investor discovery.

As buy-side firms rapidly adopt AI to enhance investment analysis, decision-making and portfolio management, it is essential for IR professionals to evolve in parallel.
This panel offers a behind-the-scenes look at how investors are using AI and how IR teams can leverage similar tools to anticipate investor behavior, tailor engagement and sharpen their strategic communications.

• Discuss how you can adapt your IR strategy and messaging to AI-driven capital markets
• Tactical guidance for optimizing web communications for generative AI discovery, a deep dive into the emergence of generative engine optimization
• Debate whether AI-driven algorithmic trading is emerging as the driving force behind buy-side strategies and how to overcome the associated challenges
• Strategic insights into how AI is being used for predictive analytics, sentiment analysis and alternative data integration
• Consider the role of machine learning in portfolio optimization and trade execution
• Learn effective strategies to enhance investor access to IR information through streamlined self-service formats
• Learn how to integrate AI into your IR website efficiently

Moderator: Steve Wade, head of content, IR Impact