Oxford Economics economist joins CFO Leadership Conference lineup

Michael Pearce, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, will keynote the Fall 2026 CFO Leadership Conference in Denver on Oct. 14, giving finance leaders a read on growth, inflation, rates, labor, policy and AI. The session is designed to help CFOs pressure-test forecasts and plan for multiple economic scenarios as conditions shift.

Why it matters: - CFOs are planning in a period of wider uncertainty around growth, inflation, interest rates, labor and policy. - Pearce’s keynote is meant to help finance leaders decide which economic signals should change budgets, investments, workforce plans and growth strategies. - AI adds a new planning variable for productivity, employment, investment and long-term growth assumptions.

What happened: - The CFO Leadership Council named Michael Pearce, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, as a keynote speaker at the Fall 2026 CFO Leadership Conference. - The conference will be held Oct. 12–14, 2026, in Denver, Colorado. - Pearce’s keynote, “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger? The U.S. Economic Outlook in the Age of AI,” is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 14, from 9:05 to 9:55 a.m. MT. - The conference registration page is available here.

The details: - Pearce leads U.S. macroeconomic research and forecasting at Oxford Economics. - Oxford Economics says Pearce’s team ranks among Bloomberg’s top forecasters for major U.S. economic indicators. - Before joining Oxford Economics, Pearce was a senior economist on the U.S. team at Capital Economics. - Pearce also worked at HM Treasury in the United Kingdom. - Pearce holds degrees in Economic History from the London School of Economics and Economics from University College London. - The keynote will focus on where the U.S. economy could be headed and what scenarios CFOs should prepare for. - Pearce will examine how changing conditions could affect demand, costs, capital and growth. - The session will also assess how different levels of AI adoption could affect productivity, investment, employment and growth. - Conference organizers said the broader agenda is built around AI, transformation, growth, risk, productivity, capital allocation and organizational performance. - Each pass includes keynote and breakout sessions, two cocktail receptions, full breakfast and lunch, and exhibit hall access. - The program is designed to support volatility-ready planning, productivity gains across approvals and cash cycles, AI initiatives tied to ROI, disciplined transformation funding and operating cadences aligned with finance, R&D, product, operations and go-to-market teams.

Between the lines: - The conference is positioning macroeconomics and AI as linked inputs to CFO decision-making, not separate topics. - RD Whitney, president of Chief Executive Group and COO of the CFO Leadership Council, said finance leaders increasingly need an outside view because business decisions are shaped by forces beyond their own organizations. - The emphasis on multiple scenarios suggests finance teams are being pushed to move away from single-case planning.

What's next: - Pearce will deliver the keynote during the Oct. 12–14 conference in Denver. - The CFO Leadership Council says registration is open with limited-time lowest pricing. - The organization says the conference is intended to help senior finance executives step back from day-to-day work and plan at a higher level.

The bottom line: - The conference is betting that CFOs need a sharper read on both the U.S. economy and AI to make better calls on spending, hiring and growth.