Lucia Valenzuela is the Chief Innovation Officer at James Moore & Co., where she leads firm-wide strategic transformation and turns emerging technologies into measurable outcomes. Her work sits at the intersection of vision and execution: she builds the governance foundations, automation workflows, and AI enablement programs that help professional services firms adopt new technology responsibly and at scale, and make it stick.

At James Moore, Lucia designs vendor-agnostic ecosystems rather than one-off tool deployments, guides leadership through change management, and creates standardized delivery models that close the gap between what firms say they want to do with technology and what they actually do. She treats the tech stack as a strategic asset where every tool earns its place by solving a real problem and integrating cleanly with the rest of the system.

Lucia leads two practices at James Moore: the firm’s R&D Tax Credit practice, where she guides companies through the complexities of claiming the credit, and an AI Transformation Consulting practice that advises middle-market firms on AI strategy, readiness, and change management. The two reinforce each other, her tax work keeps her close to how professional services actually get delivered, while her consulting work pressure-tests her frameworks across very different firm cultures.

Before stepping into the CINO role, Lucia spent more than a decade in tax consulting and legal services. She began her career at a top 50 accounting firm, where she became one of the youngest and most profitable partners and built the credits and incentives practice by creating an offshore delivery team, implementing transparent workflows, and architecting a service model that was both efficient and scalable.

Her practitioner roots keep her work grounded: she builds technology strategies that reflect how accounting work actually gets done, not how it looks on a vendor demo. She is a frequent voice on practical AI adoption in accounting, governance-first innovation, and building tech ecosystems that scale with a firm rather than against it.

Lucia holds a JD from Thomas Jefferson School of Law and maintains an active California bar license.

alliant has serves businesses as their growth partner, helping leaders navigate the people, process, and technology challenges that define modern business. We provide strategy, expertise, and applied intelligence to solve complex enterprise problems. Our work drives enduring growth and innovation, strengthening the economy and expanding possibilities for businesses across America.

Prosperity Partners (“Prosperity”) is a Chicago-headquartered public accounting firm offering best-in-class tax, accounting, and personal finance services to dynamic businesses, high net-worth individuals, and family offices. With offices throughout the United States, we are growing a people-focused public accounting firm with a strong culture, talented professionals and great clients.

Pete Wesch joined Smith Marion & Co. in 2006 and currently serves as a Shareholder and Tax Principal, as well as the firm’s Innovator on the leadership committee. An Enrolled Agent since 1994, he brings more than 30 years of experience in tax preparation, accounting, and consulting. Over his tenure with the firm, he has worked as both an auditor and a tax preparer, while also playing a key role in shaping the firm’s technology strategy.

Pete has consistently led innovation within the firm, helping to identify, adopt, and integrate new solutions that enhance efficiency, improve client service, and keep the firm at the forefront of industry advancements. His leadership of the firm’s tech committee and his long-standing involvement with CalCPA Technology Committee reflect his commitment to forward-thinking practices and continuous improvement.

His professional focus includes fiduciary, corporate, and complex partnership returns, along with management and business consulting. He works with a diverse range of clients, including non-profits, housing authorities, and for-profit businesses. Known for building strong, trusted relationships, Pete is passionate about educating clients and peers, sharing his depth of knowledge in a way that is both practical and approachable.

Georgia Smith is a Lead Product Manager in Research & Advisory at Wolters Kluwer, where she has spent 17 years shaping tax and advisory solutions that help firms make better, faster decisions. She brings 30 years of experience as a practicing tax professional, blending real‑world firm insight with product strategy focused on scalable advisory services and the responsible use of AI. Georgia holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and grounds her work in the voice of the customer, with a focus on trusted, explainable AI and embedded guidance that helps firms uncover opportunities, manage risk, and deliver consistent, high‑value advisory services.

The accounting profession’s talent constraints are no longer just an operational challenge—they are a structural barrier to growth, succession planning, and long-term firm value. This interactive workshop is designed around an advisory framework that identifies what you should automate with AI, what you should offload to a managed service provider, and where you have opportunity to redeploy your high performers to more valuable work.

Our strategic framework workshop maps out how work gets done in your organization based on strategic importance versus complexity. This visibly and tangibly will make it clear how to restructure functions, departments, or even your entire organization to optimize growth and firm value.

Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how workforce strategy influences valuation, along with actionable insights they can adapt within their own firms.

Doug Dellinger is Vice President of M&A and Corporate Development at Prosperity Partners. He is responsible for accelerating growth by partnering with leading tax, accounting, and advisory firms nationwide.

He brings more than a decade of transaction experience, including investor roles at two private equity firms and M&A leadership positions at private equity-backed platforms in the healthcare and financial services industries.

Based in Prosperity’s Chicago office, Doug works closely with firm leaders across the country to build partnerships that enhance client service and create new opportunities for growth and team development. He graduated from Duke University and began his career in the consulting group of a Big Four firm.

David Bundy is a seasoned accounting and advisory leader with more than three decades of experience guiding healthcare organizations, professional services firms, and growth‑oriented businesses through transformation.

He began his career with ten years at Big Four firms, serving as both an auditor and consultant to major healthcare clients. He then spent two years as CFO of a large healthcare provider, giving him firsthand operational and financial insight into the challenges facing the industry.

In 1999, David joined Dean Dorton—then a $5 million accounting firm—to launch its healthcare consulting practice. The practice’s rapid success led the firm to ask him to consolidate and build out all advisory services, including technology, outsourced accounting, valuation, and litigation support. Under his leadership, the advisory group quickly grew to represent more than 30% of firm revenue and became a core engine of innovation and differentiation.

In 2012, with the firm at $20 million, David was selected as Dean Dorton’s second CEO. Over the next decade, he led the firm through a period of significant expansion, growing revenue to more than $100 million, entering five new geographic markets, and broadening the firm’s service portfolio. During his tenure, the advisory practice scaled in step with the firm and continued to represent roughly 30% of total revenue. He also oversaw the launch of new offerings including cybersecurity, data analytics, wealth management, and medical billing.

David retired as CEO on January 1, 2026, and will continue to advise the firm through June 30. On July 1, he will join Thomson Consulting as a partner, where he brings deep experience in strategy, growth, and advisory services to clients navigating complex market and organizational challenges.

Becker is a leading provider of CPA, CMA, EA, CIA, and Challenge Exam Review prep, plus continuing professional education. With expert instructors, high-quality content, innovative technology, and flexible learning options, Becker helps accounting, tax, and finance professionals achieve more at every career stage.
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Allen Stahl is the Strategic Director of Technology at Thomson Reuters, where he has worked for 15 years in various roles. He specializes in partnering with large accounting firms to create custom technology solutions using APIs and automation tools.

With over a decade of experience working with top accounting firms, Allen bridges the gap between customer needs and product development. He has initiated several successful programs, including the Strategic Executive Exchange and the AI Coalition, which have significantly improved customer engagement and industry collaboration.

Allen’s contributions to the tax and accounting field led to his recognition as a “20 Under 40” Influencer by CPA Practice Advisor from 2023-2026.  In his current role, he continues to focus on large and strategic markets while incorporating more AI into automation strategies and exploring ways to leverage AI alongside Thomson Reuters’ Tax and accounting customers holistically.