Executive Roundtable

Deb Baker 
VP, Global Payment Solutions, HP Inc. 
Chair of the Board, ELFA                               

Kirk Phillips
President & CEO
Wintrust Asset Finance

How to Think About AI

Artificial intelligence is reshaping industries and redefining leadership. This session explores the mindset leaders need to navigate an AI-driven future, including the critical shift from process thinking to outcome thinking. Through compelling examples and key digital trends, participants will examine short- vs. long-term AI, differing views on its advancement, and its impact on businesses—particularly white-collar work. The discussion will also address infrastructure requirements, risk management, and how to balance AI’s opportunities with its challenges. Drawing insights from neurosurgery, this session offers a practical framework for leading through complexity and technological transformation. 

Richard E. Susskind OBE
Author, Speaker, and Independent Advisor

Hear from federal and state policy experts at Tiber Creek and MultiState as they break down the current political climate and what to expect heading into the midterm elections, including key policy trends, election-year dynamics, and shifting legislative priorities at both levels of government

Marvin Yates 

Vice President, Strategic Government Relations
MulitiState

2026 started at a sprint. Geopolitical tensions have spiked, political pressure on Fed independence has intensified, and financial markets continue to show signs of instability. This is the new normal. Structural shifts unleashed by the pandemic are fundamentally reshaping the global economy—increasing uncertainty, clouding forecasts, and altering decades-old trends in the financial markets.

Understanding what these shifts mean for the broader economy, financial markets, and equipment demand is critical for the industry this year. Economist Tim Mahedy will discuss these developments and provide an essential roadmap for what to expect through 2026 and beyond.

Tim Mahedy

Economist 

Moderator:

Leigh Lytle
President & CEO
Equipment Leasing and Finance Association 
 

Speaker:

Dan Varroney
President & CEO, Potomac Core
Author, Rethinking Economic Growth: How Small Businesses Can Help Consistently Grow the Economy. 

Moderator:

Dan Varroney
President & CEO
Potomac Core
 

Speakers:

Hollis Buffered
CEO
Star Hill Financial LLC

Bruce J. Winter
Chief Operating Officer
Peapack Capital Corporation

Amy Wagner
CEO
 American Financial Partners, Inc. 

David Normandin and Jeff Jensen will introduce the new structure of the ELFA Research Committee, summarize the output of its first meeting of the year in early January, and describe the role Executive Roundtable Members will play in finalizing ELFA’s 2026 research agenda.

Jeff Jensen
Partner <
Keybridge Research, LLC 

Megan Yeh
Senior Director 
Keybridge Research, LLC

David Normandin
President & Chief Executive Officer
Wintrust Specialty Finance

In this collaborative brainstorming session, Executive Roundtable members will separate into small groups and discuss each research theme and topic highlighted during the previous day’s presentation. Takeaways from this session will be collected and refined to develop a final research agenda.
 

Speakers:

Jeff Jensen
Partner 
Keybridge Research, LLC

Megan Yeh
Senior Director 
Keybridge Research, LLC

Deb Baker 
VP, Global Payment Solutions, HP Inc. 
Chair of the Board, ELFA