Breakout Sessions

The AI Wild West: Bringing Governance to Benefits

AI is already making decisions that shape employee benefits—but governance hasn’t caught up. In this provocative panel, leaders from Mercer, Vertex, and The Hartford debate who really owns AI decisions, where the biggest unseen risks are, who’s accountable when outcomes go wrong, and what the future of AI looks like. A must‑attend conversation for employers who don’t want AI risk to become their next benefits crisis.

AI: Turning Health Plan Chaos into Actionable Cost Insights

This session is built for CFOs, HR and Benefits leaders, and risk/finance partners who are accountable for health plan performance but frustrated by opaque cost drivers. You’ll learn how AI can surface the real drivers behind spend—trend vs. utilization, condition prevalence, site of care, and leakage—and translate them into clear, actionable decisions.

 We’ll show practical ways to move from insight to intervention, including where to focus first for measurable savings. Expect real examples of how employers are using these insights to improve outcomes and control costs without guesswork.

  • Lorna Borenstein

    CEO

    Grokker

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  • John Garson, CEBS, PHR

    Senior Analyst

    Gallagher

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  • Greg Salgueiro, MS, RD, LDN

    Director Wellbeing

    Boston Children’s Hospital

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  • Dave Kerrigan - Moderator

    Founder and CEO

    BenefitPitch

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Navigating the Political Noise in Employee Benefits

Between breaking news and election cycles, it is difficult to identify which political shifts will affect your benefits budget. In this panel, Navigating the Political Noise in Employee Benefits, we provide a focused briefing on the legislative and regulatory changes that directly affect healthcare costs. In this panel discussion you will gain:

Clarity on Federal Legislation: An update on the "One Big Beautiful Bill" and other key acts impacting plan design and compliance.

Carrier Insights: A look at how medical carriers are navigating cost pressures and supporting employer community involvement.

Pharmacy Solutions: Insights into how new pharmacy legislation is changing the cost landscape.

Political Foresight: Strategic analysis of how the midterm elections could change the current trajectory of employee benefits law and cost drivers.

Gene and Cellular Therapies: The Cost of Changing Lives

Financing breakthrough gene therapies is no longer a distant question—it’s an urgent, strategic issue for employers. This session will decode what’s coming, what it means for your health plan, and how HR leaders can unlock life-changing cures for employees while protecting the bottom line. Cellular therapies use living cells (often taken from a patient or a donor and changed or grown in a lab) to fight disease, while gene therapies change a person’s genes (for example, by fixing a faulty gene) to treat or prevent illness—both can be powerful but work in very different ways and have different costs and care needs. Hear experts break down the latest trends in gene therapy, innovative benefit designs, and stop loss strategies that help manage volatility and mitigate catastrophic risk. You’ll leave with a clear, practical roadmap to balance innovation, affordability, and sustainability—so your organization is ready for the future of care.

Invisible Second Shift: Mental Health on Caregiver Island

This session pulls back the curtain on one of the most underestimated forces shaping your workforce today. Caregiving isn't a personal issue employees leave at home — it's already happening inside your workday, inside your retention numbers, and inside your benefit utilization data. 

We'll get real about what's working, what's getting in the way, and what small but powerful shifts — in manager behavior, workplace culture, and benefit design — can make a measurable difference for caregiving employees and your bottom line. If you design benefits, shape culture, or care about keeping your best people — we look forward to seeing you in this session. 

  • Jennifer Fraone

    Strategic Advisor

    Jennifer Sabatini Fraone Consulting, LLC

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  • Evan Falchuck

    CEO

    Family First

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  • Cortney Holder - Moderator

    Director of Business Solutions

    Workplace Options

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Personal Cybersecurity: Protecting and Empowering Today’s Employees 

Cybercrime, scams, and digital threats are no longer occasional—they’re constant, highly personalized, and increasingly difficult for employees to recognize. 

At the same time, most people don’t realize how much of their personal data is exposed—through breaches, data brokers, and everyday online activity—fueling a new wave of targeted attacks. 

The result? What once felt like a cybersecurity issue is now showing up in a much more tangible way: identity risks, financial impact, stress, and disruption to employees’ everyday lives. 

But risk isn’t one-size-fits-all. It evolves across life stages—from early-career employees navigating digital and financial independence to those protecting families or preserving long-term wealth. 

In this session, Casey Cullinan, head of employee benefits at Norton LifeLock Benefit Solutions, will explore how today’s threat landscape is reshaping employee risk—and what employers can do about it. Through real-world stories, generational insights, and practical takeaways, attendees will leave with a clearer, more human way to think about protection—and how to better support their workforce. 

  • Casey Cullinan Schepers

    Head of Norton Lifelock Benefit Solutions

    Norton Lifelock

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