Case study · NYSSCPA Rochester Chapter · 2019
Making AI tangible before it was mainstream.
At the New York State Society of CPAs Rochester Chapter's 2019 awards dinner, Galina gave students, accounting professionals and college faculty an approachable look at emerging technology, then put AI directly in their hands.
- Event
- NYSSCPA Rochester Chapter · 2019 awards dinner
- Keynote
- Risky Business: transforming data into information to measure risk and PNL
- Audience
- Accounting students, professionals and college faculty with varying levels of technical expertise
The challenge
One room. Different technical starting points.
Financial technology, data analytics, risk management and emerging technologies were already changing accounting work. The audience needed more than definitions: they needed to understand why these systems mattered and how they related to their own work.
With students, experienced professionals and faculty in the same room, the talk had to carry technical depth without leaving anyone behind.
The approach
Don't just explain the technology. Let people use it.
Galina paired practical business context with an interactive demonstration that made abstract technology immediately recognizable.
- 01Connect the technical to the practical: Galina explained not only how financial technology, data analytics and emerging systems work, but why they matter to businesses and accounting professionals.
- 02Let the audience experience AI: Attendees created sentences using only the predictive-text suggestions on their phones, then shared what came out. A simple exercise made AI understandable, participatory and memorable.
- 03Make change feel approachable: The talk encouraged curiosity about what innovation could bring to the profession, helping emerging technology feel less intimidating and more useful.
Complex ideas became something the room could understand, explore and use.
The audience response
Seven years later, the exercise is still what Olga remembers.
Olga Zavada invited Galina to speak and remembers the predictive-text exercise immediately, along with the positive feedback from attendees. For her, that lasting impression is the mark of an impactful speaker.
“She asked everyone to create sentences using only the suggested words, demonstrating a practical application of AI. It was such a simple but effective exercise, and I still remember it seven years later.”
Olga Zavada
Past President, NYSSCPA Rochester Chapter · Manager, Empire Valuation Consultants
The takeaway
A talk designed to be experienced, not just heard.
Make complex technology understandable. Invite people to participate. Connect new tools to real work. In 2019, that approach helped an accounting audience see AI as something they could explore with confidence.
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Galina's keynote at the NYSSCPA Rochester Chapter's 2019 awards dinner.