The Future of Forecasting 2026

Present:

13:30 - 17:00

Finext Office, Delft

AI is changing what planning looks like. Faster models, sharper scenarios, automated variance analysis. But when a forecast becomes a decision, the machine steps back. Someone has to commit, with their name on it. This afternoon is built around that question: when AI plans, who decides?

Decision-Driven Planning

The Future of Forecasting is an annual in-person event for Finance and supply chain professionals. This year's theme is Decision-Driven Planning. When AI prepares more of the plan, the decisions that remain carry more weight, and the work shifts to who makes them and how. That is why the program is roughly one part technology, two parts people and process, and one part decision-making. Most transformations stall on people and process, so that is where most of the afternoon goes.

Two keynotes, one question

Robin van Galen: the plan behind Olympic gold
‍In 2008, Robin van Galen coached the Dutch women's water polo team to Olympic gold in Beijing. He opens the afternoon with the plan he made for that gold medal, and the road it took to get there. A coach works with more data than ever, and still has to make the call when the match is on.

Patrick Smets: Why the Next Competitive Advantage Is Not Better Forecasting
‍The question is no longer who can forecast the future best. It is who can make the right decision fastest when circumstances change. Markets move faster, disruptions spread instantly, and AI is transforming how organizations sense, analyze and respond to change. Yet resilience does not come from having a forecast, a planning system or the latest AI tools. Having a fire extinguisher does not mean you are prepared for a fire. Patrick closes the afternoon with what it takes to decide before the next meeting, the next report or the next forecast.

Who should attend

This afternoon is for CFOs, Finance Directors, FP&A Managers, Controllers and Heads of Planning who want to think through what AI adoption means for their function, in a room with peers facing the same questions. You leave with a clearer sense of what your function looks like when AI takes over more of the routine work, and what it needs from you.