2026 Digital Evolution Summit (DES)

Brendan Roberts, Founder

Deborah Defer, Director of CAS Consulting, Woodard

Deborah Defer is a visionary leader in client advisory services (CAS) and serves as Director of CAS at Woodard. With more than two decades of experience in accounting, financial management, and strategic advisory, she is dedicated to helping small- and mid-sized businesses gain financial clarity, strengthen operational efficiency, and build sustainable growth models. In recognition of her impact on the profession, Deborah was named one of Accounting Today's Top 100 People to Watch in 2026.

At Woodard, Deborah designs and leads innovative CAS strategies that empower firms to modernize their practices, streamline workflows, and deliver high-value advisory services. She is passionate about leveraging technology and automation to transform data into real-time insights that drive better business decisions. Her expertise spans CAS pricing, spend management, and stepping into controllership roles for growing organizations.

An award-winning educator and mentor, Deborah is known for her dynamic workshops, webinars, and coaching engagements. She champions change management, technology adoption, and balanced firm cultures that prioritize innovation and client success. Her mission is to inspire firms to elevate CAS beyond compliance and create measurable, lasting value for the clients they serve.

Gary Forster, Managing Partner, ForsterBoughman

Gary's practice includes domestic and international corporate law, asset protection, tax, and estate planning. Gary handles a wide variety of corporate and personal planning matters.

Gary spent the first decade of his career structuring and closing some of the largest corporate transactions in the region.  The mergers and acquisitions Gary consummated range from the national consolidation of regional US construction and transportation interests to real estate investment trusts, hospitals and surgical centers.  Gary is one of the few attorneys in Central Florida with experience in cross-border corporate transactions, including a variety of industries ranging from intellectual property concerns to international distribution and manufacturing interests.

Gary's corporate work, with some of the most prominent companies and entrepreneurs in Florida and abroad, led him to expand his practice fifteen years ago. Successful clients require substantial tax, estate and asset protection planning.  Gary recognized that certain wealthy clients require a single partner contact, familiar with both business law and tax planning and structuring.  Gary serves that purpose. Gary has designed and drafted hundreds of corporate documents and asset protection plans.

Gary is the author of two books.  In 2013, he wrote Asset Protection for Professionals, Entrepreneurs and Investors, a guide to asset protection strategies for clients and their financial advisors, now in its second edition.  In 2016, Gary finished the first edition of The U.S. Estate and Gift Tax and the Non-Citizen, which explains how resident and non-resident foreign nationals are impacted by the U.S. Estate and Gift Tax.

Gary writes and lectures nationally to state bar and CPA groups on the topics of asset protection, international tax and corporate law.  He has also instructed classes at the University of Florida (Levin College of Law) and Rollins College (Crummer Graduate School of Business).  Gary's articles can be found in such publications as the Florida Bar Journal and the American Bar Association's Probate and Property Magazine.  For a listing of Gary's recent speaking engagements, see below.

Gary's legislative amendments were adopted as Section 43A of the Nevis LLC Ordinance - Nevis Limited Liability Company (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015.

Ian Vacin, Co Founder, Karbon

Janel Sykora, Regional Sales Manager

Jason Harrell, Chief External Affairs Officer, Florida Institute of CPAs

Jason Harrell is the FICPA Chief External Affairs Officer responsible for leading all aspects of the Institute’s public policy, advocacy, governmental affairs and regulatory affairs. He serves as the liaison to the DBPR and Board of Accountancy and is responsible for all advocacy-related external communications and campaigns to increase the value of the CPA license. Jason brings numerous years of experience to this role, previously serving as director of government relations for Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers Association and budget and communications director for the Clerks of Court Operations Corporation, serving in key roles under two Speakers in the Florida House, and serving in the Executive Office of the Governor in the Office of Policy and Budget and Chief Inspector General’s Office.

Kacee Johnson, VP, Strategy & Innovation, CPA.com (AICPA Subsidiary)

Kacee Johnson is a fintech executive and innovation strategist with a standout record in driving global SaaS growth and scaling startups to funding or exit.

Recognized among Accounting Today's Top 100 Most Influential People, CPA Practice Advisor's Top 25 Thought Leaders, sits on the Forbes Technology Council, and is named one of the Most Powerful Women in Accounting by the AICPA, Kacee brings a rare combination of operator experience and strategic vision.

As Principal at radical, she helps organizations navigate disruption through provocative presentations, strategic guidance, and events that catalyze change. She also serves as Executive Director of the AI Native Accounting Foundation, an independent non-profit initiative which she co-founded to equip firms and finance teams to adopt AI with confidence through education, research, and recognition.

Kacee serves as an independent board member and advisor, bringing deep expertise in go-to-market strategy, product positioning, and emerging tech adoption. She is NACD Directorship Certified™, demonstrating advanced proficiency in corporate governance, strategic oversight, and leadership for high-growth companies in the $10-300M ARR range.

She hosts the AI Native Accounting Podcast and is a sought-after keynote speaker and conference emcee.

Kevin McElgunn, Team Leader Digital Audit Solutions, WithumSmith+Brown, PC

Kevin McElgunn is an audit partner with over 12 years of public accounting experience. He helps clients achieve transparency and confidence in their financial reporting, developing innovative solutions for effective and efficient audits and providing in-depth and concise industry insight. 
Kevin's expertise is in serving multinational private and publicly-held companies, primarily in the manufacturing, distribution, and technology sectors. Kevin's extensive knowledge encompasses public offerings, SEC filings, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), ERISA, private placements, and mergers and acquisitions. 
In his capacity as the team leader for cloud-based technology solutions, Kevin is at the forefront of innovation at Withum. He oversees the implementation of these solutions and is instrumental in developing cutting-edge, client-centric solutions. As a senior member of Withum's Accounting and Auditing Fellowship Program, Kevin plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of the Firm. He is entrusted with the responsibility of instructing and training new staff members, as well as conducting numerous in-house Continuing Professional Education (CPE) certified courses.

Levi Gruver, CPS Group CPAs PA

Mark Martukovich, CPA, Executive Director, Harness Advisory Platform

Mark Martukovich, CPA, is Executive Director at Harness Advisory Platform, where he works with firm owners nationally on the shift from compliance-based practices to advisory-led businesses. Before joining Harness, Mark spent more than a decade leading his own high-growth firm through that same transition — growing advisory revenue by more than 580% and tripling the rate of new business after repositioning around advisory services. He has spent years on the national accounting conference circuit, sharing what that transition actually requires in practice: the pricing changes, the client conversations, and the operational shifts firm managers have to execute, not just approve. Mark is a frequent presenter at industry conferences, including an upcoming session at Digital CPA 2026, and has been featured in industry research and trade publications on advisory-led firm transformation.

Paul Brown, Vice President, Professional and Technical Standards, Florida Institute of CPAs

Paul Brown joined the FICPA in November 1992 and is the Vice President of Professional and Technical Standards for the Florida Institute of CPAs (FICPA). One of Paul’s main duties is to serve as the technical reviewer in Florida for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Peer Review Program. The program administers approximately 300 reviews annually in Florida and oversees approximately 85 peer reviewers. Paul also assists members in the areas of professional ethics and professional standards. As part of his role with the FICPA Paul has instructed and authored continuing education programs for the AICPA and FICPA, for which he has received several outstanding discussion leader and author awards. Paul is serving on the AICPA’s Peer Review Standards Task Force, Technical Reviewers Advisory Task Force to the Peer Review Board, and former chair of the Audit Committee for the City of Tallahassee.
Prior to joining the FICPA, Paul was an audit manager with the regional firm of Williams, Cox, Weidner & Cox (now Carr, Riggs & Ingram) in Tallahassee, Florida. Paul holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and finance from Florida State University and has been licensed as a CPA since 1988.

Sarah Ference, CPA, Risk Control Director, Accountants Professional Liability Continental Casualty Company - CNA

Sarah is the Risk Control Director for the Accountants Program at CNA. She oversees risk control services provided to CPA firms. She previously practiced public accounting for 15 years with a Big Four firm.

While in public accounting, Sarah provided internal control and risk management consulting services and external audit services to clients in multiple industries. She partnered with clients to help supplement or outsource functions typically performed in-house and served in a senior management role for a publicly-traded financial institution client for a 10-month period. Sarah was a national instructor for her firm, educating audit and advisory staff on the firm's audit process and internal control assessment methodology.

At CNA, Sarah and her team provide risk control services to insured CPA firms. Services include consultations on ways to help mitigate professional liability risk, development and delivery of risk management training and education products, authoring monthly risk management articles for the Journal of Accountancy, and creating other tools to assist CPA firms in managing their professional liability risk.

Shelly Weir, President & CEO, Florida Institute of CPAs

Svetlana Toohey, Co Founder and Controller

Lana Toohey, CPA, MAcc
Controller SDII Global LLC | Co-founder of PythonMuse LLC

Lana Toohey, CPA, MAcc, is Controller at SDII Global LLC, a multi-entity forensic engineering and consulting firm serving clients across the United States and Canada. She leads financial reporting, consolidations, foreign currency translation, lease accounting, and operational finance initiatives for a complex and growing organization.

Lana began her career as an auditor at Deloitte, building a strong foundation in discipline, structure, and technical precision. She later spent nine years with Mettler Toledo, supporting capital investments, factory transformations, restructurings, business-unit consolidations, and a major SAP migration.

These experiences shaped her leadership approach: strong fundamentals, collaboration, and respect for compliance in an increasingly complex business environment.

In recent years, Lana has focused on a critical question: How can finance operate smarter? That focus led her into automation, AI copilots, and coding. She now applies AI-enabled development and productivity tools to design better processes, troubleshoot reporting, automate data tasks, and accelerate analysis.

This journey led to PythonMuse (www.pythonmuse.com), a learning platform helping accounting and finance professionals use Python, AI, and automation in a responsible, audit-ready way.

Lana's mission is to help shape the future of accounting by preparing finance professionals to work effectively alongside AI and an increasingly agentic workforce. Her message is simple: AI will not replace you—but professionals who know how to use it will redefine the role.