Learn. Collaborate. Innovate.
The Resource Management Global Symposium was comprised of keynote sessions, panel discussions, breakouts and case studies, and networking opportunities for all those interested in the RM and WFM disciplines. Attendees learned both fundamentals and advanced practices in Resource and Workforce Management, had many opportunities to collaborate with industry peers, RM/WFM process experts, and service automation technology providers, and innovated with the very latest in RM/WFM research, leading practices, and digital transformation strategies. Symposium content was relevant to any project-based service delivery organization and specifically targeted participants with external customers (e.g., Professional/Consulting Services, Marketing and Creative Agencies, Accounting, Audit, Tax and Advisory firms, and Law firms) and internal customers (Enterprise/IT, Product Development, and Engineering).
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
DESCRIPTION: In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, resource management has emerged as a crucial factor for sustaining competitive advantage and driving organizational resilience. This opening keynote will explore the the transformative potential of resource management, inspiring leaders and teams to amplify and elevate its impact across their organizations. Through innovative strategies and actionable insights, this session will equip attendees to communicate the true value of resource management, empowering them to build support and drive sustainable success across teams and projects.
SPEAKER: Ryan Childers, Managing Director, RMI
DESCRIPTION: While most organizations train their RMs on processes and tools, the real challenge lies in mastering the consultative soft skills essential for success. Do RMs know how to effectively communicate with stakeholders, set and manage expectations, push back on unproductive behaviors, and handle complaints with confidence? In this special session, the RMI will share its expertise in developing these critical skills for resource managers. Join us to learn practical strategies for building stronger relationships, communicating more effectively, and driving better results.
SPEAKER: Nick Cochran, Director, Resource Management Institute
DESCRIPTION: Resource Management is a critical discipline that drives efficiency, agility, and strategic success in organizations. This session will provide perspective on effective resource management and explore the wealth of resources and programs provided by the RMI to help organizations optimize their resource management capability. Attendees will gain insights into how they can leverage the RMI to improve resource planning, utilization, and overall business performance. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to elevate your resource management maturity, this session will equip you with the tools and knowledge to unlock real value.
SPEAKERS: Ryan Childers, Managing Director of the RMI and Greg Hensley, Director with the RMI
DESCRIPTION: Effective resource management starts with robust processes that enable you to consistently and predictably get the right person in the right place at the right time. Led by the RMI and backed by the latest insights from our leading practices, research, and emerging trends, this special session will focus on the process side of resource management, offering practical strategies to optimize workflows and achieve better results.
SPEAKER: Debra Olson, Sr. Principal Consultant, RTM Consulting
DESCRIPTION: Resource managers play a pivotal role in ensuring the success of reporting, prioritizing responsibilities, defining metrics, developing staffing plans, and streamlining procedures. Gaining leadership buy-in is essential to drive these efforts effectively. In this interactive session, participants will engage in dynamic human-centered design exercises to uncover stakeholder needs, prioritize initiatives, and demonstrate the value of resource management in achieving organizational goals.
SPEAKERS: Shannon McCarthy, Manager, Strategic Demand & Resource Management, LMI and Desiree Peyman, Resource Manager, LMI
DESCRIPTION: Effective planning and stakeholder collaboration are vital for deploying, utilizing, and managing capabilities and skills within Professional and Consulting Services. This session will explore the importance of harvesting resource skills, strategies for best practices, and preparing an organization for this initiative. Resource Management drives fostering a culture of continuous improvement, streamlining operations for efficiency, and goal achievement. Join in the competencies conversation to explore equipping the RMO to lead transformative change and ensure successful adoption and implementation.
SPEAKER: Julie Grove, Sr. Manager, Resource Management, Anthology
DESCRIPTION: Join Vidya Srinivasan as she explores how her team is addressing a critical challenge: accurately forecasting headcount demand to ensure optimal resource allocation and maximize consultant utilization. Vidya will explore challenges faced, options explored, and identification of phases to break down the problem and start with small wins.
SPEAKER: Vidya Srinivasan, Director of Technical Services RMO & Operations, Palo Alto Networks
DESCRIPTION: Learn the skills and planning related to resource management to take your role to the next level. In this session we will discuss imperative skills we need to be successful in our roles, how we can develop these skills and putting them into place. At the end of this session, you will walk with new ideas to help you Amplify the VALUE of Resource Management when you get back to the office.
SPEAKER: Heather Boss, Resource Manager, Tax, RSM
DESCRIPTION: What’s next for Resource Management? This session will explore how Resource Management principles traditionally applied in Professional Services are being used in Customer Success at Docusign, and how they can be applied across other functions to drive efficiency and results. We will uncover how to apply the core principles of resource allocation, optimization, and alignment to drive business outcomes and revolutionize This session will include interactive discussions and practical exercises to help attendees identify and implement new applications for resource management principles in their organizations.
SPEAKER: Katy Mabbitt, Director, Strategy Ops Account Management, DocuSign and Eric Mannweiler, Senior Resource Manager, DocuSign
DESCRIPTION: What’s the secret sauce for being the most successful RM leader you can be? The truth is, there is no silver bullet – but there is a formula – and in this session we’ll break down what it takes to get noticed by the C-Suite and make yourself – and your team – indispensable. We’ll cover how to speak in the language of leadership (hint: $$$), how to optimize your operations – and of course the resources you manage – and how to supercharge your personal brand.
If you want to know how to amplify the value of resource management and move from a behind-the-scenes problem solver to a recognized and valued leader in your firm, this is a session you can’t afford to miss.
SPEAKERS: Richard Cassidy, Chief Commercial Officer, Dayshape and Christine Robinson, Strategic Advisor, Dayshape
DESCRIPTION: What if all your resource management processes were based on a single customer record, keeping Sales, Professional Services, Support, and Customer Success aligned toward desired customer outcomes?
For services organizations, unifying professional services and customer success teams at the resource management level is essential to maximizing revenue, customer and employee satisfaction, and minimizing churn. Yet many services organizations are hindered by disparate resource management solutions along the entire customer journey, creating organizational barriers, data silos and requiring costly, complex integrations, slowing down and increasing the complexity of all staffing activities.
Join Victoria Cullinane, Resource Manager, Certinia Professional Services, and Diane Childs, Certinia Senior Solutions Engineer to learn how Victoria delivers best-in-class resource management for a $1B software company, all based on a single customer record. Victoria will show you how Certina staffs its entire global professional services organization with a single person while Diane will showcase what innovations, including AI-assisted staffing and skills recommendations, you and Victoria will have available shortly. Victoria and Diane will discuss how their entire organization has obtained enhanced visibility, collaboration, and data-driven guidance around resource management as part of a seamless, integrated customer journey from opportunity to renewal. We’ll leave time for your questions as well!
SPEAKERS: Victoria Cullinane, Resource Manager, Certinia and Diane Childs, Senior Solutions Engineer, Certinia
DESCRIPTION: Capacity forecasting can feel like a constant juggling act—too much work and your team burns out, too little and you’re leaving revenue on the table. In this session, we’ll explore five key challenges resource managers face, from unpredictable demand and incomplete data to getting everyone aligned. More importantly, we’ll share practical tips to tackle these challenges so you can plan ahead and keep your teams on track.
SPEAKERS: Nicole Tiefensee, Chief Operating Officer, Runn
DESCRIPTION: Adoption and change management strategies are a must to ensure the successful implementation of resource management tools. Join Adam James, Managing Director – Service Industries, Cognitus, and Stacey Ball RMCP, Enablement Lead with ProFinda, as they discuss the recent ProFinda deployment at Cognitus and the adoption strategies paving the path to success.
SPEAKERS: Stacey Ball, ProFinda and Adam James, Managing Director, Service Industries, Cognitus
Wednesday, April 9, 2025
DESCRIPTION: In today’s competitive professional services landscape, effective resource management transcends traditional scheduling. This session will explore how a strategic Resource Experience Management (REM) approach enhances organizational performance by aligning talent with business objectives, fostering employee engagement, and maximizing resource utilization.
SPEAKER: Beth Hunter, Resource Experience Management Leader, Rehmann
DESCRIPTION: What keeps RMO Leaders up at night? How can you as a Resource Manager help solve larger RMO problems and demonstrate your day-to-day value to stand out to your RMO Leader and others? This session focuses internally on the individual contributors in an RMO and discusses how you can exceed Manager expectations to achieve personal growth as well as enhance the RMO’s value in a cross-matrix environment.
SPEAKER: David Cochran, Global RMO Lead, Nutanix
DESCRIPTION: This is a working session that encourages attendees to explore the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on RMOs and beyond. We will be focusing on three critical areas: upskilling, talent sourcing, and risk management. Participants will gain insights into how AI technologies are reshaping these domains, driving efficiency, and creating new opportunities and challenges.
SPEAKER: Mike Lane, IT Director Resource Management, The Cincinnati Insurance Company
DESCRIPTION: Have you ever had to staff a complex project that required a unique skill set? You look to identify the right resources and then come to find out there are only 1 – 2 people who have the skills needed and both were already staffed on other projects? This presentation highlights the root causes of this, and it provides an easy-to-follow blueprint on how resource managers can avoid this in the future and increase overall capacity. There is a crucial component of best practices that is missing at most RMO offices, and this presentation will show resource managers how to implement this best practice, and how to shift from a tactical to a strategic approach.
SPEAKER: Amy Little, Resource Management Lead, Indelible Solutions
DESCRIPTION:
Resource managers operate in a complex, fast-moving environment—but too often, outdated tools and incomplete data force them to play checkers when success demands chess. Tactical, short-term decisions lead to inefficiencies, while true optimization requires anticipating future needs and aligning talent with both project demands and business goals.
In this interactive session, Kantata will explore how AI and real-time insights empower resource managers to think like grandmasters, planning multiple moves ahead instead of reacting to the board in front of them. We’ll discuss how real-time data enables smarter forecasting, AI-driven insights optimize utilization, and intelligent automation transforms resourcing into a 3D chess strategy—skills, career growth, client needs, and business goals are seamlessly orchestrated.
Attendees will walk away with actionable strategies to improve forecasting accuracy, optimize utilization, and ensure that the right people are placed on the best projects—for their growth and for the company’s success.
SPEAKER: Charles Gustine, Director, Customer & Market Insights, Kantata
DESCRIPTION: The professional services industry is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and traditional resource management methods are no longer enough to stay competitive. Agentic AI is transforming how firms allocate talent, optimize billability, and drive profitability—unlocking exponential value with intelligent decision-making.
In this session, discover how AI-powered resource management enhances utilization, forecasting, and strategic planning, ensuring your firm is future-ready. Learn how to maximize productivity, reduce inefficiencies, and boost margins with cutting-edge AI innovations.
Join us to explore real-world use cases, industry insights, and practical strategies to take your resource management to the next level!
SPEAKER: Sandeep Kumar, Founder and CEO, Kytes