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Dai
Shi
Development Committee Chair, Former CFO
The Washington Ballet
Dai Shi is a globally qualified financial expert (QFE) with senior leadership experience across asset management, insurance, and financial services. She has served in CFO roles at MissionSquare Retirement, Equitable (formerly AXA US), and AXA Asia, with responsibility for finance, strategy, governance, and international operations. At MissionSquare Retirement, Dai led financial and strategic initiatives focused on long-term sustainability, operational discipline, and organizational resilience. Earlier in her career, she supported Equitable’s transition to a public company and led significant M&A and international expansion initiatives in Asia while serving as CFO for AXA South East Asia. Dai brings deep expertise in capital management, governance, M&A, IPO readiness, and value creation. She currently serves on multiple nonprofit and civic boards in finance and governance leadership roles and is board-certified in corporate governance. Born in Shanghai and having worked across the United States, Europe, and Asia, Dai offers a global perspective on financial leadership and enterprise value creation. She holds an MBA from the University of Illinois and a certificate from Wharton’s Global C-Suite Program.
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07 May 2026 15:15 - 15:45
Fireside chat - When market narrative meets capital reality: How product and growth signals become investable CFO decisions
Product and go-to-market teams generate the signals that shape growth narratives. CFOs decide which of those signals earn capital. In an environment defined by uncertainty, constrained liquidity, and heightened board scrutiny, finance leaders are increasingly asked to assess growth signals that arrive early, incomplete, and framed for speed. The CFO’s role is to pressure-test those signals. To separate market momentum from capital readiness. To translate strategy into investable decisions while protecting forecast credibility, governance discipline, and downside exposure. This fireside chat brings together a candid, practitioner-level discussion on how CFOs evaluate product and growth signals in real time. How judgment is applied when data is directional rather than definitive. How decision velocity is managed without compromising liquidity, control, or accountability. And how finance leaders work with product and commercial partners to ensure market narrative is grounded in capital reality. Designed for CFOs and senior finance leaders, this session focuses on the moments where collaboration matters most. Where growth ambition must be reconciled with balance sheet capacity. And where disciplined capital allocation determines which opportunities scale and which remain signals only.