Brian Moynihan, Chair and CEO, Bank of America
At the PE-Backed Leadership Summit, you’ll hear what’s working right now from CEOs, CFOs, advisors and investors who are actively navigating refinancing decisions, capital tradeoffs, sponsor alignment and exit timing. Walk away with new strategies for capital, talent and M&A—plus peer insights that will help you move forward with confidence.
Sessions focus on the practical mechanics of value creation in today’s market. This isn’t theory. It’s operator-level dialogue about the calls that shape outcomes.
You’ll leave with clearer judgment, stronger alignment and sharper questions to take back to your board.
These are the levers that determine whether a PE-backed company is prepared when opportunity appears.
This summit is designed to help you pressure-test each one—before the market, your board, or your sponsor does.
Brian Moynihan opens the Summit with his perspective on how demand, credit and the rate environment are shaping strategic decisions. He’ll share pragmatic lessons from his “Responsible Growth” playbook—what to prioritize when conditions tighten and how disciplined use of AI and tech can help you build value now, not later.
Sanjay Dholakia will show you how to shift your organization’s data approach from top-down to bottom-up—unlocking insights hidden in your systems. Learn how to use that data to sharpen capital allocation, refine your go-to-market strategy, and get a clearer view of your operations.
President & CEO, Melinta Therapeutics
Managing Partner, Aquitaine Capital
Chief Investment Officer, Standard General
Partner & Managing Director, AlixPartners
CEO, Equitable Capital
Sharpen your focus on profit and how CEOs are adjusting cost structures and pricing to hit EBITDA targets despite rising expenses and investor pressure.
Simplify to scale. Discover what’s working in process discipline, operational KPIs and how CEOs are pushing teams to execute better under pressure.
Know what your investors want. Learn how PE firms are shifting expectations, measuring performance and communicating around delayed exits.
With higher interest rates and a cautious M&A market, learn how executives are evaluating acquisitions, exits and strategic investments.
Annual Gathering of PE-Backed Company Leaders
Years Supporting the CEO Community
Private equity leaders and operators are navigating a more complex environment than any point in the last decade. In this opening conversation, we’ll explore how sponsors are reading the year ahead and how CEOs should be thinking about capital allocation, leadership decisions, and value creation when timelines, expectations, and markets are under pressure. Expect a candid discussion that sets the context for the decisions PE-backed leaders will be making through the end of 2026 and into the new year.
Stepping outside the four walls of your business is often the hardest—and most valuable—thing to do. This session cuts through macro noise to focus on the economic and capital market signals that actually affect PE-backed companies: rates, refinancing risk, exit windows, and second-order effects that show up in operations before they appear in forecasts.
In volatile markets, value creation isn’t just about growth—it’s about durability. This session will explore what truly protects competitive advantage in private equity–backed and middle-market companies. We’ll explore how advantages such as pricing power, customer stickiness, workforce capabilities, and operational resilience hold up under pressure—and how strategic risks, from cyber to talent to regulatory change, can quietly erode them. The discussion will connect strategy and risk in a practical way, helping leaders identify which advantages truly protect downside risk, which are more fragile than they appear, and how PE-backed CEOs can pressure-test competitive positioning as part of value creation and exit readiness.
These interactive workshops are designed for peer discussion and practical problem-solving. Each session will focus on a specific challenge PE-backed leaders face today, with guided discussion and real-world examples drawn from participant experience.
Workshop topics may include:
In private equity–backed companies, value creation rarely breaks down because leaders lack ambition or insight. It breaks down because leadership teams misread signals, move too slowly, or fail to align around what actually matters as pressure mounts.
Drawing on decades of experience working with PE-backed CEOs and boards, Ted Bililies will examine how high-performing leadership teams operate differently—and how small misalignments quietly erode value over time. Using real-world examples, the session will explore how leaders interpret performance signals, decide where to intervene, and distinguish between noise and true early warnings across the life of an investment. We’ll look at the leadership system as a whole—how decisions get made, how priorities are reinforced, and how execution either accelerates or stalls when stakes are highest.
Running a business at scale fundamentally changes how leaders see risk, competition, capital, and time. Yet many mid-market CEOs continue to apply decision frameworks that worked earlier in their careers—without realizing where those instincts begin to break down.
In this closing conversation, a CEO who has led at significant scale will share how perspectives shift as organizations grow larger and more complex. The discussion will examine the assumptions mid-market leaders most often get wrong—from overconfidence in internal data to underestimating external forces, misjudging decision speed, and confusing activity with progress.
This session will challenge how you think about leadership, risk, and value creation as the stakes rise—and leave you with a sharper sense of the game you’re really playing.
Here's what past attendees of the PE-Backed Leadership Summit had to say about their experience:
“Great content, speakers and format. I really enjoyed hearing from CEOs who have ‘been there and done it’ or doing it now.”
Salute
“Great topics, pertinent information, highly relevant and very fun. Definitely recommend to CEOs and strategic C-Suite, help to get macro view.”
ProSource Supply
“Practical advice, immediate quick-wins, inspiring talks and adaptive approach to current economic environment.”
Medcor, Inc.
Book by March 14
$995
$795/person
Book by May 30
$1,095
$895/person
Book by July 11
$1,195
$995/person
Book by Aug. 29
$1,295
$1,095/person
After Aug. 29
$1,395
$1,195/person
Located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, the Harvard Club offers a private, historic setting just steps from Bryant Park, Times Square and Grand Central.
The Club blends classic architecture with modern amenities, providing a fitting backdrop for the PE-Backed Leadership Summit.
0
1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.