The Exit Planning Institute (EPI) has named Casey Clark, CEO and co-founder of Cultivate Advisors, and Scott Bushkie, managing director and founder of Cornerstone Business Services, as keynote speakers for its 2027 Exit Planning Summit. The event, scheduled for May 2-4, 2027, at the Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center in Chula Vista, California, is expected to draw more than 1,000 attendees, making it the largest exit planning conference in the world.
The selection of Clark and Bushkie matters because both have built their careers around exit planning-focused practices, and their keynote sessions are designed to move advisors from theory to action. According to Scott Snider, EPI president, the theme of "Advisor Activation" is central to the 2027 agenda. "Casey and Scott both have spent their careers building successful exit planning-focused practices, and we are excited to welcome them as our keynote speakers for the 2027 Exit Planning Summit," Snider said. "'Advisor Activation' means putting exit planning knowledge to work, and Casey and Scott's keynote addresses both focus on helping advisors understand how to make a greater impact on the business owners they serve."
Clark's session, "Why You Must Value Accelerate Your Own Business," will take place Monday, May 3, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. PT. It will highlight how advisors can apply value acceleration principles to their own practices and emphasize that building the right team is pivotal to achieving all three legs of the stool while fully activating their Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation. The implication is clear: advisors who want to help business owners exit successfully must first ensure their own firms are built for growth and transferable value.
Bushkie's session, "The $10 Million Conversation: Finding the Enterprise Value Hiding in Your Book of Business," will follow on Tuesday, May 4, from noon to 1 p.m. PT. Bushkie will challenge advisors to look differently at the opportunity already in front of them, exploring how identifying enterprise value within an existing book of business can unlock deeper owner conversations, stronger advisory relationships, and significant opportunities for practice growth. For an industry where many advisors struggle to articulate their own value, this session could reshape how practices approach client engagement and revenue expansion.
The broader significance of the announcement lies in EPI's effort to elevate the exit planning profession through best-in-class education. The summit agenda is built for Certified Exit Planning Advisors (CEPA®), business owners, professional advisors, and others across the exit planning community. Registration is open on the Exit Planning Summit's website, and the full agenda is available on the Exit Planning Summit website. As the leading authority on exit planning for advisors, EPI's choice of keynotes underscores a growing emphasis on practical activation, ensuring that advisors not only understand exit planning concepts but also apply them to their own businesses and client relationships.
