{{Recipient.FirstName}}, Here is your upcoming events and relevant news from Bluegrass IIBA Chapter. The chapter's mission is to empower business analysis professionals to become organizational leaders; sharing information is one way we do that.
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6 ERP Trends for 2026 and beyond: CIOs rethink core systems
Facing what industry observers call an upgrade ‘supercyle,’ IT leaders are considering options in a market disrupted by AI, end-of-life deadlines, modernization decisions, and modular upstarts.
The market for enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems is entering what some industry experts are calling an upgrade “supercycle,” fueled by a convergence of key factors.
Grandview Researchpredicts global ERP software sales will grow 9.5% annually from 2026 to 2033. Fortune Business Insights puts the growth rate from 2026 to 2034 at 13%. And Morgan Stanley analyst ChrisQuintero is even more bullish, saying the ERP market will grow by 17% annually.
This projected growth spurt is significant because, as Forrester analyst Faram Medhora points out, “The ERP solutions market is mature, saturated in large enterprise adoption, and driven primarily by modernization rather than net-new ERP buying.”
Oct 05, 2026 12:00 PM - Oct 07, 2026 4:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04:00)
GUARANTEED TO RUN | Are you looking to expand your skills in using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform your business analysis and become a leader in leveraging emerging technologies?
The future of business analysis lies at the intersection of human creativity and technological leverage. Our AI for Business Analysis course is an immersive and interactive journey to prepare experienced BA professionals for the AI-empowered future. Through real-world exercises with leading AI agents and tools, gain first-hand experience planning initiatives, analyzing requirements and devising solutions. You will learn methods of “prompt engineering” for using generative AI agents to produce key BA artifacts, research new subject matters, evaluate work, and conduct interviews with subject matter experts. Whilst balancing AI’s power to create content with human judgment, you will discover AI dialog techniques that will enable iterative and incremental analysis and development.
This course qualifies for 14 PDHs/CDUs for all IIBA® certifications. This course will contribute 14 PMI® PDUs (12 Ways of Working and 2 Business Acumen) towards your chosen certification. |
Get EEP level training at IIBA Chapter pricing! |
Monday, October 5 - Wednesday, October 7, 2026; 12:00 PM - 4:30 PM EDT |
Virtual training course | 3 sessions | 14 PD Hours/CDUs |
This course is sponsored by Bluegrass IIBA Chapter
This course is delivered by SoftEd US
Oct 06, 2026 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04:00)
Join the Bridges Academy and Bluegrass IIBA Chapter for an engaging lunch hour focused on enhancing your business analysis toolkit! Our expert-led session will feature a hands-on demonstration of a practical BA technique you can apply to your work immediately.
In this session featuring special speaker Maureen McVey. Learn practical ways to define problems clearly using SIPOC, process modeling, and effective problem documentation. This one-hour session will help project managers, business analysts, and process-improvement professionals move from vague symptoms to well-defined, actionable problems.
Presented by: Maureen McVey, CBAP, Senior Agile Business Analyst
| Tuesday, October 6, 2026; 1:00 PM EDT | Virtual presentation |
Presented by Bridges Academy |
Sponsored by Bluegrass IIBA Chapter
Oct 12, 2026 12:00 PM - Oct 13, 2026 4:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04:00)
Early Bird Pricing Ends September 25th | Quickly empower your executive teams and senior leaders to harness generative AI for strategic advantage, innovation, and deft navigation of this rapidly emerging technology.
Equip yourself with the leadership skills necessary to effectively manage and integrate generative AI within your teams.
This workshop focuses on practical strategies for fostering innovation, leading tech-driven change, and leveraging AI for enhanced team performance and decision-making.
You will learn how to align AI initiatives with organizational goals, manage cross-functional AI projects, and cultivate a culture that supports continuous learning and adaptation.
This course qualifies for 8 PDHs/CDUs for all IIBA® certifications. This course will contribute 8 PMI® PDUs (2 Ways of Working, 3 Power Skills and 3 Business Acumen) towards your chosen certification. |
Get EEP level training at IIBA Chapter pricing! |
Monday, October 12 - Tuesday, October 13, 2026; 12:00 PM - 4:30 PM EDT |
Virtual training course | 2 sessions | 8 PD Hours/CDUs |
This course is sponsored by Bluegrass IIBA Chapter
This course is delivered by SoftEd US
Oct 12, 2026 6:00 PM - Nov 09, 2026 9:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04:00)
Early Bird Pricing Ends September 25th | Are you interested in Product Ownership Analysis (IIBA®-CPOA) certificate, or just would like to do a deep dive into business analysis for product ownership, then this agile product ownership analysis training opportunity is for you!
Bluegrass IIBA Chapter will host a virtual Product Ownership Analysis Study Group for those individuals interested in IIBA®-CPOA certification or learning the IIBA® Guide to Product Ownership Analysis to elevate their career.
Bluegrass IIBA Chapter will run the study group for five (5) sessions on Monday evenings beginning on October 12, 2026. This study group will provide 15 Professional Development (PD) Hours for those students seeking IIBA® core certification, and provide a practice exam opportunity for all students. We ask students to begin studying early so it is a good idea to be registered at least one week prior to the first session. Register two weeks prior to the first session to take advantage of Early Bird pricing. Students will be provided with course material.
This study group is an instructor-led course by instructors from the Bluegrass IIBA Chapter.
Oct 13, 2026 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04:00)
Join the IIBA Bluegrass, Ottawa-Outaouais, Palmetto, Nova Scotia, and DC Metro Chapters for our Lunch & Learn session as we explore a practical, technique-driven approach to navigating complexity as a Business Analyst. Whether you work in agile, hybrid, or traditional environments, this session gives Business Analysts a tool to improve decision-making, professional growth, stakeholder decision-making, and alignment.
Oct 13, 2026 6:00 PM - Oct 14, 2026 8:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04:00)
Early Bird Pricing Ends September 25th | In an increasingly complex and interconnected world, understanding and addressing the root causes of issues requires a holistic approach. The "Systems Thinking Workshop" is designed to empower professionals with the skills and insights needed to analyze and solve complex problems through the lens of systems thinking. This interactive and engaging workshop introduces participants to the principles and methodologies of systems thinking, enabling them to view challenges from a broader perspective and identify leverage points for effective intervention.
Through a combination of theoretical discussions and practical exercises, attendees will learn how to map systems, identify interdependencies, and develop strategies for sustainable solutions.
By the end of the workshop, participants will have a robust toolkit for addressing complex problems. Whether you are a business analyst, project manager, business architect, manager, consultant, or engineer, this workshop will enhance your ability to think critically, make informed decisions, and drive meaningful change. Join us to cultivate a systems thinking mindset and transform the way you approach challenges.
This course qualifies for 4 PDHs/CDUs for all IIBA® certifications. This course will contribute 4 PMI® PDUs towards your chosen certification.
Tuesday, September 13 and Wednesday, September 14, 2026 | 6PM - 8PM EDT | Virtual training class |
This workshop is Sponsored by Bluegrass IIBA Chapter
This Workshop is Delivered by Astrevo
Oct 15, 2026 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04:00)
Early Bird Pricing Ends October 2nd | Most Business Analysts learn to build a stakeholder register. Fewer learn how the register is intended to be used — or the value it can bring throughout the initiative.
We’re not building your traditional stakeholder register. The AI³ stakeholder decision support model introduces questions that rarely make it into the usual templates — and unlike the traditional register, which is largely a BA research exercise, what we’ll be doing here is an elicitation process. We’ll start with what the project brief gives us, then practice the decisions that only emerge through conversation: what does this stakeholder actually care about, how much influence do they really have, and what do I need to find out next?
Using the Ohio Valley Vineyards (OVV) virtual stakeholder ecosystem, participants will observe and conduct live elicitation with AI stakeholder bots, then make sense of what they heard — turning the conversation into analysis. By the end of the session, you’ll be able to walk into a stakeholder conversation with a clearer sense of what you’re listening for — and what to do with what you hear.
This course is sponsored by Bluegrass IIBA Chapter
This course is delivered by Tom Tomasovic (BABetterBA)
Oct 21, 2026 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04:00)
Most job search advice arrives as a pile of tips. This session does something different. It treats the search the way a Business Analyst would treat any broken business process: as a level 1 value stream, mapped end to end, with the value leaks hunted down at every transition.
Across seven stages, from job trigger through to outcome, we will unpack where good candidates lose roles for reasons that have nothing to do with their capability. At every stage we will name the leak, and work out how to seal it.
Part one reframes the search itself. A job description is not a posting, it is a requirements document describing a problem someone wants solved. That single shift changes your resume, your networking and every interview answer that follows. Part two moves into the room, going beyond STAR to the fifth letter that changes every response, and the hidden test sitting behind each question theme.
We will also look at how AI can carry the heavy lifting in your search, so your time goes into preparing properly for the roles that actually matter.
Drawing on twenty years across banking, auto finance, telecom, insurance and financial crime in India, the UK and Australia, and on time spent on both sides of the hiring table, this is a toolkit you adapt, not a template you copy.
Presented by: Kiranpreet Kaur, CBAP, Founder of The BA Gym
| Wednesday, October 21, 2026; 6:00 PM EDT | Virtual presentation |
| Hosted by Bluegrass IIBA Chapter
Oct 29, 2026 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04:00)
When: Thursday, October 29th | 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT
Where: OSAKA Japanese Restaurant, inside the Holiday Inn — 1976 Justice Drive, Lexington, KY
Join fellow business analysis professionals (and anyone in the Lexington BA community!) for a relaxed evening of great food and good company.
Oct 29, 2026 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04:00)
Early Bird Pricing Ends October 16th | Put multiple stakeholders in the same room at the same time to define a problem and you get mush — a lowest-common-denominator statement that everyone can live with and nobody actually owns.
Writing a problem statement is easy when you only have one stakeholder. Getting multiple stakeholders to actually agree on what the problem is — that’s the work.
The conversations have to happen one stakeholder at a time, and the BA’s job is to keep track of what each stakeholder said — and didn’t say — long enough to synthesize something real that they can all grab on to and own.
Using the Ohio Valley Vineyards (OVV) virtual stakeholder ecosystem, participants will conduct live elicitation focused on problem framing, then work through the synthesis that turns individual perspectives into a problem definition stakeholders can actually own.
This course is sponsored by Bluegrass IIBA Chapter
This course is delivered by Tom Tomasovic (BABetterBA)
Do you like to challenge your mind by solving puzzles? Are you naturally curious? Click the puzzle image below to download and solve our monthly puzzles to challenge your mind. You do get the answers along with the puzzles, so no cheating!
Chapter Members and Study Group Participants who received their Certification
Read the list of recent certifications earned by members of our Bluegrass community.
Peter Lutz, CBDA
Chapter News
Read the latest news stories about the Bluegrass IIBA Chapter and business analysis community.
Bluegrass IIBA Volunteer Spotlight: Denise Sandford Earns the Strategic Impact Award
Our Volunteer Spotlight Series continues with Denise Sandford, recipient of the Strategic Impact Award. This award recognizes a volunteer whose contributions have shaped the direction of the chapter — and in her first year as President, Denise has already left a lasting mark.
IIBA® just published an article written by one of our chapter leaders, Aaron Whittenberger, CBAP, AAC, CPOA, A-CSPO. The article restates the point that Aaron makes in his new book Agile Business Analysis: A Guide to Product Thinking and Delivery, that there is need for a dedicated business analyst on an agile team.
Bluegrass IIBA Volunteer Spotlight: Usha Talabhaktula Earns the Above & Beyond Award
Our Volunteer Spotlight Series continues with Usha Talabhaktula, recipient of the Above & Beyond Award. This award recognizes a volunteer whose contributions consistently exceed the expectations of their role — and Usha's track record with the chapter makes her a natural first recipient.
Our volunteer spotlight series continues with Kathy Leigh, recipient of the Knowledge Sharing Award. This award recognizes a volunteer who consistently and generously shares expertise, institutional knowledge, and lessons learned to strengthen the people around them — and few embody that better than Kathy.
Bluegrass IIBA is kicking off a new series celebrating the volunteers who make our chapter run. Over the coming weeks, we'll be recognizing one volunteer at a time with an award and sharing the story behind it. First up is Aaron Whittenberger, recipient of the inaugural Trailblazer Award.
The Trailblazer Award recognizes a volunteer who takes chapter programs in bold new directions.
IIBA® is offering a 15% discount on new and renewing IIBA Memberships from September 8th through October 2nd. This is separate from the announced partnership with Scrum Alliance that gives current Scrum Alliance members a 15% on IIBA Membership.
IIBA® and Scrum Alliance®--Connecting Business Analysis to Agile Delivery
Strong business analysis shapes more than requirements. It shows up in how teams deliver, adapt, and respond to change along the way. That's exactly where business analysis and agile delivery meet, and it's why we're excited to share some news.When you can move confidently across both disciplines, you lead stronger teams and deliver better outcomes.
As an IIBA member, you get 15% off eligible Scrum Alliance on-demand microcredential courses. Each course already includes a two-year Scrum Alliance membership, so the 15% is an added benefit on top of that, a practical way to add in-demand agile and scrum skills to your business analysis foundation.
