Agenda
Featuring six specialised topic stages and a main stage, with the latest AV technology bringing case study presentations to life
3000+ ATTENDEES
250+ PRESENTERS
7 Stages
2 Days
Filter
Date
Stage
Session Format
Wednesday 07 October 2026
08:55 - 09:00
Main Stage
Welcome to the 2026 Engage Customer Summit
Introduction
Welcome to the Engage Customer Summit 2026.
Day 1 is all about The Customer Reality – putting the real pressures, gaps and successes in customer engagement front and centre. From strained contact centres and shifting customer expectations to the challenges of turning data into decisions and rebuilding loyalty, today is designed to surface what is genuinely happening in organisations right now, not just what the slideware says.
In this opening address, Martin will set the tone for a day of honest, practical insight. Today’s agenda is built to help you see your own organisation more clearly – through case studies, panels and conversations grounded in lived experience.
Speaker:
Martin Hill-Wilson
Brainfood Training
Co-Founder
Martin Hill-Wilson is a long-standing member of the Customer Engagement community. Over his career, he has launched a series of change initiatives using the dynamic of action-based learning – most recently AI for Non Technical Minds. All are designed to disrupt and reset the ‘art of the possible’ using new operating models re-imagined through foundation user education.
09:00 - 09:25
Main Stage
The UK CX Report 2026: The Opportunity for Delight: Rising Above the Mediocre
Opening Keynote
Ipsos, in partnership with Engage Business Media, is delighted to share this year’s insights into current trends within the customer experience landscape.
The 2026 nationally representative study explores:
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The continued rise of ‘nothing notable’ experiences, and why this should be a concern
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The key factors currently influencing customer perceptions of CX
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Why and how it’s time to revisit VoC with a fresh perspective
Join Jamie Thorpe, Chief Experience Officer, and Laura Godfrey, Head of Client Services, CX, as they share actionable insights from the UK CX Report 2026 to help you understand current landscape trends, and determine next steps for differentiating your brand experience in uncertain economic times.
Speakers:
Jamie Thorpe
Ipsos
Chief Experience Officer
Laura Godfrey
Ipsos
Head of Client Service Team, CX
09:25 - 09:50
Main Stage
The AI Reality Check: Why Investment Isn't Delivering and What CX Leaders Need to Change
Presentation
AI is now one of the largest investment areas in customer experience, yet for many organisations, the results aren't matching the spend.
Customer facing AI, agent assistance, and workforce optimisation technologies promised greater efficiency, faster growth, and happier customers. So why are so many CX leaders still struggling to point to a measurable outcome?
This session explores the growing gap between AI ambition and AI impact, and what's really driving it: rising customer expectations, growing service complexity, and the operational and workforce challenges most investment cases don't account for.
Steve will unpack why so many AI investments underdeliver, and what CX leaders need to prioritise instead to see AI actually pay off.
Speaker:
Paul Miller
Verint
CX Evangelist
09:50 - 10:20
Main Stage
The Growth Conversation Every Organisation Should Be Having
Panel Discussion
Customer experience has long been positioned as a strategic priority, yet the gap between organisations that talk about customer-led growth and those genuinely building commercial strategy around it remains significant. As competitive pressure intensifies, the decisions leaders make about where to invest, what to measure, and how to align the whole organisation behind a single, customer-led growth agenda are becoming increasingly consequential.
In this panel, senior leaders will share how they are making customer experience a genuine priority rather than a functional concern. From building the business case for CX investment to aligning leadership teams around a shared growth agenda, panellists will explore the strategic decisions, cultural shifts, and hard lessons that separate experience leaders from the rest.
What you'll gain:
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Insight into how senior leaders are linking CX strategies to measurable growth
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Practical approaches to building leadership appetite for customer-led transformation
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Real examples of the strategic decisions that are making the biggest difference
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A clearer picture of what genuine alignment between CX and revenue growth looks like in practice
Speakers:
Will Abbott
Workspace
Chief Customer Officer
An executive leader with over 25 years’ experience in customer, marketing and commercial roles across a diverse range of businesses. At Workspace Group plc, Will leads marketing, customer engagement, demand generation, brand development, digital strategy and customer experience, driving customer and commercial growth.
After beginning his career in advertising, Will moved to BSkyB before working across digital media, FMCG, financial services and travel. Prior to Workspace, he was Marketing Director at Hiscox and Chief Marketing Officer at Neilson Active Holidays.
Jo Harris
Quilter
Chief Customer Officer
Paul Miller
Verint
CX Evangelist
10:20 - 11:00
Main Stage
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
11:00 - 11:25
Main Stage
DHL Express Case Study: What Transformation Setbacks Taught Me About Scaling AI, Change and Customer Operations
Case Study
Technology transformation rarely fails because of the technology itself. More often, the challenges emerge when new systems, processes and ways of working meet the reality of day-to-day operations.
Drawing on her customer service transformation journey, this session explores the lessons learned from a major service migration, the unexpected impact, and how those experiences are now shaping the organisation's approach to AI, innovation and future change.
This presentation offers an honest perspective on what happens when transformation doesn’t go as expected, and what leaders can learn from it.
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What was unexpected during a large-scale transformation and the lessons learned along the way.
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Why trust, adoption and employee confidence matter as much as technology.
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Building a culture that embraces experimentation, learning and continuous improvement.
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Leading through uncertainty and creating the conditions for innovation to succeed.
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Applying those lessons to the next generation of AI and agentic AI initiatives.
Speaker:
Jen Sharp
DHL Express
Vice President Customer Service
Jen Sharp is Vice President of Customer Service at DHL Express. An experienced and passionate CX leader, she brings over 20 years of expertise delivering excellence in the transportation and logistics sector, where she leads DHL’s customer service strategy and transformation agenda.
Jen is known for her focus on driving meaningful change through people. She champions courageous leadership in times of transformation-believing that in periods of rapid change, leaders must step forward before they feel ready, as standing still often presents the greater risk.
Her approach combines innovation, collaboration, and a strong commitment to building agile, adaptive cultures where people are empowered, and change is embraced as the norm.
11:25 - 11:50
Main Stage
Beyond the Model: Applied AI Inside Admiral, Engineered With ElevenLabs
Presentation
Dominika Kampa and Elias David pick up the story where most vendor selection stories end with ElevenLabs' forward deployed engineers working alongside Admiral's own teams, building directly into Admiral's backend. ElevenLabs owns its models, but the models aren't the point; the value sits in how those capabilities get shaped around a specific business problem. Voice AI arrives as a box of malleable capabilities rather than a fixed product, and Admiral decides what it becomes. Expect a candid account of what the two teams have built together, where an applied AI partnership outperforms conventional procurement, and what executive teams should be demanding from an AI vendor when the technology moves faster than any roadmap.
Speakers:
Elias David
ElevenLabs
GM UKI
Dominika Kampa
Admiral Group
Head of AI
11:50 - 12:20
Main Stage
Ahead of the Curve – What It Really Takes to Be Industry-Leading
Panel Discussion
Disruption is no longer a future threat, it is a present reality. The organisations winning in customer engagement are not just responding to change, they are driving it, making bold bets on new models, new technology, and new ways of thinking about the customer relationship before their competitors do. Yet building an organisation that can genuinely innovate at pace while maintaining strategic direction remains one of the hardest leadership challenges of our time.
In this panel, senior leaders will share how they are actively shaping the future of their industries rather than reacting to it. From creating the cultural conditions for genuine innovation to making the strategic calls that keep organisations on the right side of disruption, panellists will explore what it takes to lead boldly when the pace of change shows no sign of slowing.
What you'll gain:
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Insight into how senior leaders are building organisations that can genuinely innovate at pace
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Practical approaches to staying on the right side of disruption rather than reacting to it
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Real examples of bold strategic bets that are paying off in customer engagement
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A clearer picture of what a future-ready organisation actually looks like from the inside
Speakers:
Paul Hamilton
Halo
CEO/Founder
Under Paul's leadership, Halo has stayed independent by choice. The company answers to its customers, not to investors or private equity, and it has committed contractually to staying out of mergers, acquisitions and private equity deals. Since 2023, this commitment has been added into all new contracts for a rolling 10-year period. That independence has let Halo build a product-led platform with transparent, all-inclusive pricing and long-term partnerships founded on trust.
Paul's mission is now to push on and make Halo the market leader in digital workflow for sales and service. His ultimate goal is to significantly bring down the cost of enterprise software while raising standards across the industry.
Jen Sharp
DHL Express
Vice President Customer Service
Jen Sharp is Vice President of Customer Service at DHL Express. An experienced and passionate CX leader, she brings over 20 years of expertise delivering excellence in the transportation and logistics sector, where she leads DHL’s customer service strategy and transformation agenda.
Jen is known for her focus on driving meaningful change through people. She champions courageous leadership in times of transformation-believing that in periods of rapid change, leaders must step forward before they feel ready, as standing still often presents the greater risk.
Her approach combines innovation, collaboration, and a strong commitment to building agile, adaptive cultures where people are empowered, and change is embraced as the norm.
Pamella Barotti
AVEVA
Global Director of Customer Advocacy and References
Pamella Barotti is a global marketing professional with 20+ years of experience in marketing, customer advocacy, engagement, storytelling, and brand. Based in London, she has worked for both scale-ups and global organisations, including Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Mastercard, Oracle, and AVEVA. She is currently Global Director, Customer Advocacy and References at AVEVA, part of Schneider Electric. Beyond her corporate career, Pamella is a marketing mentor, keynote speaker, former Board Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and guest lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London.
12:20 - 12:45
Main Stage
Why Customer Conversations Are Won Before an Agent Says Hello
Presentation
By the time an agent joins a conversation, the customer has often already formed an impression of the experience. The channels they used, the context that was preserved, the effort required, and the effectiveness of automation have already shaped the outcome.
This session looks beyond the agent interaction itself to explore the invisible factors that determine customer experience success. From orchestration and context-sharing to AI-driven service journeys and operational design, leaders will discuss how the best experiences are often determined long before a conversation reaches a human.
What we'll discuss:
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The role of context in shaping successful customer outcomes
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Why orchestration matters more than individual interactions
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How leading organisations design for continuity rather than handoffs
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The operational decisions that customers notice most, even when they never see them
Speakers:
Andrew Pattie
Sprinklr
CX Solutions Director UKI & South Europe
Tom Harpham
Boots
Head of Workforce & CX Operations Development
He is responsible for designing and refining workforce models that match staffing, cost and performance to customer demand. His work gives the business the data it needs to make better decisions, improving both productivity and the customer experience.
Tom's expertise spans forecasting and demand modelling, labour optimisation and cost management, and contact centre transformation. He has a particular focus on technology-enabled change, using CRM, automation and AI to help teams work smarter and deliver better outcomes for customers.
12:45 - 14:00
Main Stage
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
14:00 - 14:25
Main Stage
END. Build or Buy - Using AI to Balance Short Term Impact With Long Term Commercial Transformation
Interview
AI brings huge opportunity but also pressure to make rapid changes.
Knowing when to build something internally and when to buy tools and services is key to balancing short-term impact with long-term commercial transformation.
This session will go through what to look out for, with live and current examples, to make sure you achieve both whilst keeping customers, team members and shareholders happy.
Speaker:
Andrew Webber
END.
Chief Digital & Customer Officer
This experience, combined with the rapidly evolving AI landscape, has been the perfect timing and fit for transforming the commercial engine at End Clothing with data and AI.
14:25 - 14:50
Main Stage
Building AI-Ready CX Teams with Checkatrade
Presentation
Scaling AI in customer experience takes more than a successful pilot, it requires a new way of working. Drawing on Checkatrade’s organisation-wide rollout of two AI agents, Checkatrade and Decagon will share a practical playbook for transformation: establishing clear ownership, designing effective agents, and building an operating model that empowers CX teams to move faster without relying on engineering support.
Speakers:
Sunny Rekhi
Decagon
Forward Deployed Engineering CTO
Charles Riley
Checkatrade
CX AI Operations Lead
Prior to Checkatrade, Charles has worked across a range of companies, from Beauty Pie to Octopus Electric Vehicles and Deliveroo where he has been focused on the customer journey and providing a better experience for both customers and internal teams.
14:50 - 15:20
Main Stage
The Culture Problem Nobody Talks About
Panel Discussion
Technology can be bought. Culture has to be built. And trust, once lost, is extraordinarily difficult to rebuild. For C-suite leaders, the ability to shape culture, lead through uncertainty, and build genuine trust with both customers and employees is arguably the most consequential and least discussed dimension of CX leadership. Yet in many organisations, culture and trust remain aspirational rather than operational.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what it has genuinely taken to drive cultural transformation that sticks. From building trust internally and externally under significant commercial pressure to leading through change without creating the anxiety that undermines performance, panellists will explore the lived experience of making culture and trust real competitive advantages rather than values on a wall.
What you'll gain:
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Honest perspectives on what cultural transformation looks like from the top
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Insight into how senior leaders are building trust with customers and employees simultaneously
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Practical approaches to leading through change without losing the culture you are trying to build
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Real examples of the moments that tested culture and trust, and what they revealed
Speakers:
Judy Boniface-Chang
Birdie
Chief Customer Officer
I build the commercial engines that make mission-driven companies grow. But if there's one thing twenty years has taught me, it's that strategy doesn't fail on the spreadsheet. It fails in the gap between what leaders decide and what teams actually believe. Culture and trust aren't the soft edges of transformation; they're the whole game.
I've built and restructured teams across the US, EMEA and APAC, and every time, the technical part was the easy bit. The hard part was earning the trust to take people somewhere they couldn't yet see.
At Birdie I coined the vision "it takes a village", not as a tagline, but as a genuine organising principle for how we lead and build an impactful culture that puts the person receiving care at the centre, and connect everyone around them. Over the last four years I've led a transformation of our customer organisation, redesigning it into segmented functions and embedding AI early and deliberately. While that drove a sign improvement in gross margin, the result I'm proudest of is a team that stayed engaged through the change rather than bracing against it. You don't get one without the other.
I'm convinced the leaders who win the next few years won't be the ones with the best AI roadmap, but the ones who build enough trust for their people to actually use it well. If you're wrestling with how to lead change without losing the humans in it, I'd always welcome the conversation.
Kieran Holdcroft
ManyPets
Operations Director
Sunny Rekhi
Decagon
Forward Deployed Engineering CTO
15:20 - 15:45
Main Stage
The Scottish FA: Transforming a National Game
Presentation
Digital transformation is reshaping football at every level, and the Scottish FA’s experience offers a practical example of how sustained change can support the modern game. Over the past three years, the organisation has embarked on one of its most significant digital transformation programmes, modernising its digital landscape, improving supporter experiences and creating stronger foundations across the game.
This session explores that journey, the challenges faced, the lessons learned, and the technology and tools that helped drive progress. It also reflects on how that work prepared the organisation to respond when Scotland qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 28 years. Hear first-hand how the organisation became match ready off the pitch, and how the Scottish FA is continuing its transformation journey to support the game, its supporters and its stakeholders in the years ahead.
Speakers:
Neil Campion
Scottish Football Association
Head of Business Improvement
Gabe Skeoch
Scottish Football Association
CRM & Website Lead
Josh Hulse
Halo
Senior Account Executive
15:45 - 16:05
Main Stage
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
16:05 - 16:30
Main Stage
Bel: From Legacy to Reinvention
Interview
Chief Capability Officer at Bel, Leadership and Business Transformation Coach, Hady Kalaf sits at the point where strategy, people and execution meet. In this interview, he explores what the “future of work” really means.
Drawing on his global experience he explores how AI may reshape work, leadership and the relationship between brands and customers. The conversation considers how established companies can prepare for an uncertain future, rethink the capabilities they need and turn the strengths of their legacy into a platform for reinvention. Hady will also introduce the thinking behind his forthcoming book and leadership institute.
Speaker:
Hady Kalaf
Bel
Chief Capability Officer
Dr. Hady Khalaf has built a career around one idea: challenging the status quo and turning transformation into a business routine, not a one-off project, for leaders and companies who want to stand out in a world of constant flux.
He brings international experience in capability development and large-scale transformation, having led projects that reinvented customer relationships, drove category growth, upskilled teams, built leadership and organisational readiness, and used technology to accelerate growth and innovation across customer contexts ranging from the most fragmented to the most consolidated.
Hady believes in continuous education, and has led a career enabled by learning that came at the right moment rather than ahead of it. A doctorate in business, focused on strategic alliances and trust-based partnerships in B2B models, came while he was leading go-to-market transformation. An advanced diploma in leadership coaching from Cambridge followed once he recognised transformation is a leadership and culture shift as much as a technology one. Now, as AI reshapes the world of work, he’s completing a postgraduate diploma in AI for Business at Oxford’s Saïd Business School equipping him to help leaders define the future of work and lead AI transformation with the same conviction: where value creation centers around the customer, human relationships make the difference, and AI brings the augmentation.
Working with Hady means a partner who turns transformation from a project into a capability , pairing commercial acumen with creativity and a provocative, human-centric edge to build the leadership, culture and AI readiness that grow the business and the people behind it.
16:30 - 17:00
Main Stage
The State of Customer Engagement – What the Data Is Really Telling Us
Panel Discussion
Benchmarks, indices, and research reports paint a picture of the state of customer experience across industries, but how useful is that picture when it comes to making real strategic decisions? And what do the numbers inside your own organisation actually reveal about where you stand, what is working, and where the gap between aspiration and reality is widest?
In this panel, senior leaders will take a data-led look at the current state of CX, separating signal from noise and exploring what the most meaningful metrics are telling us about where the industry is heading. From using data to drive strategic decisions and make the case for investment, to identifying the priorities that will matter most in the year ahead, panellists will share how they are turning insight into action rather than into reports.
What you'll gain:
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A clear view of where the industry stands on key CX metrics and what that means strategically
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Insight into how senior leaders are using data to drive CX investment decisions
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Practical frameworks for identifying the metrics that actually matter in your organisation
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Real examples of turning data insight into strategic action rather than just reporting
Speakers:
Nicole Sharp
Sovereign Network Group
Chief Customer Officer
Nicole is SNG's Chief Customer Officer and she leads all customer facing services including safeguarding, and on compliance with consumer regulation.
Prior to her appointment at SNG Nicole was Chief Customer Officer at Sovereign which she joined in 1998 and has led a range of operational and customer-service teams and major projects across property, housing and landlord services.
She brings extensive experience of the social housing sector and a passion for developing a forward-thinking customer/resident-centric culture.
Andrew Pattie
Sprinklr
CX Solutions Director UKI & South Europe
17:25 - 17:30
Main Stage
Closing Remarks
Closing Remarks
Martin wraps up our first day of the Engage Customer Summit, summarising the key learnings as well as a sneak peak into what Day Two holds. See you tomorrow!
Speaker:
Martin Hill-Wilson
Brainfood Training
Co-Founder
Martin Hill-Wilson is a long-standing member of the Customer Engagement community. Over his career, he has launched a series of change initiatives using the dynamic of action-based learning – most recently AI for Non Technical Minds. All are designed to disrupt and reset the ‘art of the possible’ using new operating models re-imagined through foundation user education.
17:30
Main Stage
Summit After-Party
The Night Summit
08:55 - 09:00
Future of The Contact Centre
Welcome to the 2026 Engage Customer Summit
Introduction
Welcome to the Engage Customer Summit 2026.
Day 1 is all about The Customer Reality – putting the real pressures, gaps and successes in customer engagement front and centre. From strained contact centres and shifting customer expectations to the challenges of turning data into decisions and rebuilding loyalty, today is designed to surface what is genuinely happening in organisations right now, not just what the slideware says.
In this opening address, Marcus will set the tone for a day of honest, practical insight. Today’s agenda is built to help you see your own organisation more clearly – through case studies, panels and conversations grounded in lived experience.
Speaker:
Marcus Hickman
Davies Hickman
Director
An insight and data analytics leader, Marcus has spent over 20 years supporting well-known brands to understand and improve customer experience - working directly with senior executives to bring consumer perspectives alive and use them to drive business growth.
His current focus is helping clients navigate the shift to AI in customer experience. Marcus has led an assessment of 37 different vendors of Generative AI and Agentic AI customer experience solutions, giving a good basis for developing individual organisational AI strategies.
This builds on a long track record of shaping industry thinking on CX. Marcus runs Davies Hickman Research, home to one of the longest-running tracker studies of customer contact, The Autonomous Customer, which pioneered omni-channel strategies. Davies Hickman has advised a range of industry bodies including BSI and ISO standards committees for customer experience.
Previously, Marcus worked as Managing Director of futures consulting agency The Henley Centre, part of Kantar. He brings good experience in understanding future change in customer experience.
09:00 - 09:25
Future of The Contact Centre
Opening Keynote: The Contact Centre to 2030: Meeting Demand Without Compromise
Opening Keynote
The contact centre sits at the sharp end of customer reality – and the pressure has never been higher. AI disruption, complex customer needs, talent constraints and economic pressures are colliding in ways that few operations can ignore.
This opening keynote draws on Davies Hickman's ongoing research with consumers, vendors and CX managers to set out the landscape individual organisations face in designing their contact centre to 2030.
Key questions include:
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How customer expectations and operational strain are evolving across the industry
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Where investment in digital, automation and AI is likely to deliver tangible results
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What separates high-performing contact centres from those struggling to keep pace
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What leadership, capability and measurement shifts will matter most in the next wave of change
Designed as the scene-setter for the Future of the Contact Centre stage, this keynote gives senior leaders a clear, evidence-based view of where the industry stands today – and enables them to develop their own scenarios for their operations as they look ahead to 2030.
Speaker:
Marcus Hickman
Davies Hickman
Director
An insight and data analytics leader, Marcus has spent over 20 years supporting well-known brands to understand and improve customer experience - working directly with senior executives to bring consumer perspectives alive and use them to drive business growth.
His current focus is helping clients navigate the shift to AI in customer experience. Marcus has led an assessment of 37 different vendors of Generative AI and Agentic AI customer experience solutions, giving a good basis for developing individual organisational AI strategies.
This builds on a long track record of shaping industry thinking on CX. Marcus runs Davies Hickman Research, home to one of the longest-running tracker studies of customer contact, The Autonomous Customer, which pioneered omni-channel strategies. Davies Hickman has advised a range of industry bodies including BSI and ISO standards committees for customer experience.
Previously, Marcus worked as Managing Director of futures consulting agency The Henley Centre, part of Kantar. He brings good experience in understanding future change in customer experience.
09:25 - 09:50
Future of The Contact Centre
AI in the Wild With Cirrus and Spamedica.
Presentation
For eyecare provider SpaMedica, managing 190,000 appointments every year used to involve over 400,000 outbound calls and tonnes of monotonous behind-the-scenes manual work.
Join Cirrus and SpaMedica for a fireside chat on how automated SMS and AI voice conversations, powered by NiCE CXone and Cognigy AI, are tackling that workload instead, freeing up teams to spend more time on patient care.
Hear all about the staged technology roll-out, with SpaMedica building from simple appointment confirmations to AI that supports with bookings, cancellations and patient questions. All while laying the foundations for future Agentic AI.
Find out:
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Why SpaMedica chose AI over hiring more people.
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How they transitioned from small pilots to using AI in day-to-day patient journeys.
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Where SpaMedica draws the line between routine questions and clinical care.
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How clear rules and handovers help direct patients to the right team member.
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Why senior sponsorship, staff involvement and strong ownership matter when bringing AI into healthcare.
If you want to see how CX AI is helping real businesses by solving everyday problems, then you won’t want to miss this.
Speakers:
Jason Roos
Cirrus
Chief Executive Officer
Wil Harris
SpaMedica
Chief Transformation & Technology Officer
Wil brings with him extensive experience in leading technology, transformation and continuous improvement across complex organisations.
As Chief Transformation Officer, Wil is responsible for driving SpaMedica’s transformation agenda, ensuring our systems, processes and ways of working support safe, efficient and high-quality care for our patients.
Furthermore, Wil leads our technology and information governance approach, focusing on making systems easier to use, introducing practical new tools, protecting information, and enabling colleagues to work more effectively together. Through connecting people, processes and technology, Wil plays a key role in preparing SpaMedica for the future while supporting colleagues to deliver their best work every day.
09:50 - 10:20
Future of The Contact Centre
Scaling Service – How Are You Really Holding the Line?
Panel Discussion
Contact centres are navigating a perfect storm of rising contact volumes, stretched teams, and growing customer expectations. For many organisations, the pressure is not theoretical, it is daily and operational, playing out in real time across every shift.
This panel brings together senior contact centre leaders to share how they are genuinely managing demand without compromising quality. From workforce planning and demand forecasting to the cultural and operational decisions that keep service levels stable under strain, panellists will offer honest perspectives on what is working, what is not, and where the pressure is most acute.
What you'll gain:
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Honest insight into how leading contact centres are managing rising demand
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Practical approaches to workforce management and demand planning under pressure
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Real examples of maintaining quality when operational strain is at its highest
Speakers:
Rachael Carliss
Wio Bank
Customer Care Head
I am a multi-Award winning, versatile, customer obsessed, enthusiastic and proactive leader of people possessing a wealth of commercial skills and knowledge acquired across a range of demanding roles. I have delivered many customer experience and business process improvements covering many sectors and 5-star brands, including Fintech, eCommerce, Telecoms, Health & Lifestyle, Cargo and Logistics and the Travel industry (Qatar Airways, Virgin Trains, Expedia, Intel, WeightWatchers, T-Mobile/Orange, Careem, Exinity, Wio Bank).
Cheryl Fuller
Samsung Electronics
MX Strategy Contact Centre Channel Lead
Cheryl has been delivering premium customer experiences for over 25 years and now leads the Mobile Phone Contact Centre Channel Team for Samsung.
With a huge drive to develop partnerships and brand advocacy her experience within the Contact Centre world has lead to multiple industry award wins and nominations.
Implementing strategic and meaningful change is her forte and understanding how to influence and how to predict demands underpins this.
10:20 - 11:00
Future of The Contact Centre
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
11:00 - 11:25
Future of The Contact Centre
Cambridge University Press & Assessment Case Study: Modernising Customer Service at One of the Worlds Oldest Institutions
Interview
From AI hype to the operational reality AI has moved from boardroom conversation to operational necessity – but what does successful adoption really look like for service leaders? Drawing on real-world experience from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, this session explores the practical realities of implementing AI within customer service.
In addition to exploring future possibilities it examines what is delivering value today: building business cases that resonate with senior leadership, measuring ROI, managing organisational change, and ensuring AI enhances rather than replaces the human experience.
Richard Murray will share lessons learned from introducing AI into service operations, including common pitfalls, governance considerations, securing board-level support, and balancing innovation with risk. Attendees will leave with practical insights as to where AI is creating measurable impact today, how to lead successful adoption within their own organisations, and what capabilities service leaders should be preparing for over the next three to five years.
Speaker:
Richard Murray
Cambridge University Press & Assessment
Global Director of Customer Service
Richard Murray is the Global Director of Customer Service at Cambridge University Press & Assessment, where he leads customer service strategy and transformation across a global education organisation serving learners, educators, institutions and partners worldwide.
11:25 - 11:50
Future of The Contact Centre
It’s Not About AI, It’s About the Customer Stupid!
Presentation
AI can process information, automate tasks, augment agents and help people make better decisions – it has the potential to be a true gamechanger in the world of customer services. But the best outcomes don't start with AI, they start with understanding the customer journey and designing the right path to the desired outcome. Only then should you ask how AI can help. Otherwise, it risks becoming a solution looking for a problem.
The organisations seeing the greatest value from AI don't start with the technology. They start by defining the outcomes they want for customers, colleagues and the business.
From there, they redesign services around those outcomes, identify what's getting in the way, and then apply AI where it adds the greatest value - removing friction, improving decisions and freeing people to focus on the moments where judgement and empathy make the biggest difference.
Our research shows just how often that critical step is being missed. Nearly half of businesses don’t gather insight from the people who will use a new service before changing it. Half don’t set clear measures of success. And 44% fail to train employees on the new technology or processes they’re expected to use.
And the risks are real. While 88% of financial services firms have increased their use of customer-facing AI, only 23% are confident it isn’t increasing bias or digital exclusion. Nearly three-quarters of vulnerable customers say they have felt like giving up while trying to get help.
Complaints are where the real story begins.
They expose where customer journeys break down, where processes create unnecessary friction, and where both customers and employees are forced to navigate needless complexity. With UK financial services firms recording 1.74 million complaints in the second half of 2025 alone, the message is impossible to ignore: services need to change. That's exactly where we chose to start.
In this session, we'll show how we're transforming complaints handling for a major automotive finance provider by putting the problem before the technology. We'll demonstrate how to turn customer pain points into clear AI and transformation priorities, avoid solving tomorrow's challenges with yesterday's infrastructure, and design technology that enables fairer, faster, more consistent and fully explainable decisions.
This isn't AI for AI's sake. It's AI with purpose - freeing people from unnecessary complexity so they can focus on what matters most: applying judgement, showing empathy and delivering better outcomes for customers.
Speakers:
Joseph Jack
ArvatoConnect
Head of Compliance
James Towner
ArvatoConnect
Chief Growth Officer
James Towner, Chief Growth Officer, ArvatoConnect James Towner is a business growth leader with over 30 years’ experience delivering transformational value for clients across government, financial services, telecoms and utilities. As Chief Growth Officer at ArvatoConnect, he drives business growth and digital strategy, helping organisations navigate change and unlock new and future opportunities through innovation and partnership. Previously, as Senior Vice President at a leading global services firm, he expanded the company across the UK and Europe in the energy and utility sector, focusing on data-driven and digital solutions. Earlier, as a Group Sales Director at a major outsourcing and professional services company, James established its sales presence in Germany, securing groundbreaking outsourcing partnerships. Beyond his executive role, James is a Non-Executive Director at Oxford Direct Services (ODS), supporting its mission to deliver sustainable, customer-focused services for the local community. He has also served as a Trustee for local organisations including an Oxford-based theatre company and the Prospect Hospice in Swindon.
11:50 - 12:20
Future of The Contact Centre
Digital Transformation in the Contact Centre – Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Reality
Panel Discussion
Every contact centre is on a digital transformation journey, but the distance between those making it work and those still navigating the complexity of implementation is significant. Adopting digital tools, cloud platforms, and intelligent automation mid-operation is rarely straightforward, and the organisations getting it right understand that successful transformation is as much about bringing their people with them as it is about the technology itself.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what digital transformation actually looks like in a live contact centre environment. From the realities of cloud migration and automation deployment to keeping agents engaged, motivated, and central to the transformation journey, panellists will explore what genuine progress looks like, where the common pitfalls are, and what it takes to close the gap between transformation ambition and operational reality when both technology and people are part of the equation.
What you'll gain:
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Honest insight into what digital transformation looks like in a live contact centre environment
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Practical approaches to deploying intelligent automation without disrupting operations or disengaging frontline teams
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A clearer picture of where conversational and generative AI is genuinely adding value for agents and customers alike
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Real examples of how leading organisations are keeping agents engaged and empowered throughout the transformation journey
Speakers:
Duncan MacPherson
Invoca
UK Director of Sales
David Goldsworth
Aqualisa Products Limited
Customer Experience Director EMEA
David Goldsworth is a Customer Growth and Experience Director with more than two decades of experience building CX functions in regulated, subscription and high-growth businesses. He currently leads customer experience at Fortune Brands EMEA, responsible for field service, contact centre, digital, sales and retention.
Previously he built customer experience functions at Inchcape, The Royal Mint and UK start-up Motorway.co.uk. Working across sectors, David has delivered large-scale CX programmes at various Virgin companies, and was an early adopter of NPS in the UK.
An enthusiastic coach and leader, David is a passionate advocate for collaborative customer cultures and for transformation that delivers service outcomes which ultimately drive commercial results.
12:20 - 12:40
Future of The Contact Centre
AI in UK Contact Centres - What's Really Happening?
Presentation
Learn what the latest data and insights are saying about investments, results and plans for AI in UK contact centres. Based on ContactBabel's latest research with hundreds of contact centres and thousands of customers.
Speaker:
Steve Morrell
ContactBabel
Managing Director
decades, and his analysis has been featured across the BBC, ITV, Sky, the Guardian, Forbes and the Financial Times. He has also advised the UK government on the impact of offshoring on the UK economy.
12:40 - 14:00
Future of The Contact Centre
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
14:00 - 14:25
Future of The Contact Centre
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Case Study: Architecting AI Capacity: Executive Governance & Leadership ROI vs. ROE
Case Study
Deploying 2026 AI technology with 1990s management paradigms is driving burnout, administrative debt, and customer churn. In this executive briefing, Top 50 CX Leader Sabina Onwuka delivers the ROI to ROE (Return on Experience) Blueprint, a practical governance framework to eliminate operational drag, optimise workforce capacity, and protect brand equity where human connection matters most.
Key Takeaways
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The ROI to ROE Shift: Moving boardroom metrics from short-term cost cutting to sustainable capacity and retention.
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WFM & Headcount Balance: Right sizing human talent alongside AI without causing operational backlogs.
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The System Orchestrator: Elevating middle management out of spreadsheet debt and into high-impact strategic coaching.
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The Empathy Imperative: Protecting frontline capacity for high emotion, high-value customer interactions.
Speaker:
Sabina Onwuka
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
Head of Customer Services
Sabina Onwuka is a multi‑award‑winning customer experience consultant, strategist, international keynote speaker, and industry judge, with 25 years of hands‑on leadership across financial services and the public sector.
Recognised among the Top 50 Women Shaping the Future of Customer Experience in 2024, a finalist for Women in CX Leader of the Year 2025, recognised amongst top 50 incredible people shaping CX in 2025 and recently recognised amongst top 50 CX leaders 2026 to follow, Sabina has built a reputation as a catalyst for transformative, people‑centric service delivery.
A passionate coach and mentor, Sabina brings creativity, operational rigor, and a genuine desire to exceed expectations. As the role of the manager is changing, Sabina recently launched The Future Ready Manager Masterclass series to help empower operational leaders to use AI effectively while strengthening empathy, ethics, and leadership. And has written an eBook titled “Coaching Mid-level Managers in an AI-Augment World”. Her ethos bridges technology and compassion, making her a standout voice in ethics‑driven CX.
Currently serving as Head Customer Services for the Barking and Dagenham Council, Sabina has led major operational transformations. Her major achievement involved implementing an inclusive speech analytics and AI platform. This innovation dramatically improved support for vulnerable residents, enabling the council to proactively identify individuals in need, respond with empathy and urgency, and enhance overall accessibility. This innovation won bronze at the esteemed European Contact Centre & Customer Services award in 2025 and Gold at the Smarter Working Live Awards in 2024. Sabina’s leadership is defined by combining digital innovation with deep human insight.
She successfully transitioned her service teams from traditional office‑based setups to fully remote, cloud‑enabled operations, while embedding psychological safety, fostering motivation, and empowering employees to elevate customer interactions.
14:25 - 14:50
Future of The Contact Centre
Beyond the Magic Trick: Knowing Where to Stop Automating
Presentation
The pressure to cut cost without damaging customer experience is the defining tension in contact centre operations right now. Most efficiency decisions get made on volume: how many contacts can we deflect, and how much can we automate. Yet the honest answer to "how much should we automate?" depends on something few teams can see clearly. What the technology is genuinely capable of, and where it stops being reliable.
That is a hard judgement to make while AI still looks like magic.
In this session, James Cadman takes a single customer complaint, "I've been charged twice", and follows it all the way through an AI model. From the words the customer types, to the maths that decides what comes back. No jargon, no vendor pitch, and no assumed technical knowledge. Because once you can see the mechanism, you can see its edges. And those edges are the efficiency equation. Prediction has four hard limits, and each one draws a line on your automation map.
The session closes with a practical way to judge where automation genuinely pays, and where the cost has simply moved somewhere less visible.
What you'll gain:
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A clear explanation of what an AI model is doing when it answers your customer
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The four hard limits of prediction, and what each one rules out of your automation scope
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A practical way to test whether an efficiency gain is sustainable or simply displaced
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A clearer view of which interactions should stay human, and why
Speaker:
James Cadman
Luware
Chief Customer Officer
14:50 - 15:20
Future of The Contact Centre
The Efficiency Equation – Finding the Balance That Actually Work
Panel Discussion
The pressure to reduce costs while maintaining or improving customer experience is one of the most persistent tensions in contact centre management. Getting the balance right requires more than good intentions, it demands smarter metrics, stronger operating models, and a clear understanding of where efficiency gains are genuinely sustainable and where they risk undermining the very experience they are meant to support.
In this panel, senior leaders will explore how they are navigating the efficiency and experience balance in practice. From the metrics that genuinely reflect sustainable performance to ensuring that the drive for efficiency never compromises the standard of care owed to vulnerable customers, panellists will share what a commercially successful and customer-responsible operation actually looks like.
What you'll gain:
-
Practical frameworks for balancing cost reduction with experience quality in a contact centre environment
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Insight into the metrics that genuinely reflect sustainable operational efficiency
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A clearer picture of how leading organisations are protecting vulnerable customers within efficiency-driven models
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Real examples of where efficiency investment is delivering the strongest commercial returns
Speakers:
Jordan Hornby-Turner
Outsource and Workforce Optimisation Manager
Outsource and Workforce Optimisation Manager
Jordan Hornby-Turner is the Workforce Optimisation & Outsource Manager at Nespresso UK&I, with over a decade of experience across customer experience, workforce planning, operational leadership and business transformation. Having progressed from frontline customer service roles to leading workforce strategy and outsourcing partnerships, she brings a unique perspective on balancing efficiency, cost, employee engagement and customer outcomes. Jordan has led major operational improvement initiatives, technology implementations and contact centre transformation, while remaining passionate about developing people and creating high-performing teams.
Sabina Onwuka
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
Head of Customer Services
Sabina Onwuka is a multi‑award‑winning customer experience consultant, strategist, international keynote speaker, and industry judge, with 25 years of hands‑on leadership across financial services and the public sector.
Recognised among the Top 50 Women Shaping the Future of Customer Experience in 2024, a finalist for Women in CX Leader of the Year 2025, recognised amongst top 50 incredible people shaping CX in 2025 and recently recognised amongst top 50 CX leaders 2026 to follow, Sabina has built a reputation as a catalyst for transformative, people‑centric service delivery.
A passionate coach and mentor, Sabina brings creativity, operational rigor, and a genuine desire to exceed expectations. As the role of the manager is changing, Sabina recently launched The Future Ready Manager Masterclass series to help empower operational leaders to use AI effectively while strengthening empathy, ethics, and leadership. And has written an eBook titled “Coaching Mid-level Managers in an AI-Augment World”. Her ethos bridges technology and compassion, making her a standout voice in ethics‑driven CX.
Currently serving as Head Customer Services for the Barking and Dagenham Council, Sabina has led major operational transformations. Her major achievement involved implementing an inclusive speech analytics and AI platform. This innovation dramatically improved support for vulnerable residents, enabling the council to proactively identify individuals in need, respond with empathy and urgency, and enhance overall accessibility. This innovation won bronze at the esteemed European Contact Centre & Customer Services award in 2025 and Gold at the Smarter Working Live Awards in 2024. Sabina’s leadership is defined by combining digital innovation with deep human insight.
She successfully transitioned her service teams from traditional office‑based setups to fully remote, cloud‑enabled operations, while embedding psychological safety, fostering motivation, and empowering employees to elevate customer interactions.
15:20 - 15:45
Future of The Contact Centre
AI Resilience Starts With You: How to Ready Your Contact Centre for Change
Presentation
72% of AI implementations are failing to meet expectations at the start line because of poor change management. AI adoption within contact centres is on the rise, and yet the reported outcomes are telling a very different story. ROI objectives aren’t being met, consumer trust is eroding and agents are feeling displaced.
So, how are you readying your contact centre for transformational AI change? And what can you do to ensure that it actually succeeds?
This session from Elephants Don't Forget will introduce you to case studies from world-leading brands who are already using AI to generate quantifiable Return on Investment by embedding agent empathy and competence at scale.
Ben Scales and Patricia Riddell, Professor of Applied Neuroscience, will:
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Teach you to navigate expected and realised AI objectives using prediction gaps.
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Help you to understand and apply the three thinking systems (fast, slow, AI) to meet and exceed your customer service targets.
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Demonstrate a new approach to AI implementations that works for businesses, agents and customers.
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Consider whether AI implementations are genuinely targeting customer priorities and improving consumer trust.
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Discuss what having competent agents means for consistent service delivery.
*Gartner Research
Speakers:
Professor Patricia Riddell
Elephants Don't Forget
Director of Workforce Capability and Wellbeing
Ben Scales
Elephants Don't Forget
Head of Sales
Ben is passionate about helping customers transform their customer service by empowering their people. He is an avid believer in the power of knowledge and competence.
15:45 - 16:05
Future of The Contact Centre
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
16:05 - 16:30
Future of The Contact Centre
Striking the Balance: Building Modern, Human-Centric Contact Centres
Interview
Looking for practical CX and contact centre insights you can actually use? Join Sandrea Morgan as she shares key lessons, honest stories, and valuable nuggets from leading customer service transformation programmes, including how to balance AI and automation with a people-first approach to deliver lasting success.
Speaker:
Sandrea Morgan
Charles Tyrwhitt
Head of Customer Service and Change
Sandrea is a Senior Customer Service and Experience leader with over 20 years’ experience building and transforming global support functions across fashion, beauty, e-commerce, start-ups, and the public sector. She has led both in-house and outsourced operations at scale, spanning B2C and B2B environments, with deep expertise in digital-first customer support.
A strategic and commercially focused leader, Sandrea is known for transforming customer support from a reactive service into a proactive, insight-driven growth engine. She specialises in contact reduction, AI-enabled service design, and operational excellence, consistently improving efficiency, customer satisfaction, and revenue through smarter journeys and data-led decision making.
Passionate about the Voice of the Customer, Sandrea works cross-functionally with product, marketing, and technology teams to turn customer insight into meaningful,
measurable change. She is equally committed to building high-performing, engaged teams, with a strong focus on coaching, development, and leading through transformation.
16:30 - 16:55
Future of The Contact Centre
The Human Edge: Why Leadership Excellence is the True Driver of Customer Experience
Presentation
The best technology and the most skilled agents will only take you so far. What truly separates organisations that consistently deliver exceptional customer experience from those that don't is the quality of their leadership. Leaders who operate with discipline, clarity, and empathy are the architects of CX excellence, setting the culture, defining the standards, and creating the conditions in which agents can perform at their best. This session makes the case for why leadership capability is the most critical and most underinvested variable in any CX strategy.
Speaker:
Siobhan Lettice
Vonage
Head of Global Customer Care & Onboarding
16:55 - 17:25
Future of The Contact Centre
The Agent Experience – Engaging Your Most Valuable CX Asset
Panel Discussion
The link between agent experience and customer experience is well established, yet in many organisations the frontline workforce remains underinvested relative to its commercial importance. Agent attrition, disengagement, and burnout are not just people management challenges, they are customer experience challenges with measurable consequences for satisfaction, loyalty, and revenue.
In this panel, senior leaders will make the commercial case for investing in the agent experience and explore what that investment looks like in practice. From wellbeing, development, and retention strategies to supporting agents who regularly handle vulnerable customer interactions, panellists will share what it takes to build a frontline workforce that performs consistently, sustainably, and with genuine care for every customer it serves.
What you'll gain:
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A clear commercial framework for the link between agent experience and customer outcomes
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Practical approaches to reducing attrition and building frontline resilience
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Insight into how leading organisations are supporting agents who handle vulnerable customer interactions
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Real examples of the agent experience investments that are delivering the strongest returns
Speakers:
Dr Nicola Millard
BT
Principal Innovation Partner
Once described as “human caffeine” on social media, Dr Nicola Millard injects a people-centred expresso shot to innovation and future strategy. In her long and varied career Nicola has done many jobs, including futurology, research, usability, customer service, marketing, and business consulting. She was
involved with some innovation firsts, including the first application of artificial intelligence into BT’s call centres, BT’s experiments with home working, and helping to develop BT’s “net easy” customer score.
Nicola got her PhD on motivation & technology acceptance from Lancaster University
in 2005, has authored over 50 publications – including 1 book and numerous book chapters – and is a mentor on Cambridge Judge Business School’s Masters programme on innovation & entrepreneurship. She is a judge on a number of award panels including the European Contact Centre & Customer Service awards.
Nicola is an award-winning presenter, with 2 TEDx talks and hundreds of conference panel, chair, and keynote sessions under her belt. She occasionally pops up on radio and TV around the world, including appearances on ‘Woman’s Hour’, ‘Tech Tent’, ‘The Media Show’, ‘The Genius of Invention’ and ‘Back in Time for the Weekend’ for the BBC.
Siobhan Taylor
Good Life Sorted
Head of Customer Experience
Siobhan Taylor is a Customer Experience Leader with a passion for developing people and creating customer-centric cultures where both agents and customers can thrive. With over a decade of experience leading customer care, complaints and CX teams, she combines coaching and development with data, technology and operational insight to build high-performing support teams. Her leadership approach is rooted in empathy, feedback and collaboration, with a belief that investing in people is fundamental to delivering exceptional customer experiences.
17:25 - 17:30
Future of The Contact Centre
Chair's Close
Closing Remarks
Marcus wraps up our first day of the Engage Customer Summit, summarising the key learnings as well as a sneak peak into what Day Two holds. See you tomorrow!
Speaker:
Marcus Hickman
Davies Hickman
Director
An insight and data analytics leader, Marcus has spent over 20 years supporting well-known brands to understand and improve customer experience - working directly with senior executives to bring consumer perspectives alive and use them to drive business growth.
His current focus is helping clients navigate the shift to AI in customer experience. Marcus has led an assessment of 37 different vendors of Generative AI and Agentic AI customer experience solutions, giving a good basis for developing individual organisational AI strategies.
This builds on a long track record of shaping industry thinking on CX. Marcus runs Davies Hickman Research, home to one of the longest-running tracker studies of customer contact, The Autonomous Customer, which pioneered omni-channel strategies. Davies Hickman has advised a range of industry bodies including BSI and ISO standards committees for customer experience.
Previously, Marcus worked as Managing Director of futures consulting agency The Henley Centre, part of Kantar. He brings good experience in understanding future change in customer experience.
17:30
Future of The Contact Centre
Summit After-Party
The Night Summit
08:55 - 09:00
Customer Contact
Welcome to the 2026 Engage Customer Summit
Introduction
Welcome to the Engage Customer Summit 2026.
Day 1 is all about The Customer Reality – putting the real pressures, gaps and successes in customer engagement front and centre. From strained contact centres and shifting customer expectations to the challenges of turning data into decisions and rebuilding loyalty, today is designed to surface what is genuinely happening in organisations right now, not just what the slideware says.
In this opening address, Nick will set the tone for a day of honest, practical insight. Today’s agenda is built to help you see your own organisation more clearly – through case studies, panels and conversations grounded in lived experience.
Speaker:
Nick Brice
Soul Corporations
CEO
Nicholas Brice is an international keynote speaker, consultant and author who helps organisations build the human capability, culture and customer experience needed to thrive in a fast-changing world. As founder of Soul Corporations® and author of The Mindful Communicator, he works with leaders and teams to strengthen clarity, communication, judgement, connection and everyday behaviour. Drawing on neuroscience, behavioural insight, culture change and theatre, Nicholas helps organisations create more aligned cultures, more consistent customer experiences and more meaningful performance.
09:00 - 09:25
Customer Contact
Opening Keynote: Adapting to the Rapid Evolution of the Contact Centre
Opening Keynote
The contact centre is changing fast – but how ready is the industry for what comes next? In this session, CCMA CEO Leigh Hopwood will unveil brand new research due to launch in early autumn, offering an exclusive first look at what the latest insight says about the future of contact centres.
The session will spotlight:
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Where contact centres are genuinely progressing – and where they’re still under strain
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How leaders are thinking about technology, AI, people and operating models in the years ahead
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The emerging trends that will matter most for senior contact centre and customer leaders
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The questions organisations should be asking now to stay ahead of the next wave of change
Speaker:
Leigh Hopwood
CCMA
CEO
As CEO of the Contact Centre Management Association (CCMA) since 2020, Leigh is drawing on her 20+ years’ experience in supporting the contact centre industry, holding leadership positions in a variety of membership organisations and as a professional marketer. Her mission is to support the development of the contact centre industry, give it a voice in society and to improve its overall reputation.
Leigh has been an awards judge since 2006, industry speaker and host of CareerTalk, and she sits on the Profession and Business Services Council in the Department of Business and Trade (DBT) on behalf of the contact centre industry. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a Chartered Marketer.
09:25 - 09:50
Customer Contact
After the Helpdesk: Why the Ticket Queue Won't Survive AI
Presentation
For twenty years, customer support ran on one idea: pay per seat. It's a pricing model built for an era when software couldn't measure the value it created, so vendors charged for the next best thing: how many people logged in. The better your AI gets, the fewer agents you need, and the less your vendor makes. Shailesh Nalawadi, Head of Applied AI and Communications API of Delight.ai, argues that the ticket queue itself, not just its pricing, is the real artifact of an era that's ending. He shows what that actually looks like inside a real support org: AI orchestrates everything, the whole case from start to finish, and brings a human into the loop only for the one piece that actually needs a person. That's the flip. The AI runs the show, the human is the exception, not the other way around. Once AI is doing that much of the real work, the seat stops being what has value. The work does. This keynote lays out what comes after the helpdesk: a support org where the queue stops being the org chart, and ownership, not seat count, is what CX leaders are actually paying for.
Speaker:
Shailesh Nalawadi
Delight AI
Head of Applied AI and Communications API
09:50 - 10:20
Customer Contact
The Omnichannel Reality – Are You Truly Connected or Just Multi-Channel?
Panel Discussion
Customers move seamlessly between channels without a second thought, yet most organisations are still operating in ways that create friction, inconsistency, and disconnection at every handoff. The gap between a genuinely joined-up omnichannel strategy and simply offering multiple contact options is significant, and customers notice it even when organisations do not.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what building a truly connected customer contact strategy looks like in practice. From integrating voice, chat, social, and self-service into a coherent experience to the operational and cultural changes needed to deliver consistency at scale, panellists will explore what it actually takes to move from multi-channel to genuinely omnichannel and why the distinction matters more than ever.
What you'll gain:
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A clear picture of what genuine omnichannel customer contact looks like versus simply offering multiple channels
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Practical approaches to integrating voice, digital, and self-service into a coherent and consistent experience
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Insight into the operational and cultural changes needed to deliver true channel consistency at scale
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Real examples of how leading organisations are closing the gap between omnichannel ambition and omnichannel reality
Speakers:
Colin Goodbody
Bromford Flagship
Head of Customer Operations
Jo Hetherington
Higher Ed Partners
Director of Transformation
Joanna Hetherington is the Director of Transformation at Higher Ed Partners (HEP), the UK's leading university partnership organisation, supporting more than 170 postgraduate degree programmes that help transform lives and create new career opportunities through education.
With over 20 years of experience leading transformation across customer operations, technology, and service delivery in multiple industry verticals , Joanna specialises in driving large-scale business change that enables sustainable growth, operational excellence, and exceptional customer experiences. Her expertise spans digital transformation, CRM and systems integration, contact centre optimisation, customer engagement, and technology-enabled operating models across both UK and global organisations.
In the rapidly evolving education technology landscape, Joanna is focused on helping organisations balance growth, student expectations, and operational efficiency through data-driven transformation. She has a proven track record of delivering customer-centric strategies that modernise service delivery, improve experiences, and unlock organisational value through intelligent automation and digital innovation.
Passionate about the role technology plays in widening access to education, Joanna champions human-centred transformation approaches to create lasting impact for students, partners, and stakeholders while delivering measurable business outcomes.
10:20 - 11:00
Customer Contact
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
11:00 - 11:25
Customer Contact
Xero Case Study: The Future of CX: The Human and AI Partnership
Case Study
How Xero is evolving CX through a human + AI model: starting with a digital-first support strategy, where AI-powered content and answers drive high self-service and leave human specialists focused on the most complex customer issues.
It talks about the impact on our people, showing how AI tools and emerging agents make work easier, while also investing heavily in training, change support, and experimentation to build confidence rather than fear around AI adoption.
The future of CX is not AI replacing humans, but a human-agent partnership where AI handles routine work and people bring empathy, judgement, and deeper problem-solving to higher-value customer moments.
Speaker:
Melanie Fischer
Xero
Director, Customer Experience - UK & EMEA
Results-oriented Director with 20+ years' experience in service excellence and continuous improvement. Expert in defining service excellence strategies that remove customer friction through AI-tooling, automation, and self-solve solutions. Motivational leader of 300+ staff, skilled in aligning global operations with business OKRs and leading Lean/Six Sigma re-engineering initiatives.
Areas of expertise include:
- AI & Technology Strategy: Defines and implements strategies to replace legacy tooling with AI-Assistance interwoven with human assistance.
- Process Innovation: Uses Lean/Six Sigma to simplify workflows and improve resolution speed
- Global Operations Leadership: Leads global teams including outsourced vendor BPO and in-house resolution and escalation teams
- Stakeholder Influence: Experienced C-level advisor and member of UK Leadership teams directly reporting to C-suite
- Quality Assurance and CSAT: Oversees CSAT and AI and Human-agent QA frameworks to drive Customer-Sentiment.
11:25 - 11:50
Customer Contact
One AI Agent, Every Market: Personalising Support Across Markets
Presentation
Delivering great customer experiences across global markets means navigating different languages, regulations, and customer expectations—all while maintaining speed, quality, and consistency. As customer demands grow and high-volume moments put additional pressure on support teams, AI agents are helping enterprises deliver personalised service at scale.
In this session, you’ll hear how a global enterprise uses Ada’s AI agent to deliver fast, personalised support across languages and markets. Learn how they’re moving beyond scripted automation with generative AI, balancing local nuance and compliance requirements, and creating consistent customer experiences worldwide. We’ll explore the lessons learned from scaling AI across regions, the impact on customer support operations, and where AI is driving the greatest business value.
Speakers:
Patrick Dunford
Deezer
VP of Customer Care
Two decades building and leading teams in the fields of customer experience and technology.
Baidurjya DasChaudhuri
Ada
Managing Director, EMEA
11:50 - 12:20
Customer Contact
Self-Service That Actually Works – Empowering Customers Without Losing Them
Panel Discussion
Self-service has enormous commercial potential, but the gap between self-service that genuinely empowers customers and self-service that simply deflects contact and frustrates people is wider than most organisations want to admit. Getting it right requires more than deploying the right technology, it requires a deep understanding of what customers actually need and designing journeys that work for all of them, including those who are most vulnerable.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what genuinely effective self-service looks like in practice. From the design principles that make digital journeys feel effortless to the commercial and ethical case for inclusive self-service design, panellists will explore what it takes to build self-service capability that customers choose rather than endure.
What you'll gain:
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Insight into what genuinely effective self-service design looks like and what separates it from self-service that simply deflects contact
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Practical approaches to building digital journeys that customers actually want to use
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A clearer picture of how to design self-service that works for all customers including those in vulnerable circumstances
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Real examples of how leading organisations are turning self-service into a genuine competitive advantage
Speakers:
Shanti Kaur Gray
HSBC
Conversational Designer
My career started on the frontline in customer service and moved through social media before landing in conversation design. That mix gives me a grounded view of what customers actually do in the moments that matter: what they ask, what confuses them, and what builds confidence and trust.
I’m passionate about responsible AI in customer service - using automation where it genuinely reduces friction, designing with clear boundaries and quality controls, and always keeping the human experience (for customers and colleagues) at the centre.
Aswin Peter
Brtish Gas
Senior Product Lead - CX and Product Strategy
Aswin Peter is a senior Customer Experience and Product leader in the Energy and Utilities sector, specialising in customer-led transformation, digital products and the practical application of AI. He has led the development of large-scale customer propositions and digital experiences across complex, highly regulated environments, with experience spanning AI-enabled customer service, payments, personalisation, smart energy and product strategy. His focus is on turning technology and customer insight into simpler experiences, stronger engagement and measurable business outcomes.
12:20 - 12:40
Customer Contact
Transport for Wales Case Study: Project Uno - A Unified Customer Experience
Case Study
As Transport for Wales builds the integrated T Network, Project UNO is creating the digital customer experience that brings it to life. This session explores how a customer-centred approach is shaping a single, trusted platform for journey planning, ticketing, payments and real-time travel information across multiple modes of transport. Discover how customer insights, customer journey mapping, service design and digital innovation are being combined to create a more connected, personalised and seamless travel experience for people across Wales.
Speaker:
Jo Foxall
Transport for Wales
Customer Experience Director
Jo Foxall is Customer Experience Director at Transport for Wales, leading customer experience strategy, transformation, customer insight and customer contact services. With a career spanning customer experience, marketing, and communications, Jo progressed from Marketing Assistant to Managing Director of PTI Cymru (Traveline Cymru) before joining Transport for Wales in 2022. An award winning leader and passionate advocate for customer centred cultures, she champions the use of customer insight, innovation, and inclusive leadership to improve services and outcomes for customers across Wales.
12:40 - 14:00
Customer Contact
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
14:00 - 14:25
Customer Contact
Small Features, Big Shifts – How Digital Products Move the CX Needle at Scale
Case Study
Serving millions of customers digitally leaves no room for guesswork: every friction point in a journey quickly becomes hundreds of thousands of contacts.
In this session, Mo Nuur, Head of Customer Product at E.ON Next, shares how his team built a customer product function that listens at scale and acts fast. He'll cover how feedback from across every channel is turned into a live product roadmap, how new features are tested and proven before rollout, and what that has delivered in fewer contacts, higher satisfaction and stronger advocacy.
Mo will also look ahead to the role of AI in the contact mix – where it genuinely removes effort for customers, and where the human touch still matters most.
Speaker:
Mo Nuur
E.ON Next
Head of Digital Customer Experience
14:25 - 14:50
Customer Contact
Terminator or Colleague?: The Future of the Hybrid Frontline
Presentation
Will AI replace the human touch in customer experience, or supercharge it? The reality is that outstanding CX starts with your frontline—and the future of customer service is a hybrid one. We now have a new worker in our organizations: autonomous AI agents working alongside our human teams.
Join us as we step away from the AI hype and look at the practical reality of this dual workforce. We will explore how to balance human and AI capacity, implement smart copilots to support your agents, and set the guardrails that protect your brand. Discover why the future may be less about choosing between humans and AI, and more about orchestrating us together in a single place.
Speakers:
Rhys Johnson
Talkdesk
Manager Solutions Engineering
Catarina Ferreira
Talkdesk
Principal Product Manager
Her work has focused on transforming contact centres from reactive to proactive, using automation and AI to create more personalised, convenient and effective customer journeys.
With a background in healthcare, Catarina brings a grounded perspective on how AI can be applied in complex and highly regulated environments while delivering meaningful outcomes for both customers and businesses.
14:50 - 15:20
Customer Contact
Smarter Contact – How Intelligent Technology Is Changing the Game
Panel Discussion
The organisations pulling ahead in customer contact are using intelligent technology not to replace human interaction but to make every interaction smarter, faster, and more relevant. From large language models and virtual assistants to autonomous resolution, the technology is maturing rapidly, but the gap between organisations deploying it effectively and those still in pilot mode is growing.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what genuinely scalable intelligent contact looks like beyond the proof of concept stage. From deployment realities and implementation lessons to keeping the human touch central even as technology takes on more of the contact journey, panellists will explore what it takes to use intelligent technology in a way that works for customers, agents, and the business alike.
What you'll gain:
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Practical insight into what deploying intelligent contact technology at scale actually looks like
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A clearer picture of where large language models, virtual assistants, and autonomous resolution are delivering real value
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Insight into how leading organisations are maintaining the human touch as intelligent technology takes on more of the contact journey
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Real examples of how smarter contact technology is improving outcomes for customers and agents simultaneously
Speakers:
Laura Canellas
Sky
Director of CSG Strategy
A skilled general manager, chief of staff, and COO, I bring a wealth of financial acumen, HR experience, and strategic insight to every role. My unique blend of deep technical knowledge in IT and telecommunications, coupled with extensive experience in IT strategy, operations strategy, and consulting, allows me to drive significant change and deliver impactful results.
The constant thread in my career is a passion for transformation. I excel in improving and optimizing teams and solutions, whether leading from the customer front lines or driving internal change. My ability to seamlessly pivot between external and internal roles enables me to tackle diverse challenges and consistently deliver strategic success.
Ange Johnson De Wet
Barclays Business Banking UK
Customer Journey Delivery Director for Lending Technology
Prior to working at Barclays, Ange was a London based head of engineering at NatWest, a head of function at Lloyds Banking Group and a Programme Director at Deutsche Bank.
Within banking she’s worked in Business and Commercial Banking, Cloud Enabled Business Transformation, Operational Technology and Cloud Risk, Data and Analytics and Capital Markets Finance Risk and Regulatory Reporting.
Before working in banking, Ange worked in consulting as a senior manager with EY and a consultant with IBM. She worked across AsiaPacific and EMEA and focused on business and commercial banking and financial services. Ange worked as a developer, tester, designer, business analyst, programme analyst, project manager and programme manager. She has led business and technology strategies, programme reviews and complex technology enabled business transformations.
Ange has an honours degree in Mechanical Engineering (Mechatronics / Robotics) and Computer Science from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
15:20 - 15:45
Customer Contact
UK AI Urgency Is Clear. The ROI Path Isn’t: Panasonic Connect’s CX Blueprint.
Presentation
Explore best practices for deploying safe, scalable Voice and Digital AI, and how Panasonic Connect is driving measurable impact across service, sales, and marketing automation.
Speaker:
Asaf Ben Israel
CommBox
VP Sales EMEA
15:45 - 16:05
Customer Contact
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
16:05 - 16:30
Customer Contact
Barclays Case Study: Customer Expectations and Technology Approaches
Case Study
In this case study, Ange Johnson De Wet, Customer Journey Delivery Director for Lending Technology at Barclays Business Banking UK, explores how a major bank is re‑thinking customer journeys and technology choices to meet those expectations in practice – not just on paper.
Drawing on experience leading complex, technology‑enabled transformations across Barclays, NatWest, Lloyds Banking Group and Deutsche Bank, and a career that spans engineering, cloud, data, risk and capital markets, Ange will focus on what it takes to align customer contact, journeys and lending technology in a way that feels simple for customers but is robust enough for a regulated, high‑stakes environment.
Attendees will hear:
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How Barclays is approaching customer journey delivery for lending in a way that connects front‑end experience with back‑end technology
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How customer expectations are reshaping decisions about channels, contact, automation and human interaction
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What Ange has learned from leading business and technology strategy across multiple banks and disciplines
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Practical ideas for leaders who want their customer contact and technology approaches to move in step with what customers actually need
Speaker:
Ange Johnson De Wet
Barclays Business Banking UK
Customer Journey Delivery Director for Lending Technology
Prior to working at Barclays, Ange was a London based head of engineering at NatWest, a head of function at Lloyds Banking Group and a Programme Director at Deutsche Bank.
Within banking she’s worked in Business and Commercial Banking, Cloud Enabled Business Transformation, Operational Technology and Cloud Risk, Data and Analytics and Capital Markets Finance Risk and Regulatory Reporting.
Before working in banking, Ange worked in consulting as a senior manager with EY and a consultant with IBM. She worked across AsiaPacific and EMEA and focused on business and commercial banking and financial services. Ange worked as a developer, tester, designer, business analyst, programme analyst, project manager and programme manager. She has led business and technology strategies, programme reviews and complex technology enabled business transformations.
Ange has an honours degree in Mechanical Engineering (Mechatronics / Robotics) and Computer Science from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
16:30 - 16:55
Customer Contact
Why AI Automation Projects Stall (And How to Get Them Moving Again)
Presentation
Most contact centres have already started automating customer contact, but three in four have rolled back or shut down a customer-facing AI agent after launch. While the reasons vary, most are struggling with taking the leap from isolated tools and processes to real, ongoing improvement. But what if there's a way to skip the endless pilots and start delivering value today, and the solution is right under your nose?
In this session, we introduce the Learning Loop: a practical approach to using a self-learning cycle to turn conversation data into stronger knowledge, and better automation over time. We'll show you how the Learning Loop works, and how this approach helps teams improve agent performance without replacing the platforms you already have.
Speaker:
Alison Hogg
Puzzel
Partner Account Manager
With 15+ years in partnership and channel management, Alison is driven by what happens when organisations with different strengths come together – turning good ideas into real, working partnerships that create lasting value for customers and businesses alike. She's also a hands-on early adopter of AI and is fascinated by how quickly it's changing what CX and contact centre teams can deliver.
16:55 - 17:25
Customer Contact
Channel Strategy – Putting Customer Outcomes at the Centre
Panel Discussion
Having more channels is not the same as having a better strategy. As the channel mix becomes increasingly complex, the organisations delivering the strongest customer outcomes are those making smarter, more deliberate decisions about which channels to invest in, how to measure their performance, and how to ensure every channel serves every customer effectively including those in vulnerable circumstances.
In this panel, senior leaders will explore what a genuinely outcome-focused channel strategy looks like in practice. From rationalising the channel mix to reduce customer effort to measuring performance in a way that reflects what customers actually experience, panellists will share the strategic and operational decisions that are making the biggest difference to customer outcomes and commercial results.
What you'll gain:
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Practical frameworks for building a channel strategy that puts customer outcomes at the centre
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Insight into how leading organisations are measuring channel performance in a way that genuinely reflects customer experience
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A clearer picture of how to rationalise the channel mix to reduce effort and improve satisfaction
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Real examples of how smarter channel strategy decisions are driving stronger commercial and customer outcomes
Speakers:
Melanie Fischer
Xero
Director, Customer Experience - UK & EMEA
Results-oriented Director with 20+ years' experience in service excellence and continuous improvement. Expert in defining service excellence strategies that remove customer friction through AI-tooling, automation, and self-solve solutions. Motivational leader of 300+ staff, skilled in aligning global operations with business OKRs and leading Lean/Six Sigma re-engineering initiatives.
Areas of expertise include:
- AI & Technology Strategy: Defines and implements strategies to replace legacy tooling with AI-Assistance interwoven with human assistance.
- Process Innovation: Uses Lean/Six Sigma to simplify workflows and improve resolution speed
- Global Operations Leadership: Leads global teams including outsourced vendor BPO and in-house resolution and escalation teams
- Stakeholder Influence: Experienced C-level advisor and member of UK Leadership teams directly reporting to C-suite
- Quality Assurance and CSAT: Oversees CSAT and AI and Human-agent QA frameworks to drive Customer-Sentiment.
Laura Franklin
West Sussex County Council
Customer Service Centre Manager
My role of a strategic leader in local government is dedicated to transforming the customer experience through innovation, empathy and operational excellence. Within the organisation I am the Senior Manager in Customer Experience responsible for the Blue Badge Service, our corporate Receptions and the Customer Service Centre.
With a proven track record in public sector service delivery, I have led major initiatives to redesign the customer journey – making services more accessible, responsive, and inclusive for our customers, achieving a 61% operational cost reduction to the organisation all by empowering our people and putting the customer at the centre of their journey. I have led people centred transformation, rebuilding team culture, strengthening engagement, and aligning our ways of working with industry best practices resulting in fully integrated, cohesive services and a 90%+ rate of customer satisfaction.
Recognising the evolving needs of digital innovation, I am strategically leading on the implementation of digital channels at our front door. Looking at AI and digital technologies to streamline processes both for our staff and customers, personalise engagement, and enhance service outcomes. My focus is to bridge the gap between traditional public service values and utilise the opportunities of digital innovation whist ensuring that technology serves people, not the other way around.
17:25 - 17:30
Customer Contact
Closing Remarks
Closing Remarks
Nick wraps up our first day of the Engage Customer Summit, summarising the key learnings as well as a sneak peak into what Day Two holds. See you tomorrow!
Speaker:
Nick Brice
Soul Corporations
CEO
Nicholas Brice is an international keynote speaker, consultant and author who helps organisations build the human capability, culture and customer experience needed to thrive in a fast-changing world. As founder of Soul Corporations® and author of The Mindful Communicator, he works with leaders and teams to strengthen clarity, communication, judgement, connection and everyday behaviour. Drawing on neuroscience, behavioural insight, culture change and theatre, Nicholas helps organisations create more aligned cultures, more consistent customer experiences and more meaningful performance.
17:30
Customer Contact
Summit After-Party
The Night Summit
08:55 - 09:00
Customer Experience Management
Welcome to the 2026 Engage Customer Summit
Introduction
Welcome to the Engage Customer Summit 2026.
Day 1 is all about The Customer Reality – putting the real pressures, gaps and successes in customer engagement front and centre. From strained contact centres and shifting customer expectations to the challenges of turning data into decisions and rebuilding loyalty, today is designed to surface what is genuinely happening in organisations right now, not just what the slideware says.
In this opening address, Brian will set the tone for a day of honest, practical insight. Today’s agenda is built to help you see your own organisation more clearly – through case studies, panels and conversations grounded in lived experience.
Speaker:
Brian Manusama
Actionary
Executive Partner
09:00 - 09:25
Customer Experience Management
Research on the Edge: Becoming Fit for the Future
Opening Keynote
The research and evidence sector is a major UK success story, but rapid advances in AI are reshaping how evidence is produced, interpreted and used. In this forward-looking keynote, Jane Frost will reveal new research on the scale, growth and global reach of the sector, while exploring what research professionals must do to remain trusted, influential and fit for the future.
The session will explore:
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The size, growth and international reach of the UK research and evidence sector, and the strengths underpinning its market-leading position
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How quickly AI is being adopted across research and evidence activities, and the importance of training, ethics and professional standards
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Why researchers must become directors of the AI programme rather than followers, shaping the benchmarks and standards that guide its use
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How the profession can protect trust, strengthen its strategic influence and ensure evidence continues to support better decisions
Speaker:
Jane Frost
Market Research Society
Chief Executive Officer
Jane Frost CBE holds over 150 awards for creativity and brand marketing, including a double platinum disc for the BBCs Perfect Day which also raised over £2.5m for Children in Need. She is currently the CEO of MRS (the UK regulator for market and social research and a global trainer and publisher for the sector).
09:25 - 09:50
Customer Experience Management
The Human Experience Advantage: Are You Steady or Spiky?
Presentation
When deciding where to spend our money, we judge organisations the same way we judge people. Not by what they say about themselves, but by how they behave. That's the idea we set out to test at scale, building on thinking from The Foundation’s Senior Partner, John Sills, author of The Human Experience.
Every organisation has what we call a Behavioural Fingerprint: the pattern of strengths, gaps and inconsistencies that customers experience, no matter what the strategy documents say. Our research across 277 brands and 24 sectors found that this fingerprint, built from seven human behaviours, tends to take one of two shapes: steady or spiky.
Steady brands, like Nationwide, Microsoft and First Direct, hold a consistent level across every behaviour. No standout weaknesses, no dramatic spikes. Spiky brands, like Tesco’s and TfL, are distinctively strong in one or two areas and let customers know what they're good at, while accepting where they fall short elsewhere.
Either fingerprint is a legitimate way to earn customer decisions. What both have in common is consistency. The organisations show up as they claim to.
Come along to hear John share insights on what your organisation's Behavioural Fingerprint might reveal and how to keep being human at the heart of your organisation.
Speaker:
John Sills
The Foundation
Senior Partner
John is Senior Partner at The Foundation and author of Leadership Book of the Year 2023, The Human Experience. He started his career 25 years ago on a market stall in Essex and has since worked with companies to improve customer experiences. He’s worked in front-line teams delivering the experience, innovation teams designing propositions, and HQ teams creating strategy. He's been a bank manager during the financial crisis (not fun), launched a mobile app to millions (very fun), and visits strangers’ houses to ask personal questions (incredible fun). Before joining The Foundation, John spent twelve years at HSBC, latterly as Head of Customer Innovation. His book, The Human Experience, was published by Bloomsbury in February 2023, and his writing has featured in The Guardian,The FT and Management Today.
09:50 - 10:20
Customer Experience Management
Customer-Centricity – Closing the Gap Between Claim and Reality
Panel Discussion
Almost every organisation claims to put the customer first. Far fewer have built the strategy, culture, and operational foundations to make that claim genuinely true. As AI, real-time data, and personalisation technology make it increasingly possible to deliver experiences that feel individually tailored at scale, the gap between organisations that are genuinely leveraging these capabilities to embed customer-centricity and those still treating it as a cultural aspiration is becoming a measurable commercial divide.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what building a genuinely customer-centric organisation looks like in practice today. From embedding CX into board-level strategy and using real-time insight to drive faster, smarter decisions, to creating the cross-functional alignment and employee experience foundations that make long-term improvement sustainable, panellists will explore what it actually takes to move from customer-centricity as an aspiration to customer-centricity as an operational reality.
What you'll gain:
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A clear picture of what genuine customer-centricity looks like beyond the rhetoric in an era of AI and real-time personalisation
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Practical approaches to embedding CX into organisational strategy, culture, and decision-making
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Insight into the critical link between employee experience and customer experience in building a truly customer-centric organisation
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Real examples of how leading organisations are using emerging technology to close the gap between customer-centricity as a claim and as a reality
Speakers:
Gabriella Lambert
Nestlé Nespresso SA
Head of Customer Experience
Gabriella Lambert is a customer experience and business transformation leader with a track record of helping organisations turn customer insight into measurable growth. Having led transformation across global brands, consultancies and purpose-led organisations, she is recognised for delivering customer strategies that reduce churn, improve service performance and create lasting commercial value.
Sandrea Morgan
Charles Tyrwhitt
Head of Customer Service and Change
Sandrea is a Senior Customer Service and Experience leader with over 20 years’ experience building and transforming global support functions across fashion, beauty, e-commerce, start-ups, and the public sector. She has led both in-house and outsourced operations at scale, spanning B2C and B2B environments, with deep expertise in digital-first customer support.
A strategic and commercially focused leader, Sandrea is known for transforming customer support from a reactive service into a proactive, insight-driven growth engine. She specialises in contact reduction, AI-enabled service design, and operational excellence, consistently improving efficiency, customer satisfaction, and revenue through smarter journeys and data-led decision making.
Passionate about the Voice of the Customer, Sandrea works cross-functionally with product, marketing, and technology teams to turn customer insight into meaningful,
measurable change. She is equally committed to building high-performing, engaged teams, with a strong focus on coaching, development, and leading through transformation.
10:20 - 11:00
Customer Experience Management
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
11:00 - 11:25
Customer Experience Management
Philip Morris International: From Experimentation to Transformation: Our AI Journey in the UK
Interview
Most organisations don't struggle to access AI technology. They struggle to change behaviours, build trust, and embed AI into everyday decision-making.
In this interview-style keynote, Viviane Gabriel, Director Consumer Experience at Philip Morris UK, reflects on PMI UK's journey from AI experimentation towards organisation-wide transformation. Exploring the intersection of technology, leadership and culture, the discussion will focus on what it really takes to help people adopt AI, trust AI-powered recommendations, and integrate new capabilities into established ways of working.
From overcoming resistance to change and creating a culture of experimentation, to building confidence by empowering teams to augment rather than replace human judgement, the session will provide an honest perspective on the human dynamics behind successful AI transformation.
As organisations race to unlock value from AI, this conversation offers practical lessons on why sustainable transformation depends less on the technology itself and more on the people, processes and mindset shifts that enable it. It is a discussion about how organisations can move from isolated experimentation to lasting transformation, and what leaders must do to make that transition successful.
Speaker:
Viviane Gabriel
Philip Morris International
Director Consumer Experience
11:25 - 11:50
Customer Experience Management
Tracing the Real AI Journey: From Launch to Scaling
Presentation
Nearly every company has an AI agent live somewhere. Far fewer have made it central to how they run customer experience. This session is about that gap, and what it takes to close it.
Michelle Faughnan leads teams at Fin working at the intersection of AI-powered support and Sales Assist - turning the signals inside everyday customer conversations into decisions that shape the business. That's the through-line for this talk: listening to what customers are actually telling you, acting on it, and proving the loop closed. She'll cover:
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Building the business case - how to make the case for AI internally, and bring the rest of the business with you rather than working around them
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What nearly derailed the project - the decisions that stall AI deployments, and what it actually looks like to push past that point into a scaled system
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Measuring value when legacy metrics stop telling the right story - why deflection and average handle time stop being useful once AI is doing more of the work, and what to track instead.
Speaker:
Michelle Faughnan
Fin
Senior Manager, Customer Support
11:50 - 12:20
Customer Experience Management
Voice of the Customer – From Feedback to Action
Panel Discussion
Most organisations are collecting more customer feedback than ever before, but the tools and techniques available for capturing and acting on that feedback are evolving rapidly. From AI-powered sentiment analysis and real-time customer signal tracking to predictive VoC capabilities that can identify emerging issues before they become widespread, the gap between organisations using cutting edge listening capabilities and those still relying on periodic surveys is growing.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what a genuinely action-oriented VoC programme looks like in practice today. From building enhanced feedback loops and real-time customer signal capabilities that drive tangible change, to closing the loop with customers in a way that rebuilds trust and strengthens loyalty, panellists will explore what it takes to turn listening into a real competitive advantage rather than a reporting function.
What you'll gain:
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Practical approaches to building VoC programmes that use AI, real-time signals, and predictive insight to drive genuine change
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Insight into how leading organisations are using customer signal tracking to identify and act on emerging issues faster than ever before
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A clearer picture of what a genuinely action-oriented VoC programme looks like in practice
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Real examples of how turning customer feedback and signals into action is strengthening loyalty and driving commercial results
Speakers:
Vanessa Milan
Cambridge University Press & Assessment
Head of Voice of the Customer, Global Operations
Passionate about Voice of the Customer and a natural customer advocate, I specialise in engaging internal stakeholders and turning customer insight into strategic improvements that enhance the customer experience across the organisation.
A self-starter with a multidisciplinary approach, I lead the development and execution of the Voice of the Customer programme, strategy, and governance across departments at Cambridge University Press & Assessment.
Bonnie Muzam
Flogas Britain
Head of Customer Experience
Bonnie currently leads Flogas Britain’s customer experience strategy and transformation programme, focused on simplifying customer journeys, reducing effort, improving service performance and embedding a culture where everyone takes ownership for delivering great customer experiences. Her work spans customer insight, service transformation, employee engagement and organisational culture, helping teams turn customer feedback into meaningful action.
A recognised CX leader, Bonnie is passionate about building customer-focused organisations that deliver lasting value for customers, colleagues and businesses alike.
12:20 - 12:40
Customer Experience Management
NHS: Focus On Improving Access & Experience to Deliver the Outcomes That Matter
Case Study
If the NHS were a language it would be made entirely of consonants: hospitals, targets, budgets, policy, technology. But it's mostly missing the vowels, the connective tissue that gives meaning and turns a series of silos into a usable system: clear navigation, timely tailored communication, continuity, trust and practical support. That gap isn't a footnote to the NHS' issues; it's the reason access is unequal, experience is inconsistent, and outcomes diverge so sharply between patients.
This session shows how those missing vowels materialise in confusing entry points and unclear pathways, waiting lists shaped as much by deprivation and digital access as by clinical need, inpatient culture that minimises patient agency, and in a leadership culture still chasing throughput over quality.
You'll come away with:
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Why "improving the NHS" without addressing access and experience just produces more activity, not real change
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How failure demand and preventable illness need to be the sole priority for NHS improvement
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A set of practical funding and culture levers that don't rely on waiting for a bigger budget
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A clear articulation of what "good" should actually look like, and why the public needs to start demanding it
The argument underlying all this is: stop asking patients to adapt to the system, and start adapting the system to people's lives.
Speaker:
Joe Fraser
NHS
Head of Healthcare Inequalities, Prevention & Personalisation
Joe was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1999, and this experience has shaped his career ever since. First working with a social entrepreneur, and then eventually in the NHS. As part of the National NHS England team, Joe worked on Personalised Care Demonstrators in the North and Midlands, before taking up a post in London on Digital and Personalised Care. During Covid Joe took up the Head of Personalised Care role for London, successfully delivering the programme's Long Term Plan goals in the capital. Since 2022, he expanded his portfolio to manage the governance of Healthcare Inequalities and NHS Prevention programmes in London, bringing a holistic view to the strategic challenge of preventative healthcare.
12:40 - 14:00
Customer Experience Management
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
14:00 - 14:25
Customer Experience Management
The Royal College of Surgeons of England Case Study: The CX Paradox: How AI Is Helping Us Deliver More Human Experiences
Case Study
Customer experience transformation is often seen as a technology challenge - implementing new platforms, introducing automation, and harnessing the potential of AI.
But the real opportunity is not to replace human interactions; it is to create the headspace for better ones.
At the Royal College of Surgeons of England, our CX North Star is simple: we care for the people who care. To bring this to life at scale, we have adopted a clear principle: automate the repeatable, personalise the emotional.
This session explores how we are using AI, technology, and service redesign to transform CX across people, processes, and technology. By removing unnecessary friction, improving access to information, and empowering colleagues, we are creating more time and capacity for the moments where empathy, expertise, and human connection matter most.
Discover how a human-led approach to AI can help organisations navigate the complexity of CX transformation - balancing efficiency with empathy, digital capability with personalisation, and innovation with care.
Speaker:
Harry Blamire
The Royal College of Surgeons of England
Director of Customer Experience
Part strategist, part operator, and full-time champion of people-centred design, Harry is known for bringing energy, clarity, and a healthy dose of pragmatism to complex challenges.
His guiding philosophy? Be curious, be kind, get things done.
14:25 - 14:50
Customer Experience Management
Legacy Workarounds to Next-Gen CX: loveholidays’ Blueprint for AI-Powered Travel Support
Presentation
As the UK's fastest-growing online travel agent, loveholidays outgrew its legacy CX stack fast — fragmented data, language barriers, and rising complexity across new markets. In this fireside chat,
Eugene Neale shares how loveholidays unified UJET, Google Gemini Enterprise for CX, and Kustomer CRM into one AI-powered platform — enabling multi-language virtual agents, real contextual self-service, and results that include 55% virtual agent containment and £3M in annual savings. Eugene gets candid about what surprised him, how Agent Assist has changed life for human agents, and his advice for CX leaders ready to modernize and deploy AI at scale.
Speakers:
Leslie Blanke
UJET
Chief Product Officer & GM (EMEA)
Eugene Neale
Love Holidays
Director of Business IT and AI Operations
14:50 - 15:20
Customer Experience Management
CX Transformation – Leading Change That Actually Sticks
Panel Discussion
CX transformation is one of the most ambitious and most commonly stalled programmes on a senior leader's agenda. The pace of technological change, from agentic AI and journey orchestration to autonomous service delivery, is accelerating the need for transformation while simultaneously raising the stakes for getting it right. The ambition is rarely the problem. What derails most programmes is the complexity of managing change across people, process, and technology simultaneously while maintaining operational performance and cultural momentum.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what CX transformation looks like when it delivers lasting rather than temporary change. From navigating the integration of AI and intelligent automation into live CX operations to ensuring employee experience remains central throughout, panellists will explore what separates the transformations that stick from those that lose momentum and what leaders can do to give their programmes the best possible chance of success.
What you'll gain:
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Practical approaches to managing CX transformation across people, process, and technology in an era of rapid technological change
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Insight into how leading organisations are integrating generative, conversational and agentic AI and intelligent automation into live CX operations without losing sight of the human side
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A clearer picture of what separates CX transformations that deliver lasting change from those that stall
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Real examples of the change management decisions that are making the biggest difference in successful CX transformation programmes
Speakers:
Natalie Fuller
Zempler Bank
Head of Customer Experience
Natalie has spent the last 8 years at Zempler Bank, playing a key role in its journey from fintech challenger to established digital bank, with a clear focus on supporting UK small businesses.
Her work spans improving everyday journeys, reducing avoidable friction and helping teams deliver better outcomes for customers – while balancing commercial goals and regulatory expectations.
She’s particularly passionate about making CX transformation real and sustainable, sharing honest lessons on what works (and what doesn’t) when driving change across people, process and technology.
Tansy Goodman
Serco
Global Cyber Delivery Lead
Throughout her career, Tansy has specialised in helping organisations navigate complex transformation by bringing structure to ambiguity, aligning stakeholders around shared outcomes, and translating strategy into meaningful action.
Alongside her work in digital transformation, Tansy is Co-Chair of Serco's multicultural inclusion network, Embrace, where she has helped grow engagement, build community participation and create sustainable governance models that empower others to lead.
Her work sits at the intersection of people, process and technology, with a particular interest in how trust, communication and behavioural signals influence engagement, adoption and long-term loyalty.
Tansy is passionate about creating environments where people choose to participate, contribute and stay engaged, whether as customers, employees, stakeholders or community members.
Chantelle Casey
Tap CXM
Principal Solutions Architect
With expertise spanning a variety of MarTech platforms, Chantelle ensures that enterprise organisations are procuring and utilising MarTech solutions that align with their business objectives and can deliver on their requirements, while maintaining high-quality standards.
Chantelle is also co-host of the The CX Equation, a UK-charting podcast that discusses the strategy, technology and operations behind truly great customer experiences.
She also leads a high-performing consulting team, fostering growth through career frameworks, training programs, and a culture of continuous learning.
15:20 - 15:45
Customer Experience Management
Trusted AI in CX: What Transformation Actually Requires
Presentation
The pressure to deploy AI in customer service is high. The pressure to make it work safely, consistently, and in ways customers actually trust, is even greater.
This session moves past the deployment question and into the harder one: what does it actually take to build AI that delivers, not just demos?
Through structured discussion and real-world examples, we’ll examine what separates trustworthy AI programs that scale from those that stall, and what the organizations getting it right are doing differently.
We will cover:
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How to define and measure trust in AI-assisted customer interactions
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What governance and human-in-the-loop models look like in practice
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Lessons from implementations that succeeded and those that didn't
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Practical frameworks attendees can bring back to their team immediately
Speaker:
Indy Bajwa
Kustomer
Solutions Consultant
15:45 - 16:05
Customer Experience Management
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
16:05 - 16:30
Customer Experience Management
Experian Case Study: From Feel-Good to Bottom Line: The Business Impact of CX
Case Study
Customer Experience teams are no longer just the creators of reports and presenters of client feedback. Customer Experience is no longer a soft metric; it is a measurable driver of business performance. In this session, we will explore how to build a convincing business case for CX by linking customer experience outcomes to financial results and demonstrating the ROI of CX initiatives.
We will discuss how to identify the metrics that matter most, measure the impact of CX on revenue and growth, and use customer insights to make smarter decisions.
Speaker:
Emma Perkins
Experian
Head of CX Strategy EMEA & APAC
16:30 - 16:55
Customer Experience Management
Own Your CX Future: How Real-Time Operations Let You Predict It
Presentation
For years, CX has looked in the rear-view mirror. A feedback form that lands days after the visit's already over. An audit once a quarter. Insight that arrives long after the moment that mattered has passed. Real-time operations changed that, surfacing issues the instant they occur. But what if the real shift isn't reacting faster at all? What if it's knowing what's coming before it happens?
This session traces that journey, from post-visit surveys and periodic audits, through operational excellence in real time, to the real prize beyond it: using today's operational trends to predict tomorrow's customer experience, and act on it before it's even happened.
Speaker:
Jonathan Underwood
Serve First
Head of Product
Proven track record in scaling early-stage ventures, securing investment, and delivering measurable hypergrowth - driving revenues from £15M to £130M and transaction volumes from 6,000 to over 175M through strategic roadmaps and commercially grounded product and technology leadership.
Trusted partner to global brands including Google, Cisco, Citi, HSBC, Visa, and Revolute. Currently leading a cross-functional product organisation, delivering innovative AI-driven fraud solutions, whilst ensuring regulatory compliance to deliver on multi-million-euro P&L responsibilities.
Looks to combine his deep understanding of next generation fraud detection, identity verification and payment technologies, into product-led roadmaps and growth strategies, leading to investment and exit.
16:55 - 17:25
Customer Experience Management
Making the Business Case – The Metrics That Actually Move Boards
Panel Discussion
NPS and CSAT have served the CX industry well, but they are no longer enough to make the commercial case for continued investment at board level. As AI-driven measurement, predictive analytics, and real-time customer outcome tracking make it increasingly possible to demonstrate the financial return of experience investment with far greater precision, the organisations doing this most effectively are changing the conversation about what CX measurement is actually for and what it is capable of proving.
In this panel, senior leaders will share how they are building more commercially credible measurement frameworks that go beyond legacy metrics and connect CX performance directly to revenue outcomes, customer lifetime value, and business growth. From measurement tools to predictive models that link experience investment to future commercial performance, panellists will explore what it takes to make measurement a strategic asset rather than a reporting exercise.
What you'll gain:
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Practical frameworks for building commercially credible CX measurement that resonates at board level
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Insight into how advanced measurement and predictive analytics are changing what is possible in CX performance tracking
-
A clearer picture of how to move beyond NPS and CSAT to a measurement approach that drives strategic decisions
-
Real examples of how leading organisations are using next-generation measurement to strengthen the business case for continued CX investment
Speakers:
Emma Perkins
Experian
Head of CX Strategy EMEA & APAC
Vanessa Milan
Cambridge University Press & Assessment
Head of Voice of the Customer, Global Operations
Passionate about Voice of the Customer and a natural customer advocate, I specialise in engaging internal stakeholders and turning customer insight into strategic improvements that enhance the customer experience across the organisation.
A self-starter with a multidisciplinary approach, I lead the development and execution of the Voice of the Customer programme, strategy, and governance across departments at Cambridge University Press & Assessment.
17:25 - 17:30
Customer Experience Management
Closing Remarks
Closing Remarks
Brian wraps up our first day of the Engage Customer Summit, summarising the key learnings as well as a sneak peak into what Day Two holds. See you tomorrow!
Speaker:
Brian Manusama
Actionary
Executive Partner
17:30
Customer Experience Management
Summit After-Party
The Night Summit
08:55 - 09:00
Marketing & CRM
Welcome to the 2026 Engage Customer Summit
Introduction
Welcome to the Engage Customer Summit 2026.
Day 1 is all about The Customer Reality – putting the real pressures, gaps and successes in customer engagement front and centre. From strained contact centres and shifting customer expectations to the challenges of turning data into decisions and rebuilding loyalty, today is designed to surface what is genuinely happening in organisations right now, not just what the slideware says.
In this opening address, Scott will set the tone for a day of honest, practical insight. Today’s agenda is built to help you see your own organisation more clearly – through case studies, panels and conversations grounded in lived experience.
Speaker:
Scott Logie
DMA
DMA Membership Advocate
Engaging, innovative and creative thinker; passionate about helping businesses build growth strategies to drive increased loyalty and value.
My main aim in business is to help build and then unlock the potential in a customer base.
I love to spend my time with businesses looking at what they can achieve if they understand their customers better and use that understanding to create long term relationships.
I’m a highly experienced data based marketer, with a background in finance but I have spent lots of time with charities, automotive, FMCG, government, on-line gaming and retail.
With a grounding in data, a degree in statistics and over 20 years of working across a range of businesses, both inside and working with suppliers, I can understand the challenges any business has in growing and building long-term value and can then contribute to achieving this goal.
As a current board member and ex-Chair of the Direct Marketing Association, I get a unique perspective on industry developments which in turn helps me to understand the future of direct marketing and how businesses should adapt to meet the challenge ahead.
I’ve built successful teams, covering areas as diverse as customer insight, marketing, Consultancy and Campaign Management and led a management team through a successful MBO, dealing with private equity backers and staying with the business to a successful trade sale. It’s all about great people and I have employed and developed some of the best in the industry.
I believe my main strength is in understanding business strategy and building collaborative teams to design, build and deliver winning propositions to meet and beat expectations.
09:00 - 09:25
Marketing & CRM
Customer Engagement 2026: Loyalty in the Age of AI
Opening Keynote
AI promises greater efficiency, more relevant experiences and new ways to personalise at scale. But as customers face continued cost pressures and rising concerns about how their data is used, loyalty cannot be assumed.
The Customer Engagement 2026 Loyalty in the Age of AI session explores what it takes to build stronger customer relationships when technology, expectations and everyday purchasing behaviour are all changing.
Drawing on research among UK consumers and marketers, the report examines the tensions shaping loyalty today. It looks at the gap between what customers say and how they act, the role of trust in an increasingly data-driven world and where AI can help brands engage more effectively or risk pushing audiences away.
Speaker:
Ian Gibbs
Data & Marketing Association
Insight and Planning Director
09:25 - 09:50
Marketing & CRM
Intrepid Travel Case Study: Growing a Global Brand With Distinct Regional Markets
Interview
Global brands must balance scale with local relevance in an increasingly fragmented world. This panel explores how marketers can build consistent, impactful brands across markets while adapting to cultural nuance and change.
Speaker:
Hazel McGuire
Intrepid Travel
Chief Marketing Officer
Appointed Chief Marketing Officer in 2025, Hazel leads Intrepid Travel's global brand, communications, digital marketing, customer, sales and service, insights, and experiences teams, helping drive the company's growth and ambition to become one of the world's most iconic purpose-led travel brands.
With more than 20 years' experience across travel, transport and tourism, Hazel has held senior marketing, commercial and general management roles. Since joining Intrepid in 2022, she has helped accelerate growth, leading the UK business through record sales performance and strengthening the connection between customer insight, marketing and product strategy globally.
A passionate advocate for responsible tourism and ethical marketing, Hazel serves on the Board of Travel by B Corp and believes businesses have a responsibility to create positive outcomes for travellers, communities and destinations.
Fun Facts
Hazel is a football mum, runner and passionate foodie who loves cooking, eating and tracking down great restaurants. If you're dining out with Hazel, leave the ordering to her.
Her favourite trip is Sri Lanka Family Holiday, her first Intrepid adventure as a family, where home-cooked meals, countryside bike rides and elephant safaris kept everyone entertained.
09:50 - 10:20
Marketing & CRM
The Campaign That Actually Lands – Smarter Marketing for Better Customer Outcomes
Panel Discussion
Marketing has never had more data, more channels, or more tools at its disposal, yet the gap between the communications customers want to receive and the ones they actually get remains stubbornly wide. The organisations closing that gap are those where marketing strategy is genuinely driven by customer insight, where campaigns are designed around customer outcomes rather than campaign metrics, and where the connection between what is sent and what the customer actually needs feels purposeful rather than coincidental.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what genuinely outcome-focused marketing looks like in practice. From using customer data to build more intelligent, lifecycle-driven campaign strategies to measuring success in a way that reflects customer engagement and outcomes rather than delivery statistics, panellists will explore what it takes to build a marketing approach that customers actually welcome and that drives the relationships and results organisations are looking for.
What you'll gain:
-
A clear picture of what genuinely outcome-focused marketing looks like when customer insight is driving every campaign decision
-
Practical approaches to building lifecycle-driven marketing strategies that feel relevant and timely to every customer
-
Insight into how leading organisations are measuring campaign success in a way that reflects customer engagement and outcomes rather than activity metrics
-
Real examples of how smarter, more insight-driven marketing is improving customer relationships and driving stronger outcomes
Speakers:
Isie Marcar
Hightouch
Account Director
Michelle Monck
Redwood Bank
Director of Marketing
Michelle Monck is Director of Marketing at Redwood Bank, a specialist business bank launched eight years ago to challenge mainstream lenders and better serve the UK’s underserved SME market. Based in Letchworth and Warrington, Redwood combines relationship banking with modern technology and achieved profitability within three years, one of the fastest results for a start up bank.
Michelle leads marketing strategy and manages relationships across the existing lending customer portfolio, with a focus on driving growth and increasing lifetime value through targeted marketing and brand building on a budget.
Aileen Raynos
Nestlé Purina UK & Ireland
CRM Lead
Now in her 18th year at Nestlé Purina, Aileen leads initiatives focused on transforming how we connect with consumers across our digital ecosystem. Through a data-driven approach and highly personalised CRM programmes, she helps deliver best-in-class consumer experiences that drive engagement, loyalty, and growth. Her focus is on building meaningful, long-term relationships that enhance the lives of pets and the people who care for them.
10:20 - 11:00
Marketing & CRM
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
11:00 - 11:25
Marketing & CRM
Landmark Information Group Case Study: Landmark’s One Team Approach Means Success for Customers
Case Study
Hear about One Landmark, the approach that Landmark Information Group takes to ensure that the customer is front and centre of everything they do. You'll hear about the collaboration across teams that means customer relationships become customer partnerships
Speaker:
Helen Luty
Landmark Information Group
Head of Customer Experience
Helen has over 20 years of Customer Service Leadership experience across a variety of B2B and B2C businesses. As Head of Customer Experience for Landmark Information Group, Helen covers service, support and success across a variety of Landmark brands, building and improving processes to ensure Landmark are easy to do business with, that focus on positive outcomes, that seek and learn from feedback and that look to the ever-evolving needs of customers.
Helen’s passion for making a difference, cascades throughout the CX Teams and has resulted in high engagement scores and as we all know…engaged and happy teams mean engaged and happy customers.
Helen has been named in the CXM Stars Top 25 Professionals 2024 and 2025, Was awarded CX Professional of the Year at the UKCXA23, Customer Service Professional at the UK Customer Satisfaction Awards 2023 and her team won Best B2B Customer Experience at UKCXA24 and Best Use of Customer Insight at the Engage Awards 2024.
11:50 - 12:20
Marketing & CRM
Breaking Down the Walls – How Cross-Functional Teams Are Transforming CX
Panel Discussion
Delivering a consistently excellent customer experience is not the responsibility of a single team, yet in many organisations marketing, sales, service, and operations are still working in ways that create friction, inconsistency, and missed opportunity at every handoff. The organisations genuinely raising the bar on customer experience are those that have broken down the functional walls and built truly cross-functional approaches to CX delivery that put the customer at the centre rather than the organisational chart.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what genuine cross-functional collaboration looks like in a CRM-enabled organisation. From building the structures that allow teams to work from the same customer picture, to the cultural and leadership changes needed to make cross-functional CX delivery stick, panellists will explore what it takes to move from siloed functions to a genuinely connected approach that improves experience at every stage of the customer journey.
What you'll gain:
-
A clear picture of what genuine cross-functional CX delivery looks like and what it takes to build it
-
Practical approaches to creating the shared data foundations and governance structures that enable teams to work together around the customer
-
Insight into the cultural and leadership changes needed to make cross-functional collaboration in CX sustainable rather than occasional
-
Real examples of how breaking down functional silos is improving customer experience and driving commercial results
Speakers:
Sharon Braude
Virgin Active
Global Group Director Marketing Technology
In her leadership roles, Sharon has created and defined the marketing vision and designed and implemented customer strategies for globally recognised brands – including Disney, Red Bull Racing, and the BBC. She holds several Advisory Board positions, presents keynotes at industry events, and judges global advertising and design awards.
Sanj Badhan
Starling
Head of Customer Engagement
Areas of impact: strategic development & planning | customer marketing & communications (CRM/loyalty) | growth marketing | proposition development | commercial management | marketing automation | data & segmentation.
12:20 - 13:40
Marketing & CRM
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
13:40 - 14:00
Marketing & CRM
Voice of the Room: What Is Holding Customer Engagement Back?
Q&A
Every marketing team wants more relevant, more effective customer engagement. Day 1 asks what is really standing in the way. Ipsos poll the room live on the biggest barriers, from budget and legacy technology to data quality, silos and proving ROI, and ask you to rate how well your organisation builds customer relationships over time. We will then look at where the room plans to invest over the next 12 to 24 months, and finish by asking what you think will have the biggest impact on customer experience in the next three years. The same core questions run on other stages, so you can see how marketing and CRM leaders compare with their peers across the summit.
Speaker:
Scott Logie
DMA
DMA Membership Advocate
Engaging, innovative and creative thinker; passionate about helping businesses build growth strategies to drive increased loyalty and value.
My main aim in business is to help build and then unlock the potential in a customer base.
I love to spend my time with businesses looking at what they can achieve if they understand their customers better and use that understanding to create long term relationships.
I’m a highly experienced data based marketer, with a background in finance but I have spent lots of time with charities, automotive, FMCG, government, on-line gaming and retail.
With a grounding in data, a degree in statistics and over 20 years of working across a range of businesses, both inside and working with suppliers, I can understand the challenges any business has in growing and building long-term value and can then contribute to achieving this goal.
As a current board member and ex-Chair of the Direct Marketing Association, I get a unique perspective on industry developments which in turn helps me to understand the future of direct marketing and how businesses should adapt to meet the challenge ahead.
I’ve built successful teams, covering areas as diverse as customer insight, marketing, Consultancy and Campaign Management and led a management team through a successful MBO, dealing with private equity backers and staying with the business to a successful trade sale. It’s all about great people and I have employed and developed some of the best in the industry.
I believe my main strength is in understanding business strategy and building collaborative teams to design, build and deliver winning propositions to meet and beat expectations.
14:00 - 14:25
Marketing & CRM
In Conversation with Sharon Braude: What 20 Years of Marketing Transformation Teaches Us About Successful Consumer Engagement & Team Leadership
Interview
Sharon Braude has developed and transformed marketing practices for over 20 years - from creating customer strategies for global brands like Disney, Red Bull Racing and BBC to leading teams who have been recognised for their award winning campaigns. In this conversation with Scott Logie, Sharon talks about the decisions that shaped her career and why marketing is still a fascinating industry that constantly reinvents itself.
Key takeaways:
-
How to bring disparate teams together behind a singular vision that changes the way marketing is done
-
Discover the common traits of award-winning teams, and how to build one
-
What determines the successful impact of data and creativity when planning customer initiatives
-
Practical advice for Marketing and CX leaders aiming to embed new approaches in their own organisations
Speaker:
Sharon Braude
Virgin Active
Global Group Director Marketing Technology
In her leadership roles, Sharon has created and defined the marketing vision and designed and implemented customer strategies for globally recognised brands – including Disney, Red Bull Racing, and the BBC. She holds several Advisory Board positions, presents keynotes at industry events, and judges global advertising and design awards.
14:25 - 14:50
Marketing & CRM
From Passive to Active: Why Gamification Wins at Engagement
Presentation
Struggling to keep customers engaged in a world of distractions? Today’s marketers are under pressure to do more with less. More engagement, more loyalty, more measurable impact. And less time, budget, and attention to work with.
This session explores how leading brands use marketing gamification to create standout customer experiences that don’t just grab attention - but hold it.
You’ll learn how to:
-
Turn passive audiences into active participants across every touchpoint
-
Use gamification to drive real-time interaction, repeat visits, and deeper engagement
-
Capture zero-party data in a way your customers actually enjoy
-
Prove impact with measurable performance across acquisition, engagement, and loyalty.
Whether you're looking to boost performance on owned channels, or build brand experiences people want to come back to - this session will give you practical ideas, real results, and a new way to think about customer engagement.
Speaker:
Libby Jackson
Playable
Global Enterprise Director
14:50 - 15:20
Marketing & CRM
From First Click to Loyal Customer – The Marketing Strategies Powering the Full Journey
Panel Discussion
The most effective customer journeys are not accidental. They are the result of marketing that goes beyond acquisition to play an active role at every stage of the customer relationship, from the first interaction through to loyalty, advocacy, and long-term retention. Yet in many organisations marketing is still primarily focused on the top of the funnel, leaving significant opportunity untapped further along the customer lifecycle where the relationship deepens, value grows, and the real test of customer engagement begins.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what marketing-powered customer journey delivery looks like when it is working across the full lifecycle. From designing more connected, relevant campaign and content strategies that serve customers at every stage, to ensuring marketing is actively contributing to retention, loyalty, and relationship depth rather than stopping at acquisition, panellists will explore what it takes to build a marketing approach that genuinely serves customers and the business from first click to long-term advocate.
What you'll gain:
-
A clear picture of what marketing-powered customer journey delivery looks like when it is working across the full customer lifecycle
-
Practical approaches to designing more connected, relevant marketing strategies that go beyond acquisition to serve customers at every stage
-
Insight into how leading organisations are using marketing to actively contribute to retention, loyalty, and long-term relationship depth
-
Real examples of how extending marketing's role across the full customer journey is improving engagement quality and driving stronger customer outcomes
Speakers:
Bora Suci
Customer.io
Account Executive, Mid-Market
Helen Luty
Landmark Information Group
Head of Customer Experience
Helen has over 20 years of Customer Service Leadership experience across a variety of B2B and B2C businesses. As Head of Customer Experience for Landmark Information Group, Helen covers service, support and success across a variety of Landmark brands, building and improving processes to ensure Landmark are easy to do business with, that focus on positive outcomes, that seek and learn from feedback and that look to the ever-evolving needs of customers.
Helen’s passion for making a difference, cascades throughout the CX Teams and has resulted in high engagement scores and as we all know…engaged and happy teams mean engaged and happy customers.
Helen has been named in the CXM Stars Top 25 Professionals 2024 and 2025, Was awarded CX Professional of the Year at the UKCXA23, Customer Service Professional at the UK Customer Satisfaction Awards 2023 and her team won Best B2B Customer Experience at UKCXA24 and Best Use of Customer Insight at the Engage Awards 2024.
Kate Cash
Roke
Head of Marketing
Kate Cash is Head of Marketing at Roke and a commercial leader with experience across technology, telecoms and defence.
She specialises in transforming go-to-market models – connecting product, marketing and sales around customer value to create better buyer experiences, stronger sales conversations and more repeatable growth.
Her experience spans product marketing, sales development and buyer enablement, with a particular interest in the systems, skills and commercial disciplines that turn complex propositions and individual expertise into scalable revenue.
Kate is passionate about making complex things easier to understand, easier to buy and ultimately, easier to sell.
15:20 - 15:45
Marketing & CRM
The System Is the Strategy: How Outokumpu Turned B2B Marketing Into a Commercial Growth Engine
Presentation
Most B2B marketing teams aren't short of activity, they're short of coherence. Brand sits in one team, performance in another, events in a third. Everyone is busy, nothing compounds, and when the board asks what's working, nobody has a clean answer. That was the position Outokumpu, the global leader in stainless steel, found itself in.
The business needed marketing to stop acting as a support function and start working as a strategic commercial driver, one that could hold its own in the boardroom as Outokumpu delivers its commercial strategy. Outokumpu rebuilt its marketing around a single connected system, where every touchpoint makes the next one work harder.
In this session you will learn how Outokumpu:
-
Connected the answers to four fundamental questions so that segmentation, narrative, content and measurement all informed each other.
-
Traced one strategic narrative from brand campaign to thought leadership to performance channels, showing how brand activity upstream reduces friction and cost further down the funnel.
-
Built a four-layer measurement model that changes what the team does next, instead of just reporting what it did, and moved the board conversation from belief to evidence.
-
Changed the questions senior leadership asks about marketing, from "what are we doing this month?" to "what experience do we want to create?"
-
Created a partner operating model built on shared objectives and trust, which is the foundation that lets the system keep compounding year after year.
Speaker:
Heidi Haila
Outokumpu
Vice President, Brand & Marketing
15:45 - 16:05
Marketing & CRM
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
16:05 - 16:30
Marketing & CRM
In Conversation with Aileen Raynos: Building Customer Relationships That Last
Interview
Aileen Raynos is in her 18th year at Nestlé Purina, where she has helped change how the business connects with consumers across its digital channels. In this conversation with Scott Logie, Aileen explains how data and highly personalised CRM programmes can build long-term relationships that drive engagement, loyalty and growth. She talks about the realities of changing CRM inside a large, established organisation, and how to keep the emotional side of the customer relationship at the centre, even when so much is driven by data.
Key takeaways:
-
What personalisation looks like in practice, and where most brands fall short
-
How to use data to understand customers without losing the human connection
-
How to define and measure a meaningful long-term customer relationship
-
Lessons on driving change from within a large organisation
Speaker:
Aileen Raynos
Nestlé Purina UK & Ireland
CRM Lead
Now in her 18th year at Nestlé Purina, Aileen leads initiatives focused on transforming how we connect with consumers across our digital ecosystem. Through a data-driven approach and highly personalised CRM programmes, she helps deliver best-in-class consumer experiences that drive engagement, loyalty, and growth. Her focus is on building meaningful, long-term relationships that enhance the lives of pets and the people who care for them.
16:30 - 17:00
Marketing & CRM
Redwood Bank: The Marketing Reality Check – Are You Getting the Return You Should
Interview
Marketing teams have more measurement tools available than ever before, yet the gap between the metrics organisations track and the ones that genuinely reflect the impact of marketing on customer relationships and business performance remains significant. Too many marketing strategies are still being evaluated on activity and delivery statistics rather than the customer engagement quality and business outcomes they are actually driving. The organisations getting measurement right are those that have moved beyond vanity metrics and built a clear, honest picture of what their marketing is really doing for customers and for the business.
In this session Michelle will share what genuinely effective marketing measurement looks like in practice. From building frameworks that connect marketing activity to customer engagement quality and business outcomes, to making the case for marketing investment in a language that resonates across the organisation. Michelle will explore what it takes to move from measuring what is easy to measuring what actually matters.
Speaker:
Michelle Monck
Redwood Bank
Director of Marketing
Michelle Monck is Director of Marketing at Redwood Bank, a specialist business bank launched eight years ago to challenge mainstream lenders and better serve the UK’s underserved SME market. Based in Letchworth and Warrington, Redwood combines relationship banking with modern technology and achieved profitability within three years, one of the fastest results for a start up bank.
Michelle leads marketing strategy and manages relationships across the existing lending customer portfolio, with a focus on driving growth and increasing lifetime value through targeted marketing and brand building on a budget.
17:00 - 17:05
Marketing & CRM
Closing Remarks
Closing Remarks
Scott wraps up our first day of the Engage Customer Summit, summarising the key learnings as well as a sneak peak into what Day Two holds. See you tomorrow!
Speaker:
Scott Logie
DMA
DMA Membership Advocate
Engaging, innovative and creative thinker; passionate about helping businesses build growth strategies to drive increased loyalty and value.
My main aim in business is to help build and then unlock the potential in a customer base.
I love to spend my time with businesses looking at what they can achieve if they understand their customers better and use that understanding to create long term relationships.
I’m a highly experienced data based marketer, with a background in finance but I have spent lots of time with charities, automotive, FMCG, government, on-line gaming and retail.
With a grounding in data, a degree in statistics and over 20 years of working across a range of businesses, both inside and working with suppliers, I can understand the challenges any business has in growing and building long-term value and can then contribute to achieving this goal.
As a current board member and ex-Chair of the Direct Marketing Association, I get a unique perspective on industry developments which in turn helps me to understand the future of direct marketing and how businesses should adapt to meet the challenge ahead.
I’ve built successful teams, covering areas as diverse as customer insight, marketing, Consultancy and Campaign Management and led a management team through a successful MBO, dealing with private equity backers and staying with the business to a successful trade sale. It’s all about great people and I have employed and developed some of the best in the industry.
I believe my main strength is in understanding business strategy and building collaborative teams to design, build and deliver winning propositions to meet and beat expectations.
17:05
Marketing & CRM
Summit After-Party
The Night Summit
08:55 - 09:00
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Welcome to the 2026 Engage Customer Summit
Introduction
Welcome to the Engage Customer Summit 2026.
Day 1 is all about The Customer Reality – putting the real pressures, gaps and successes in customer engagement front and centre. From strained contact centres and shifting customer expectations to the challenges of turning data into decisions and rebuilding loyalty, today is designed to surface what is genuinely happening in organisations right now, not just what the slideware says.
In this opening address, Andrew will set the tone for a day of honest, practical insight. Today’s agenda is built to help you see your own organisation more clearly – through case studies, panels and conversations grounded in lived experience.
Speaker:
Andrew Hough
Cranfield University
Associate Professor Sales Leadership & Performance
09:00 - 09:25
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
From Contacts to Confidence: How Customer‑Led Growth Really Happens
Opening Keynote
Brands talk a lot about customer‑centricity, but growth still often starts from channels and campaigns rather than from people. This opening keynote reframes CRM, marketing and customer engagement around one simple idea: growth happens when customers feel confident choosing you, staying with you and recommending you.
The session will explore how leading organisations are joining up CRM, content, data and service into journeys that build that confidence over time. It will look at what modern “customer‑led growth” really means – from the way teams are structured and targets set, to how personalisation, loyalty and measurement work together rather than as separate initiatives. Delegates will leave with a clear set of questions to apply to their own strategies during the day: who are we really serving, what confidence are we building, and how do we know?
Speaker:
Andrew Hough
Cranfield University
Associate Professor Sales Leadership & Performance
09:50 - 10:20
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Beyond the Points Card – What Loyalty Really Means Today
Panel Discussion
Points, rewards, and tiered programmes have their place, but the customers who stay, spend more, and advocate for a brand are rarely those motivated by a points balance alone. The organisations building genuine long-term loyalty are those that have moved beyond the transactional and started creating the emotional connections, relevant experiences, and sense of genuine value that make customers choose to stay rather than feeling incentivised to.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what modern loyalty strategy looks like when it goes beyond the programme. From understanding what is actually driving repeat behaviour today to building the emotional connections that create lasting brand relationships, panellists will explore what it takes to build loyalty that is genuinely felt by customers rather than mechanically administered.
What you'll gain:
-
A clear picture of what modern loyalty strategy looks like beyond points and traditional rewards mechanics
-
Practical approaches to building the emotional connections that drive genuine long-term loyalty
-
Insight into what is actually driving repeat behaviour in a market where switching has never been easier
-
Real examples of how leading organisations are creating loyalty that customers feel rather than just participate in
Speakers:
Harry Blamire
The Royal College of Surgeons of England
Director of Customer Experience
Part strategist, part operator, and full-time champion of people-centred design, Harry is known for bringing energy, clarity, and a healthy dose of pragmatism to complex challenges.
His guiding philosophy? Be curious, be kind, get things done.
Kieran Holdcroft
ManyPets
Operations Director
Dave King
British Gas
Customer Communications and Engagement Manager
With more than 20 years' experience across the energy sector, spanning operational, customer experience and communications roles, he has developed a deep understanding of the customer journey and the factors that influence customer behaviour.
Dave is passionate about how communications can bring strategy and culture to life, shape perceptions, inspire action and build lasting customer loyalty.
10:20 - 11:00
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
11:00 - 11:25
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Serco Case Study: Retention Under Pressure: Why People Leave Emotionally Before They Leave Commercially
Case Study
In competitive markets, organisations often focus on customer churn as a metric to manage rather than a behaviour to understand. But customers rarely leave suddenly. More often, they disengage gradually, with confidence, trust and emotional connection declining long before commercial signals appear.
Drawing on experience from digital transformation, stakeholder engagement and community-building, this session explores the concept of "quiet churn" – the subtle behavioural indicators that signal when people are beginning to disengage.
Tansy Goodman will share practical lessons on identifying early warning signs, creating meaningful interventions, and building environments where people actively choose to stay engaged. Attendees will learn how trust, transparency, communication, and visible progress can strengthen loyalty in situations where customers have greater choice than ever before.
Through real-world examples and a human-centred approach, the session will challenge delegates to think differently about retention, moving beyond transactions and metrics to focus on confidence, connection, and long-term engagement.
Speaker:
Tansy Goodman
Serco
Global Cyber Delivery Lead
Throughout her career, Tansy has specialised in helping organisations navigate complex transformation by bringing structure to ambiguity, aligning stakeholders around shared outcomes, and translating strategy into meaningful action.
Alongside her work in digital transformation, Tansy is Co-Chair of Serco's multicultural inclusion network, Embrace, where she has helped grow engagement, build community participation and create sustainable governance models that empower others to lead.
Her work sits at the intersection of people, process and technology, with a particular interest in how trust, communication and behavioural signals influence engagement, adoption and long-term loyalty.
Tansy is passionate about creating environments where people choose to participate, contribute and stay engaged, whether as customers, employees, stakeholders or community members.
11:25 - 11:50
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Retention Under Pressure: Keeping Customers in a Competitive Market
Presentation
Most organizations face a critical gap: their CRM systems know what customers did, but their feedback channels know how they feel. This session explores how leading companies are closing this "insight-to-action gap" by embedding a Human Intelligence Layer directly into their operational tech stack, connecting Voice of Customer data with CRM, marketing, support, and transaction systems in real time. The result: 15-20% churn reductions and service recovery cut from 3-5 days to hours. More critically, organizations are future-proofing their tech stacks so autonomous AI agents inherit human understanding from day one, preventing tone-deaf interventions at scale. Discover the integration patterns and real-world outcomes transforming retention.
Speaker:
Matt Trickett
Qualtrics
XM Strategist
11:50 - 12:20
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Retention Under Pressure – Keeping Customers When Switching Has Never Been Easier
Panel Discussion
Churn is rising across sectors and the commercial cost is significant. In a market where switching is easier, faster, and less risky than ever for customers, the retention strategies that worked even a few years ago are showing their age. The organisations holding on to their customers most effectively are those that have moved beyond reactive win-back tactics and built genuinely proactive retention models that identify and act on risk before it becomes defection.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what effective retention looks like under genuine commercial pressure. From churn prediction and at-risk customer strategies to the operational and cultural levers that are making the biggest difference to retention rates, panellists will explore what it takes to keep customers in a competitive market where their next alternative is always just a click away.
What you'll gain:
-
Practical approaches to building proactive retention models that act on churn risk before it becomes defection
-
Insight into the churn prediction and at-risk customer strategies that are delivering the strongest results
-
A clearer picture of the operational and cultural levers that are making the biggest difference to retention rates right now
-
Real examples of how leading organisations are holding on to customers in markets where switching friction has almost disappeared
Speakers:
Ed Smyth
phs Group
Commercial Insights Manager
Oliver Parsons
Lloyds Banking Group
Head of Ecosystems, Customer Propositions
Oliver Parsons is Head of Ecosystems at Lloyds Banking Group, where he leads the development of customer-focused digital propositions across areas including travel, mobility and health. He specialises in combining customer insight, experience design and commercial strategy to create innovative services that help customers manage more of their everyday lives through trusted banking relationships.
Passionate about customer-centric innovation, Oliver works across the Group to develop ecosystem strategies that enhance customer engagement, improve customer experiences and deliver long-term value. He regularly shares insights on ecosystem strategy, proposition innovation and the opportunities created by changing customer needs and behaviours.
12:20 - 13:40
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
13:40 - 14:00
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Audience Q&A: Beyond Points and Perks: Real Talk on Loyalty and Retention
Q&A
14:00 - 14:25
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Voice of the Room: What Is Holding Loyalty Back?
Q&A
14:25 - 14:50
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Designing Experiences for Growth: The Power of Meaningful Difference
Presentation
Customer experience is a proven growth driver, but in increasingly competitive markets, being better isn't enough. Sustainable growth instead comes from creating experiences that reinforce what makes your brand Meaningfully Different.
Join VoCoVo, Kantar and Qualtrics to discover how CX and brand differentiation work together to drive growth and strengthen competitive advantage. You'll hear how VoCoVo is transforming its approach to CX, working with Kantar to build Meaningful Difference into the moments that matter most across the journey.
What’s more, get an exclusive look at Kantar Experience Impact, powered by Qualtrics: a new solution that combines CX, brand equity and competitive context to identify the experiences most likely to drive profitable growth.
Speakers:
Theo Theodorou
VoCoVo
Customer Experience Director
David Wall
Kantar
Head of CX
14:50 - 15:20
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Personalisation as a Growth Driver – Turning Customer Understanding into Commercial Results
Panel Discussion
Personalisation is one of the most talked about strategies in customer engagement, but its commercial value is only realised when it genuinely drives behaviour rather than simply feeling clever. The organisations using personalisation most effectively are those that have connected their customer data, their experience design, and their commercial goals into a single, coherent growth strategy where relevance at every stage of the customer lifecycle translates directly into retention, revenue, and relationship depth.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what commercially effective personalisation looks like in practice. From translating customer data and understanding into experiences that genuinely strengthen relationships to the role of frontline employee experience in delivering personalised service at the moments that matter most, panellists will explore what it takes to turn customer understanding into measurable commercial results rather than just more targeted communications.
What you'll gain:
-
A clear picture of what commercially effective personalisation looks like when it is genuinely driving behaviour rather than just improving open rates
-
Practical approaches to connecting customer data, experience design, and commercial goals into a coherent personalisation-led growth strategy
-
Insight into how leading organisations are using personalisation to strengthen relationships and drive retention across the full customer lifecycle
-
Real examples of how frontline employee experience is being used to deliver personalised service at the human moments that matter most
Speakers:
Kathleen MacLean
Dr. Martens
Global Head of Customer Growth Strategy & Planning
With more than 15 years of experience across scale-ups, technology businesses and global consumer brands, Kathleen has built and led growth, customer intelligence and digital transformation initiatives spanning automotive, clean technology, telecommunications, fintech and retail. She has worked with organisations including Dr. Martens, BMW, O2, BT, Huawei and ev.energy, helping businesses accelerate customer acquisition, increase retention, optimise customer lifetime value and deliver measurable commercial growth.
Known for translating complex customer, data and organisational challenges into practical growth strategies, Kathleen combines deep expertise in customer intelligence, digital transformation and commercial strategy to help businesses uncover untapped opportunities, scale more effectively and build the foundations for long-term success.
Her approach bridges strategy and execution, enabling organisations to turn customer insight into sustainable growth and competitive advantage.
Sanj Badhan
Starling
Head of Customer Engagement
Areas of impact: strategic development & planning | customer marketing & communications (CRM/loyalty) | growth marketing | proposition development | commercial management | marketing automation | data & segmentation.
Anna Miley
The Foundation
Managing Partner
15:20 - 15:45
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
The Loyalty Loop: How Engagement, Data and Rewards Compound Into Growth
Presentation
Most loyalty programmes still reward exactly one thing: the purchase. The result is a discount ledger customers forget the moment it stops being useful, and a system that doesn’t understand the actual customer journey. In this session, Brevo introduces the Loyalty Loop: a practical operating model where engagement generates data, data earns more relevant rewards, and better rewards drive the next round of engagement — turning retention from a standalone programme into a compounding growth channel. Drawing on real brand activations across mobile wallet, social engagement and real-time triggers, Seán Ward shows what it actually takes to reward behaviour beyond the sale, build the data foundation those signals depend on, and measure impact well enough to prove loyalty is a growth engine, not a cost centre.
What you'll gain:
-
A working model for treating loyalty as a data-driven loop, not a static rewards catalogue
-
Practical ways to reward engagement beyond the purchase — social proof, community, real-time behaviour — without eroding margin through constant discounting
-
The data foundation (a unified customer profile) that makes personalised, real-time rewards possible at scale
-
Real examples of brands turning that loop into measurable gains — and where AI genuinely fits once that foundation is in place
Speaker:
Seán Ward
Brevo
Product Marketing Director
I’m a product marketing leader with 15+ years of experience helping complex products become understood, trusted, and chosen. I have led product marketing strategy across B2B SaaS, enterprise cybersecurity, consumer tech, travel tech and more, driving product growth, market expansion and global launches.
I focus on shaping positioning and messaging, building GTM functions and partnering with product and commercial teams to deliver results. I have built teams, launched profitable product tiers and scaled PLG initiatives that deliver real business impact.
My goal is always the same: make the product easy to understand, easy to buy and impossible to ignore.
15:45 - 16:05
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
16:05 - 16:30
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Turning Customer Insight Into Business Impact: In Conversation With Linzi Hindle at DHL Supply Chain
Interview
Customer insight is only valuable if it leads to action. Linzi Hindle, Director of Customer Experience shares how she transformed customer feedback from a measurement activity into a strategic driver for growth and cultural change. Through a clear vision, strong leadership, and a relentless focus on outcomes, she helped establish DHL Supply Chain UKI as a global benchmark for customer experience excellence.
Linzi will discuss the leadership decisions and actions that enabled customer experience to become one of the organisation's top priorities. Attendees will gain practical lessons on leading transformation, building customer-centric cultures at scale, securing executive sponsorship, and turning insight into measurable business impact. Whether you're starting your CX journey or looking to accelerate an existing programme, this session offers proven leadership lessons for creating meaningful and lasting change.
Speaker:
Linzi Hindle
DHL Supply Chain
Customer Experience Director
Known for combining strategic vision with authentic leadership, Linzi has built a culture where customer insight drives action, innovation, and growth. This has contributed to industry recognition including multiple UK Customer Experience Awards, most recently Gold for Best CX Strategy and Best Measurement.
A regular conference speaker and industry judge, she is passionate about creating lasting competitive advantage through customer-centric leadership and an advocate for creating cultures where customer experience becomes everyone’s responsibility.
16:30 - 17:00
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
The CLV Growth Opportunity – Are You Measuring the Right Things to Drive Long-Term Growth?
Panel Discussion
Customer lifetime value is one of the most powerful commercial metrics available, yet many organisations are still not using it to drive strategic decisions. The gap between organisations that genuinely understand the long-term commercial value of their customer relationships and those that are still optimising for short-term acquisition and transaction metrics is significant, and it is showing up in the way they invest, prioritise, and make decisions about the customer experience.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what a genuinely CLV-driven approach to customer strategy looks like in practice. From building CLV models that reflect the true value of customer relationships to aligning teams across the organisation around long-term value rather than short-term targets, panellists will explore what it takes to make CLV a genuine driver of commercial decisions rather than just a metric on a dashboard.
What you'll gain:
-
A clear picture of what a genuinely CLV-driven customer strategy looks like and the commercial difference it makes
-
Practical approaches to building CLV models that reflect the true value of customer relationships
-
Insight into how leading organisations are aligning teams around long-term value rather than short-term acquisition and transaction metrics
-
Real examples of how CLV-driven decision-making is changing the way organisations invest in and prioritise the customer experience
Speaker:
Ben Truppin
Ford Credit Europe
Group Product Manager
With experience across Ford Credit Europe, Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays – amongst others – I’ve typically sat at the intersection of product, transformation and technology teams and am consistently asked to walk into complex environments to generate straightforward experiences that customers can complete themselves.
Turning ambiguity into structure is a common thread, as is navigating the early part of making change happen. You might recognise this, it’s when organisations know they need to do things differently but are yet to settle on exactly what that might look like in practice.
With autonomy to get close to customers, understand their problems, and then to work with people who care about improving these experiences is where I do my best work.
17:25 - 17:30
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Closing Remarks
Closing Remarks
Andrew wraps up our first day of the Engage Customer Summit, summarising the key learnings as well as a sneak peak into what Day Two holds. See you tomorrow!
Speaker:
Andrew Hough
Cranfield University
Associate Professor Sales Leadership & Performance
17:05
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Summit After-Party
The Night Summit
08:55 - 09:00
Data, Insights and Analytics
Welcome to the 2026 Engage Customer Summit
Introduction
Welcome to the Engage Customer Summit 2026.
Day 1 is all about The Customer Reality – putting the real pressures, gaps and successes in customer engagement front and centre. From strained contact centres and shifting customer expectations to the challenges of turning data into decisions and rebuilding loyalty, today is designed to surface what is genuinely happening in organisations right now, not just what the slideware says.
In this opening address, Gerry will set the tone for a day of honest, practical insight. Today’s agenda is built to help you see your own organisation more clearly – through case studies, panels and conversations grounded in lived experience.
Speaker:
Gerry Brown
Customer Lifeguard
Chief Customer Officer
09:00 - 09:25
Data, Insights and Analytics
When Money Is Tight: What Consumers Now Expect From Brand Experiences
Opening Keynote
Consumers under financial pressure are not simply spending less. They are recalibrating what they expect in return for their attention, their data and their loyalty, and they are increasingly judging brands on the quality of the interaction rather than the size of the offer.
New research gets underneath that shift. It shows that relevance beats reward more often than the industry assumes: lower ticket, high affinity prizes and experiences consistently draw more participation than headline rewards, because people take part when winning feels plausible and the reward feels like them.
Emma eplores what this tells us about designing customer experience in 2027, from first party data capture to repeat purchase, and why the moment a customer chooses to take part is now one of the most revealing signals a brand has.
Speaker:
Emma Kirk
The Institute of Promotional Marketing (IPM)
General Manager
Emma Kirk is General Manager of the Institute of Promotional Marketing, bringing together career experience across sport, retail, experiential marketing and fast-growth businesses. Formerly Head of Marketing at Sheffield United Football Club, she has also led marketing for student property brand UniHomes and delivered experiential campaigns for Morrisons. Throughout her career, Emma has worked with household names including Nike, IKEA and the BBC, giving her a valuable perspective on how brands earn attention, inspire participation and build lasting customer relationships.
09:25 - 09:50
Data, Insights and Analytics
Voice of the Room: What Is Holding Your Customer Data Back?
Q&A
09:50 - 10:20
Data, Insights and Analytics
From Data Rich to Insight Led – Making Customer Data Work Harder
Panel Discussion
Most organisations are sitting on more customer data than they know what to do with. The challenge is no longer collection, it is translation. The gap between organisations that are genuinely turning data into customer engagement decisions that improve experience and drive commercial performance, and those where data sits in silos, goes unanalysed, or informs reports that nobody acts on, is one of the most significant divides in customer engagement today. The organisations pulling ahead are those that have made insight the engine of every customer engagement decision they make.
In this panel, senior leaders will share how they are building the data cultures, analytical capabilities, and operational foundations needed to turn customer data into actionable insight that drives better customer engagement and stronger commercial outcomes. From breaking down data silos to creating the conditions where insight shapes every interaction across the customer lifecycle, panellists will explore what it takes to move from data rich to truly insight led in a way that delivers measurable commercial results.
What you'll gain:
-
A clear picture of what a genuinely insight-led customer engagement organisation looks like and what it takes to build one
-
Practical approaches to breaking down data silos and turning behavioural patterns into customer engagement decisions that improve experience and drive commercial performance
-
Insight into how leading organisations are building data cultures where insight shapes every customer engagement decision rather than sitting in reports
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Real examples of how turning data into action is delivering measurable improvements in customer engagement quality and commercial outcomes
Speakers:
Aida Huggins
KFC
Customer Recovery Manager
Specializing in customer service management and process optimization, I am passionate about aligning operational strategies with evolving customer needs. My mission is to empower teams and deliver exceptional experiences through collaboration, innovation, and effective communication. I remain committed to driving continuous improvement and fostering a positive organizational culture.
Cher Lowies
Interactive Investor
Customer Insights Manager
Blending behavioural science with customer insight, Cher is naturally curious about why customers behave the way they do and enjoys helping organisations challenge long-held assumptions with real evidence. She believes the best research doesn't just answer questions, it changes the way people think.
Her work focuses on uncovering what really matters to customers, translating complex research into practical recommendations, and helping organisations make confident, evidence-based decisions.
Ben Smith
Similarweb
Senior Director of Advisory Services
10:20 - 11:00
Data, Insights and Analytics
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
11:00 - 11:25
Data, Insights and Analytics
HSBC Case Study: From Understanding to Action, How the Right Customer Mapping Impacts the Business
Case Study
Turning what we learn about customers into practical improvements that deliver measurable results.
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Map the end-to-end journey across channels (digital, branch, contact centre), capturing key steps, touchpoints, emotions, and pain points.
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Use evidence, not assumptions by combining customer feedback, behavioural data, and frontline insights to identify what really drives friction or drop-off.
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Prioritise opportunities based on customer impact and business value (e.g., reduced effort, higher conversion, fewer complaints, improved NPS).
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Design and deliver changes by translating insights into clear actions: process fixes, content changes, product tweaks, and service improvements.
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Measure outcomes with defined KPIs and ownership so the map leads to tangible benefits, not just a nice diagram.
Speaker:
Ricardo Toral
HSBC Expat
Head of International Customer Acquisition
Commercial banking executive with 21+ years of international experience leading customer acquisition, offshore banking growth, and cross-border banking strategies across the UK, USA, Mexico, Argentina, and global markets.
Proven track record of leading global business, growth strategies, developing international banking propositions, and driving commercial transformation initiatives that delivered sustainable revenue growth, increased customer acquisition, and enhanced market positioning.
Specialised in international customer acquisition, commercial growth strategy, strategic partnerships, digital acquisition optimisation, and stakeholder leadership within complex global banking environments.
11:25 - 11:50
Data, Insights and Analytics
Every Touchpoint Leaves a Signal. Are You Listening?
Presentation
How to map where and when to listen across the customer journey, understand what needs attention and turn customer evidence into action.
Every touchpoint leaves clues about the experience a customer is having. It might be what they tell you in a survey, what they say in a review or support call, the effort required to complete a task, or the point at which they give up.
The first step is mapping where, when and how you listen across the journey. Teams can then look at feedback, behaviour and operational data in journey context to see where the experience needs attention and return to customers' own words.
This session will explore how to use that shared picture to focus effort, align stakeholders, respond to individual issues and address recurring problems.
What we'll discuss:
-
What different touchpoints can reveal about the customer experience
-
Mapping where, when and how to collect timely feedback across the customer journey
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Connecting customer feedback with behavioural and operational data in journey context
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Seeing where issues are concentrated, then tracing patterns through topics and subtopics to the customer comments behind them
-
Using a shared journey view to align teams around what deserves attention next, from responding to individual issues to addressing recurring problems
Speaker:
Nick Travers
SmartSurvey
Chief Operations Officer
11:50 - 12:20
Data, Insights and Analytics
Customer Journey Mapping That Drives Impact
Panel Discussion
Customer journey mapping has become a standard tool in the CX leader's toolkit, yet too many maps gather dust rather than driving meaningful change in customer engagement or commercial performance. The gap between organisations that use journey mapping to create genuine commercial and experience outcomes and those where it becomes an exercise in documentation rather than transformation is one of the most telling indicators of customer engagement maturity. Getting it right requires more than a good workshop, it requires the organisational will, cross-functional alignment, and measurement discipline to turn maps into action that improves the customer relationship and drives commercial growth.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what journey mapping looks like when it genuinely drives change in customer engagement and commercial outcomes. From the methodologies that work in practice to the leadership and cultural conditions needed to align teams around the customer perspective in a way that creates momentum, panellists will explore what it takes to move from journey mapping as a process to journey mapping as a genuine driver of customer engagement improvement and commercial results.
What you'll gain:
-
A clear picture of what journey mapping looks like when it is genuinely driving customer engagement and commercial outcomes
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Practical approaches to moving beyond documentation to real improvement action that strengthens customer relationships and drives revenue
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Insight into how leading organisations are creating the cross-functional alignment needed to turn journey maps into meaningful customer engagement change
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Real examples of how effective journey mapping is identifying friction, prioritising improvement, and delivering measurable commercial results
Speakers:
Adam Powers
Experian
Director of Experience and Enablement
Adam Powers is a customer experience and design leader with over 25 years’ experience shaping digital products, services and organisations. He has built multidisciplinary teams, transformed customer experiences and championed human-centred design for some of the world’s leading brands and businesses.
Olayinka Sanni
Notting Hill Genesis
Customer Journey Manager
Olayinka “Ola” Sanni is a Customer Journey Manager at Notting Hill Genesis, where she leads end-to-end journey improvement across repairs, complaints, enquiries, and rents and bills. She previously stepped into the role of Acting Head of Customer Journeys and Insight, leading customer insight, service design, Voice of the Customer and journey improvement.
Before moving to the UK, Ola served as Director of Customer Experience for a fintech company headquartered in the United States, leading customer experience, insight and journey management across two regions. This combination of senior leadership and hands-on journey transformation gives her both a strategic and practical perspective on what it takes to turn customer insight into action.
With more than 15 years’ experience across housing, fintech, banking, telecommunications and travel, Ola uses customer feedback, operational data and service blueprinting to uncover broken journeys, align teams and prioritise improvements. Her work has delivered measurable results, including stronger customer engagement, reduced service costs and improved operational performance.
Ola is passionate about moving journey mapping beyond documentation and using it as a practical tool for decision-making, accountability and measurable customer and organisational outcomes.
Emily Viarnaud
Cash Converters UK
Operational Project Manager
Emily Viarnaud is the Operational Project Lead at Cash Converters, specialising in continuous improvement, customer experience and organisational transformation. Over the past 20 years she has helped organisations including Nestlé, BT, SSE Telecoms, Costa Express and the British Quality Foundation redesign processes, improve customer journeys and build cultures of continuous improvement.
Emily is passionate about making complex problems simple. Her approach combines data, operational insight and collaboration to help organisations create consistent, customer-focused experiences while empowering the people delivering them. She believes that lasting improvements come not from imposing change, but from engaging teams to challenge existing ways of working and develop better solutions together.
12:20 - 13:40
Data, Insights and Analytics
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
13:40 - 14:00
Data, Insights and Analytics
AutoTrader Case Study: Prediction Aids Conversion
Case Study
Make something easy to find and you appeal to the primal brain which craves simplicity.
Our Search algorithm can effectively look into a crystal ball and predict.
No, it's not magic, although it can feel like it.
Using our extensive understanding of consumers' search interests allows us to predict which vehicles would appeal more to them. And these convert too.
Speaker:
Nick King
AutoTrader
Insights Director
A consumer psychologist and expert in digital media and marketing, possessing the experience to analyse and interpret trends in consumer adoption of technology and develop strategies for customer acquisition and retention through digital and offline channels.
Nick joined Auto Trader in January 2007 running Business Intelligence and in 2010 built the retailer insight team running master classes and webinars. He also makes short films to evangelise about data and Insight and speaks regularly at conferences in Europe, Canada and North America.
Nick is also a visiting lecturer in consumer psychology at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.
After graduating from Loughborough in 1986 , Nick spent years in advertising and planning at Dorlands and Lintas, was a guitarist with Great Northern Electrics, a publisher on HiFi magazines at Petersen/EMAP and a research Director at Media agency Carat/Difiniti responsible for a team of researchers advising a range of Blue-chip clients on the development of their marketing and communications strategies in the Digital arena.
14:00 - 14:25
Data, Insights and Analytics
Identifying the Silent Customer with AI Driven Insights
Case Study
Not all dissatisfied customers raise complaints or provide feedback. Many disengage quietly, leaving organisations with limited visibility into churn risk. This session explores how organisations can better understand the “silent customer” by identifying behavioural signals that indicate dissatisfaction before it becomes visible in traditional metrics.
Learn how AI can be applied to uncover hidden patterns in customer interactions, detect early warning signs, and enable more proactive engagement strategies. The session will focus on practical approaches to combining data, analytics, and operational processes to better capture and act on these unseen signals.
Speaker:
Abdul Khaled
E.ON Next
Director of Transformation
Abdul Khaled is an award-winning digital transformation, AI and customer experience leader with 15+ years of experience driving growth, innovation and large-scale business change. He currently leads Digital Transformation at E.ON, where he is spearheading a major digital transformation and introduction of a AI native operating model. Abdul also delivers AI leadership sessions at London School of Economics and Political Science. He has been recognised as one of Europe’s leading customer experience professionals, including being named in the Top 50 CX Leaders, Top 35 CX Professionals in Europe and the Inspire 100 UK list. As a speaker and industry commentator, Abdul is passionate about helping organisations harness technology, AI and customer-centricity to create sustainable competitive advantage.
14:25 - 14:50
Data, Insights and Analytics
It’s What’s On The Outside That Counts
Presentation
An exclusive first look at The Harris Poll UK’s 2026 Outside-In Report Companies know themselves from the inside out. Outside-In shows us how consumers see and experience them. Should we really have gone to Specsavers? When does a Jet2 holiday really begin? And what is LEGO building beyond bricks?
We reveal who tops our 2026 Experience and Reputation Indexes, uncovering what matters, what isn’t working and where there’s opportunity for brands to win.
Speakers:
Steve Brockway
The Harris Poll UK, A Stagwell Company
Chief Research Officer
Christian Dubreuilv
The Harris Poll UK, A Stagwell Company
SVP, Client Partner Europe
14:50 - 15:20
Data, Insights and Analytics
Reading the Signals – How Leading Organisations Are Acting on Customer Behaviour
Panel Discussion
The ability to identify and respond to customer signals in the moment is becoming one of the most significant competitive advantages in customer engagement. The window between a customer showing signs of dissatisfaction, disengagement, or intent to leave and the point at which intervention is still effective is shrinking, and the organisations that are acting on signals fastest are pulling ahead.
In this panel, senior leaders will share how they are building the real-time insight capabilities needed to act on customer signals when they matter most. From real-time dashboards and trigger-based interventions to early churn signal detection and the operational changes needed to turn insight into customer engagement action at speed, panellists will explore what it takes to build an organisation that responds to what customers are telling them in the moment.
What you'll gain:
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A clear picture of what real-time customer signal capability looks like and the value it delivers when it is working well
-
Practical approaches to building trigger-based customer engagement strategies that act on signals before they become churn
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Insight into how leading organisations are reducing the gap between signal detection and customer engagement action to improve retention and commercial outcomes
-
Real examples of how acting on customer signals in the moment is making a measurable difference to customer engagement quality
Speakers:
Abdul Khaled
E.ON Next
Director of Transformation
Abdul Khaled is an award-winning digital transformation, AI and customer experience leader with 15+ years of experience driving growth, innovation and large-scale business change. He currently leads Digital Transformation at E.ON, where he is spearheading a major digital transformation and introduction of a AI native operating model. Abdul also delivers AI leadership sessions at London School of Economics and Political Science. He has been recognised as one of Europe’s leading customer experience professionals, including being named in the Top 50 CX Leaders, Top 35 CX Professionals in Europe and the Inspire 100 UK list. As a speaker and industry commentator, Abdul is passionate about helping organisations harness technology, AI and customer-centricity to create sustainable competitive advantage.
Cher Lowies
Interactive Investor
Customer Insights Manager
Blending behavioural science with customer insight, Cher is naturally curious about why customers behave the way they do and enjoys helping organisations challenge long-held assumptions with real evidence. She believes the best research doesn't just answer questions, it changes the way people think.
Her work focuses on uncovering what really matters to customers, translating complex research into practical recommendations, and helping organisations make confident, evidence-based decisions.
15:20 - 15:45
Data, Insights and Analytics
The Instruction Layer Behind CX AI: Turning Knowledge Into Instant, Trusted Answers
Presentation
15:45 - 16:05
Data, Insights and Analytics
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
16:05 - 16:30
Data, Insights and Analytics
In Conversation with Carlo Zoccali: Turning Event Operations into Exceptional Customer Experiences
Interview
With more than 20 years’ experience across venues, events, exhibitions and sport, Carlo Zoccali has seen customer experience from both sides of the industry, as an organiser and a venue operator. Now Event Operations Director at Olympia Events, he is focused on how operational teams can turn customer expectations into consistently strong experiences.
In this conversation, Carlo explores why great customer experience starts long before the customer arrives, how listening and responding in real time can transform event delivery, and why flexibility, communication and collaboration are critical when expectations are constantly evolving. He shares practical lessons on creating customer-focused operations, empowering frontline teams and designing experiences that keep people coming back.
Speaker:
Carlo Zoccali
Olympia Events
Event Operations Director
With more than 20 years of leadership experience spanning venues, exhibitions, conferences, live events and sport, I have built my career by creating exceptional experiences for organisers, exhibitors, visitors and partners. My experience includes senior leadership roles at Olympia Events, Fully Charged Show, Farnborough International and Arsenal Football Club.
16:30 - 16:55
Data, Insights and Analytics
Why Your AI Investment Isn’t Compounding and What to Do About It
Presentation
Most contact centres have added AI. Few have seen it compound. The problem isn't the technology - it's that every tool sits in its own silo, learning nothing from the others. Your virtual agent doesn't know what your quality team found last week. Your agent assist doesn't share logic with your knowledge base. Every interaction disappears into a different system, and the intelligence never accumulates. Neil Titcomb, SVP International Sales at Capacity, draws on 25 years in the contact centre industry to show what it takes to build a stack where every interaction, every escalation, every resolved query, every coaching moment, feeds back into a single loop that makes both your AI and your people measurably better over time.
Speaker:
Neil Titcomb
Capacity
SVP of EMEA Sales
16:55 - 17:25
Data, Insights and Analytics
Every Customer, Every Time – The Reality of Hyper-Personalisation at Scale
Panel Discussion
The gap between broad segmentation and hyper-personlisation is one of the most significant opportunities available to customer engagement leaders today, yet genuine personalisation at scale remains elusive for most organisations.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what personalisation at scale looks like when it is genuinely working across every customer touchpoint. From the data and technology foundations needed to move beyond segment-level thinking to the organisational and operational changes required to deliver truly individual experiences in real time, panellists will explore what it takes to close the gap between personalisation ambition and personalisation reality and what genuinely individual customer engagement looks like in practice.
What you'll gain:
-
A clear picture of what genuine personalisation at scale looks like when it is working across every customer touchpoint
-
Practical approaches to building the data infrastructure and capability needed to move beyond segmentation to truly individual customer engagement
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Insight into how leading organisations are closing the gap between personalisation ambition and what customers are actually experiencing
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Real examples of what individual-level customer engagement looks like in practice and the difference it makes to experience quality and customer relationships
Speakers:
Elena Reilly
Entain
Senior Manager, Customer Experience Strategy
Elena Reilly is Senior Manager, Customer Experience Strategy at Entain, the gaming and sports betting group behind Ladbrokes, Coral, and BetMGM. Elena designs and delivers Voice of Customer frameworks, CX measurement systems, and customer intelligence platforms that drive measurable improvements in satisfaction, journey performance, and loyalty. She and her team translate complex multi-source data into a single customer truth — processing over 35,000 customer responses per week through AI-powered text analytics that detect vulnerability in real time and drive personalised experiences across 30+ markets. With 10+ years in CX strategy across telecommunications and gaming, Elena brings a blend of quantitative rigour, stakeholder influence, and a consulting-style approach to the question of how large organisations can personalise at scale without losing the human connection.
Bernie McEvilly
Co-operative Bank and Coventry Building Society
Group Head of Conduct and Compliance
She is passionate about helping organisations see their decisions through their customers’ eyes – understanding how the same product, process or problem can affect people differently.
Bernie uses everyday stories to make complex subjects easier to understand. She encourages people to ask better questions and understand what sits behind the data to turn that insight into meaningful action.
17:25 - 17:30
Data, Insights and Analytics
Closing Remarks
Closing Remarks
Gerry wraps up our first day of the Engage Customer Summit, summarising the key learnings as well as a sneak peak into what Day Two holds. See you tomorrow!
Speaker:
Gerry Brown
Customer Lifeguard
Chief Customer Officer
17:30
Data, Insights and Analytics
Summit After-Party
The Night Summit
11:00 - 12:00
Roundtables
Your AI Transformation: 3 Things Nobody Warns You About
Roundtable
Buying an AI tool for customer support is the easy part. Everyone in this room has already done it or is about to.
What's actually hard is everything after that, and this roundtable covers three common problems in one sitting.
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First: pricing. Does your vendor's contract actually want you to get more efficient, or does their revenue depend on you staying exactly as inefficient as you are today?
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Second: your stack. Most CX teams are running tools that log what happened after the fact — a system of record — instead of tools that can act on it — a system of action. How many of yours are which?
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Third: your team. If AI is doing more of the actual work, what does the org chart look like, who reports to whom, and what's the part of that change nobody warns you about until you're mid-reorg.
Mike Bohnett, CRO of Delight.ai, hosts this as a working session, not a lecture. Bring your own answers and see where you're actually behind.
Speaker:
Mike Bohnett
delight.ai
Chief Revenue Officer
11:00 - 12:00
Roundtables
Are You Solving the Right CX Problem?
Roundtable
CX AI is supposed to make our lives easier…
So, why are you feeling so confused?
Maybe it's because while everyone's talking about the "next big thing" not enough people are explaining if it's the right thing to solve your business challenges – and if it is, where you should start.
In their roundtable, hosts Cirrus will walk you through building your own AI roadmap: how to know if your business is ready, and if it is, how to design and deploy it to solve your biggest problem, or deliver the most value, right from the get-go.
After 60 minutes you'll know:
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How to measure if your business is AI-ready.
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How to pick the right KPIs.
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Where to add AI to your customer journey for the fastest ROI.
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What the common road bumps are and how to swerve them.
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How to future-proof your organisation, with intuitive self-service and proper agent support.
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What (and what not!) to automate.
Speaker:
Jason Roos
Cirrus
Chief Executive Officer
11:00 - 12:00
Roundtables
Human-in-the-Gen AI Loop: Exploring the Changing Hand-Off Between Humans and Automation
Roundtable
Gen AI has transformed the CX toolkit. For the first time, the people who understand customers best aren't just handling conversations; they're architecting entirely new customer experiences, at scale. Agents are becoming coaches, collaborators and designers with the AI systems that works alongside them.
Moderated by Decagon, a leading Concierge AI company, this roundtable is a an open conversation between CX leaders on how that shift is playing out in practice, what the emerging tools and best practices are, and where it's heading next.
We'll explore:
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How is your team's role changing as AI takes on the volume, and what new capabilities are emerging as a result?
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What does a hand-off look like when it's designed by the people who know the customer, rather than dictated by technology or a third party?
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How are you building the careers and skills of a team that now directs AI rather than competes with it?
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Where do you want to be in three years, and what's stopping you from getting there faster?
Join us to trade notes and discuss what's working, what you've learned the hard way, and where to invest time and resource in the next year.
Speaker:
Jen Ding
Decagon
Senior Solutions Engineer, Enterprise
11:00 - 12:00
Roundtables
Listen, Learn, Grow: Transforming Customer Voice into CX Advantage Roundtable
Roundtable
Led by Beth Gilleran and Michael Feeney of Reputation, this interactive 60-minute roundtable is about turning customer voice into measurable business value. Most organisations have no shortage of feedback, reviews and survey data. Beth and Michael will explore how leading brands bridge that gap between customer experience data and operational performance, and what it takes to build a CX strategy that scales across locations and teams. Practical, discussion-led, and shaped by the challenges in the room.
Speakers:
Beth Gilleran
Reputation
Senior Customer Success Manager
Michael Feeney
Reputation
Account Director
14:00 - 15:00
Roundtables
The UK CX Eeport 2026: The Opportunity for Delight
Roundtable
Join Matthew Chatterton, Ipsos' Director, CX, and Laura Godfrey, Head of Ipsos’ Client Services Team, CX, to deep dive into the 2026 UK CX Report Findings. This fascinating conversation will explore, ideate and take away key learnings and best practices from the report, including:
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Why is mediocrity on the rise and delight in decline – what factors are in play and what can be done to reverse this trend?
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How and why ‘value for money’ has become an increasing priority, and what can be done to increase customer perception of value
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Why customers are saying experiences are becoming less personal and less tailored, and how to balance the need for automation and efficiency with the need for human connection
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What can brands do overcome the customer perception that brands aren’t listening to feedback, and why does this matter?
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How and why VoC can be leveraged to drive greater customer engagement for improved loyalty and advocacy
Speakers:
Matthew Chatterton
Ipsos in the UK
Director, CX
Matthew is a director within Ipsos’s Customer Experience service line. He has specialised in CX research for over 15 years, and market research for more than 25 years. He has been the research director on four waves of our flagship programme of CX consumer research, the UK CX Report, carried out in partnership with Engage Business Media. In his day job, he is a specialist in B2B clients and audiences, working for clients across many industries.
Laura Godfrey
Ipsos
Head of Client Service Team, CX
14:00 - 15:00
Roundtables
POC to Production - What Really Happens when you Select a Vendor
Roundtable
You've selected your Agentic Partner . The POC Looked great. What happens next ?
In this rountable we tackle the difficult questions that arise as you look to scale and go beyond POC. What really works and what are the red flags you should look out for?
What are the blockers - both internal and with the vendor.
Speaker:
Elias David
ElevenLabs
GM UKI
Thursday 08 October 2026
08:55 - 09:00
Main Stage
Welcome to Day 2 of the Engage Customer Summit!
Introduction
Welcome back to the Engage Customer Summit 2026.
Day 1 put the customer reality front and centre – the pressures in your contact centres, the gaps in journeys and data, and the honest stories of where organisations are succeeding and where they’re still under strain. Day 2 shifts gear to The Engagement Benchmark: Where Do You Stand?
In this opening address, Martin will connect yesterday’s themes with the question at the heart of today: how does your organisation compare against the best when it comes to customer engagement? From the strategies, technologies and operating models you’ve heard about, to the evidence on where real progress is being made, today’s agenda is designed to help you benchmark, prioritise and decide what needs to happen next.
A moment to reset, refocus and look ahead together – before you dive into a day built around understanding where you stand, what your peers are doing, and how to move your customer agenda forward with confidence.
Speaker:
Martin Hill-Wilson
Brainfood Training
Co-Founder
Martin Hill-Wilson is a long-standing member of the Customer Engagement community. Over his career, he has launched a series of change initiatives using the dynamic of action-based learning – most recently AI for Non Technical Minds. All are designed to disrupt and reset the ‘art of the possible’ using new operating models re-imagined through foundation user education.
09:00 - 09:25
Main Stage
Inside Out: Brand Building and Customer Engagement Starts With Your People
Headliner
What if the most powerful driver of customer engagement isn’t your marketing strategy, your technology or even your customer experience programme - but actually your employees?
In an increasingly sceptical and fragmented world, trust is being built closer to home: through the people, leaders and voices audiences experience as authentic and credible. Employees sit at the heart of that equation. They experience an organisation’s culture first-hand, deliver its promises to customers and increasingly shape its reputation externally at a time when trust and loyalty are becoming harder to win.
Drawing on Edelman research into trust, brands and employees, Francesca will explore the inside-out relationship between employee engagement and customer engagement - and why the CX/EX relationship is so important.
From visible leadership and meaningful career pathways to empowering employees to become credible advocates and creators, the session will examine what turns an engaged workforce into a powerful engine of trust, reputation and customer connection.
Speaker:
Francesca Woodhouse
Edelman
Managing Director - UK Workplace Advisory
Francesca is Edelman ‘s UK Workplace Advisory Lead. She has worked across the entire communications spectrum in a career spanning two decades but has developed specialisms in change communications and culture transformation work.
Passionate about supporting people in a positive way through change, Francesca has advised some of the world's largest businesses on major digital transformations, team restructures, employer brand and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging to name but a few.
Francesca’s background is varied, which she believes helps in her work to bring people together, provide compelling workplace and employee experiences and solving complex situations for some of the world’s biggest businesses.
Francesca is a dual national and speaks French, German and Italian.
09:25- 09:50
Main Stage
Driving the Market: Beyond Employee Engagement – What Really Drives Business Performance?
Opening Keynote
What separates organisations that simply respond to their markets from those that actively shape them? Understanding customers, creating genuine differentiation and putting the customer at the heart of the business all matter. But ultimately, it is your people who turn strategy and ambition into business performance.
Building on the relationship between employee engagement, customer engagement and trust, Professor Moira Clark takes the conversation a step further by asking: what creates the right conditions for employees to perform and is engagement alone enough?
Drawing on empirical research, she will share evidence that organisational climate can be a stronger indicator of business performance than employee engagement, and explore what this means in practice. The session will examine the importance of translating organisational values into the right behaviours, creating the conditions in which people can deliver for customers, and understanding what really drives customer retention and loyalty.
For organisations seeking to drive rather than follow the market, getting the climate right could make all the difference.
Speaker:
Professor Moira Clark
Henley Business School
Professor of Strategic Marketing
Professor Moira Clark is an expert in strategic marketing and customer management. She is Professor of Strategic Marketing at Henley Business School and Founder and Director of The Henley Centre for Customer Management. Her work bridges academic research with real-world business applications, focusing on customer-centric strategies and service excellence.
Professor Clark is renowned for her expertise in Strategic Customer Management, with her research and consulting focusing on areas such as Customer Centricity, Customer AI, Customer Engagement, Key Account Management, Customer Experience, Customer Journey Mapping and Service Excellence. She has worked extensively in the area of best practice customer experience, its impact on retention and loyalty, and the critical linkages between employee behaviour and customer retention and business performance. Her scholarly work has been widely published in top ranked journals, including the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research, Psychology and Marketing and International Journal of Management Reviews.
With extensive consultancy experience, Professor Clark has advised leading international companies and serves on several advisory boards. She is a sought-after speaker at numerous global seminars and conferences, sharing her insights on customer-centric strategies and service excellence. She is also a commentator on current marketing and Customer Management issues for national press, radio, and TV.
In addition to her academic and consultancy work, she is the Chair of the Judges for the prestigious European Contact Centre and Customer Service Awards.
09:50 - 10:20
Main Stage
Investing in People - The Competitive Advantage Driving Next-Generation Engagement
Panel Discussion
The future of customer engagement will be shaped as much by people as it is by technology. As the skills required to deliver great customer experiences evolve, the organisations pulling ahead are those investing in their people with the same ambition they bring to their technology strategies, building workforces that are confident, capable, and ready for what is coming next.
In this panel, senior leaders will share how they are equipping their teams with the skills, tools, and development opportunities needed to thrive in a rapidly changing environment. From innovative approaches to reskilling and talent development to building a culture where people and technology work together at their best, panellists will explore what genuine workforce investment looks like and the difference it is making to customer outcomes.
What you'll gain:
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Insight into how leading organisations are building the skills and capabilities needed for the future of customer engagement
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Practical approaches to reskilling and talent development that are genuinely making a difference
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A clearer picture of how investing in people drives stronger customer outcomes
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Real examples of what a thriving, future-ready CX workforce looks like in practice
Speakers:
Kate Philpot
Capability Consulting
Managing Director
Kate has built the sales methodologies, coaching frameworks and go-to-market approaches that shape how the business's frontline teams engage customers — from storytelling and negotiation training to a company-wide coaching practice built on customer call reviews. She has led major initiatives to professionalise customer-facing skills at scale, including business-wide sales methodology rollouts, role-playing-based training programmes, and the systems and content that keep hundreds of reps equipped to build stronger customer relationships. Kate sits on the Board of Central School of Ballet, is a qualified ICF coach, and speaks internationally on sales enablement, commercial transformation and inclusive leadership.
Drew Harvey
Price Forbes
Chief Client Officer
As Chief Client Officer at Price Forbes, Drew Harvey is responsible for championing a client-centric culture across the business. He works closely with colleagues, partners and clients around the world to drive growth, strengthen relationships and turn strategy into action. Passionate about collaboration and innovation, Drew enjoys connecting people, championing new ideas and creating long-term value for clients.
10:20 - 10:50
Main Stage
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
10:50 - 11:15
Main Stage
Voice of the Room: The Summit Benchmark
Q&A
11:15 - 11:40
Main Stage
Clarity Environmental Case Study: Customer Adversity into Customer Advocacy
Case Study
How do you build customer trust and advocacy in a sector defined by complexity and continual change?
Natalie Rea, CEO of Clarity Environmental and winner of three Engage Awards in 2025, shares the journey behind Clarity's success, including winning Best Customer Service Team 2024 and Best Use of Customer Insights 2025. Through a relentless focus on empathy, personalisation, and meaningful customer outcomes, Clarity has developed practical approaches that cut through complexity and inspire confidence.
Join this session to discover the strategies, insights, and real-world examples that helped turn customer adversity into lasting customer advocacy.
Speaker:
Natalie Rea
Clarity Environmental
Chief Executive Officer
Natalie is CEO of Clarity Environmental, winner of the Engage Great Place to Work Award 2025 and Engage Best Employee Wellbeing Strategy 2025. Named in the FEBE growth 100 list 2 years in a row, an annual ranking highlighting the 100 fastest growing privately owned businesses in the UK, Clarity Environmental celebrates an enviable 99.6% customer retention, demonstrating how forward thinking and futuristic people and culture strategy,
directly transforms customer experience and financial performance.
Natalie is a Great British Entrepreneurial Award Winner, approaching her CEO role from an HR background and will share her case study,
detailing how Clarity’s unique people strategy developed a culture of “People with purpose, finding joy in the job, turning visions into victory.”
As a speaker, Natalie openly shares the core methodologies driving award-winning employee engagement of 97% of employees agreeing they would recommend Clarity as a place to work and how this engagement strategy achieved more than 58% profit growth in 2 years.
11:40 - 12:10
Main Stage
From First Click to Loyal Customer: Leading the End-to-End Experience
Panel Discussion
The most successful customer-facing organisations are those that think about experience as a single, connected journey rather than a series of separate functions. From the moment a customer first encounters a brand through to post-sales, loyalty, and advocacy, every interaction shapes the relationship and the commercial outcome.
In this panel, senior leaders will explore what it takes to build and lead an end-to-end customer experience strategy that connects acquisition, experience, and retention into one coherent strategy. From aligning teams across the full customer lifecycle to delivering consistency across global and local markets, panellists will share how they are creating seamless, commercially driven customer journeys that deliver at every stage.
What you'll gain:
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Insight into how leading organisations are connecting acquisition, experience, and retention into a single growth strategy
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Practical approaches to delivering consistency across the full customer lifecycle
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Real examples of what end-to-end customer experience leadership looks like in practice
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A clearer picture of how seamless customer journeys drive commercial growth and long-term loyalty
Speakers:
Naomi Sweeting
Places for People
Director of Customer Research & Insight
Claire Walsh
HM Revenue & Customs
Customer Experience Director
Claire works to ensure HMRC delivers its customer and channel strategies, improving customer experience at every touchpoint. This will include driving forward important initiatives across the enterprise and embodying the HMRC Charter, such as:
• Improving customer guidance via customer data and insight as well as holistic views of the customer’s end-to-end journey.
• Helping to ensure our customers are better informed about their tax and customs responsibilities so that they comply with their obligations at the right time.
• Becoming digital 1st including coaching our customers to use our new digital services, such as the HMRC app.
Claire first joined the Civil Service as a fast streamer in 1996 and has spent most of her career within HMRC, and its predecessor, Inland Revenue. Over that time, she has held numerous policy positions and spent four years working on designs and industry readiness for EU Exit.
Hugo Rayne
ElevenLabs
GM, Europe
12:10 - 13:00
Main Stage
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
13:00 - 13:25
Main Stage
Customer Loyalty: Why They Stay, Why They Leave
Interview
The world has changed, and so have customer expectations. Today, customers expect more than quality products or services; they seek personalised experiences, genuine connections, and to feel valued. In a marketplace where choice is endless, the question for every leader is: what are we doing to give customers a reason to stay?
In this engaging session, Lori-Ann Tracey-Nicely explores what drives customer loyalty, why customers leave, and how exceptional service can become your greatest competitive advantage. Delegates will gain practical strategies to strengthen customer relationships, increase retention, and create memorable experiences that keep customers coming back.
Speaker:
Lori-Ann Tracey-Nicely
Customer Service Director
Mrs. Lori-Ann Tracey-Nicely is an experienced Customer Service Director with a diverse professional background spanning customer service, assessment, optical management, and the civil service. Throughout her career, she has developed a strong reputation for creating customer-focused strategies that build trust, loyalty, and long-term relationships.
Driven by a genuine passion for delivering exceptional customer experiences, Lori-Ann has successfully run a thriving hearcare business, demonstrating her ability to combine commercial success with outstanding service. She believes that excellent customer service is the foundation of customer retention and sustainable business growth.
Holding a BSc in Criminology and Sociology, Lori-Ann brings a unique perspective on understanding people, behaviour, and communication, enabling her to connect with customers and teams alike. At this conference, she will share practical insights and proven approaches to retaining customers, inspiring delegates to strengthen customer relationships through service excellence.
13:25 - 13:50
Main Stage
Cumberland Case Study: Trust Is a Growth Strategy: What Customer-Owned Businesses Can Teach Us About Winning Loyalty
Case Study
In a world obsessed with digital transformation, it's easy to forget that customers don't build relationships with technology; they build them with organisations they trust. As many brands chase efficiency and automation, the organisations creating sustainable growth are those investing just as heavily in human connection by being physically present.
In this session, Cumberland Building Society's Chief Customer Officer explores how a customer-owned organisation is translating purpose into commercial performance. From maintaining a high street presence where others have left, to empowering colleagues to solve problems rather than simply process them, this is a story about using trust as a strategic growth driver, not simply a brand value.
Delegates will leave with practical insights into building customer confidence, aligning culture with customer outcomes, and creating loyalty that extends beyond price or convenience.
Speaker:
Claire Deekes
Cumberland Building Society
Chief Customer Officer
Claire is a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers with over 30 years of experience in the retail banking sector. Prior to moving into the role of CCO, she had held the role of Head of Retail Distribution. Claire moved to the Society from Virgin Money where she was Head of Stores and Lounges, and prior to this enjoyed success in several senior manager roles within Lloyds Banking Group.
13:50 - 14:20
Main Stage
Why Are Customers Really Leaving?
Panel Discussion
Customer defection is rising across sectors, and many of the traditional responses are proving less effective than they once were. Loyalty schemes are being redesigned, retention budgets are increasing, and yet churn persists. The organisations genuinely turning the tide are asking harder questions about why customers leave in the first place, and finding answers that go well beyond price and product.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what the data and the honest customer conversations are telling them about the root causes of defection and what is genuinely working to reverse it. From rethinking loyalty strategy from the ground up to making the bold moves that rebuild lasting relationships, panellists will explore how organisations are winning back customer confidence in a market where switching has never been easier.
What you'll gain:
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Honest insight into the root causes of customer defection beyond the obvious explanations
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Real examples of retention and loyalty strategies that are genuinely reversing churn
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Practical approaches to rebuilding lasting customer relationships in a high-switching environment
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A clear view of where traditional loyalty approaches are losing effectiveness and what is replacing them
Speakers:
Lisa Johnstone
Virgin Media O2
Director of Priority, Loyalty & Rewards
Lisa Johnstone is Director of Priority, Loyalty & Rewards at Virgin Media O2, where she leads Priority, the award-winning loyalty platform.
Priority has over 7 million registered members, with more than one million engaging monthly, delivering over £33m in customer value in 2025.
With 25 years’ international experience across entertainment, gaming and media, Lisa is a recognised leader in customer engagement and growth strategy, shaping how loyalty drives commercial performance and long-term competitive advantage.
Jamie Thorpe
Ipsos
Chief Experience Officer
Claire Deekes
Cumberland Building Society
Chief Customer Officer
Claire is a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers with over 30 years of experience in the retail banking sector. Prior to moving into the role of CCO, she had held the role of Head of Retail Distribution. Claire moved to the Society from Virgin Money where she was Head of Stores and Lounges, and prior to this enjoyed success in several senior manager roles within Lloyds Banking Group.
14:20 - 14:40
Main Stage
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
14:40 - 15:05
Main Stage
The Quiet Tech Giant: How Autotrader Turned Data and AI into Competitive Advantage
Interview
Few British businesses have reinvented themselves as completely as Autotrader. In this Main Stage interview, Andrew Humphrey, Customer Operations Director at Autotrader UK, tells the story of a remarkable transformation – from a print publisher to a multi-billion-pound tech and data company, and one of only two technology businesses on the FTSE 100.
Andrew will explore what sets Autotrader apart: a rare and proprietary data asset built on more than 18 million monthly visits and relationships with 15,000 retailers, and over a decade of sustained investment in AI – so much so that a third of its 1,200-strong workforce now works in data science and engineering.
Speaker:
Andrew Humphrey
Autotrader UK
Customer Operations Director
15:05 - 15:35
Main Stage
A Strategic Lens on the Customer of Tomorrow
Panel Discussion
Customer expectations are evolving faster than most strategic planning cycles can accommodate. The organisations that will win over the next five years are those that can distinguish between genuine emerging trends and passing noise, and build the readiness to act on what matters before their competitors do. Yet for many senior leaders, the gap between strategic intent and organisational readiness remains stubbornly wide.
In this panel, senior leaders will benchmark strategic readiness for the future customer across the industry. From separating signal from noise to placing the right strategic bets at the right time, panellists will share how they are preparing for a customer whose expectations, behaviours, and values are shifting in ways that demand a fundamentally different organisational response.
What you'll gain:
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A clear benchmark of where the industry stands on strategic readiness for the future customer
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Insight into which emerging trends senior leaders are taking most seriously and why
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Practical frameworks for building organisational readiness to act on what is coming before competitors do
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Real examples of the strategic bets being placed now to stay ahead of shifting customer expectations
Speakers:
John Porteous FCSI CFP FPFS IMC
Raymond James Wealth Management
Managing Director, Central Financial Services & Chief Client Officer
John Porteous FCSI CFP FPFS IMC
Managing Director, Central Financial Services & Chief Client Officer, Raymond James Wealth Management.
John Porteous has over 30 years’ experience in Wealth Management, having held senior executive roles across Financial Planning, Investment Management, Proposition and Digital. He joined Charles Stanley in 2019 as Head of Distribution and now serves as Managing Director of Central Financial Services and Chief Client Officer at Raymond James Wealth Management.
A regular speaker at key industry events, John has also held several influential positions within professional bodies, including Chairman of the Society of Financial Advisers, Director of the Institute of Financial Planning, and Council Member/Director of APFA.
As part of his current role, John has executive responsibility for oversight of Consumer Duty strategy at Raymond James Wealth Management.
Natalie Rea
Clarity Environmental
Chief Executive Officer
Natalie is CEO of Clarity Environmental, winner of the Engage Great Place to Work Award 2025 and Engage Best Employee Wellbeing Strategy 2025. Named in the FEBE growth 100 list 2 years in a row, an annual ranking highlighting the 100 fastest growing privately owned businesses in the UK, Clarity Environmental celebrates an enviable 99.6% customer retention, demonstrating how forward thinking and futuristic people and culture strategy,
directly transforms customer experience and financial performance.
Natalie is a Great British Entrepreneurial Award Winner, approaching her CEO role from an HR background and will share her case study,
detailing how Clarity’s unique people strategy developed a culture of “People with purpose, finding joy in the job, turning visions into victory.”
As a speaker, Natalie openly shares the core methodologies driving award-winning employee engagement of 97% of employees agreeing they would recommend Clarity as a place to work and how this engagement strategy achieved more than 58% profit growth in 2 years.
15:35 - 16:00
Main Stage
Voice of the Room: Rising Above the Mediocre
Q&A
Day 2 has been about the measure, and we close the Summit with a session that takes it live. We put the biggest questions in customer experience straight to the room and show your answers on screen as they come in. Where is most of your effort really going, how much difference does genuine delight make to NPS, and what is making experiences more functional and less memorable? We will also test how the room thinks AI is changing customer experience, and how often customers see their feedback acted on. Then we reveal what UK customers told us in the UK CX Report 2026, so you can see where the room's instincts match the national picture, where they don't, and where the real opportunity to stand out sits.
Speaker:
Martin Hill-Wilson
Brainfood Training
Co-Founder
Martin Hill-Wilson is a long-standing member of the Customer Engagement community. Over his career, he has launched a series of change initiatives using the dynamic of action-based learning – most recently AI for Non Technical Minds. All are designed to disrupt and reset the ‘art of the possible’ using new operating models re-imagined through foundation user education.
16:00 - 16:05
Main Stage
Closing Remarks
Closing Remarks
Martin recaps our biggest themes across the Engage Customer Summit after two days of content and conversations that will shape the future of customer engagement.
Speaker:
Martin Hill-Wilson
Brainfood Training
Co-Founder
Martin Hill-Wilson is a long-standing member of the Customer Engagement community. Over his career, he has launched a series of change initiatives using the dynamic of action-based learning – most recently AI for Non Technical Minds. All are designed to disrupt and reset the ‘art of the possible’ using new operating models re-imagined through foundation user education.
08:55 - 09:00
Future of The Contact Centre
Welcome to Day 2 of the Engage Customer Summit!
Introduction
Welcome back to the Engage Customer Summit 2026.
Day 1 put the customer reality front and centre – the pressures in your contact centres, the gaps in journeys and data, and the honest stories of where organisations are succeeding and where they’re still under strain. Day 2 shifts gear to The Engagement Benchmark: Where Do You Stand?
In this opening address, Marcus will connect yesterday’s themes with the question at the heart of today: how does your organisation compare against the best when it comes to customer engagement? From the strategies, technologies and operating models you’ve heard about, to the evidence on where real progress is being made, today’s agenda is designed to help you benchmark, prioritise and decide what needs to happen next.
A moment to reset, refocus and look ahead together – before you dive into a day built around understanding where you stand, what your peers are doing, and how to move your customer agenda forward with confidence.
Speaker:
Marcus Hickman
Davies Hickman
Director
An insight and data analytics leader, Marcus has spent over 20 years supporting well-known brands to understand and improve customer experience - working directly with senior executives to bring consumer perspectives alive and use them to drive business growth.
His current focus is helping clients navigate the shift to AI in customer experience. Marcus has led an assessment of 37 different vendors of Generative AI and Agentic AI customer experience solutions, giving a good basis for developing individual organisational AI strategies.
This builds on a long track record of shaping industry thinking on CX. Marcus runs Davies Hickman Research, home to one of the longest-running tracker studies of customer contact, The Autonomous Customer, which pioneered omni-channel strategies. Davies Hickman has advised a range of industry bodies including BSI and ISO standards committees for customer experience.
Previously, Marcus worked as Managing Director of futures consulting agency The Henley Centre, part of Kantar. He brings good experience in understanding future change in customer experience.
09:00 - 09:25
Future of The Contact Centre
Inside Out: Brand Building and Customer Engagement Starts With Your People
Headliner
What if the most powerful driver of customer engagement isn’t your marketing strategy, your technology or even your customer experience programme - but actually your employees?
In an increasingly sceptical and fragmented world, trust is being built closer to home: through the people, leaders and voices audiences experience as authentic and credible. Employees sit at the heart of that equation. They experience an organisation’s culture first-hand, deliver its promises to customers and increasingly shape its reputation externally at a time when trust and loyalty are becoming harder to win.
Drawing on Edelman research into trust, brands and employees, Francesca will explore the inside-out relationship between employee engagement and customer engagement - and why the CX/EX relationship is so important.
From visible leadership and meaningful career pathways to empowering employees to become credible advocates and creators, the session will examine what turns an engaged workforce into a powerful engine of trust, reputation and customer connection.
Speaker:
Francesca Woodhouse
Edelman
Managing Director - UK Workplace Advisory
Francesca is Edelman ‘s UK Workplace Advisory Lead. She has worked across the entire communications spectrum in a career spanning two decades but has developed specialisms in change communications and culture transformation work.
Passionate about supporting people in a positive way through change, Francesca has advised some of the world's largest businesses on major digital transformations, team restructures, employer brand and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging to name but a few.
Francesca’s background is varied, which she believes helps in her work to bring people together, provide compelling workplace and employee experiences and solving complex situations for some of the world’s biggest businesses.
Francesca is a dual national and speaks French, German and Italian.
09:25 - 09:50
Future of The Contact Centre
Beyond the Call: How Contact Centres Can Fix the Customer Journey
Presentation
Customers rarely want to contact an organisation; they do so because something in their journey has gone wrong, caused confusion, or left them needing reassurance. This session explores how contact centres can move beyond simply handling demand efficiently and transition into understanding and addressing the root causes behind it. We will examine how customer conversations, AI, and journey intelligence can help organisations reduce avoidable contact, empower frontline teams, and transform the contact centre from a cost centre into a powerful driver of customer and business improvement.
Speaker:
Jim Miller
Medallia
Director - CX Advisory
09:50 - 10:20
Future of The Contact Centre
Raising the Bar – What High-Performance Contact Centres Do Differently
Panel Discussion
High performance in a contact centre is not just about hitting service level agreements. It is about consistently delivering more for customers, more efficiently, more sustainably, and in ways that drive genuine commercial value. Yet performance levels across the industry remain uneven, and the gap between contact centres that are genuinely excelling and those simply keeping pace is increasingly visible.
In this panel, senior leaders will benchmark what genuine high performance looks like across the industry today. From where technology investment is delivering real returns to the operational and cultural decisions that separate leading contact centres from the rest, panellists will help you understand where your operation stands and what it will take to close the gap between where you are and where the best are operating.
What you'll gain:
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A clear benchmark of what high-performance contact centre operations look like across the industry
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Insight into where technology investment is delivering the strongest operational returns
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Practical approaches to closing the gap between average and excellent contact centre performance
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A clearer picture of the decisions that are making the biggest difference in leading operations right now
Speakers:
Baidurjya DasChaudhuri
Ada
Managing Director, EMEA
Phil Quickenden
London Borough of Camden
Head of Customer and Registration Services
passionately believes that technology and channel choice are valuable tools to support the real stars of the contact centre, the agents who answer the calls.
In his current role as the Head of Customer & Registration Services at the London Borough of Camden Phil is exploring how technology can enhance and develop a new kind of super-agent, equipped with digital skills and expertise which empower customers to play a greater role in their own journey. A self-confessed data geek, Phil believes that through unlocking the intelligence of the contact centre, organisations can move their understanding of the customers they serve to a whole new level, which in the public sector, means changing lives.
Jade Devine
Bristan Group Ltd
Head of Customer Experience
Holding a Customer Experience Advanced Diploma with Distinction, I’m committed to championing customer-centric thinking, improving processes, building strong relationships, and supporting teams to deliver meaningful, lasting results.
10:20 - 10:50
Future of The Contact Centre
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
10:50 - 11:15
Future of The Contact Centre
The Telegraph: The Best of Both: Blending Human Insight and AI in Customer Service
Interview
As AI reshapes the contact centre, the real challenge isn't choosing between people and technology – it's getting the blend right. In this interview, Carolyn Forbes, Head of Service Innovation at The Telegraph, shares what she's learning from implementing AI and agent automation on the front line of customer service.
Carolyn will explore where automation delivers most value, where the human touch remains irreplaceable, and how to bring the two together in a way that serves customers and empowers teams – offering practical lessons for anyone navigating the same journey.
Speaker:
Carolyn Forbes
The Telegraph
Head of Service Innovation
My expertise includes:
- Integrating AI technology into the contact centre and customer facing platforms, leading on design and adoption.
- Technical Integration & Change Management: Successfully implemented integrated telephony systems using Salesforce and Amazon Connect, enhancing customer interaction efficiency.
- Operational Optimisation: Led initiatives to streamline processes, resulting in improved service delivery and customer satisfaction.
- Team Leadership & Coaching: Fostered collaborative environments through coaching and development, aligning teams with strategic goals.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Drove change across training, quality, and service operations, ensuring cohesive execution of projects.
I am passionate about leveraging technology and data to optimise customer operations, while also working alongside the traditional methods of quality management, training and development of teams to lead change.
11:15 - 11:40
Future of The Contact Centre
How to Analyse and Connect Customer Interactions Across Disparate Systems
Presentation
Most organisations already analyse customer interactions. The challenge is that those interactions sit across multiple channels, applications and systems, often being analysed in isolation. Without a connected view, it's difficult to create the consistency customers expect. Technology alone doesn't create consistency. Intelligence does.
In this session, Mark Lockyer explores how leading organisations are bringing together insight from every customer interaction to create a connected intelligence layer. By turning fragmented conversations into actionable intelligence, organisations can drive smarter automation, improve decision-making and create a continuous cycle of improvement that delivers more consistent customer experiences.
Speaker:
Mark Lockyer
CallMiner
International Alliances Director
11:40 - 12:10
Future of The Contact Centre
Human or Digital – Getting the Blend Right for Every Customer
Panel Discussion
Significant investment has gone into automation and self-service across the contact centre industry, yet customer satisfaction with digital interactions remains uneven. The organisations getting the blend right are not simply adding more digital options, they are making smarter decisions about where human interaction adds irreplaceable value and where technology genuinely serves customers better. But how many organisations are honestly there yet?
In this panel, senior leaders will benchmark where the industry stands on the human and digital balance and what it takes to get it right for every customer. From designing self-service journeys that customers actually want to use to ensuring that vulnerable customers always have access to the human support they need, panellists will explore how leading organisations are building contact models that work across every customer type and what the rest of the industry can learn from them.
What you'll gain:
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An honest benchmark of where the industry stands on the human and digital balance in contact centre operations
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Insight into how leading organisations are designing self-service journeys that genuinely empower customers
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Practical approaches to ensuring vulnerable customers are never disadvantaged by digital-first strategies
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A clearer picture of what a truly balanced contact model looks like and how far most organisations still need to travel
Speakers:
Nick Lee
VodafoneThree
Head of Digital CX, Identity and Payments
As a senior leader at VodafoneThree Nick has a proven history of delivering transformative, award winning, engaging digital experiences across sales, service and marketing. Whilst focused on measured outcomes Nick is passionate about putting the customer at the heart of decisionmaking, driving transformation, building insight led autonomous teams and adopting the right working practices that deliver value to customers and the business.
Jessica Ham
National Grid
Head of Customer Experience
Jessica Ham is an experienced Customer Contact leader, with experience leading digital change within a Customer Service environment as well as managing large operational teams through transformation. In 2023, she was awarded Highly Commended by the CCMA and also received the Gold Award from UKCCF for Head of Contact Centre. She has been a judge for the CCMA for both the UK and European Awards for the past 3 years and in 2026 was recognised as one of the Top 50 CX leaders to follow in 2026.
12:10 - 13:00
Future of The Contact Centre
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
13:00 - 13:25
Future of The Contact Centre
NatWest Case Study: The Future of Contact Centres & AI
Case Study
Innovation in customer service is moving faster than ever, but success depends on getting the balance right. In this case study, Tammy Martin, Head of Connected Customer Experience, Retail at NatWest, will discuss how the bank is leveraging AI to transform the human touch in delivering an exceptional customer experience.
Tammy will offer an insightful look at what it takes to deliver customer experience innovation responsibly – balancing efficiency and quality, care with winning and maintaining customer trust, and sharing practical lessons learned along the way.
Speaker:
Tammy Martin
Natwest
Head of Connected Customer Experience, Retail
Proven track record of leading global business, growth strategies, developing international banking propositions, and driving commercial transformation initiatives that delivered sustainable revenue growth, increased customer acquisition, and enhanced market positioning.
Specialised in international customer acquisition, commercial growth strategy, strategic partnerships, digital acquisition optimisation, and stakeholder leadership within complex global banking environments.
13:25 - 13:50
Future of The Contact Centre
Workforce Management as a Strategic Decision Function: The Case for Autonomous AI
Presentation
Sixty percent of WFM teams still aren't using AI, and I don't think that's a laggard problem. I think it's a signal about what's being sold, not who's buying it. WFM has more data and more repeatable decisions than almost any other function in the contact centre. If any function should have moved fast on AI, it's this one.
But most platforms weren't built for AI, they were built before AI was commercially interesting, then had it bolted on afterward. That difference determines what you can actually do with the AI you're paying for.
A real customer story, ResQ, shows what changes when the manual grind stops eating a planning team's calendar. A scheduling task that took 24 hours a week came down to 90 minutes. A team once described, in their own words, as "always in firefighting mode" finally got room to think ahead instead of just reacting.
I’ll show a practical picture of what a workforce leader's day looks like once decisions arrive modelled instead of guessed at, and the case that workforce management has always been a strategic decision function. Autonomous AI is what finally lets it act like one.
Speaker:
James Readhead
Peopleware
Global Head of Services
James Redhead is a customer success and professional services leader with over 20 years' experience delivering enterprise WFM, HR, and cloud technology solutions globally. Prior to Peopleware, James was Practice Director for EMEA and APAC at UKG (formerly Kronos), leading the regional Professional Services organisation. He built an offshore delivery model that let local consulting teams focus on customer engagement and solution design, improving consultant occupancy while maintaining delivery quality. As Practice Manager for the PMO, he oversaw project governance across strategic programmes and acted as executive sponsor on complex, multi-country implementations. At Peopleware, James leads Consulting, Customer Success, Support, and Learning, with end-to-end responsibility for the customer journey from implementation through long-term adoption. His focus is aligning professional services, customer success, and support around measurable business outcomes, tracked through customer satisfaction and retention.
13:50 - 14:20
Future of The Contact Centre
The Excellence Standard – Raising the Bar Across Quality, Innovation & Duty of Care
Panel Discussion
Rising customer expectations and increasing regulatory scrutiny are raising the bar for service quality across the contact centre industry. Yet standards remain inconsistent, and the gap between organisations genuinely embedding excellence into their operations and those still treating quality as a compliance exercise is significant. Understanding where your operation stands against the best is one of the most valuable things a contact centre leader can do.
In this panel, senior leaders will benchmark what genuine service excellence looks like when quality, innovation, and duty of care are treated as interconnected priorities. From quality management frameworks that drive real improvement to innovative approaches that raise standards for all customers including those who are most vulnerable, panellists will share what the best contact centre operations are doing and where the rest of the industry needs to close the gap.
What you'll gain:
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A clear benchmark of what service excellence looks like when quality and innovation work together
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Practical approaches to embedding duty of care into contact centre operating models in a way customers actually feel
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Insight into how leading organisations are using innovation to raise service standards rather than simply maintain them
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A clearer picture of where the industry is genuinely progressing on quality and where the gaps remain widest
Speakers:
Janette Pincott
Thames Water
Head of Change & Contact Centre Support
Janette Pincott is the Head of Change & Contact Centre Support within Thames Water's Customer Experience Transformation function. She leads the Change Management, Business Readiness, Knowledge Management and Quality Assurance teams, helping to ensure that transformation initiatives are successfully delivered, adopted and embedded across the Retail business. In this senior leadership role, Janette is responsible for driving strategic change, operational excellence and customer-focused improvements, ensuring colleagues have the knowledge, tools and support they need to deliver outstanding customer experiences. With a strong focus on continuous improvement, governance and people-led change, she works across the organisation to translate complex transformation programmes into meaningful outcomes for customers, frontline teams and the business.
Dan O'Sullivan
London Borough of Hackney
Transforming Customer Experience. Empowering Communities. Delivering Public Value.
Dan's work has received consistent national recognition for customer engagement, service innovation, commercial transformation and leadership, including three Engage Awards, reflecting both the impact of his work and his commitment to creating better outcomes for customers, communities and public services. His work has also been recognised by the Local Government Chronicle, the National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) and the National Market Traders Federation (NMTF) for excellence in leadership, innovation, economic development and public service.
Beyond Hackney, Daniel advises HM Treasury, the Department for Business and Trade, the Mayor of London's Markets Board, the National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) and local authorities across the UK on customer engagement, regulatory reform, digital transformation and place-based economic development. Bridging local delivery with national policy, he helps shape how governments, councils and organisations think about customer engagement, commercial innovation and inclusive economic growth, while supporting public services to improve outcomes for residents, businesses and communities.
An invited speaker at the 2026 Engage Customer Summit, Daniel believes the future of customer engagement lies in combining commercial thinking with public purpose, demonstrating that organisations create their greatest impact when customer experience, innovation and social value are designed together rather than treated as competing priorities. His work shows how organisations can combine innovation, data, empowered teams and human-centred design to deliver customer experiences that rival the very best private sector organisations while creating lasting social, economic and commercial impact.
14:20 - 14:40
Future of The Contact Centre
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
14:40 - 15:05
Future of The Contact Centre
Sky Case Study: Super Charge Investigation, Empower Everyone, Fix faster
Case Study
Join Eleni Kotzampasaki, Head of Service Analytics at Sky & Liz Arthur, Service Performance manager at Sky as they share how self-acting technology is helping to supercharge investigation, empower teams across the organisation to fix service faster. Discover how Sky is using intelligent technology to streamline operations, enable people to focus on higher-value work and ultimately deliver better customer experiences.
Speakers:
Eleni Kotzampasaki
Sky
Head of Service Analytics
Liz Arthur
Sky
Service Performance Manager
15:05 - 15:30
Future of The Contact Centre
How Agentic Self-Learning Is Transforming Customer Experiences. True Agentic AI Doesn’t Wait to Be Retrained — It Improves Itself.
Presentation
Most enterprises have already invested in AI for their contact centre but their automation rates have plateaued. Not because the implementation was wrong, but because the architecture was.
When you have to rely on manual tuning or your vendor’s PS team to improve your CX platform, it’s not agentic.
Omilia has the solution. True agentic AI that doesn't wait to be retrained but improves itself. Our self-learning agentic CX agents monitor every interaction, identify what to improve, build better agents automatically, and deploy them with human approval — compounding performance.
We'll reveal what this looks like at enterprise scale, how to deploy LLMs where they genuinely add value, and why specialised voice AI, not general-purpose models, is the right engine for live customer calls. And you can see exactly what's happening inside the AI and why it made every decision. Nothing is hidden or unexplainable - critical for compliance teams and regulated industries.
The result is that a non-technical team can stand up an agent and watch it get measurably better within days, with ROI in just three months and call resolution that doesn't plateau but compounds.
Speaker:
Lloyd Buxton
Omilia
VP Sales, Northern Europe
15:30 - 16:00
Future of The Contact Centre
The Contact Centre of the Future – Are You Ready for What's Coming?
Panel Discussion
The contact centre is changing faster than at any point in its history. Conversational AI is already reshaping how customers interact with organisations, and agentic technology that can take autonomous action on behalf of customers and agents is moving rapidly from concept to deployment. Alongside shifting customer expectations and the evolving role of the frontline workforce, these forces are converging to create an operation that looks fundamentally different from what most organisations have today.
In this panel, senior leaders will benchmark where the industry is on the journey towards the contact centre of the future and what genuine readiness actually looks like. From conversational and agentic AI deployment to the workforce, culture, and governance considerations that will define success, panellists will help you understand where your operation stands against the best and what you need to prioritise now to avoid being left behind.
What you'll gain:
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A clear benchmark of where the industry is on the journey towards the contact centre of the future
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Insight into the technology, workforce, and governance priorities that will define success
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Practical approaches to building readiness for conversational and agentic AI in a live contact centre environment
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A clearer picture of what the contact centre of the future actually looks like and how far most organisations still need to travel
Speakers:
Emma Greenwood
Lloyds Banking Group
Head of Personal Banking Strategy & Conversational Banking
Emma leads strategy and delivery across both digital and advisor-assisted servicing within Personal Banking, with a particular focus on conversational banking, AI enabled engagement and proactive service models. She has extensive experience designing and running large scale customer contact and servicing environments, and in translating data and AI capability into tangible improvements in customer experience, operational efficiency and trust.
Her work centres on moving beyond traditional “wait and respond” service models towards more pre emptive, insight led engagement — identifying friction and risk early, orchestrating journeys across channels, and delivering timely support that feels relevant rather than intrusive.
Emma has played a key role in some of Lloyds Banking Group’s most complex transformation programmes and is passionate about using technology to simplify banking, strengthen customer relationships and support colleagues to deliver better outcomes at scale.
Veatriki Tzannatos
Ex Colgate-Palmolive
Consumer/Customer Care & Experience Leader
With a career spanning over two decades in global consumer affairs and customer service operations, Veatriki has built a reputation for transforming customer experience ecosystems and driving operational excellence at scale.
From managing multi-site contact centre operations to leading high-stakes crisis management strategies and award-winning strategic partnerships, she has consistently bridged high-level CX vision with seamless front-line execution across complex global landscapes.
Passionate about the convergence of human empathy and modern technology, Veatriki advocates for HUMAN + AI solutions that empower teams, elevate service quality, and deliver meaningful, personalised engagements.
Because exceptional customer experience isn't just about resolving issues, it's about combining human connection with intelligent technology to build the culture, alignment, and momentum that turn modern customer engagement into a distinct competitive advantage.
16:00 - 16:05
Future of The Contact Centre
Chair's Close
Closing Remarks
Marcus recaps our biggest themes across the Engage Customer Summit after two days of content and conversations that will shape the future of customer engagement.
Speaker:
Marcus Hickman
Davies Hickman
Director
An insight and data analytics leader, Marcus has spent over 20 years supporting well-known brands to understand and improve customer experience - working directly with senior executives to bring consumer perspectives alive and use them to drive business growth.
His current focus is helping clients navigate the shift to AI in customer experience. Marcus has led an assessment of 37 different vendors of Generative AI and Agentic AI customer experience solutions, giving a good basis for developing individual organisational AI strategies.
This builds on a long track record of shaping industry thinking on CX. Marcus runs Davies Hickman Research, home to one of the longest-running tracker studies of customer contact, The Autonomous Customer, which pioneered omni-channel strategies. Davies Hickman has advised a range of industry bodies including BSI and ISO standards committees for customer experience.
Previously, Marcus worked as Managing Director of futures consulting agency The Henley Centre, part of Kantar. He brings good experience in understanding future change in customer experience.
08:55 - 09:00
Customer Contact
Welcome to Day 2 of the Engage Customer Summit!
Introduction
Welcome back to the Engage Customer Summit 2026.
Day 1 put the customer reality front and centre – the pressures in your contact centres, the gaps in journeys and data, and the honest stories of where organisations are succeeding and where they’re still under strain. Day 2 shifts gear to The Engagement Benchmark: Where Do You Stand?
In this opening address, Nick will connect yesterday’s themes with the question at the heart of today: how does your organisation compare against the best when it comes to customer engagement? From the strategies, technologies and operating models you’ve heard about, to the evidence on where real progress is being made, today’s agenda is designed to help you benchmark, prioritise and decide what needs to happen next.
A moment to reset, refocus and look ahead together – before you dive into a day built around understanding where you stand, what your peers are doing, and how to move your customer agenda forward with confidence.
Speaker:
Nick Brice
Soul Corporations
CEO
Nicholas Brice is an international keynote speaker, consultant and author who helps organisations build the human capability, culture and customer experience needed to thrive in a fast-changing world. As founder of Soul Corporations® and author of The Mindful Communicator, he works with leaders and teams to strengthen clarity, communication, judgement, connection and everyday behaviour. Drawing on neuroscience, behavioural insight, culture change and theatre, Nicholas helps organisations create more aligned cultures, more consistent customer experiences and more meaningful performance.
09:00 - 09:25
Customer Contact
Inside Out: Brand Building and Customer Engagement Starts With Your People
Headliner
What if the most powerful driver of customer engagement isn’t your marketing strategy, your technology or even your customer experience programme - but actually your employees?
In an increasingly sceptical and fragmented world, trust is being built closer to home: through the people, leaders and voices audiences experience as authentic and credible. Employees sit at the heart of that equation. They experience an organisation’s culture first-hand, deliver its promises to customers and increasingly shape its reputation externally at a time when trust and loyalty are becoming harder to win.
Drawing on Edelman research into trust, brands and employees, Francesca will explore the inside-out relationship between employee engagement and customer engagement - and why the CX/EX relationship is so important.
From visible leadership and meaningful career pathways to empowering employees to become credible advocates and creators, the session will examine what turns an engaged workforce into a powerful engine of trust, reputation and customer connection.
Speaker:
Francesca Woodhouse
Edelman
Managing Director - UK Workplace Advisory
Francesca is Edelman ‘s UK Workplace Advisory Lead. She has worked across the entire communications spectrum in a career spanning two decades but has developed specialisms in change communications and culture transformation work.
Passionate about supporting people in a positive way through change, Francesca has advised some of the world's largest businesses on major digital transformations, team restructures, employer brand and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging to name but a few.
Francesca’s background is varied, which she believes helps in her work to bring people together, provide compelling workplace and employee experiences and solving complex situations for some of the world’s biggest businesses.
Francesca is a dual national and speaks French, German and Italian.
09:25 - 09:50
Customer Contact
Building Human Connections on Trust and Clarity
Presentation
Every customer relationship is built one conversation at a time. When clarity breaks down, so does trust. For global CX teams, the cost of misunderstanding lands everywhere at once: repeat contacts, longer handle times, and confidence lost on both sides of the call.
Clarity can be improved without re-platforming, re-scripting, or relocating a single seat. When language and communication barriers come off the table, CX leaders can refocus on trust, performance and growth. Dial in to discover:
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Why conversation quality and clarity impacts customer experience and revenue
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How removing communication barriers lowers operational friction across global teams
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What agents gain when they're understood on every call — increasing confidence, performance, retention
Speaker:
Anant Singh
Sanas
Chief Revenue Officer
09:50 - 10:20
Customer Contact
The New Service Standard – Are You Keeping Pace With What Customers Expect
Panel Discussion
Customer expectations of speed, personalisation, and seamlessness in contact are rising faster than most organisations are able to respond. Conversational AI is enabling more immediate, relevant interactions, and the emergence of agentic AI is beginning to redefine what resolution looks like entirely, with technology capable of acting autonomously on behalf of the customer from first contact through to full resolution. The new service standard is being set by the best experiences customers have anywhere, and the gap between that standard and what most contact operations are delivering is a growing commercial risk.
In this panel, senior leaders will benchmark where the industry stands against the new service standard and what it takes to close the gap. From the operational changes needed to deploy conversational and agentic AI effectively to understanding where customer contact is meeting rising expectations and where it is still falling short, panellists will share what the organisations pulling ahead are doing differently and what the rest of the industry needs to learn from them.
What you'll gain:
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An honest benchmark of where the industry stands against the new customer contact service standard
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Insight into what genuine speed and personalisation at scale looks like when underpinned by conversational and agentic AI
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A clearer picture of where customer contact is meeting rising expectations and where the gaps are widest
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Real examples of how leading organisations are pulling ahead on service standard and what is driving their success
Speakers:
Jason Roos
Cirrus
Chief Executive Officer
Tom Kirby
Mindvalley
Head of Customer Experience
Tom Kirby runs Customer Experience at Mindvalley and has advised AI customer service vendor Siena AI since 2023. He has spent twelve years in customer operations, starting on a contact centre floor and going on to lead CX teams at Huel, Housekeep and Laundrapp. He writes about AI in customer service from both sides of the table
Camelia Maftei
LeMiux
Customer Service Manager
With over seven years’ experience leading high-volume, multi-channel customer contact operations within the automotive industry, Camelia brings extensive expertise in customer service strategy, process optimisation, customer insights and developing high-performing teams. Passionate about customer experience and continuous improvement, she is committed to creating seamless, personalised experiences and keeping customer service at the heart of business growth.
10:20 - 10:50
Customer Contact
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
10:50 - 11:15
Customer Contact
Holiday Extras Case Study: What If Your Next AI Team Is Already Sitting in Your Contact Centre?
Case Study
Every organisation wants to use AI to transform customer experience, but many assume innovation has to come from Product or Engineering teams.
At Holiday Extras, we took a different approach.
Following a company-wide commitment to AI adoption, we empowered frontline customer service colleagues - the people who understand our customers better than anyone - to become AI solution builders. Equipped with accessible AI tools and driven by real customer insight, they began identifying recurring customer problems and designing AI assistants to solve them.
The results have transformed the way we innovate. Our Operational AI team has developed assistants that reduce customer effort, improve operational performance, and deliver significant business value, while proving that technical backgrounds are no longer the only route to creating impactful AI solutions.
This session shares the story of our first nine months, exploring how democratising AI can unlock hidden talent, accelerate innovation, and reshape the future of customer service. You will leave with practical ideas for empowering your own frontline teams to become problem solvers, while maintaining the governance and quality needed to scale AI responsibly.
Speaker:
Amanda Bishop
Holiday Extras
Head of Customer Service Journeys/Operational AI
As Head of Customer Service Journeys at Holiday Extras Amanda leads the Operational AI team, where frontline customer service colleagues are empowered to identify customer problems and build AI-powered solutions. By combining deep customer insight with accessible AI tools, the team has developed assistants that reduce customer effort, improve operational performance and deliver significant business value through measurable efficiency and cost savings.
With almost 20 years' experience across customer operations, transformation and leadership, Amanda is passionate about developing people, challenging conventional thinking and proving that curiosity and customer insight can be just as valuable as technical expertise. She believes the future of AI belongs to organisations that equip everyone, not just engineers, to solve customer problems in new ways.
Amanda is also a facilitator for Google's #IamRemarkable programme, helping people build confidence, recognise their achievements and advocate for themselves in the workplace.
11:15 - 11:40
Customer Contact
Human Before the Loop: Rethinking CX Transformation in the Age of AI
Case Study
AI is changing what organisations can do and how quickly they can do it. But speed alone will not create better customer experiences.
Too often, businesses begin with the technology and then search for a problem it can solve. The result is AI layered over broken processes, disconnected systems and incomplete data, making complexity faster, not better.
In this session, Mike Wells explores why CX transformation must begin with human curiosity, creativity and capability. He will show why asking the right question matters more than reaching the quickest answer, and how machine intelligence can amplify human judgement to create experiences that are more trusted, adaptive and valuable.
A fresh perspective on CX transformation that is human first and intelligently amplified.
Speaker:
Mike Wells
ellio
Head of CX Strategy & Transformation
11:40 - 12:10
Customer Contact
Frictionless by Design – The Future of Self-Service & Customer Journeys
Panel Discussion
Self-service investment has accelerated across the industry, but friction has not disappeared. The gap between organisations that are genuinely designing effortless customer journeys and those that are simply adding digital options without addressing the underlying experience is becoming a significant differentiator. Customers increasingly judge organisations not by what channels they offer but by how little effort it takes to get what they need.
In this panel, senior leaders will benchmark where the industry stands on frictionless journey design and what it takes to genuinely close the effort gap. From self-service journeys that customers choose over assisted channels to ensuring that frictionless design works for all customers including those who are vulnerable, panellists will share what genuinely effortless customer contact looks like and how far most organisations still need to travel to get there.
What you'll gain:
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An honest benchmark of where the industry stands on frictionless journey design and customer effort reduction
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Practical approaches to designing self-service journeys that customers genuinely prefer over assisted channels
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Insight into how leading organisations are ensuring frictionless design works for all customers including those who are vulnerable
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A clearer picture of what genuinely effortless customer contact looks like and what it takes to build it
Speakers:
Shanti Kaur Gray
HSBC
Conversational Designer
My career started on the frontline in customer service and moved through social media before landing in conversation design. That mix gives me a grounded view of what customers actually do in the moments that matter: what they ask, what confuses them, and what builds confidence and trust.
I’m passionate about responsible AI in customer service - using automation where it genuinely reduces friction, designing with clear boundaries and quality controls, and always keeping the human experience (for customers and colleagues) at the centre.
Themba Sweet
Virgin Media O2
Head of Product: Digital Care
I've led teams of Products Owners, coached dev teams while a Scrum Master, as well as coached senior management in Product delivery.
My education includes 3x Certified Scrum Product Owner, a Professional Scrum Master qualification, Leading Self Organising Teams, as well as Visualisation Techniques for Agile Teams, and most recently, Human-Centred Design.
I'm passionate about furthering my own education, and will aim to do more coaching, as well as getting more involved in the Product community in London.
12:10 - 13:00
Customer Contact
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
13:00 - 13:25
Customer Contact
Movianto UK Case Study: Journey to Future Ready Customer Care
Case Study
As customer expectations continue to rise, customer care teams must evolve beyond reactive support.
Join Prashant Parekh, Head of Customer Care at Movianto UK, as he shares the transformation journey of building a future-ready customer care model within healthcare logistics. Discover how data-driven decision making, proactive service management, colleague development, continuous improvement, and technology-enabled visibility have helped improve service quality, strengthen customer trust, and create measurable business value.
This session will provide practical insights and real-life examples of how customer care can become a competitive differentiator while making a meaningful impact on clients, operations, and ultimately patients.
Speaker:
Prashant Parekh
Movianto UK
Head of Customer Care
13:50 - 14:20
Customer Contact
People, Innovation & the Future of Customer Contact
Panel Discussion
Innovation in customer contact is accelerating, but the organisations genuinely pulling ahead are those where technology investment and people investment are moving at the same pace. The future of customer contact will not be defined by AI & technology alone, it will be defined by the organisations that use technology to make their people more effective, their contact strategies more intelligent, and their customer relationships more resilient.
In this panel, senior leaders will benchmark where the industry stands on building contact strategies that are genuinely future-ready across both technology and people dimensions. From bridging the gap between technology investment and human capability to the employee experience decisions that are driving stronger customer outcomes, panellists will share what it takes to build a contact operation that stays ahead of rising expectations rather than constantly catching up with them.
What you'll gain:
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An honest benchmark of where the industry stands on building future-ready customer contact strategies
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Insight into how leading organisations are bridging the gap between technology investment and people capability
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Practical approaches to building employee experience strategies that drive stronger customer contact outcomes
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A clearer picture of what a genuinely future-ready contact strategy looks like across people, technology, and innovation
Speakers:
Leigh-Anne Gray
Vanquis
Senior Specialist Complaints Manager
Lucy Johnson
Bupa
Customer Contact Enabling Lead
Prashant Parekh
Movianto UK
Head of Customer Care
14:40 - 15:05
Customer Contact
Open University Case Study: Changing the Wheels While on the Road the Reality of Transforming Student Support in Motion
Case Study
Transformation does not come with the luxury of pressing pause. As The Open University completed the first year of its three-year transformation strategy, we learned what it means to redesign Student Support while continuing to deliver it. This session shares the highs, lows and lessons from a year of change, exploring the practical realities of balancing operational delivery, colleague experience and long-term transformation.
Speaker:
Busola Akinsola
The Open University
Head of Operational Planning and Delivery
Busola Akinsola is Head of Shared Operational Planning and Delivery Services at The Open University. With more than three decades of leadership experience across operations, workforce planning, and transformation, she is passionate about turning strategy into practical delivery that improves the experience of both students and staff. Busola leads teams responsible for planning, resource management, operational insight, and service optimisation, and enjoys sharing lessons learned from leading change in complex environments.
15:05 - 15:30
Customer Contact
Conversational Capital: Why Your Dashboard Is Green and Your Customers Are Leaving
Presentation
Deflection is up, cost per contact is down, and customers are quietly leaving. What's draining is Conversational Capital: the trust that accumulates across interactions, compounding slowly, collapsing suddenly, and showing up on no dashboard. Hans van Dam introduces the asset every CX team is already managing without measuring, and the Conversational Capital Index — a way to put a number on it, benchmark against your industry, and see whether trust is growing or eroding.
Speaker:
Hans van Dam
Conversation Design Institute
CEO
15:30 - 16:00
Customer Contact
Getting There First – The Case for Predictive Customer Engagement
Panel Discussion
16:00 - 16:05
Customer Contact
Chair's Close
Closing Remarks
Nick recaps our biggest themes across the Engage Customer Summit after two days of content and conversations that will shape the future of customer engagement.
Speaker:
Nick Brice
Soul Corporations
CEO
Nicholas Brice is an international keynote speaker, consultant and author who helps organisations build the human capability, culture and customer experience needed to thrive in a fast-changing world. As founder of Soul Corporations® and author of The Mindful Communicator, he works with leaders and teams to strengthen clarity, communication, judgement, connection and everyday behaviour. Drawing on neuroscience, behavioural insight, culture change and theatre, Nicholas helps organisations create more aligned cultures, more consistent customer experiences and more meaningful performance.
08:55 - 09:00
Customer Experience Management
Welcome to Day 2 of the Engage Customer Summit!
Introduction
Welcome back to the Engage Customer Summit 2026.
Day 1 put the customer reality front and centre – the pressures in your contact centres, the gaps in journeys and data, and the honest stories of where organisations are succeeding and where they’re still under strain. Day 2 shifts gear to The Engagement Benchmark: Where Do You Stand?
In this opening address, Brian will connect yesterday’s themes with the question at the heart of today: how does your organisation compare against the best when it comes to customer engagement? From the strategies, technologies and operating models you’ve heard about, to the evidence on where real progress is being made, today’s agenda is designed to help you benchmark, prioritise and decide what needs to happen next.
A moment to reset, refocus and look ahead together – before you dive into a day built around understanding where you stand, what your peers are doing, and how to move your customer agenda forward with confidence.
Speaker:
Brian Manusama
Actionary
Executive Partner
09:00 - 09:25
Customer Experience Management
Inside Out: Brand Building and Customer Engagement Starts With Your People
Headliner
What if the most powerful driver of customer engagement isn’t your marketing strategy, your technology or even your customer experience programme - but actually your employees?
In an increasingly sceptical and fragmented world, trust is being built closer to home: through the people, leaders and voices audiences experience as authentic and credible. Employees sit at the heart of that equation. They experience an organisation’s culture first-hand, deliver its promises to customers and increasingly shape its reputation externally at a time when trust and loyalty are becoming harder to win.
Drawing on Edelman research into trust, brands and employees, Francesca will explore the inside-out relationship between employee engagement and customer engagement - and why the CX/EX relationship is so important.
From visible leadership and meaningful career pathways to empowering employees to become credible advocates and creators, the session will examine what turns an engaged workforce into a powerful engine of trust, reputation and customer connection.
Speaker:
Francesca Woodhouse
Edelman
Managing Director - UK Workplace Advisory
Francesca is Edelman ‘s UK Workplace Advisory Lead. She has worked across the entire communications spectrum in a career spanning two decades but has developed specialisms in change communications and culture transformation work.
Passionate about supporting people in a positive way through change, Francesca has advised some of the world's largest businesses on major digital transformations, team restructures, employer brand and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging to name but a few.
Francesca’s background is varied, which she believes helps in her work to bring people together, provide compelling workplace and employee experiences and solving complex situations for some of the world’s biggest businesses.
Francesca is a dual national and speaks French, German and Italian.
09:25 - 09:50
Customer Experience Management
Agentic Service: Turning AI Potential into CX Impact with Auto Trader
Presentation
Agentic AI is transforming customer service, creating new possibilities for how organisations support their customers and empower their teams. Join Zendesk and Auto Trader to explore the evolving role of AI in customer experience and what this shift could mean for CX leaders. Hear perspectives on the opportunities and considerations shaping the future of service, and how organisations are beginning to think about the next era of customer experience.
Discover why agentic service is becoming an important part of the conversation - and how it could help set a new standard for customer service.
Speakers:
Chris Tomkins
Zendesk
Principal Product Manager
Andrew Humphrey
Autotrader UK
Customer Operations Director
09:50 - 10:20
Customer Experience Management
The Future of Service Delivery – How Ready Is Your Organisation Really?
Panel Discussion
Autonomous and intelligent technology is reshaping what service delivery looks like, moving from reactive, agent-led interactions to proactive, AI-powered resolution that anticipates customer needs before they become contact. Agentic AI is taking this further still, enabling technology to act autonomously on behalf of customers across complex, multi-step service journeys without human intervention. The direction of travel is clear, but readiness levels across the industry are uneven, and the gap between organisations genuinely preparing for the future of service delivery and those still catching up on the present is growing.
In this panel, senior leaders will benchmark where the industry stands on readiness for the next generation of service delivery. From whether agentic and intelligent technology is actually delivering measurable improvements in service operations to the cultural and operational barriers still holding organisations back, panellists will help attendees understand where their organisation sits against the best and what it will take to close the gap.
What you'll gain:
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An honest benchmark of where the industry stands on readiness for the future of service delivery including agentic and autonomous technology
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Insight into where intelligent technology is delivering measurable improvements in service operations right now
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A clearer picture of the cultural and operational barriers most commonly holding organisations back
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Practical approaches to building genuine readiness for the next generation of service delivery
Speakers:
Steve Herbert
TLT LLP
Director of Customer Strategy
Steve believes the true test of customer experience isn't speed, convenience or digital journeys- it's what happens when a customer is confused, scared, vulnerable, frustrated or running out of options.
As Customer Strategy Director at TLT LLP, Steve owns the end-to-end customer journey, leading customer contact, complaints, service assurance and transformation programmes supporting major financial institutions. His work sits at the intersection of customer experience, vulnerability, regulation and AI, helping organisations deliver better outcomes while navigating increasingly complex customer and regulatory expectations.
Steve specialises in transforming customer operations in highly regulated environments, where trust has become an organisation's most valuable asset. He believes customer issues and complaints are more than problems to solve - they are some of the richest sources of insight for improving products, services and customer experiences.
His experience spans financial services, legal services and critical national infrastructure. At Nominet, the organisation responsible for operating the .UK domain registry, Steve led customer-facing operations including product support, abuse prevention and domain dispute resolution—helping protect one of the UK's most critical digital assets while balancing security, customer outcomes and public trust. Earlier in his career at Ecotricity, he helped demonstrate how purpose-led businesses can deliver both commercial success and meaningful societal impact.
Today, Steve speaks on the future of customer experience in regulated industries, responsible AI, and why the organisations that earn the greatest trust will be those that use technology to become more human, not less.
His ambition is simple: to build organisations that leave every customer in a better position than they found them.
Sarah Faulkner
Zurich Insurance
Head of Digital & Customer Experience
Sarah Faulkner is an award-winning customer experience leader with twenty years’ experience across CX, digital, brand and financial services marketing. She is passionate about putting the customer at the heart of business decision making and turning customer insight into meaningful commercial and organisational impact. Throughout her career, Sarah has led initiatives across customer journey management, digital transformation, customer strategy and organisational change, focusing on embedding customer thinking into everyday decision-making
Prior to joining Zurich, she held roles at Hiscox and worked agency-side with a range of financial services and charity clients. Known for her pragmatic and engaging approach, Sarah brings real-world insight into what it takes to move beyond CX ambition and build customer-centred organisations that deliver measurable results.
Kapil Singhal
Vyntelligence
Co-Founder & CEO
10:20 - 10:50
Customer Experience Management
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
10:50 - 11:15
Customer Experience Management
Forge Holiday Group: Unreasonable Hospitality by Design How Focus, People, AI, Technology and Ways of Working Create Exceptional Guest Experiences Across Hospitality and Contact Centres
Interview
Guest experience isn’t created at reception, in a contact centre or when something goes wrong. It’s designed long before a guest arrives or makes contact.
In this interview, Luke Squires shares why exceptional guest experiences are the outcome of leadership decisions, not luck. Drawing on his experience transforming operations across travel, hospitality and contact centres, Luke explores how clear focus, empowered people, AI, technology and simple ways of working create a culture where doing the right thing becomes the norm.
From removing friction through AI to creating an environment where colleagues, whether on the frontline or in a contact centre, have the confidence to deliver unreasonable hospitality, this session challenges the idea that guest experience belongs to one team. Instead, it explores how every operational, commercial and leadership decision shapes the moments guests remember.
Attendees will leave with practical ideas on building organisations where exceptional guest experience isn’t an initiative, it’s simply how the business operates.
Speaker:
Luke Squires
Forge Holiday Group
Group Director of Operations
Luke is a senior leader with extensive experience across Retail, Customer Experience, Operations and HR, known for building high-performing teams and delivering meaningful results. He combines strategic thinking with a relentless focus on execution, using technology and innovation to enhance customer experience and drive efficiency.
Passionate about people, Luke is a strong advocate for neurodiversity, seeing it as a catalyst for creativity, problem-solving and performance. As a parent to three neurodiverse children, he brings both personal insight and professional commitment to creating environments where different minds thrive.
11:15 - 11:40
Customer Experience Management
Sky Case Study: Who’s Looking After Our Future Talent? Turning an Idea Into Something That Creates Lasting Value for People, Teams and Organisational Culture
Case Study
What happens when development opportunities overlook the people who could benefit from them most?
When Sarah Reeder, TechWomen100 winner and Senior Manager at Sky, identified a gap in mentoring opportunities for more junior colleagues, she decided to do something about it. What began as a grassroots initiative has grown into a company-sponsored programme, helping colleagues build confidence, expand their networks and take greater ownership of their development, while enabling first-time mentors to develop their own skills.
In this session, Sarah shares the journey from identifying the gap to building a programme that creates meaningful opportunities for growth. She’ll explore how AI helped make the work achievable, how practical resources supported first-time mentors and how feedback helped demonstrate the value of the programme and secure organisational backing.
Attendees will take away:
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A fresh perspective on identifying overlooked development needs and taking action.
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Practical ideas for using AI and simple resources to make mentoring more accessible and sustainable.
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Lessons on demonstrating impact, gaining organisational support and growing a grassroots idea into a sustainable programme.
Above all, the session demonstrates that anyone with passion and a willingness to act can be a driving force behind meaningful change.
Speaker:
Sarah Reeder
Sky
Senior Manager, Service Strategy
Sarah Reeder is a Senior Manager of Service Strategy at Sky, passionate about innovation, service improvement and developing people. She combines strategic thinking, curiosity and creativity to improve experiences for customers, colleagues and businesses.
Alongside her role, Sarah created and leads a mentoring programme within Global Reliability, helping colleagues build confidence and develop their careers. A TechWomen100 winner and regular industry speaker, she is committed to creating positive change through technology, inclusive leadership, collaboration and empowering others.
11:40 - 12:10
Customer Experience Management
Designing for Delight – What Genuinely Great Customer Experience Looks Like
Panel Discussion
The organisations winning on customer experience are those going beyond meeting expectations to creating moments that customers genuinely remember, talk about, and come back for. As hyper-personalisation, real-time journey orchestration, and AI-driven experience design make it increasingly possible to engineer delight at scale, the gap between organisations deliberately designing for exceptional experiences and those hoping they happen is one of the clearest benchmarks of CX maturity.
In this panel, senior leaders will benchmark what genuinely delightful customer experience looks like across the industry and what it takes to build the organisational capability to deliver it consistently. From the role of hyper-personalisation and real-time data in creating moments that feel individual to the cultural and operational foundations needed to make delight repeatable rather than occasional, panellists will share where the industry is genuinely raising the bar and where most organisations still have significant ground to close.
What you'll gain:
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A clear benchmark of what genuinely delightful customer experience looks like across the industry
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Practical approaches to using hyper-personalisation and real-time journey orchestration to design moments customers remember
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Insight into the cultural and operational foundations needed to make customer delight consistent rather than occasional
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A clearer picture of where the industry is raising the bar on experience design and where the gaps remain widest
Speakers:
Melda Sofuoglu
Vodafone
Global Senior CX & Service Excellence Manager
With cross-sector experience spanning Telco, BPO, and Services, Melda influences senior leaders and delivers sustainable operational and customer outcomes. She holds a doctorate, bringing an academically rigorous perspective to her work, and is recognised as a distinctive voice in the UK CX community.
Rosie Franca
NatWest Commercial and Institutional
Head of Customer Experience, Midlands & East of England
Rosie leads customer experience for Commercial Mid-Market, driving growth, simplification and collaboration.
Since joining NatWest Group in 2015,Rosie has held a range of roles across Business Banking, Entrepreneurship, Affluent Banking, and Corporate and Commercial Banking.
Before joining NatWest, Rosie spent 10 years in Australia, where she led teams across Retail, Small Business Banking, Commercial Banking, Real Estate Finance, Charities, and Not-for-Profit sectors.
Rosie holds an MBA from the University of York and a BSc (Hons) in Nutrition from the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She has also completed further qualifications in Executive Leadership and Fintech at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and Climate Change at the University of Edinburgh.
Rosie is a Fellow of Leadership Western Australia.
Mike Bohnett
delight.ai
Chief Revenue Officer
12:10 - 13:00
Customer Experience Management
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
13:00 - 13:25
Customer Experience Management
HSBC Private Bank Case Study: Voice of the Customer: Lessons from Private Banking That Every CX Leader Can Apply
Case Study
What happens when your customers are among the wealthiest and most demanding in the world? Private Banking clients expect exceptional service, deep personalisation, and absolute trust. While their environment is unique, many of the Voice of the Customer challenges are surprisingly familiar across every industry.
Drawing on his experience leading Client Experience for HSBC Private Banking across Western markets, Stefan Witteman shares how a small global team turns customer insight into executive decisions, measurable improvements, and commercial outcomes. Rather than focusing on frameworks or theory, this session explores practical approaches to turning customer feedback into meaningful action and lasting business impact.
Delegates will leave with practical ideas they can immediately apply to make Voice of the Customer more influential, drive meaningful change, and strengthen its role in business decision-making.
Speaker:
Stefan Witteman
HSBC Private Bank
Client Experience Lead
Stefan Witteman helps financial institutions turn customer insight into measurable business outcomes. He is a customer experience and customer intelligence leader working across private banking, financial services and digitally led organisations.
At HSBC Private Bank, he contributes to client experience strategy across six international markets, leading Voice of the Customer initiatives and redesigning advisory, payments and onboarding journeys that contributed to a nine-point improvement in relationship NPS.
Throughout his career, Stefan has led customer experience, CRM and transformation programmes spanning more than 20 international markets. Earlier in his career, he helped establish an organisation’s first customer experience function and enterprise-wide Voice of the Customer programme, delivering a four-point improvement in NPS and a 20% increase in active users. His experience includes leadership roles across HSBC, Barclays, ABN AMRO, Kindred Group and Entain.
Stefan is particularly interested in customer intelligence, behavioural science and responsible AI, and how they can help organisations create more relevant, human experiences. He serves as a judge for the UK Customer Experience Awards and holds a Master’s degree in Marketing together with CCXP, CXAD and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certifications.
13:25 - 13:50
Customer Experience Management
Your Contact Centre Isn't Your Customer Experience
Presentation
Customer experience extends far beyond the contact centre. Every interaction can span voice, CRM, AI, unified communications, analytics and digital channels, but are those solutions truly working together? This session uses a customer story to uncover the technology gaps that create friction and explores how disconnected systems can impact both customer satisfaction and employee productivity. Attendees will gain practical insights into identifying hidden challenges within their own environments and discover how a connected approach to communications, intelligence and services can help deliver a more seamless customer experience.
Speaker:
Pedro Dias
CallTower
Director of Sales, EMEA
13:50 - 14:20
Customer Experience Management
Closing the Loop – How Leading Organisations Turn Customer Insight into Action
Panel Discussion
Most organisations are collecting more customer feedback than ever before, but the tools and techniques available for capturing and acting on that feedback are evolving rapidly. From sentiment analysis and real-time customer signal tracking to predictive VoC capabilities that can identify emerging issues before they become widespread, the gap between organisations using cutting edge listening capabilities and those still relying on periodic surveys is growing. Customers are increasingly aware of which side of that divide their providers sit on, and the commercial consequences of getting it wrong are significant.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what a genuinely action-oriented VoC programme looks like in practice today. From building enhanced feedback loops and real-time customer signal capabilities that drive tangible change, to closing the loop with customers in a way that rebuilds trust and strengthens loyalty, panellists will explore what it takes to turn listening into a real competitive advantage rather than a reporting function.
What you'll gain:
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Practical approaches to building VoC programmes that use real-time signals, and predictive insight to drive genuine change
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Insight into how leading organisations are using customer signal tracking to identify and act on emerging issues faster than ever before
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A clearer picture of what a genuinely action-oriented VoC programme looks like in practice
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Real examples of how turning customer feedback and signals into action is strengthening loyalty and driving commercial results
Speakers:
Gabriel Ross
Homeprotect Home Insurance
Head of Customer Strategy
Gabriel Ross is Head of Customer Strategy at Homeprotect Home Insurance, where he has been driving customer-focused initiatives since September 2020. With expertise in scaling deal flow and commercial strategy, he specialises in customer acquisition, PR, content creation, and brand development. His career spans multiple high-growth ventures, including roles as Growth Lead at Muse App and Co-Founder of Nettle. Prior to his current position, Gabriel held strategic marketing and commercial roles at Growth Street, where he developed scalable customer acquisition strategies and led commercial operations. He began his career with experience at J.P. Morgan and holds a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from the University of St Andrews.
Fleur van der Ende
Allianz UK
Head of Propositions & Customer Experience
Ewa Davenport
Kantar
Senior Client Success Director
14:20 - 14:40
Customer Experience Management
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
14:40 - 15:05
Customer Experience Management
HM Revenue & Customs Case Study: Turning Customer Experience Strategy into Better Customer Outcomes
Case Study
Delivering better customer outcomes starts with more than a well-defined strategy – it requires organisation-wide commitment, the right capabilities and a culture that puts customers at the centre of decision-making. In this case study, Simone Woodrow shares how HMRC is embedding customer experience across the organisation, overcoming internal resistance, embracing new technologies and developing policies that better support customers who cannot use traditional service channels. Discover the practical lessons behind driving lasting cultural change while improving outcomes for every customer
Speaker:
Simone Woodrow
HM Revenue & Customs
Head of Equalities and Extra Support for Customers and Customer Experience Strategic Lead
15:05 - 15:30
Customer Experience Management
“I Can See What You Mean”: A Different Approach to Personalised Customer Experience
Presentation
Personalisation is often built on customer data, history and behaviour. This session explores how real-time visual context can make that personalisation more relevant to the situation a customer is actually in.
Using an actual implementation with an existing customer, we’ll look at how better context can help organisations understand individual needs more clearly and shape more relevant, effective and human customer experiences.
Speaker:
Rudi Scout
Grypp
Sales Director
15:30 - 16:00
Customer Experience Management
Measuring What Customers Actually Experience – The Outcomes That Matter
Panel Discussion
Most organisations are measuring customer experience, but measurement without improvement is just reporting. As real-time customer signal tracking and predictive outcome modelling make it possible to build a far more precise picture of what customers are actually experiencing, the organisations pulling ahead are those using that insight to drive continuous, meaningful outcomes rather than simply tracking performance against a dashboard. Critically, a genuinely improvement-focused measurement framework must reflect the experience of every customer, including those in vulnerable circumstances whose interactions are often the most revealing indicator of where service quality is genuinely holding up and where it needs to change.
In this panel, senior leaders will benchmark where the industry stands on using outcome-based measurement to drive real improvement. From building measurement frameworks that connect directly to action, to using VoC insight and real-time customer signals to identify where experience improvements will have the greatest commercial and customer impact, panellists will share what a genuinely improvement-focused approach to CX measurement looks like and how organisations are using better measurement to make better decisions, faster.
What you'll gain:
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An honest benchmark of where the industry stands on using customer outcome measurement to drive continuous improvement rather than just track performance
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Practical frameworks for building measurement approaches that connect directly to improvement action across the full customer base including vulnerable customers
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Insight into how leading organisations are using VoC insight and customer signals to identify and prioritise the improvements that matter most
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A clearer picture of what a genuinely improvement-focused measurement framework looks like and the commercial difference it is making in leading organisations
Speakers:
Isobel Parker
Close Brothers
Customer Experience Lead
Rosie Franca
NatWest Commercial and Institutional
Head of Customer Experience, Midlands & East of England
Rosie leads customer experience for Commercial Mid-Market, driving growth, simplification and collaboration.
Since joining NatWest Group in 2015,Rosie has held a range of roles across Business Banking, Entrepreneurship, Affluent Banking, and Corporate and Commercial Banking.
Before joining NatWest, Rosie spent 10 years in Australia, where she led teams across Retail, Small Business Banking, Commercial Banking, Real Estate Finance, Charities, and Not-for-Profit sectors.
Rosie holds an MBA from the University of York and a BSc (Hons) in Nutrition from the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She has also completed further qualifications in Executive Leadership and Fintech at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and Climate Change at the University of Edinburgh.
Rosie is a Fellow of Leadership Western Australia.
16:00 - 16:05
Customer Experience Management
Chair's Close
Closing Remarks
Brian recaps our biggest themes across the Engage Customer Summit after two days of content and conversations that will shape the future of customer engagement.
Speaker:
Brian Manusama
Actionary
Executive Partner
08:55 - 09:00
Marketing & CRM
Welcome to Day 2 of the Engage Customer Summit!
Introduction
Welcome back to the Engage Customer Summit 2026.
Day 1 put the customer reality front and centre – the pressures in your contact centres, the gaps in journeys and data, and the honest stories of where organisations are succeeding and where they’re still under strain. Day 2 shifts gear to The Engagement Benchmark: Where Do You Stand?
In this opening address, Scott will connect yesterday’s themes with the question at the heart of today: how does your organisation compare against the best when it comes to customer engagement? From the strategies, technologies and operating models you’ve heard about, to the evidence on where real progress is being made, today’s agenda is designed to help you benchmark, prioritise and decide what needs to happen next.
A moment to reset, refocus and look ahead together – before you dive into a day built around understanding where you stand, what your peers are doing, and how to move your customer agenda forward with confidence.
Speaker:
Scott Logie
DMA
DMA Membership Advocate
Engaging, innovative and creative thinker; passionate about helping businesses build growth strategies to drive increased loyalty and value.
My main aim in business is to help build and then unlock the potential in a customer base.
I love to spend my time with businesses looking at what they can achieve if they understand their customers better and use that understanding to create long term relationships.
I’m a highly experienced data based marketer, with a background in finance but I have spent lots of time with charities, automotive, FMCG, government, on-line gaming and retail.
With a grounding in data, a degree in statistics and over 20 years of working across a range of businesses, both inside and working with suppliers, I can understand the challenges any business has in growing and building long-term value and can then contribute to achieving this goal.
As a current board member and ex-Chair of the Direct Marketing Association, I get a unique perspective on industry developments which in turn helps me to understand the future of direct marketing and how businesses should adapt to meet the challenge ahead.
I’ve built successful teams, covering areas as diverse as customer insight, marketing, Consultancy and Campaign Management and led a management team through a successful MBO, dealing with private equity backers and staying with the business to a successful trade sale. It’s all about great people and I have employed and developed some of the best in the industry.
I believe my main strength is in understanding business strategy and building collaborative teams to design, build and deliver winning propositions to meet and beat expectations.
09:00 - 09:25
Marketing & CRM
Inside Out: Brand Building and Customer Engagement Starts With Your People
Headliner
What if the most powerful driver of customer engagement isn’t your marketing strategy, your technology or even your customer experience programme - but actually your employees?
In an increasingly sceptical and fragmented world, trust is being built closer to home: through the people, leaders and voices audiences experience as authentic and credible. Employees sit at the heart of that equation. They experience an organisation’s culture first-hand, deliver its promises to customers and increasingly shape its reputation externally at a time when trust and loyalty are becoming harder to win.
Drawing on Edelman research into trust, brands and employees, Francesca will explore the inside-out relationship between employee engagement and customer engagement - and why the CX/EX relationship is so important.
From visible leadership and meaningful career pathways to empowering employees to become credible advocates and creators, the session will examine what turns an engaged workforce into a powerful engine of trust, reputation and customer connection.
Speaker:
Francesca Woodhouse
Edelman
Managing Director - UK Workplace Advisory
Francesca is Edelman ‘s UK Workplace Advisory Lead. She has worked across the entire communications spectrum in a career spanning two decades but has developed specialisms in change communications and culture transformation work.
Passionate about supporting people in a positive way through change, Francesca has advised some of the world's largest businesses on major digital transformations, team restructures, employer brand and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging to name but a few.
Francesca’s background is varied, which she believes helps in her work to bring people together, provide compelling workplace and employee experiences and solving complex situations for some of the world’s biggest businesses.
Francesca is a dual national and speaks French, German and Italian.
09:25 - 09:50
Marketing & CRM
Building Sales AI That Actually Works
Presentation
How agentic AI in the workflow helps businesses close more deals, faster.
Sales teams are under more pressure than ever. Longer buying cycles, more stakeholders, more scrutiny on spend. AI was supposed to help. For most teams, it has added activity without adding revenue.
The difference is not the tool. It is where you put it, what you build into it and whether it moves deals forward or just reports on them after the fact.
In this session Raoul Monks, CEO of Flume, shares how embedding agentic AI into the workflow, with the right sales methodology built in, builds buyer confidence at every stage of the deal. That is what shortens cycles, improves win rates and makes revenue predictable.
You will leave with:
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What separates revenue-driving AI from AI that just creates noise
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Why the workflow, not the tool, decides whether it works
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Why the methodology inside the AI matters as much as where it sits
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How buyer confidence converts AI activity into profitable, predictable growth
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What this is delivering for event businesses right now
Who should attend: CEOs, CROs and senior commercial leaders in events and media who want faster closes, stronger win rates and a forecast they can trust.
Speaker:
Raoul Monks
Flume
Founder and CEO
09:50 - 10:20
Marketing & CRM
Breaking Down the Silos – Uniting Sales, Marketing & Service Around the Customer
Panel Discussion
The most seamless customer experiences are delivered by organisations where sales, marketing, and service are working as a single, connected unit rather than separate functions with competing priorities. Yet across the industry, the gap between organisations that have genuinely aligned these teams around a shared customer engagement agenda and those where siloed working is creating friction, inconsistency, and missed commercial opportunity remains significant.I
n this panel, senior leaders will benchmark where the industry stands on cross-functional alignment across sales, marketing, and service and what it genuinely takes to close the gap. From building the shared strategy and cultural foundations that allow teams to work towards the same customer outcomes, to the commercial returns that genuine alignment is generating for the organisations getting it right, panellists will share what seamless cross-functional customer engagement looks like and how far most organisations still need to travel to get there.
What you'll gain:
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An honest benchmark of where the industry stands on aligning sales, marketing, and service around a shared customer engagement agenda
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Practical approaches to building the strategic and cultural foundations needed for genuine cross-functional alignment
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Insight into how leading organisations are ensuring marketing, sales, and service work towards the same customer outcomes rather than separate functional goals
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A clearer picture of the commercial and customer experience impact of getting cross-functional alignment right
Speakers:
Atossa Vaziri
Director, Product Marketing
Atossa Vaziri is Product Marketing Director at Checkout.com, with 18+ years building go-to-market and customer advocacy teams across AdTech, FinTech, and enterprise AI at companies including Google, Dataiku, Spendesk, and Perk. At Perk, she built the customer advocacy team from scratch, growing G2 reviews from 10 to 476 and reaching 97% customer satisfaction and launching the Customer Advisory Board. She's spent her career turning customer voice into a strategic growth lever.
Phil Ward
Cumberland Building Society
Head of Brand & Marketing
Matthew Harwood
Natwest
Head of Customer Communications
Matthew Harwood leads the Marketing Technology at NatWest Group. He is responsible for the strategy and evolution of marketing technology and AI-enabled content capabilities, with a particular focus on how agentic AI can transform customer engagement and business outcomes.
10:20 - 10:50
Marketing & CRM
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
10:50 - 11:15
Marketing & CRM
Sky Case Study: From Campaigns to Intelligent Journeys: How AI is Redefining CRM, Customer Growth & Retention
Case Study
AI is changing CRM fast, but not every use case creates value and not every automation improves the customer experience.
In this session, Aby will share practical industry use cases showing how AI, data, automation and MarTech can be used to move from one off campaigns to intelligent customer journeys across acquisition, engagement, retention, cross sell and win back.
The session will explore what works, what often goes wrong, and where organisations should avoid over engineering the customer experience. From next best action and predictive targeting to personalisation, journey orchestration and real time triggers, attendees will see how leading businesses are turning customer data into measurable growth.
You will leave with practical ideas on:
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Where AI can genuinely improve CRM and lifecycle performance
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Which use cases are worth prioritising first
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Common mistakes that reduce trust, relevance or commercial impact
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How to balance automation with human judgement
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How to measure whether AI driven CRM is actually creating customer and business value
Speaker:
Abhineet Kesarwani
Customer & Base Marketing Lead
Regional Director
Abhineet Kesarwani is a global Product, Marketing and Customer Experience leader with 15+ years of experience driving growth and digital transformation across Telecom, MarTech, Fintech and SaaS businesses. His career spans the UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia, with leadership across AI driven marketing, CRM, customer lifecycle management, product strategy and commercial growth.
He specialises in using data, AI, automation and SaaS platforms to transform how organisations engage customers, personalise experiences and drive long term value. His experience includes leading transformation across technologies including Salesforce, Pega, Braze, HCL Unica and Adobe, combining predictive analytics, next best action decisioning and marketing automation to modernise customer journeys at scale.
At Sky, Abhineet leads Customer Marketing across the B2B portfolio, driving lifecycle growth, personalisation and AI and data led customer engagement across Mobile, Broadband and TV. Previously, he held senior leadership roles with Lyca Mobile, du, StarHub and Flytxt, working across both enterprise technology providers and major telecom operators.
He is a Chartered Marketer, MCIM, and regularly contributes as a speaker on CRM, AI driven customer engagement, MarTech and digital transformation.
11:40 - 12:10
Marketing & CRM
The Relationship Engine – Is Your CRM Actually Building Lasting Customer Relationships?
Panel Discussion
CRM has long been promised as the engine of lasting customer relationships, yet for many organisations it remains a sophisticated contact database rather than a genuine driver of relationship depth and commercial growth. The gap between organisations using CRM to build meaningful, long-term customer relationships and those using it primarily to manage transactions and campaigns is one of the most significant divides in CRM maturity across the industry today.
In this panel, senior leaders will explore what genuine CRM-driven relationship growth looks like in practice. From the strategic and operational changes needed to shift from transactional to relational CRM, to the commercial returns that relationship-led strategies are generating for the organisations getting it right, panellists will share what it takes to turn CRM from a system of record into a genuine engine of long-term customer value.
What you'll gain:
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A clear picture of what CRM-driven relationship growth looks like when it is working at its best
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Practical approaches to shifting from transactional to relational CRM strategy
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Insight into the commercial returns that relationship-led CRM strategies are generating for leading organisations
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A clearer picture of what long-term customer relationship growth through CRM looks like in practice and what it takes to build it
Speakers:
Pete Evia-Rhodes
Workspace Group
Customer Engagement & Platform Lead
Pete Evia-Rhodes is a customer engagement and retention leader with 20 years’ experience helping global brands and scale-ups attract, engage, retain customers and talent. His career spans CRM, lifecycle marketing, loyalty, digital innovation and award-winning AI-powered personalisation, including work with BT, The Times and Workspace. As an Accredited ADHD Coach, Pete is equally passionate about building inclusive working environments where different thinkers can thrive. He combines technology, data and creativity to turn complex challenges into practical strategies that deliver measurable growth, stronger loyalty and better experiences for customers and colleagues.
Aislinn Mallon
The Guardian
Head of CRM
12:10 - 13:00
Marketing & CRM
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
13:00 - 13:25
Marketing & CRM
Turning Change into Opportunity: Rethinking Email at Middlesex University London
Interview
When Swéta Rana joined Middlesex University London, its CRM system was approaching the end of its life. This created an opportunity to rethink the university’s approach to email communications, rather than simply replicate existing processes.
In this session, Swéta will share how she and her team built a new CRM and email strategy from the ground up, challenging assumptions and creating more relevant, engaging and effective communications. She will explore how starting afresh can encourage creative thinking, improve collaboration and lay the foundations for a stronger long-term approach.
Speaker:
Swéta Rana
Middlesex University
Head of Digital Marketing
Swéta Rana is Head of Digital Marketing at Middlesex University, with extensive experience across digital strategy, CRM, email marketing, content, UX, analytics and technology. She has led major digital transformation projects, including CRM and CMS migrations, and works at the intersection of data, technology and compelling customer communications. Swéta is particularly interested in how organisations can use digital channels and CRM intelligently to create more relevant, accessible and effective experiences for their audiences. A strong advocate for digital accessibility, she is also a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC).
13:50 - 14:20
Marketing & CRM
Content, Relevance & Personalisation – Closing the Gap Between What's Possible and What's Delivered
Panel Discussion
The tools available for delivering personalised, relevant customer communications have never been more powerful, yet generic and mistimed messaging remains the reality for too many customers. The gap between what CRM data and content personalisation makes possible and what organisations are actually delivering is one of the most significant missed opportunities in customer engagement today, and customers are increasingly aware when brands are not using what they know about them.
In this panel, senior leaders will explore what genuinely closing the relevance gap looks like in practice. From using CRM data to drive personalised content strategies that feel individual rather than automated, to ensuring the right message reaches the right customer at the right moment across every channel, panellists will share what the organisations getting it right are doing differently and what the rest of the industry can learn from them.
What you'll gain:
-
A clear picture of what genuinely personalised, relevant customer communications look like when data is being used to its full potential
-
Practical approaches to closing the gap between personalisation capability and personalisation delivery
-
Insight into how leading organisations are ensuring every communication feels timely, relevant, and individually meaningful
-
A clearer picture of the commercial impact of getting content relevance and personalisation right at scale
Speakers:
Nagendra Pandey
Nationwide Building Society
Head of Customer Communications
David Walker
OVO
Head of CRM
David Walker is Head of CRM at OVO Energy, where he leads customer relationship and lifecycle marketing across a multi-million consumer base.
He has spent his career building CRM as a commercial function rather than a communications one — designing lifecycle programmes that measurably shift retention, cost-to-serve and customer value, and holding them to a commercial number rather than an engagement metric.
His recent work has focused on embedding AI into lifecycle marketing operations, cutting time to market whilst increasing the volume and precision of customer contact.
Alongside energy, David has held senior CRM and growth roles in media B2C subscription businesses.
14:20 - 14:40
Marketing & CRM
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
14:40 - 15:05
Marketing & CRM
Philip Morris International: From Group Photo to Selfie
Case Study
Your data sees every consumer as an individual. Your marketing still lines them up for the group photo.
This session is a field report from the early miles of building a one-to-one AI decisioning engine inside one of the world's largest consumer goods companies.
Expect working notes, not a finished playbook: why propensity alone produces well-targeted spam, how experiences are being composed for one person at a time, and what it's taking to get agentic CRM past your board.
Early results are promising: conversion doubled against the segmented programme it replaced, and they're a fraction of what true one-to-one will unlock.
This is just the beginning of the journey as it is long, and that's the opportunity: starting small, now, beats starting perfectly, later.
Speaker:
Erdo Dwiputra Rakasiwi
Philip Morris International
Head of Global CRM Product Group
I have close to 2 decades of experience turning consumer data into revenue across seven countries. Started in Tech, now in Marketing. I identify as half technologist, half marketer.
Today I lead CRM group at a global consumer goods company, where our AI decisioning engine doubled consumer conversion. I enjoy discussing the future of CRM: one consumer at a time.
15:05 - 15:30
Marketing & CRM
Voice of the Room: How Personalised Is Your Marketing Really?
Q&A
15:30 - 16:00
Marketing & CRM
Next-Generation CRM – Are You Building for Where Customer Engagement Is Heading?
Panel Discussion
CRM technology is evolving rapidly, with new capabilities around predictive analytics, intelligent automation, and real-time customer engagement reshaping what is possible for organisations willing to invest in the next generation of platforms and approaches. Yet adoption of these capabilities is uneven across the industry, and the gap between organisations building for the future of customer engagement and those still getting the most out of what they already have is growing.
In this panel, senior leaders will explore what genuinely next-generation CRM looks like in practice and what it takes to build a CRM strategy that is fit for where customer engagement is heading. From the capabilities that are delivering the strongest results for those who have already invested, to the strategic decisions organisations need to make now to future-proof their CRM without chasing technology for its own sake, panellists will share what good looks like and how to get there.
What you'll gain:
-
Insight into which next-generation CRM capabilities are delivering the strongest results for early adopters
-
Practical approaches to future-proofing a CRM strategy without chasing technology for its own sake
-
A clearer picture of what genuinely next-generation CRM looks like in practice
-
Real examples of the strategic decisions organisations are making now to ensure their CRM is built for where customer engagement is heading
Speakers:
Tayla Vanriel
Compare the Market
CRM Operations Specialist
Tayla has worked across various industries of CRM. She kicked off her CRM career in the world of grocery with Waitrose, before moving into the world of Media at BBC Studios and now manages various campaigns in the Financial Services industry with Compare the Market. She brings a wealth of strategy planning and technical experience to the table and is always open to a discussion!
Pete French
Oxford International Education Group
Director, Development and Customer Marketing
Pete's had exposure to customer marketing and communications across a wide variety of sectors in the past 30 years. These include retail, manufacturing, not-for-profit and most recently in international and domestic education marketing and recruitment.
He's passionate about the keeping the human element of customer marketing alive, finding ways to create a smooth but engaging customer experience, and using new ideas, technology and processes only when they can be ethically and sustainably deployed.
He's worked cross-platform with multiple ERP, CRM and record systems, most recently with Salesforce and HubSpot.
16:00 - 16:05
Marketing & CRM
Chair's Close
Closing Remarks
Scott recaps our biggest themes across the Engage Customer Summit after two days of content and conversations that will shape the future of customer engagement.
Speaker:
Scott Logie
DMA
DMA Membership Advocate
Engaging, innovative and creative thinker; passionate about helping businesses build growth strategies to drive increased loyalty and value.
My main aim in business is to help build and then unlock the potential in a customer base.
I love to spend my time with businesses looking at what they can achieve if they understand their customers better and use that understanding to create long term relationships.
I’m a highly experienced data based marketer, with a background in finance but I have spent lots of time with charities, automotive, FMCG, government, on-line gaming and retail.
With a grounding in data, a degree in statistics and over 20 years of working across a range of businesses, both inside and working with suppliers, I can understand the challenges any business has in growing and building long-term value and can then contribute to achieving this goal.
As a current board member and ex-Chair of the Direct Marketing Association, I get a unique perspective on industry developments which in turn helps me to understand the future of direct marketing and how businesses should adapt to meet the challenge ahead.
I’ve built successful teams, covering areas as diverse as customer insight, marketing, Consultancy and Campaign Management and led a management team through a successful MBO, dealing with private equity backers and staying with the business to a successful trade sale. It’s all about great people and I have employed and developed some of the best in the industry.
I believe my main strength is in understanding business strategy and building collaborative teams to design, build and deliver winning propositions to meet and beat expectations.
08:55 - 09:00
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Welcome to Day 2 of the Engage Customer Summit!
Introduction
Welcome back to the Engage Customer Summit 2026.
Day 1 put the customer reality front and centre – the pressures in your contact centres, the gaps in journeys and data, and the honest stories of where organisations are succeeding and where they’re still under strain. Day 2 shifts gear to The Engagement Benchmark: Where Do You Stand?
In this opening address, Andrew will connect yesterday’s themes with the question at the heart of today: how does your organisation compare against the best when it comes to customer engagement? From the strategies, technologies and operating models you’ve heard about, to the evidence on where real progress is being made, today’s agenda is designed to help you benchmark, prioritise and decide what needs to happen next.
A moment to reset, refocus and look ahead together – before you dive into a day built around understanding where you stand, what your peers are doing, and how to move your customer agenda forward with confidence.
Speaker:
Andrew Hough
Cranfield University
Associate Professor Sales Leadership & Performance
09:00 - 09:25
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Inside Out: Brand Building and Customer Engagement Starts With Your People
Headliner
What if the most powerful driver of customer engagement isn’t your marketing strategy, your technology or even your customer experience programme - but actually your employees?
In an increasingly sceptical and fragmented world, trust is being built closer to home: through the people, leaders and voices audiences experience as authentic and credible. Employees sit at the heart of that equation. They experience an organisation’s culture first-hand, deliver its promises to customers and increasingly shape its reputation externally at a time when trust and loyalty are becoming harder to win.
Drawing on Edelman research into trust, brands and employees, Francesca will explore the inside-out relationship between employee engagement and customer engagement - and why the CX/EX relationship is so important.
From visible leadership and meaningful career pathways to empowering employees to become credible advocates and creators, the session will examine what turns an engaged workforce into a powerful engine of trust, reputation and customer connection.
Speaker:
Francesca Woodhouse
Edelman
Managing Director - UK Workplace Advisory
Francesca is Edelman ‘s UK Workplace Advisory Lead. She has worked across the entire communications spectrum in a career spanning two decades but has developed specialisms in change communications and culture transformation work.
Passionate about supporting people in a positive way through change, Francesca has advised some of the world's largest businesses on major digital transformations, team restructures, employer brand and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging to name but a few.
Francesca’s background is varied, which she believes helps in her work to bring people together, provide compelling workplace and employee experiences and solving complex situations for some of the world’s biggest businesses.
Francesca is a dual national and speaks French, German and Italian.
09:25 - 09:50
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Workspace Group Case Study: The Retention Moat
Case Study
How to keep the customers and people your growth depends on.
When products can be launched faster, competitors can appear overnight and almost anything can be copied, retention is one of your genuine competitive advantages.
Drawing on 20 years in customer engagement, Pete shares the successes, failures and battle scars behind building experiences that customers value and that talented people want to stay.
He’ll explore what customer and employee retention have in common, plus how he uses AI without losing brand identity or humanity.
Expect practical evidence to strengthen your investment cases, honest lessons from what failed spectacularly, and three strategies you can take away and test straight away.
Speaker:
Pete Evia-Rhodes
Workspace Group
Customer Engagement & Platform Lead
Pete Evia-Rhodes is a customer engagement and retention leader with 20 years’ experience helping global brands and scale-ups attract, engage, retain customers and talent. His career spans CRM, lifecycle marketing, loyalty, digital innovation and award-winning AI-powered personalisation, including work with BT, The Times and Workspace. As an Accredited ADHD Coach, Pete is equally passionate about building inclusive working environments where different thinkers can thrive. He combines technology, data and creativity to turn complex challenges into practical strategies that deliver measurable growth, stronger loyalty and better experiences for customers and colleagues.
09:50 - 10:20
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
The Intelligence Behind Modern Loyalty – Predicting, Personalising & Retaining
Panel Discussion
The most effective loyalty strategies today are powered by data, insight, and the ability to anticipate what individual customers need before they ask for it. From predictive churn modelling and personalised loyalty experiences to intelligent engagement triggers that reach customers at the moments that matter most, the gap between organisations using data and intelligence to drive retention decisions and those still relying on broad programme mechanics is becoming a significant competitive divide.
In this panel, senior leaders will explore what intelligent, data-driven loyalty looks like in practice. From the data maturity and analytical capability required to make predictive loyalty work at scale, to the personalisation strategies that are strengthening relationships and driving measurable retention outcomes, panellists will share what the most effective organisations are doing and what the rest of the industry can learn from them.
What you'll gain:
-
A clear picture of what intelligent, data-driven loyalty looks like when it is working at its best
-
Practical approaches to building the data maturity and analytical capability needed for predictive loyalty strategies
-
Insight into how leading organisations are using personalisation and intelligent engagement to strengthen relationships and drive retention
-
Real examples of the loyalty strategies that are delivering the strongest results for organisations that have invested in data-driven approaches
Speakers:
Adrian Evans
B&Q
Head of Product and Experience
Adam Mills
The Wine Society
Head of Insight, Loyalty & Strategy
With over a decade of experience in digital, data, marketing, and insight, Adam has worked with businesses of all sizes to create long-lasting impact and build customer trust, confidence and belonging — from fast-growing start-ups and scale-ups through to some of the world's biggest brands, such as BT and Tesco. A strong and vocal advocate for loyalty, retention, and creating meaningful experiences, he's always on the lookout for opportunities to drive connection and lasting value for both the business and the consumer. Now leading insight, loyalty, and strategy at The Wine Society, one of the UK’s largest membership organisations, he remains as passionate as ever about ensuring customers are at the heart of every decision.
10:20 - 10:50
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
10:50 - 11:15
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Virgin Media O2: Turning Loyalty on Its Head: Why Putting Customers First Wins in Commoditised Markets
Interview
In this session, Lisa will discuss:
-
How consistency and delivering for customers translate into sustainable growth.
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Creating competitive advantage by putting customers first.
-
The role live entertainment, experiences and cultural moments can play in loyalty, drawing on examples of leveraging longstanding O2 sponsorship assets such as The O2 arena and England Rugby.
-
Predictions about how AI will accelerate the next era of loyalty, enabling contextualised, personalised engagement at scale.
Speaker:
Lisa Johnstone
Virgin Media O2
Director of Priority, Loyalty & Rewards
Lisa Johnstone is Director of Priority, Loyalty & Rewards at Virgin Media O2, where she leads Priority, the award-winning loyalty platform.
Priority has over 7 million registered members, with more than one million engaging monthly, delivering over £33m in customer value in 2025.
With 25 years’ international experience across entertainment, gaming and media, Lisa is a recognised leader in customer engagement and growth strategy, shaping how loyalty drives commercial performance and long-term competitive advantage.
11:15 - 11:40
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Customer Service Is the Most Underrated Growth Lever in Business
Presentation
AI is reshaping customer experience faster than any technology before it, but the gap between the brands pulling ahead and the ones stuck in pilots is widening. The reason most AI initiatives stall is Customer Service Debt.
This session breaks down what it is, why it undermines automation, and what the winners do differently. You'll learn how to tell whether your operation is ready to automate, what makes AI work at scale, and how to turn customer experience into a retention and revenue driver.
Speaker:
Dan Richardson
Ace Waves
VP GTM
11:40 - 12:10
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
The Future of Loyalty – Beyond the Programme, Towards the Relationship
Panel Discussion
The organisations redefining loyalty for the next generation of customers are those moving away from transactional reward structures and towards genuine value exchanges, emotional connections, and relationship models that make customers feel understood, valued, and genuinely committed to a brand.
In this panel, senior leaders will explore what the future of loyalty looks like as the value exchange between brands and customers continues to evolve. From understanding what the next generation of customers actually want from a loyalty relationship to the programme and experience innovations that are already reshaping how organisations think about retention and advocacy, panellists will share where loyalty is heading and what organisations need to do now to stay ahead of where their customers are going.
What you'll gain:
-
A clear picture of how the value exchange between brands and customers is evolving and what it means for loyalty strategy
-
Practical approaches to building loyalty models that go beyond transactional mechanics and create genuine emotional connection
-
Insight into the programme and experience innovations that are already reshaping how leading organisations think about loyalty
-
Real examples of what next-generation loyalty looks like in practice and the commercial results it is generating
Speakers:
Meera Nayyar
UK Civil Service
Head of Insights
I work across government, private and third sector to enable the publication of open data and help clients tell a great story, internally and externally, using data.
This starts with the strategy/policy/manifestos and having a clear vision, missions and aims. It continues with reporting/tracking and data driven communications.
The combination of multiple data sources paired with qualitative insights is probably one of the most effective evaluation and story telling tools we have in a communications toolkit.
Campaigns covered include Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey, Check Challenge Appeal, Find My Business Rates and Transport Open Data.
Therese Kozicki
Ticket Tailor
Head of Customer Success
Therese is Head of Customer Success at Ticket Tailor, a ticketing platform trusted by 73,000 Event Creators across 120 countries.
She built the Customer Success department from scratch, and now looks after their portfolio of high-value client accounts. Her focus has always been on the relationship behind the numbers, not just the data, but understanding what actually keeps a client loyal as their needs change and the business grows around them.
She connects what clients need with what Ticket Tailor actually builds, working closely with teams across the business to make sure that feedback shapes real decisions.
12:10 - 13:00
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
13:00 - 13:25
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Financial Times Case Study: Financial Times Case Study: How the Financial Times Is Making Staying the Easy Decision
Case Study
Customer needs change, but too often their subscription doesn't. In this case study, Andrew Gale shares how the Financial Times is rethinking retention by helping customers make the subscription decisions that are right for them as their needs evolve.
Through a real-world case study, Andrew will explore how intelligent decisioning, customer insight, and AI-powered personalisation are transforming traditional cancellation journeys into more relevant, customer-first experiences, and how the same principles are shaping the future of subscription management across the customer lifecycle.
Speaker:
Andrew Gale
Financial Times
Head of Subscription Management & Retention
Andrew leads subscription management and retention at the Financial Times, where he is responsible for maximising customer lifetime value through customer-first subscription experiences.
His work combines AI-powered decision-making, behavioural science and customer insight to create more personalised and seamless experiences, making it easier for subscribers to realise value from their subscription and stay with the FT.
Passionate about trust, transparency and long-term customer relationships, Andrew is reshaping subscription management from an operational function into a strategic capability that builds lasting loyalty while driving sustainable commercial growth.
13:25 - 13:50
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Making Millions Feel Seen
Presentation
Attention is the scarcest thing a brand can earn, and nothing earns it like feeling personally recognised. So how do you make a global anniversary feel personal to 1.17 million people? For its 40th, Nespresso turned member data into a personalised video for every member, shaped by their own history with the brand.
Laura Esquius (Global Loyalty Manager, Nestlé Nespresso) and Ronald Griffin (CEO and Co-founder, Seen.io) share how it came together, and why nearly 9 in 10 members watched to the end.
Speakers:
Ronald Griffin
Seen.io
CEO & Founder
Laura Esquius
Nespresso
Global Loyalty Manager
13:50 - 14:20
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Winning the Retention Battle - Strategies Built for a Switching Economy
Panel Discussion
The economics of customer retention have changed. In a market where switching is effortless and alternatives are always visible, the retention strategies that worked in a world of higher switching friction are no longer sufficient. The organisations winning the retention battle are those that have fundamentally rethought their approach, moving from defensive tactics designed to slow defection to proactive strategies built to make staying the obvious and compelling choice.
In this panel, senior leaders will explore what genuinely future-fit retention looks like in a switching economy. From the data and insight capabilities needed to identify and act on churn risk earlier, to the experience and relationship investments that are making the most meaningful difference to retention outcomes, panellists will share what is working, what is not, and what organisations need to prioritise now to build retention strategies that are genuinely built for the market they are operating in.
What you'll gain:
-
A clear picture of what genuinely future-fit retention looks like in a market where switching has never been easier
-
Practical approaches to moving from defensive retention tactics to proactive strategies that make staying the obvious choice
-
Insight into the experience and relationship investments that are making the biggest difference to retention outcomes right now
-
Real examples of how leading organisations are building retention strategies that are genuinely designed for a switching economy
Speakers:
Divya Kerslake
Utility Warehouse
Head of Customer Marketing
Divya’s career and expertise has spread across two very different industries over 15+ years, but always with the common focus of the end customer and their experience. She started at Microsoft working on Xbox and moved to Virgin to define and establish their group wide loyalty scheme Virgin Red. Her global roles and varied experience have established her as a leader within the customer growth and engagement area.
More recently she's joined Utility Warehouse and is leading the creation of a best in class customer function, focused on value management and loyalty.
Sarah Mitton
Sovereign Network Group
Head of Customer Engagement
Sarah Mitton is Head of Customer Engagement at Sovereign Network Group (SNG), where she leads strategic approaches to customer influence, engagement, insight and scrutiny across one of the UK's largest housing associations. Sarah is responsible for ensuring that customer voices directly shape services, policies and business decisions across the organisation.
With more than 20 years' experience spanning housing, social enterprise, youth development and community innovation, Sarah has built a career focused on giving people a stronger voice in the decisions that affect their lives. She has led nationally recognised programmes and developed innovative approaches to engagement that connect residents, communities and organisations.
Sarah is passionate about tackling social isolation, strengthening communities and creating opportunities for people whose voices are often underrepresented. She has led pioneering projects including digital engagement platforms, AI-supported community initiatives, customer-led scrutiny programmes, youth voice projects, Public Living Rooms, and sector-wide collaborations exploring the impact of customer engagement.
Erin Lowe
Reputation
Senior Customer Success Manager
14:20 - 14:40
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
14:40 - 15:05
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Voice of the Room: Where Is Loyalty Won and Lost?
Q&A
15:05 - 15:30
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Disloyal Bonding: How Siding with your Customers is Killing CX and all AI innovation.
Presentation
All brands are getting on with the implementation of AI CX strategies. The skills of customer facing staff are being challenged to effectively deal with more emotional and challenging conversations – many of them linked to retention, either on the phone, internet or face to face. What stands in the way of these advancements are entrenched habits which are already damaging, and without action, could be the death knell of any CX strategy.
Disloyal Bonding – (siding with the customer in a way which is explicitly going against your own organisation) is a nationwide habit. Largely unconscious and unchallenged, it is a customer service technique which chips away at customer loyalty and undermines performance data.
In this session you will gain;
-
An understanding of Disloyal Bonding’s definition.
-
A direct example of how it damages CX, brands and revenues.
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An illustration of how AI solutions can compound that damage, no matter how sophisticated - and finally, with this in mind,
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Ideas on how organisations can protect their transformation projects, and their results, for the long term.
Speakers:
Bob Morrell
Reality Training Ltd
Sales Trainers & Executive Coach
Jeremy Blake
Reality Training Ltd
Sales Trainers & Executive Coach
15:30 - 16:00
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Growing Customer Lifetime Value – The Personalisation and Engagement Strategies That Are Delivering
Panel Discussion
Growing customer lifetime value through personalised engagement is one of the most commercially compelling opportunities available to customer engagement leaders. The most effective organisations are those that have connected personalisation, data insight, and engagement strategy into a coherent approach that systematically deepens relationships and grows the commercial value of every customer over time.
In this panel, senior leaders will explore what genuinely CLV-growing personalised engagement looks like in practice. From the data and engagement foundations needed to make personalisation work at the individual level, to the strategies that are delivering the strongest results in terms of retention, revenue, and relationship depth, panellists will share what it takes to close the gap between CLV ambition and CLV reality.
What you'll gain:
-
A clear picture of what genuinely CLV-growing personalised engagement looks like when it is working at its best
-
Practical approaches to connecting data insight, personalisation, and engagement strategy into a coherent CLV growth model
-
Insight into the personalisation and engagement strategies that are delivering the strongest CLV results for leading organisations
-
Real examples of how closing the gap between personalisation ambition and execution is translating into measurable growth in customer lifetime value
Speakers:
Chloe Hathaway
TradeKart
Head of Merchants
Nicole Fletcher-Hunt
NatWest Boxed
Head of Operational Readiness
Nicole Fletcher-Hunt has a proven track record of leading high-performing teams and delivering significant improvements to customer satisfaction. As Head of Operational Readiness at NatWest Boxed, she focuses on scaling operations to ensure embedded finance solutions drive measurable, long-term client value. Known for her relentless focus on the end-user journey, Nicole shares actionable insights on how operational excellence and personalised engagement strategies build retention and maximise customer lifetime value.
16:00 - 16:05
Loyalty, Retention & Growth
Chair's Close
Closing Remarks
Andrew recaps our biggest themes across the Engage Customer Summit after two days of content and conversations that will shape the future of customer engagement.
Speaker:
Andrew Hough
Cranfield University
Associate Professor Sales Leadership & Performance
08:55 - 09:00
Data, Insights and Analytics
Welcome to Day 2 of the Engage Customer Summit!
Introduction
Welcome back to the Engage Customer Summit 2026.
Day 1 put the customer reality front and centre – the pressures in your contact centres, the gaps in journeys and data, and the honest stories of where organisations are succeeding and where they’re still under strain. Day 2 shifts gear to The Engagement Benchmark: Where Do You Stand?
In this opening address, Gerry will connect yesterday’s themes with the question at the heart of today: how does your organisation compare against the best when it comes to customer engagement? From the strategies, technologies and operating models you’ve heard about, to the evidence on where real progress is being made, today’s agenda is designed to help you benchmark, prioritise and decide what needs to happen next.
A moment to reset, refocus and look ahead together – before you dive into a day built around understanding where you stand, what your peers are doing, and how to move your customer agenda forward with confidence.
Speaker:
Gerry Brown
Customer Lifeguard
Chief Customer Officer
09:00 - 09:25
Data, Insights and Analytics
Inside Out: Brand Building and Customer Engagement Starts With Your People
Headliner
What if the most powerful driver of customer engagement isn’t your marketing strategy, your technology or even your customer experience programme - but actually your employees?
In an increasingly sceptical and fragmented world, trust is being built closer to home: through the people, leaders and voices audiences experience as authentic and credible. Employees sit at the heart of that equation. They experience an organisation’s culture first-hand, deliver its promises to customers and increasingly shape its reputation externally at a time when trust and loyalty are becoming harder to win.
Drawing on Edelman research into trust, brands and employees, Francesca will explore the inside-out relationship between employee engagement and customer engagement - and why the CX/EX relationship is so important.
From visible leadership and meaningful career pathways to empowering employees to become credible advocates and creators, the session will examine what turns an engaged workforce into a powerful engine of trust, reputation and customer connection.
Speaker:
Francesca Woodhouse
Edelman
Managing Director - UK Workplace Advisory
Francesca is Edelman ‘s UK Workplace Advisory Lead. She has worked across the entire communications spectrum in a career spanning two decades but has developed specialisms in change communications and culture transformation work.
Passionate about supporting people in a positive way through change, Francesca has advised some of the world's largest businesses on major digital transformations, team restructures, employer brand and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging to name but a few.
Francesca’s background is varied, which she believes helps in her work to bring people together, provide compelling workplace and employee experiences and solving complex situations for some of the world’s biggest businesses.
Francesca is a dual national and speaks French, German and Italian.
09:25 - 09:50
Data, Insights and Analytics
From Data to Value: Building a First-Party Data Strategy for a Privacy-First World
Presentation
How can global organisations make better use of first-party data while keeping privacy, trust and customer expectations at the heart of their strategy?
In this interview, Hazem El Taha, Senior Vice President, Group Marketing Technology at HSBC, shares his perspective on the evolving first-party data landscape. From balancing personalisation with privacy to building the technology and data foundations needed for smarter customer engagement, Hazem explores the challenges, opportunities and lessons shaping HSBC’s approach to a privacy-first future.
Speaker:
Hazem EL Taha
HSBC
Senior Vice President, Group Marketing Technology
Currently leading global MarTech strategy at HSBC, enabling 20+ markets through enterprise-wide programs that elevate customer experience and unlock measurable value. My work spans first-party data frameworks, advanced tracking and taxonomy systems, Gen AI–driven content automation, and CDP adoption to power precision targeting and omni-channel engagement.
A strong cross-functional collaborator with CRM, Sales, and Data teams, I focus on improving customer acquisition efficiency and lifecycle personalisation through technology and insight. Recognised industry speaker and thought leader on personalisation, data ethics, and customer trust, with regular appearances at global, EMEA, and GCC conferences.
09:50 - 10:20
Data, Insights and Analytics
First-Party Data – Building the Foundation Your Future Strategy Depends On
Panel Discussion
First-party data is becoming the most important foundation for the personalised, relevant, and proactive customer engagement strategies that customers increasingly expect. Yet building a sustainable, trust-based first-party data foundation that customers are genuinely willing to contribute to requires more than compliance, it requires a genuine commitment to the value exchange that makes customers feel their data is being used to serve them rather than simply to target them.
In this panel, senior leaders will share what building a robust, sustainable first-party data strategy looks like in practice. From the consent and value exchange models that are genuinely working to the gap between regulatory compliance and the genuine customer trust that makes first-party data a long-term foundation for meaningful customer engagement, panellists will explore what it takes to build a data strategy that serves customers well and stands up to the scrutiny of an increasingly privacy-conscious world.
What you'll gain:
-
A clear picture of what a robust, sustainable first-party data strategy looks like and what it enables in terms of customer engagement quality
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Practical approaches to building consent and value exchange models that customers genuinely engage with and that feel fair and transparent
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Insight into the gap between regulatory compliance and the genuine customer trust that makes first-party data a lasting foundation for meaningful engagement
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Real examples of how leading organisations are building first-party data strategies that serve their customers well and position them strongly for the future of customer engagement
Speakers:
Teddy Tepavicharova
The Telegraph
Head of Programmatic Sales
Teddy is an award-winning strategist and commercial leader in marketing and advertising, currently heading the Telegraph’s Programmatic Sales, while managing a growing global client portfolio. Her work has earned widespread recognition, including accolades such as Forbes 30 Under 30, Outstanding Transformation of the Year, BIMA100 and The Future 100 Club.
Sarah Reeder
Sky
Senior Manager, Service Strategy
Sarah Reeder is a Senior Manager of Service Strategy at Sky, passionate about innovation, service improvement and developing people. She combines strategic thinking, curiosity and creativity to improve experiences for customers, colleagues and businesses.
Alongside her role, Sarah created and leads a mentoring programme within Global Reliability, helping colleagues build confidence and develop their careers. A TechWomen100 winner and regular industry speaker, she is committed to creating positive change through technology, inclusive leadership, collaboration and empowering others.
10:20 - 10:50
Data, Insights and Analytics
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
10:50 - 11:15
Data, Insights and Analytics
Depop Case Study: Support as a Retention Moment, Not a Journey Failure
Interview
Depop managed to close the customer retention gap through support. This session explores how, and why it means support has been measured against the wrong metrics all along. SLAs, handle times and deflection tell you how quickly a ticket was closed, not whether the customer came back. Drawing on real work within a two-sided marketplace, we will show what retention depends on and how to translate that insight into the product and operations roadmap across self-solve, AI-solve and human-solve.
Speaker:
Anna Gradil
Depop
Senior Director, Seller Growth & Support
Anna Gradil is a senior technology leader with over 16 years of experience scaling marketplace and media businesses globally. As Senior Director of Seller Growth & Support at Depop, she leads the functions that help sellers thrive and make every customer interaction feel seamless, human, and trustworthy, built on the belief that exceptional support is not a cost centre but a growth lever.
Anna has led the transformation of Depop's support operations at scale, navigating complex BPO partnerships and deploying AI-powered agent technology. Before Depop, she held senior roles at YouTube and Google across EMEA, and as COO of Yoola she cut customer churn by 16 points and grew NPS from 30 to 55 by embedding customer centricity at the heart of the organisation.
11:40 - 12:10
Data, Insights and Analytics
From Promise to Practice in Customer Journey Orchestration
Panel Discussion
Customer journey orchestration promises seamless, personalised customer engagement at scale, dynamically adapting to individual customer behaviour across every channel and touchpoint in real time. The potential is significant, but so is the gap between what orchestration promises and what most organisations are actually achieving with it. The complexity of implementation, the data and integration requirements, and the organisational changes needed to make orchestration genuinely work mean that many programmes are still far from delivering the connected, consistent customer experiences they set out to create.
In this panel, senior leaders will explore what journey orchestration looks like when it is genuinely working in practice. From the implementation lessons that only come from live deployment experience to the data, integration, and organisational foundations that separate orchestration programmes that deliver from those that stall, panellists will share what it takes to move from journey orchestration as a concept to journey orchestration as a genuine driver of better, more connected customer experiences at scale.
What you'll gain:
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A clear picture of what journey orchestration looks like when it is genuinely delivering personalised, connected customer experiences at scale
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Practical approaches to building the data and integration foundations needed for effective orchestration
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Insight into the implementation lessons that are most valuable for organisations at different stages of their orchestration journey
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Real examples of how effective journey orchestration is improving customer experience consistency and the quality of engagement across every touchpoint
Speakers:
Julie Su
Global Customer Experience and Digital Strategy Leader
Julie is a global customer experience and digital strategy leader with over eight years’ experience across customer experience, eCommerce, product strategy and analytics. At Nissan, she has led customer journey and eCommerce initiatives across global markets, using customer insight, behavioural analytics and experimentation to shape strategy and improve digital experiences.
Julie is particularly passionate about connecting data with customer behaviour, turning complex insights into practical actions that improve both customer experience and business performance.
David Trevithick
LCP Delta
Head of Customer Insight
12:10 - 13:00
Data, Insights and Analytics
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
13:00 - 13:25
Data, Insights and Analytics
Anglian Water Services Case Study: Using AMI Data to Engage Customers and Drive Demand Reduction
Case Study
The UK AMI rollout is driven by the need to reduce demand-side consumption and leakage. For the majority of UK water companies, customer supply pipe leaks are repaired by the customers themselves, as well as any internal leaks. Any behavioural reductions in water use in homes and businesses are also delivered by the customers.
If we are to help maximise these savings, we have to use AMI metering to engage customers to complete repairs and adapt behaviours. Doing so relies on a holistic approach to both the physical hardware rollout, the reliability and accessibility of data, and value-adding services:
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How we set up our rollout strategies to create momentum and interest among our customers
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How we provide access to consumption data for customers to actively use it
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How we design value-added services from the AMI frameworks
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How we measure success and use it to update our strategies
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How we drive changes in legislation to enhance the benefits
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How we protect our customers’ privacy and respond to any other concerns
Speaker:
Doug Spencer
Anglian Water Services
Smart Metering Lead
Doug is Smart Metering Lead for Anglian Water where he has worked for over 35 years, primarily on water distribution; quality, leakage and water use monitoring and analysis. Over the last 9 years he has led the programme to take Anglian from proof of concept to company-wide rollout of AMI. He is co-programme lead on UKWIR BQ02 zero leakage and chairs the Croydon group and OFWAT’s ‘use the data group’, he is also a former member and chair of the CIWEM Scientific Group Committee.
13:25 - 13:50
Data, Insights and Analytics
What Your Best Call Score Is Hiding
Presentation
Quality assurance has spent years measuring whether agents said the required words in the required order - because for most of that time, adherence was the only thing measurable at any scale. But adherence can't tell you whether the customer understood, felt recognised, or left worse off than they arrived.
This session puts that gap on stage. We'll look at a call that passes every line of a traditional QA scorecard and still fails the customer, then pull it apart to show exactly how that happens. Backed by new benchmark data from 300 contact centre leaders, and closing with three changes you can make on Monday - none of which require buying anything.
Speaker:
Conor Bowler
MaxContact
VP of Product
13:50 - 14:20
Data, Insights and Analytics
Predictive Insight – Getting Ahead of What Customers Will Do Next
Panel Discussion
The most effective customer engagement strategies are those that anticipate what customers will do next rather than simply responding to what they have already done. Predictive insight is moving from competitive advantage to strategic necessity, yet the gap between organisations genuinely using predictive analytics to shape their engagement strategies and those still working primarily from historical data remains significant. The organisations pulling ahead are those that have built the capability to understand not just who their customers are today but where they are heading and what they will need next.
In this panel, senior leaders will explore what genuinely predictive customer insight looks like in practice. From the data maturity and analytical foundations needed to make prediction work reliably at scale, to the customer engagement strategies that predictive insight is enabling across retention, personalisation, and proactive service, panellists will share what it takes to move from descriptive to genuinely predictive customer understanding and what that shift means for the quality of every customer engagement.
What you'll gain:
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A clear picture of what genuinely predictive customer insight looks like and what it takes to build it
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Practical approaches to building the data maturity and analytical foundations needed for reliable prediction at scale
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Insight into how leading organisations are using predictive analytics to shape more effective retention, personalisation, and proactive customer engagement strategies
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Real examples of how predictive insight is changing the quality and relevance of customer engagement across the industry
Speakers:
Naba Elsaid
Durham university
Consultant, Durham University
David Trevithick
LCP Delta
Head of Customer Insight
14:20 - 14:40
Data, Insights and Analytics
Networking Break: Dedicated Time for 1:1 Discussions
Break
14:40 - 15:05
Data, Insights and Analytics
London Borough of Hackney Case Study: Hyper-Personalisation Without Losing the Human
Case Study
How Hackney used data, digital design and frontline judgement to move from transactions to outcomes, reducing friction, identifying risk, unlocking enterprise and protecting duty of care. This case study shows how customer signals can shape the next best action and create measurable public value.
Speaker:
Dan O'Sullivan
London Borough of Hackney
Transforming Customer Experience. Empowering Communities. Delivering Public Value.
Dan's work has received consistent national recognition for customer engagement, service innovation, commercial transformation and leadership, including three Engage Awards, reflecting both the impact of his work and his commitment to creating better outcomes for customers, communities and public services. His work has also been recognised by the Local Government Chronicle, the National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) and the National Market Traders Federation (NMTF) for excellence in leadership, innovation, economic development and public service.
Beyond Hackney, Daniel advises HM Treasury, the Department for Business and Trade, the Mayor of London's Markets Board, the National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) and local authorities across the UK on customer engagement, regulatory reform, digital transformation and place-based economic development. Bridging local delivery with national policy, he helps shape how governments, councils and organisations think about customer engagement, commercial innovation and inclusive economic growth, while supporting public services to improve outcomes for residents, businesses and communities.
An invited speaker at the 2026 Engage Customer Summit, Daniel believes the future of customer engagement lies in combining commercial thinking with public purpose, demonstrating that organisations create their greatest impact when customer experience, innovation and social value are designed together rather than treated as competing priorities. His work shows how organisations can combine innovation, data, empowered teams and human-centred design to deliver customer experiences that rival the very best private sector organisations while creating lasting social, economic and commercial impact.
15:05 - 15:30
Data, Insights and Analytics
Voice of the Room: How Data-Driven Are You Really?
Q&A
15:30 - 16:00
Data, Insights and Analytics
Hyper-Personalisation at Scale – Where Is the Industry Really?
Panel Discussion
True hyper-personalisation remains out of reach for most organisations, yet it represents one of the most significant opportunities to improve the quality and relevance of customer engagement today. The promise of delivering experiences that feel genuinely individual to every customer at scale is compelling, and the customers who experience it notice the difference. Yet the gap between organisations making genuine progress and those still working at broad segment level is one of the clearest indicators of customer engagement and data maturity across the industry.
In this panel, senior leaders will explore where the industry genuinely is on the hyper-personalisation journey and what it takes to make meaningful progress. From the most common barriers standing between personalisation ambition and personalisation delivery, to the strategies and investments that are making the biggest difference for the organisations pulling ahead, panellists will share what real progress looks like and what the rest of the industry can do to accelerate its own journey towards customer engagement that feels genuinely individual.
What you'll gain:
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An honest picture of where the industry genuinely is on the hyper-personalisation journey and what is driving the gap between leaders and the rest
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Practical approaches to closing the gap between personalisation ambition and what customers are actually experiencing in their engagement with a brand
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Insight into the strategies and investments that are making the biggest difference for organisations making genuine hyper-personalisation progress
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Real examples of what individual-level personalisation at scale looks like when it is working and the difference it makes to customer engagement quality
Speakers:
Zack Wragg
Merlin Entertainments
Senior Global Digital Commerce Product Owner
His career spans hospitality and retail brands such as Hilton, Crabtree & Evelyn and Merlin Entertainments. He is currently working as the Senior Global Digital Commerce Product Owner at Merlin with a focus on driving using digital transformation to improve the guest experience.
Abs Owdud
Pharmacy2U Ltd
Head of Customer Insight
I’m known for:
• Building insight teams from scratch (the fun, slightly chaotic kind of scratch)
• Turning “we’ve got dashboards” into “we actually understand what we’re doing now”
• Creating KPI frameworks that don’t require a translator, decoder ring or séance
• Reducing burnout by building calmer, more humane ways of working
• Carrying far too much workload with a smile until someone tells me to stop
• Using humour to deliver hard truths without anyone crying (including me)
16:00 - 16:05
Data, Insights and Analytics
Chair's Close
Closing Remarks
Gerry recaps our biggest themes across the Engage Customer Summit after two days of content and conversations that will shape the future of customer engagement.
Speaker:
Gerry Brown
Customer Lifeguard
Chief Customer Officer
10:50 - 11:50
Roundtables
AI Agent Washing: How Much of What You Bought Is Actually an Agent?
Roundtable
The market is flooded with AI agents. The problem is that most of them are not agents at all, they are chatbots and RPA scripts wearing a new label.
This roundtable is a candid, neutral conversation for leaders who have bought the promise and want to know what actually delivers. We will separate real autonomy from marketing gloss, compare what has resolved cases end to end against what only deflects, and build the shortlist of questions every buyer should put to a vendor before they sign.
Speaker:
Niamh Savill
Halo
Senior Solutions Architect
10:50 - 11:50
Roundtables
What's Stopping CX Delivering Better Outcomes?
Roundtable
Customer experience remains a board-level priority, yet many organisations struggle to connect investment with measurable business results. Whether investing in people, processes, technology, or AI, leaders often encounter unexpected barriers that limit impact.
This facilitated roundtable will bring together senior CX leaders to discuss the challenges preventing stronger outcomes, share successful approaches, and identify priorities that can help accelerate value across customer experience, employee experience, and operational performance
Speakers:
John Bousfield
Verint
Solution Consultant
David Shuttle
Verint
Solution Consultant
Known for translating complex product capabilities into clear, workable solutions and for bridging the gap between innovation and real‑world deployment. Played a key role in Verint’s transition from legacy platforms to WFE, CX automation, and cutting edge AI, ensuring the product roadmap stays aligned with customer needs.
Brings a pragmatic, analytical approach with strong technical depth and commercial clarity. Experienced across regulated sectors and skilled at solving complex problems with solutions that are robust, compliant, and built to the highest standards.
10:50 - 11:50
Roundtables
Does Your Experience Keep Your Promise?
Roundtable
Customer experience teams are pulled in every direction, between brand ambition, customer expectations, survey data and commercial targets. Strip away the noise and one question remains: what does the customer actually value, and what keeps earning their decisions.
The Foundation's latest research into the Human Experience Advantage found that consistency between what a brand promises and what a customer experiences drives consideration more than anything else we measured.
In this closed-door conversation, Joe Goldberg, Santander's Head of Brand and Customer Strategy, joins The Foundation's Managing Partner, Anna Miley to talk through what that alignment looks like in practice, including the decisions Santander is still working through as they bring their brand and experience teams onto the same page, working from the same data and the same understanding of who the customer really is.
When everyone across an organisation is talking about the same customer, it becomes far easier to work towards the same answer. When you know what you stand for, your experience can grow alongside that promise as it develops.
This is a small, deliberately intimate session, built for an honest conversation.
Speaker:
Anna Miley
The Foundation
Managing Partner
No results for current selection
Main stage
The Main Stage proudly showcases industry trailblazers presenting their insights on the future of customer engagement. These forward thinking experts delve into anticipated industry trends and technological advancements that demand our attention.
A must attend for those wanting to gain valuable foresight into evolving customer dynamics, innovative strategies, and cutting edge tools that will shape the landscape of customer interactions in the coming years.
FUTURE OF THE CONTACT CENTRE
For leaders and teams shaping how customer engagement is delivered through the contact centre, focusing on people, technology and new ways of connecting with customers at scale.
Topic Streams Include:
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Scaling Service: Meeting Demand Without Compromise
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Digital Contact Centre Transformation
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Redefining Efficiency: Cost, Quality & the Customer Balance
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The Agent Experience: People, Performance & the CX Connection
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The High-Performance Contact Centre: Delivering More for Customers
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The Human-Digital Balance: Getting the Blend Right
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Service Excellence: Consistency, Quality & the Duty of Care
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The Autonomous Contact Centre: How Self Acting Technology is Reshaping Operations
CUSTOMER CONTACT
For those responsible for managing and evolving customer engagement across every touch-point, with a focus on consistency, responsiveness and meaningful customer connections.
Topic Streams Include:
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The Omnichannel Imperative: Connecting Every Customer Touchpoint
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Self-Service & the Empowered Customer
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Smarter Customer Contact: Building Engagement Strategies That Scale
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Channel Strategy: Delivering Better Customer Outcomes
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Redefining Customer Contact: Speed, Personalisation & the New Service Standard
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Designing a Frictionless Journey: Self-Service & Customer Experience
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People, Innovation & Staying Ahead of Expectations
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Predictive Engagement: Reaching Customers Before They Reach You
DATA, INSIGHTS AND ANALYTICS
For those using data and insight to understand customer behaviour, inform smarter decisions and strengthen customer engagement across every touchpoint.
Topic Streams Include:
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Turning Data into Actionable Insight
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Customer Journey Mapping: From Insight to Outcome
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Real-Time Insight & Acting on Customer Signals
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Real-Time Relevance: Delivering Individual Experiences in the Moment
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First-Party Data & the Privacy-First Future
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The Future of Journey Orchestration
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Predictive Insight & Shaping Customer Behaviour
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Hyper-Personalisation: Using Data to Deliver Experiences That Feel Individual
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (CXM)
For those shaping the overall customer engagement strategy and design, focusing on how engagement is intentionally built, aligned and evolved across the organisation.
- CX Strategy: Building a Customer-Centric Organisation
- Voice of the Customer: Listening, Acting & Customer Signals in CX
- CX Transformation: Leading Change Across People, Process & Technology
- Measuring What Matters: CX Metrics, ROI & the Business Case
- The Future of Service Delivery
- Designing for Delight: Creating Journeys Customers Remember
- Voice of the Customer: Turning Feedback into Future Experience
- Measuring and Improving Customer Outcomes
LOYALTY, RETENTION & GROWTH
For those focused on strengthening customer engagement to drive loyalty, long-term retention and sustainable growth through consistent, value-led relationships.
Topic Streams Include:
- Loyalty Beyond Points & Programmes
- Retention Under Pressure: Keeping Customers in a Competitive Market
- Personalisation, Relevance & Growth: Turning Customer Understanding into Commercial Results
- Customer Lifetime Value: Measuring Relationships, ROI & Revenue Potential
- Predicting, Personalising & Retaining: The Strategies Behind Modern Loyalty
- The Future of Loyalty: Programmes, Emotion & the Evolving Value Exchange
- Retention in a Switching Economy: Strategies That Will Keep Customers Tomorrow
- Growing Customer Lifetime Value Through Personalised Engagement
MARKETING & CRM
For those using marketing and CRM to power smarter, more targeted customer engagement, connecting data, campaigns, content, and relationships to drive relevance, loyalty, and growth.
Topic Streams Include:
- Smarter Campaigns, Better Outcomes
- The Unified Customer
- Marketing-Powered Customer Journeys
- The Marketing Reality Check: Measuring Business Impact
- Uniting Sales, Marketing & Service for Seamless Customer Engagement
- The Future of CRM: Building Relationships That Drive Long-Term Growth
- Content, Relevance & Personalisation: Delivering the Right Message Every Time
- Next-Generation CRM: Building the Performance Engine of the Future
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What to expect
INTERESTED IN ENTERING THE ENGAGE AWARDS?
See the customer award categories and find out more information.
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