With trends and product forecasts rapidly changing, businesses can showcase and seek out the latest technology innovations and strategies at this year’s expo. 

Through various seminars, booths, panel debates, and live technology demonstrations, visitors will receive an invaluable insight into the latest era of customer experience technology. 

And with thousands of CX leaders and professionals from across the continent in attendance, visitors can gain practical insights and guidance from well-recognised experts at industry-leading enterprises. 

Check out the upcoming, cannot-miss exhibitors, speakers, themes, and more below. 

Exhibitors and Speakers

With 116 company exhibitors expecting to be in attendance, some of the top CX companies are scheduled to attend, with a list of where to find them, who will be speaking, and at which seminar. 

Five9 – Stand CC-L20 

Speakers: 

Steve Blood, VP of Market Intelligence & Evangelism: Rise of the Machines: The Dawn of Agentic CX 

Ty Stephens, Director of Channel Sales, EMEA: CX is Still Human – Agentic AI Just Makes it Smarter 

Microsoft – CC-J60 

Speaker: 

Sebastian Reeve, Director of Strategy, Customer Experience Applications: Become an Agent Boss: Human + AI Collaboration with Microsoft 

AWS – CC-J30 

Speakers: 

Shameem Smillie, GTM Specialist Leader at Amazon Connect: Transforming Customer Experience with Amazon Connect 

Soumya Unni, Solution Architecture Leader at Amazon Connect: Transforming Customer Experience with Amazon Connect 

Salesforce – CC-H20 

Speaker: 

David Brown, SVP & Chief Customer Officer: The Agentic Contact Center: A Salesforce Vision for AI & Confident Agents 

8×8 – CC-F40 

Speakers: 

Chris Angus, VP CPaaS & CX Expansion: Frictionless by Design: Modernising Customer Experience with CPaaS 

Maxine Eunson, Head of Public Sector: Transforming Public Sector CX with Purpose-Driven Communications 

Cisco Webex – CC-G30 

Speakers: 

Joseph Pratten, CX Sales Specialist: See It, Test It, Trust It: AI Agents in the Contact Center 

Keith Griffin, Cisco Fellow VP: Agentic AI: From Hype to Reality 

Vonage – CC-F20 

Speaker: 

Tara Aldridge, Head of Product Enablement: Inclusive CX: Designing Journeys That Leave No Customer Behind 

Dialpad – CC-L10 

Speaker: 

Michele Sama, Director of Engineering: Future-Proof Your CX: The Practical Agentic AI Roadmap 

Genesys – VIP Lounge 

Speaker: 

Keith Fulford, Director of Business Value Engagement at Genesys: CX Trends 2026: Agentic AI and the Future of Orchestrated Experiences 

NiCE – CC-M30 

Speakers: 

Andrew Tucker, Solution Engineer: Cut Through the Complexity: Turning Your Data Chaos into Clarity 

Natalee Wiggins, Solution Sales Executive: Cut Through the Complexity: Turning Your Data Chaos into Clarity 

Talkdesk – CC-K40 

Speaker: 

Gary Ovenall, Regional Vice President, EMEA Solution Engineering: Beyond CCaaS: Enter the Era of Customer Experience Automation 

Verint – CC-N20 

Speakers: 

Huw Jones, Director, Solutions Consulting: Turning Strategy into ROI: What High-Performing Contact Centres Do Differently 

Keith Barrow, Director, Solutions Consulting: Turning Strategy into ROI: What High-Performing Contact Centres Do Differently 

Zendesk – CC-G50 

Speaker:

Kathryn Simons Porter, Principal Contact Center Sales Specialist: CCaaS, CEC, or CRM? AI-powered Resolutions for Every Call and Channel 

Content Guru – CC-M10

Speakers:

Sean Taylor, CEO: AI Winners and Losers – Building a Winning CX Strategy with AI

Martin Taylor, Deputy CEO: From Talk to Action: Real-World AI Transformation Today

Themes

Contact Center Expo has provided a list of content themes in CX, Tech, and Business for visitors to look forward to hearing about this year: 

Customer Experience 

• Supporting vulnerable customers 
• Issue resolution 
• Fostering trust 
• Personalisation 
• Creating efficiency for the customer 
• The ideal customer journey 

Tech Innovation 

• AI 
• Omnichannel integration 
• Data Analytics 
• VR 
• Cloud-based solutions 
• Workforce management 

Business Strategies 

• Leadership and Culture 
• Workforce Management 
• Recruitment & Training 
• Employee engagement 
• Operational efficiency 
• Agent support 

Agenda 

Contact Center Expo is expected to run from 9.30am – 4.30pm GMT Wednesday November 19th to 9.30am – 4pm GMT Thursday November 20th, located at London’s ExCel venue. 

You can obtain the full two-day seminar agenda list here. 

It listens to every word, every silence, every sentiment shift, and turns it into something useful. A trend, training insight, compliance flag, or an alert that something isn’t landing the way it should.

It’s not just for sales either. 89% of marketers even say intelligence from phone calls is crucial to staying competitive. For CX leaders, conversation intelligence offers a way to stay ahead of customer preferences, and expectations.

At enterprise scale, the cost of not knowing is too high. That’s why CI is becoming critical infrastructure.

What Is Conversation Intelligence?

Most platforms can tell companies when a call started and how long it lasted. That’s easy. What matters more is what was said, and what wasn’t.

Conversation intelligence refers to the process of analyzing real conversations, spoken or written, using AI, speech recognition, and natural language processing. That includes calls, video meetings, emails, chat threads, and even ticket logs.

Good CI software doesn’t just capture. It categorizes, detects, and flags. It recognizes when a rep talks over a customer. When a competitor gets mentioned. When frustration starts building but hasn’t yet turned into a complaint.

The best systems go further. They link that insight back into CRMs, customer data platforms, QA workflows, and business intelligence dashboards, creating a closed loop from frontline interaction to executive decision.

Notably, conversation intelligence isn’t the same as conversational AI.

• Conversational AI runs the conversation (chatbots, virtual agents).
• Conversation intelligence analyzes it afterward, or increasingly, during.

The value for enterprises isn’t just insight. It’s consistency. One shared understanding of what’s happening in customer conversations, across teams and time zones.

What is Conversation Intelligence Software?

A lot gets said during a call. Some of it’s useful, some is noise. What matters is knowing the difference before the conversation ends.

That’s where conversation intelligence software comes in.

At its simplest, it’s a tool that listens to live or recorded conversations and pulls out the signals that actually matter. Not just who said what, but how it was said, when the tone shifted, and whether something important got missed.

• A rep forgets to mention next steps. The system flags it automatically.
• A customer says “I’m not sure this is worth the price.” That line gets highlighted, scored, and tracked.
• A manager pulls up a dashboard and sees that across 38 calls this week, one phrase keeps showing up: “I need to talk to my boss.”

Conversation intelligence software typically runs on a mix of real-time transcription, sentiment detection, keyword analysis, and machine learning. Most tools integrate directly with CRM systems, contact center platforms, or sales engagement tools.

Some tools work live, nudging reps with reminders or prompts in real time. Others run after the fact, surfacing trends across dozens or hundreds of conversations at once. Either way, the goal’s the same: make better use of what’s already being said.

Call Tracking vs Conversation Intelligence

Most enterprise teams already track calls. They know when they happened, how long they lasted, and who was involved. But that’s just the outer shell. It says nothing about what actually took place inside the conversation.

Call tracking is metadata. Caller ID, duration, routing path. It tells leaders where a call came from, not what came out of it. Conversation intelligence, on the other hand, goes inside the call. It listens, learns, and flags what matters. It can pick up on emotion, silence, repetition.

Put simply:

• Call tracking helps with attribution.
• Conversation intelligence software helps with action.

Most modern platforms now include both under the hood, call tracking for logistics, conversation intelligence software for performance, visibility, and strategy.

How Does Conversation Intelligence Software Work?

According to Gartner, only 14% of companies have a full 360-degree view of their customers. A common reason is that brands simply aren’t capturing the correct information. Conversation intelligence software allows companies to capture behind-the-scenes insights from each discussion.

Some solutions are offered as a standalone service that integrates with companies’ existing communication platforms. Others are delivered as part of a comprehensive CCaaS and CX platform. For instance, companies like NICE and Dialpad bake conversation intelligence into their contact center toolkits.

At the core, conversation intelligence software follows a simple process:
Capture → Transcribe → Analyze → Surface → Integrate.

1. Capture the Interaction

The software connects directly into communication channels like voice calls, video meetings, chat platforms, messaging tools, support tickets. This works across:

• Phone systems
• Contact center platforms
• CPaaS environments
• CRMs with integrated telephony

Tools that sit within or beside unified platforms like Salesforce, Zendesk, or Microsoft Teams often enable easier capture.

2. Transcribe in Real Time or Post-Call

Once captured, speech recognition engines take over. These transcriptions don’t just turn voice into text, they break it down by speaker, timestamp, and turn.

The better systems also adjust for:

• Accents
• Background noise
• Low audio quality
• Multilingual input

This makes the software reliable in places where it matters, like support floors, warehouse headsets, even call centers handling inbound traffic from multiple countries.

3. Analyze the Content

Using natural language processing (NLP) and trained AI models, the platform parses:

• Emotional tone
• Topic changes
• Key phrases (e.g. “cancel my account” or “unauthorized charge”)
• Silences, overlaps, talk-time ratios
• Escalation signals or missed handoffs

It doesn’t just flag keywords. It reads the room.

4. Surface What Matters

After analysis, the software highlights what deserves attention:

• Coaching moments
• Compliance gaps
• Repeat questions
• Emerging complaints
• Promoters and detractors

Managers don’t need to dig through 500 calls. They get a shortlist of the 12 that matter, already tagged, summarized, and scored.

5. Integrate Across Systems

Finally, CI software syncs into:

• CRMs (auto-logging notes, next steps, and keywords)
• CDPs (feeding voice-of-the-customer data)
• QA systems (auto-grading reps or flagging calls)
• Business intelligence tools (showing macro trends)

This makes conversation intelligence part of a larger enterprise data strategy.

What is Conversation Intelligence Software Used For?

What makes conversation intelligence software valuable across an enterprise isn’t just the data it captures. It’s the flexibility. Whether the goal is to close more deals, reduce call escalations, train new hires faster, or spot product issues earlier, CI tools pick up the same thread: real customer language.

Customer Service and Contact Centers

Support leaders use CI to track common friction points. If “can’t log in” jumps in frequency over a week, it shows up. If one region’s agents are over-talking customers, QA sees it. That means teams can fix patterns before they become reviews.

Common service-side use cases:

• Auto-QA and compliance tracking
• Sentiment scoring for escalations
• Coaching triggers (e.g., missed empathy or policy adherence)
• Script adherence and tone consistency

Sales and Revenue Operations

Sales leaders track pricing objections, competitor mentions, and top-performer language across thousands of conversations. CI tools surface what separates strong reps from average ones, then build coaching around it.

Common use cases:

• Identifying buyer hesitation earlier in the sales cycle
• Comparing messaging impact across geos or personas
• Flagging “stall” language or trigger phrases
• Creating highlight reels for new hire ramp-up

While sales teams were early adopters of CI, today’s tools have moved well beyond scripts and playbooks.

Marketing and Product Teams

Marketers spend weeks A/B testing copy. Meanwhile, support teams hear how customers describe the product every day.

CI bridges that gap.

Use cases for marketing/product:

• Harvesting real customer language for landing pages or ads
• Surfacing feature requests directly from support calls
• Identifying language that correlates with conversions
• Testing new positioning in live sales calls

The feedback loop shortens. Instead of waiting on survey data, teams get instant input from the field.

To expand that loop further, marketing teams often integrate CI with CDPs and VoC platforms.

CX, Strategy, and Executive Leadership

CI tools create executive-level dashboards showing what’s happening across teams without digging into every interaction. Instead of relying on anecdotal reports, leaders can track real data from real customer language.

Use cases for executives:

• Trend dashboards showing shifts in sentiment or churn drivers
• Monitoring compliance or script adherence across teams
• Tracking campaign or product feedback in live conversations
• Aligning training investments with actual coaching gaps

This creates alignment across the C-suite. Marketing hears what sales hears. Product sees what support sees.

The Benefits of Conversation Intelligence Software

At scale, conversation intelligence software is a feedback engine, coaching assistant, compliance layer and a strategy map. It doesn’t ask teams to change how they work; it plugs into what they’re already doing, then sharpens it.

Faster, Smarter Coaching

One of the reasons conversational intelligence software is becoming so popular in the modern world is that it can help to enhance agent and rep training. AI solutions can capture information from every conversation in the business landscape and determine “best action” strategies for different use cases.

This can lead to better training opportunities for customer service reps, who might need help navigating complex problems with customers. It can also empower companies to create more efficient sales professionals with step-by-step coaching and guidance for closing deals.

Many solutions now plug into WEM tools too, so companies can get real insights into the impact of training initiatives.

Real-Time Customer Insight

Forget surveys. Conversation data is live. Teams can track sentiment trends, spot emerging complaints, and identify product confusion before it spreads.

It’s a faster route to Voice of the Customer feedback, and it’s based on what customers say unprompted. Conversation intelligence software allows companies to dive into the intent, sentiment, and guiding elements behind what customers say. They can monitor conversations in virtually any channel and use words, tone, and dialect to unlock insights.

Improved Customer Experience

Conversation intelligence software doesn’t just provide a behind-the-scenes view into customer intent and sentiment. It can also track trends and patterns in the customer journey.

With the right tools to help companies discover common customer pain points, purchase cycle friction, and consumer goals, teams can develop a more compelling customer journey map. Business leaders can determine how to structure conversations to drive better outcomes.

It’s even possible to use the data gathered from conversation intelligence software to build more effective self-service tools. Intelligent IVR systems, chatbots powered by generative AI, and virtual assistants can all be enhanced with the data teams collect.

Risk and Compliance Coverage

Conversation intelligence solutions are excellent at rapidly recognizing keywords and phrases in a discussion. This makes them perfect for improving compliance in the contact center environment. Companies can use tools to track non-compliance instances during conversations.

For instance, a solution could track whether an agent reads a statement related to GDPR before collecting personal information from a customer. AI tools can automatically remind agents to issue notifications or alert supervisors when they don’t.

By creating simple summaries and transcriptions, these tools also make it easier for companies to search through content for compliance issues during auditing sessions.

Improve productivity and efficiency

CI software can work automatically behind the scenes. It captures information in real-time, reducing the strain on team members to collect data and make notes. With conversation intelligence software, companies can automatically create summaries, action items, and notes for their agents.

The right tools can transform complex transcripts into easy-to-follow snippets of text, which help businesses rapidly identify customer pain points and issues. These AI solutions can notify business leaders and teams about changing customer trends.

Conversation intelligence solutions can keep team members on track during calls, with virtual assistants offering real-time coaching, next-best-action guidance, and support. Some tools can even surface historical information during a call or discussion.

Top Features to Look for in Conversation Intelligence Software

Enterprise buyers are looking for systems that reduce manual effort, improve visibility, and connect the dots between teams. The best conversation intelligence software isn’t just feature-rich. It’s frictionless. Here’s what matters most when evaluating platforms:

• Real-Time and Post-Call Transcription: Transcripts should be accurate, speaker-separated, and context-aware. Look for tools that handle heavy accents, background noise, or mixed languages without breaking. Real-time transcription is key for live coaching and support. Post-call is useful for deeper QA and trend analysis.
• AI-Powered Sentiment and Intent Detection: Basic keyword tracking isn’t enough. Teams will want systems that understand tone, pacing, hesitation, sarcasm and silence. These tools should flag frustration during a call, missed empathy from an agent, and customer confusion or withdrawal.
• Coaching and Performance Feedback: Look for tools that can score reps automatically based on tone, or missed steps, recommend personalized coaching strategies, provide real-time advice, and compare team performance over time.
• Workflow Integration: The best CI software doesn’t create another destination. It pushes insights directly into where people already work, whether that’s Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk, or Microsoft Dynamics. It should connect with BI, CDP, WEM, and contact center solutions without friction.
• Compliance and QA Monitoring: In regulated industries, businesses need customizable rulesets to flag when legal language is missed or processes aren’t followed. This includes call grading against internal QA benchmarks, detection of compliance phrases, and more.
• Flexible Deployment and Customization: No two businesses run the same workflows. ACI solution should let companies adjust scoring models, build custom triggers, and choose different setups based on needs.

Examples of Conversation Intelligence Software

Conversation intelligence software is a growing landscape with various tools. The best conversation intelligence software for any business will depend on the goals they want to accomplish. For instance, in the customer experience landscape, solutions include:

• CallMiner: CallMiner’s collectionof conversational analytics and intelligence tools help companies to automatically score and transcribe conversations from chat, email, and more. The toolkit provides valuable insights into every discussion with automated metrics.
• Verint:Verint’s speech analytical tools come built into its contact center platform, helping companies to categorize and learn from calls. The solution can even score customers “at risk” in the purchasing cycle, reducing the risk of churn.
• NICE: NICE combines real-time speech analytics, transcription, and recording tools with innovative new solutions in generative AI. Companies can use behind-the-scenes insights into sentiment analysis, real-time agent coaching, and more.
• Observe.ai: The Observe.ai agent enablement platform is powered by voice AI, helping companies to analyze calls, evaluate agents, and coach teams. It also ensures teams can maintain complete visibility into the entire customer journey.
• Dialpad: Dialpad’s AI-powered UC and contact center tools come with artificial intelligence built-in. They offer real-time coaching, transcription, recording solutions for every channel, and automated analytics and dashboards.

Other companies focus on the sales and marketing landscape. For instance, HubSpot offers promotional teams a comprehensive marketing conversation intelligence toolkit.

How to Choose the Right Conversation Intelligence Software

The wrong CI tool can feel like another dashboard no one checks. The right one transforms how entire teams listen, coach, and make decisions. Across industries, the most successful CI deployments have one thing in common: alignment. The platform fits the business.

Here’s how to get there.

Start with Use Cases, Not Features

Before comparing vendors, lock down the problem to solve. Common enterprise-level goals include:

• Increasing first contact resolution in contact centers
• Shortening onboarding and improving rep ramp-up
• Reducing regulatory exposure with automated compliance
• Tracking competitor mentions across regions
• Improving NPS, CSAT, or VoC alignment

Map those needs back to workflows, not just departments. For example, if sales, service, and product all use different CRMs or call tools, integration and data normalization will matter more than sentiment accuracy alone.

Check Compatibility with Existing Systems

Any friction here becomes a cost later. Ask:

• Does it integrate with the current CRM, WEM, or contact center platform?
• Can it share data with CDP or BI tools?
• Does it work with voice + chat + video?

Make sure IT is involved early especially if the team is running legacy telephony, hybrid cloud, or strict compliance environments.

Prioritize Data Security and Compliance

• Especially in sectors like healthcare, finance, or government, leaders need to dig into:
• Regional data residency options
• Encryption protocols (in transit and at rest)
• Retention policies and audit logs
• Certifications (e.g., SOC 2, ISO, HIPAA)

Don’t treat this as a bolt-on. Make it a first filter.

Think Scalability and Future Use

Today’s team might only use CI for QA. A year from now, product and marketing could be building strategy from it. Make sure the tool can grow:

Multi-language support

• Role-based access and permissions
• Modular pricing models
• API access for custom workflows

If long-term CX transformation is the goal, scalability is key.

Best Practices for Rolling Out Conversation Intelligence Software

Technology rollout is rarely the hard part. The hard part is getting people to use it, not just log in, but trust it, rely on it, and change how they work because of it.

That’s especially true for conversation intelligence software. The benefits are real, but they don’t show up automatically. Success depends on how the rollout is planned, who’s involved, and how the insights get shared.

• Involve End Users Early: One of the fastest ways to kill adoption is to treat CI like a backend install. This is a frontline tool. Bring in sales leads, support managers, QA coaches, even legal early. Pilot with teams who understand the conversations firsthand. Get their input on tagging logic, scoring criteria, and what “good” actually sounds like.
• Define What Success Looks Like: CI tools can generate hundreds of insights. But if teams don’t know what to look for, they won’t act on them. Set 3–5 clear goals tied to business outcomes. For example: Reduce average handle time by 12%. Build reports and dashboards around those goals.
• Integrate, Don’t Isolate: The biggest rollout mistake? Making CI “just another tool.” Instead: Auto-push call summaries into CRM records. Feed coaching tags into WEM or LMS. Connect keywords to VoC dashboards or ticketing systems
• Turn Insights Into Action Quickly: Don’t let insights sit in reports. Use clips in coaching sessions. Highlight wins in all-hands meetings. Show how one flagged phrase got a customer to stay, or led to a closed deal.
• Start Small, Scale Smart: Don’t flip the switch across all regions on day one. Run a 30- to 60-day test with one team. Learn what works. Adjust scoring models, tweak integration logic, refine tags. Then scale with confidence

What’s Next for Conversation Intelligence Software?

The evolution of conversation intelligence software isn’t about new features, it’s about new roles. CI is moving from a back-office tool to a frontline co-pilot, embedded in real-time workflows and used across entire organizations, not just sales floors or support desks.

Here’s where the tech is heading:

• Real-Time Guidance, Not Just Post-Call Analysis: Until recently, most CI platforms worked in the rearview mirror. Today’s tools offer in-call coaching, pop-up suggestions, and auto-generated prompts as conversations unfold. Whether it’s reminding a rep to verify compliance language or suggesting a next-best action based on sentiment change, CI is becoming an active participant not just a passive observer.
• Deeper AI Personalization: With generative AI in the mix, CI platforms can now summarize calls in natural language, highlight emotional cues, and even recommend what to say next. These summaries are tailored to a user persona, context-aware, and multilingual. Expect to see even greater use of LLMs to personalize scripts, refine training, and coach based on conversation outcomes.
• Omnichannel CI and Non-Voice Integration: Conversations don’t just happen on phones anymore. Messaging, chat, email, and even internal comments all carry signals worth analyzing. Next-gen CI platforms will unify voice and digital channels, and track context across asynchronous interactions.
• More Enterprise-Grade Security and Data Controls: As CI becomes a system of record, the pressure to meet security, sovereignty, and compliance standards increases. Expect to see zero-trust architecture, configurable access permissions, and AI governance frameworks.
• Tighter CX Ecosystem Integration: The smartest CI platforms won’t just report issues, they’ll trigger workflows across platforms. In this world, CI becomes the connective tissue across CX, CRM, BI, and customer feedback management stacks.

Conversation Intelligence Software: From Listening to Leading

Every team talks to customers. Few really listen.

Conversation intelligence software changes that. It filters every interaction for what matters, then puts those insights where they can drive change: in front of agents, managers, strategists, and executives.

It’s a framework for unlocking insights, improving performance, protecting compliance, and elevating every customer touchpoint.

For enterprise teams that want to move faster, operate smarter, and compete in a market shaped by real-time experiences, the question isn’t whether to adopt conversation intelligence. The only question is: Which platform will lead that transformation?

Ready to upgrade? CX Today is here to help:

• Join the Community: Connect with CX professionals, share insights, and shape the future of conversation intelligence.
• Test the Tech: Meet top vendors, explore the tools that drive value, and keep up with the innovations reshaping how teams listen and lead at industry events.
• Plan Your Next Investment: Navigate the CX Today Marketplace for curated insight into the most trusted vendors in CI, CCaaS, CDP, and more.

Or start with the big picture: Explore The Ultimate CX Guide for everything enterprise leaders need to know about modern CX strategy, technology, and transformation.

Yet, with so many flashy announcements and marketing campaigns, it can be tricky for buyers to see through the noise.  

As such, companies may struggle to isolate truly market-leading technologies and the vendors best placed to serve them. 

Thankfully, the CX Awards 2025 judging panel features a who’s who of independent experts who know the space like the back of their hands. 

Indeed, there are very few (if any!) better placed to choose winners and finalists across a long list of categories, from “Best Enterprise Contact Center Platform” to “Best Use of AI”. 

Without further ado, here’s an introduction to all the fabulous people presiding over the fate of this year’s nominations.  

→ DON’T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO APPLY FOR THE CX AWARDS 2025: Download an entry form here. 

Zeus Kerravala, Principal Analyst at ZK Research

Zeus focuses exclusively on emerging communications, networking, and security technologies.  

A top-ranked analyst (AR Power 100, #6 by Apollo Research in 2020), he provides tactical and strategic advice to end-user IT, vendors, resellers, and the financial community. 

Liz Miller, VP & Principal Analyst at Constellation Research

Leveraging 30 years of marketing experience, Liz provides strategic guidance on leadership, business transformation, and customer experience technology. 

As the former Head of Research & Content for the Chief Marketing Officer Council, Liz provides expert guidance on addressing CMO needs, engagement transformation, and brand trust security. 

Nicolas de Kouchkovsky, Fractional CMO & Industry Analyst at CaCube Consulting

Nicolas has decades of marketing, product, and CX expertise, driving growth for tech companies – including over 35 from pre-A to Series B and larger.  

Additionally, he advises tech providers on strategy and helps enterprises with solution design and technology roadmaps as an industry analyst. 

Rebecca Wettemann, CEO & Principal Analyst at Valoir

Rebecca provides research and advisory services for CRM, CX, HCM, and EX.  

With over 25 years in the tech industry, Wettemann is a leading voice on the value of cloud, digital transformation, AI, and digital workplace productivity. 

Dan Miller, Emeritus Analyst and Founder at Opus Research

Founder of Opus Research in 1986, Dan helped define conversational commerce through consulting guidance and pioneering reports on the opportunities presented by automated speech, NLP, and conversational AI.  

Previously, he directed the New Electronic Media Program at LINK/IDC, establishing an early advisory service, after management roles at Atari, Pacific Telesis Group (now AT&T) and Warner Communications. 

Shelly Kramer, President & CEO at Kramer & Company

Shelly Kramer is an independent analyst, founder, and principal analyst at Kramer&Co.

Prior to her work independently, she co-founded, scaled, and grew Futurum Research from a startup to a well-established firm, doubling revenues YoY over the course of a seven-year period.

The last year she spent as a consultant with theCUBE helping establish their newest brand, theCUBE Research, before sliding out to once again build and grow her own firm.

Jim Davies, Co-Founder and Executive Partner at Actionary

With 20+ years at Gartner as VP of Research – covering CRM, VoC, and WEM – Jim has advised thousands of organizations globally.  

Since then, he co-founded Actionary, an advisory firm that offers CEOs and their leadership teams personalized advice to make better technology buying decisions and improve strategy execution.  

Nerys Corfield, Director of Injection Consulting

Prior to establishing her consultancy, Nerys spent almost 19 years in UK outsourcing, managing contact center services for clients including Volkswagen, Vodafone, British Gas, National Apprenticeship Service, and Sky.  

Since founding Injection Consulting in 2015, she has focused on conducting contact center audits, implementing new systems, and delivering broader transformation programs. 

Martin Schneider, VP & Principal Analyst at Constellation Research

Martin Schneider has a unique career spanning analyst and marketing roles in high tech, consistently focused on go-to-market/CX trends and marketing leadership.  

He started as a B2B tech journalist, became a leading application software analyst at The 451 Group, and then led successful go-to-market teams for tech companies like SugarCRM, Basho Technologies, and Caspio. 

Oru Mohiuddin, Senior Research Manager, Enterprise Communications & Collaboration at IDC

London-based Oru leads IDC’s regional research on CCaaS, UCaaS, and collaboration.  

Her studies focus on the transformation of enterprise communications, especially in hybrid work scenarios, and how modern technologies can drive business agility, resilience, and future-proofing.   

Justin Robbins, Founder & Principal Analyst at Metric Sherpa

Justin has led global training and consulting for 50+ Fortune 500 companies, leveraging his operations, strategy, and marketing experience with tech brands and research leadership at ICMI.  

Alongside his work as an analyst at Metric Sherpa, Justin serves on the board of CX Accelerator and advises the Quality Assurance & Training Connection, supporting customer service professionals.  

Mila D’Antonio, Principal Analyst at Omdia

Mila focuses on enterprise applications for personalized and connected customer engagement. 

She closely monitors key developments and emerging tech in this space, including customer engagement platforms, CDPs, and customer journey orchestration solutions.  

Previously, Mila was editor-in-chief at 1to1 Media. 

Michael Fauscette, CEO & Chief Analyst at Arion Research

Michael is a thought leader, author, and podcaster on emerging business software, AI, digital transformation, and CX strategy.  

Before he founded Arion Research, Michael spent time as an advisor to G2 and Board Chairman at LocatorX, building up an expertise that spans business software market research, new tech startups, and go-to-market models. 

Keith Kirkpatrick, Research Director at The Futurum Group

Keith researches emerging technologies, digital transformation, and market trends. 

With 15+ years in technology analysis, he provides strategic insights and oversees in-depth, actionable research reports.  

Indeed, Keith prides himself on distilling complex data into clear, strategic recommendations for business leaders. 

Julie Tano-Lawson, Customer Experience Consultant at CABINET – CONSEIL CX

Julie Tano–Lawson thrived as a contact center leader, developing CX-advancement strategies at ADT.  

Now, she mentors business leaders on CX maturity and is a founding member of the “Women in CX” online community, sharing and learning with industry peers. 

Finbarr Begley, Senior Analyst at Cavell Group

Finbarr has spent over six years monitoring the CCaaS and broader CX market at Cavell, with 13 more years in telecoms, taking on marketing and analyst roles.  

Also, he manages the Cavell podcast, enterprise quantitative research, and tracks AI trends. 

Now, It’s Over to You…

That’s quite the judging panel full of industry experts eager to review your entries, unpack your vision for CX, and award the market’s finest.  

Yet, for now, it’s over to you to send in your applications!  

With little more than three weeks until the deadline, please don’t wait to download the entry form, shape your submission(s), and mail them in. 

Our esteemed judging panel looks forward to seeing what you come up with and scouring all the submissions before the confetti-throwing commences. 

Back and bigger than ever, the extended categories are a testament to the broad customer experience market.

Yet, across that market, AI is transforming buyer expectations and driving innovation.

The CX Awards 2025 celebrate the most exceptional of these innovations while shining a light on impressive CX deployments and partnerships.

But for those who have yet to experience the CX Awards, you might be wondering: why should I bother?

Let’s consider that, after a quick rundown of what to expect from the CX Awards 2025.

What Are the CX Awards 2025?

The CX Awards are a yearly celebration of tech excellence in customer experience.

Built on the successful framework of other online events hosted by our parent company, Today Digital, these awards follow a proven structure that ensures global accessibility, eliminating the hassle and expense of travel.

Most importantly, the event provides CX innovators and pioneers a platform to showcase their leading products and services to the CX Today community.

Why Enter the CX Awards 2025?

Each year, CX tech leaders and visionaries put forward their applications for a prestigious CX Award, evaluated by a team of experts and judges.

Why do they participate? Simply put, it’s an excellent opportunity to gain recognition, elevate brand visibility, and demonstrate value to their target audience.

But that’s not all, there are plenty of additional reasons why applicants are eager to take part in the CX Awards.

Here are just a few highlights:

1. Global Reach: CX Today connects with a vast, international audience of consumers and business buyers in the CX space. By entering, you position your brand at the forefront of a global community alongside industry-leading vendors.
2. Simplicity: Participating in the CX Awards is straightforward and hassle-free. With a digital awards ceremony, there are no costly travel commitments, and the competition is open to companies worldwide.
3. Credibility: Winning an award enhances your company’s reputation. CX Awards winners can showcase their expertise to key stakeholders, whether they’re engaging new customers, partners, or investors.
4. Exposure: We spotlight every CX Award winner to our extensive community, amplifying your promotional strategy and helping you uncover new opportunities.
5. Fairness: Our independent panel of judges is carefully chosen based on their expertise in the CX industry. Every submission is evaluated with objectivity, ensuring all participants have an equal opportunity to win.

What Category Best Suits Me?

Simple answer: there’s a category for everyone in this year’s iteration of the CX awards.

This year, we have expanded the categories to celebrate innovation across the broad CX space.

This year’s categories include:

• Best Enterprise Contact Center Platform
• Best Mid-Market Contact Center Platform
• Best CRM Solution
• Best Workforce Engagement Management (WEM) Platform
• New: Best Voice of the Customer (VoC) Solution
• New: Best Customer Data Platform (CDP)
• Best Conversational Intelligence Solution
• Best Conversational AI Platform
• Best Customer Service BPO
• Best CPaaS Platform
• New: Best Employee Experience Innovation
• New: Best Customer Experience Partnership
• Best Use of AI
• New: Best CX Deployment
• Most Innovative Product
• Best Overall CX Solution

Sounds Good, How Do I Enter?

Step One

The easiest step of all – download the entry form.

Step Two

Complete your entry, sharing your story. Why are you submitting? What’s the vision behind your entry? And how are you improving customer experiences?

Feel free to express how you differentiated, innovated, and executed your idea. The more ‘outside the box’ the better!

Step Three

Simply submit the application with a small fee.

When Is the Deadline?

Prospective entrants need not worry. There is plenty of time to submit their entries, with the application deadline being Friday, May 23, 2025.

Soon after, we will reveal the finalists and winners, who will not just secure a sparkling trophy but have their stories celebrated across the publication.

Until this point in 2025, agentic AI has captured most of the media attention.  

However, underneath the headlines, there’s lots more going on across the space.  

CCaaS, CRM, CPaaS, WEM, conversational AI… tech vendors across each subset of CX have their own stories to tell.  

The CX Awards gives the very best visionaries and innovators the platform to do so.  

This year’s event promises to go further in cutting through the noise, celebrating those tech providers not only making big promises, but backing them up, too.  

The event has a rich history of doing so, recognizing companies of all sizes, from sprightly minnows to mega-sized mavericks.  

Once again, the CX Awards will spotlight more of the industry’s best in 2025, coming back bigger than ever before. 

→ APPLICATIONS OPEN ON MONDAY, APRIL 14 

What to Expect from the 2025 CX Awards

Taking place on Thursday, July 10, 2025, the CX Awards honors standout visionaries, technologies, and deployments from across the customer experience space. 

16 of the most recognizable industry analysts, consultants, and thinkers will score the entries, pinpointing those that are working to make the customer experiences of tomorrow possible today. 

Those scores will trim down the list of applications into finalists, with the winners announced across the CX Today platform and a social media splash to boot.  

But what makes the CX Awards 2025 awards bigger than ever? Well, it casts a wider net, reaching out across the CX stack to thrust more deserving brands into the limelight.  

That goal is evident in this year’s eclectic mix of categories. These are:  

• Best Enterprise Contact Center Platform 
• Best Mid-Market Contact Center Platform 
• Best CRM Solution   
• Best Workforce Engagement Management (WEM) Platform 
• New: Best Voice of the Customer (VoC) Solution 
• New: Best Customer Data Platform (CDP) 
• Best Conversational Intelligence Solution 
• Best Conversational AI Platform   
• Best Customer Service BPO 
• Best CPaaS Platform 
• New: Best Employee Experience Innovation   
• New: Best Customer Experience Partnership   
• Best Use of AI 
• New: Best CX Deployment   
• Most Innovative Product 
• Best Overall CX Solution 

Eager to learn more about each category? Stay tuned! More details will become available shortly after applications open.  

How to Get Involved

CX Today is the most-read publication across the customer experience space.  

With readership numbers rocketing each year, the CX Awards 2025 is sure to draw in more industry eyeballs than ever before.  

Recognizing this, many brands have already reached out ahead of this year’s edition, asking for an application form. They’ll only have to wait a little longer.  

Yes, applications will officially open on Monday, April 14, 2025.  

From there, the process is lemon-squeezy. Download the entry form, tell your story, and submit the application with a small fee. 

There’s lots of time to do so, too, with Friday, May 23, 2025, the application deadline. 

Soon after, we will reveal the finalists and winners, who will not secure a sparkling trophy but have their stories celebrated across the publication.  

Don’t want to miss out? Then, add a reminder to your calendar for when applications open. Simply click below and set yourself a reminder.  

Yet, customer support teams have little experience with AI beyond previous-generation chatbots, ChatGPT experiments, and what’s embedded natively into their everyday systems.  

As such, keeping up with the innovation and learning curves may seem too tricky. 

Thankfully, CX Today’s All-Stars have kept their fingers on the pulse, sharing top takes on the future of AI in customer support to help bring their fellow practitioners up to speed.  

Here are seven of the most striking predictions.  

1. CX Teams Will Start to Leverage Large Behavior Models (LBMs)  

Contact center providers have developed natural language processing (NLP) models to detect customer sentiment for years.  

Now, LLMs are helping this capability progress, enabling live and virtual agents to detect specific moods, adjust their tone, and deliver experiences that feel human-centered and empathetic.  

Large behavior models (LBMs) are the next frontier for these use cases, and – according to Michael Fauscette, Founder, CEO & Chief Analyst at Arion Research – they’ll begin to underpin emotional CX. 

“LBMs, unlike the more widely used LLMs (and variants like small and medium models and industry-specific models), are trained on human behaviors instead of text,” he noted.  

“This creates the ability for the model to recognize human behavioral cues and accurately predict the best actions to take based on those cues and predicted behaviors.”  

As such, conversational AI vendors may leverage this technology to power smarter, multimodal virtual agents – or perhaps even avatars.  

2. Predictive Metrics Come to the Fore 

The death of NPS surveys is a perpetual prediction that comes back every year.  

There are plenty of reasons why they should bite the dust. Low response rates, customer fatigue, and twisted calculations… take your pick.  

Yet, NPS surveys are still here. There are two key reasons for this:  

1. Some business leaders have become NPS obsessed, chasing the score.  

1. A more compelling alternative hasn’t come along.  

Thankfully, predictive metrics are bubbling to the surface to overcome the issues above.  

As Luke Jamieson, a CX Evangelist, observed: “Surveys will become predictive, based on language, subject, tone, and effectiveness of interactions.” 

Indeed, solutions that predict NPS scores – powered by generative AI – are already on the CX market. They evaluate each customer support interaction to decipher a customer’s score, should they have completed a survey. 

That brings several possible benefits, as outlined in the article: Predictive Metrics Will Help Shape the Future Contact Center. Here’s How. 

3. Transactional Interactions Become Part of Something Much Bigger

The biggest shift in the future of CX is the transition from transactional experiences to relational ecosystems. That’s according to Justin Robbins, Founder & Principal Analyst at Metric Sherpa.  

“Customer interactions won’t be standalone events; they’ll be part of a continuous, interconnected journey powered by AI, data, and human ingenuity,” he added.  

To start that journey, many businesses pool their customer support, sales, and marketing data into a customer data platform, like Salesforce Data Cloud or Twilio Segment.  

From there, brands create a more rounded view of the customer, funnel new data into AI models, and give customer-facing employees more of that all-important context. 

4. AI Enables More Proactive & Predictive Customer Support

“AI and automation are going to help us make the biggest leap in predictive customer care and personalization that we’ve seen yet,” believes Andrew Morawski, EVP & GM at Oracle Communications. 

“These technologies are already helping us at Oracle streamline and simplify concept-to-cash-to-care and unlock new revenue opportunities for our customers.”

One massive trend to note here is how CPaaS and CCaaS are converging, enabling much better proactive and predictive customer support.   

After all, contact centers can now orchestrate new experiences – around particular customer intents – that blend AI, channels, and sometimes humans.  

5. A More Composable Tech Stack Allows AI to Shine

With more tech providers playing nicely together and delivering out-of-the-box integrations, the option to blend best-of-breed solutions from multiple technology partners is more tangible. 

As such, brands can adopt a more composable mindset when selecting the most suitable solutions from a diverse ecosystem. In doing so, they can also create a consistent approach for data and AI.  

After making this point, Dennis Parker, Customer Experience Partner Leader at AWS EMEA, noted: “This trend is driven by the need for agility, flexibility, and the ability to deliver personalized, seamless experiences tailored to unique business needs.  

“Traditional CX platforms are giving way to a more modular, composable approach, where organizations can mix and match various components and services to create a customized technology stack.”

“This enables organizations to deliver truly differentiated and tailored customer experiences, addressing their unique business challenges and customer needs; this model allows innovation and adaptability.”  

Ultimately, with a composable CX stack, brands can more easily swap out or add new elements without disrupting their everyday workflows.  

6. AI Becomes Emotionally Intelligent

As AI begins to dominate the operational side of CX, the human element becomes more critical. Tracking customer emotions will help contact centers monitor this crucial service component.   

Noting this, Aymen Ismail, Head of Customer Engagement Solutions at smart Europe, said: “The companies that win will be those that combine tech-driven efficiency with human-led empathy. 

“CX teams will need to evolve into strategic architects of customer trust and loyalty, crafting experiences that aren’t just seamless but also meaningful.”

In doing so, they’ll spot new opportunities for human contact to create moments that customers will remember and forever value.  

7. Broad AI Implementations Will Face Backlash

“There will be a tangible backlash against organizations who implement broad AI programs and eliminate human interaction options,” predicted David Avrin, President of The Customer Experience Advantage. 

“There will be a new “reverse disruption” with the reintroduction of customer preferred options that others have eliminated.”

Avrin’s point here is a reminder to go beyond AI metrics like containment and deflection, thinking about what’s best for the customer in each instance.  

Instead, brands should focus on outcome-driven statistics to ensure that automation is to the customer’s benefit, not detriment.  

Join CX Today’s All-Star Roster  

CX Today welcomes takes from all customer experience practitioners, analysts, and tech pros to keep the broader community up to date with the latest developments in the space.  

Those wishing to share their two cents in an upcoming article may do so by becoming a CX All-Star. 

All-Stars may also engage in peer discussions, share their knowledge, and help disseminate those crucial insights on CX Today’s platform.  

Eager to take part? If so, register your interest here. 

Indeed, finding the winning formula is taxing, but sharing best practices can help CX leaders find that winning ticket.  

CX Today’s All-Star initiative was born out of this shared vision.   

In this spirit, ten members of the All-Star community shared some familiar CX challenges before discussing their experiences in overcoming them. 

1. Knowing Where to Start…  

The main challenge in CX at the moment is knowing where to start. 

With the constant wave of AI launches, outlining priorities becomes the immediate challenge.  

Adding to this, Dennis Parker, Customer Experience Partner Leader at AWS, said, “For me, it then becomes foundational. What do I need to do to unlock CX innovation for the business? This always leads me back to data and the readiness of data to power CX innovation.  

“We have seen the emergence of composable data platforms to support customers with these foundational elements to support AI and personalization use cases.” 

2. Gathering Data Is Great, But Driving Value Is Difficult 

Sometimes, too much data leads to information overload. That makes it more tricky to make decisions and drive positive change.  

Tim Thijsse, Senior Lead at Orange Valley, offered insights into this significant pressure point.  

“There is a lot of customer data available; the problem is that it’s too much to handle. With effective use of AI, you can manage and translate this data to actionable insights.” 

3. Understanding Customer Needs 

A key challenge facing CX teams today is understanding customer needs, which are changing faster than ever. 

That’s according to Stacy Sherman, Founder of Doing CX Right, who notes that – as a result – many teams struggle to design experiences that truly address the most pressing pain points.  

“In the past, customer journey maps were a helpful tool, but the shift now is toward journey management,” concluded Sherman. 

4. Asserting Business Value In CX 

Business leaders often demand an immediate return on investment (ROI) before investing more funds into CX initiatives.  

Recognizing this, Vipin Kalra, Technology Leader at Docusign, recommends: 

“By shifting focus from traditional metrics like CSAT to key performance indicators directly linked to business outcomes, such as customer lifetime value and retention rates, they can demonstrate the tangible financial impact of their efforts.”

Naturally, this requires robust data analysis, compelling storytelling that translates data into actionable insights, and strong cross-functional collaboration to align CX goals with overall business objectives.  

“Ultimately, continuous improvement, embracing new technologies, and effectively communicating the value of CX is essential for securing ongoing support and driving sustainable business success.” 

5. Overcoming AI FOMU (Fear Of Messing Up) 

AI scare stories are everywhere. Just two weeks ago, Virgin Money’s chatbot blasted a customer for using the word “virgin”. Hardly a good look… 

However, there are many other fears when it comes to AI in CX, including data privacy, employee advocacy, and new security threats.  

As Rebecca Wettemann, CEO and Principal Analyst at Valoir Inc., noted: “The challenge is finding the right tools and safeguards to ensure accuracy and data security.” 

6. Rising Contact Center Demand 

Messaging apps, social media channels, online chat… there are more ways than ever to connect with a business – and customers are using those channels! 

As such, contact volumes are increasing, driving up wait times and putting contact center teams under more pressure.  

Offering insights into how service leaders can overcome this problem, Gidi Adlersberg, AudioCodes, Head of Voca CIC Business Line, explained:  

“The key to successfully navigating this process lies in the fine balance between adopting forward-looking practices, mainly around AI, while never compromising the classic fundamentals that always have and always will be the base of great CX.”

7. Growing Customer Expectations 

Matt Lyles, Chief Simplification Officer at Matt Lyles & Co. exclaimed, “The No. 1 challenge facing CX teams right now is rising customer expectations in an increasingly complex world.  

“The teams that focus on simplifying the experience before anything else will create loyal customers.” 

Become a CX All-Star & Share Your Perspective 

So, there we have it: some of the most significant customer experience challenges CX Today’s All-Stars are facing. 

However, you also have the opportunity to share your expertise, gain recognition, and contribute to the growing community CX Today is fostering.  

Eager to get involved? Register your interest here.  

Want to join our community? Join here

Canada-based Inoria offers a range of tailored consultative services, including workforce management, digital transformation; customer experience and contact centre audits. Its acquisition reflects CallTower’s strategic plan to deliver best-of-breed CCaaS solutions, and expand its CX and Conversational Artificial Intelligence (CAI) capabilities to the global market.   

Co-Founder & EVP of Inoria Joe Bigio said of the announcement: 

 “This unique partnership allows us to accelerate innovation, expand our services, reach new markets, and scale rapidly while delivering even greater value to our partners and enterprise customers across North America and speedily into Europe.” 

This strategic acquisition offers several benefits: 

1. Enhanced Service Offerings: Inoria’s expertise in Genesys Cloud and conversational artificial intelligence (CAI) solutions, including partnerships with Kore.ai and Parloa, enables CallTower to provide a more comprehensive suite of services. 

1. Expanded Market Reach: The acquisition broadens CallTower’s presence in North America and accelerates its expansion into European markets, allowing the company to serve a more diverse customer base. 

1. Improved Customer Experience: By integrating Inoria’s CX solutions, CallTower can offer more personalized and innovative communication services, enhancing the overall customer experience. 

1. Strengthened Channel Partner Program: The combined resources and expertise from both companies provide channel partners with access to a broader range of solutions, enabling them to better meet the complex demands of the global market. 

New CX Capabilities: Integrating Genesys Solutions 

CallTower’s acquisition of Inoria strengthens its offerings with complete CX solutions, including professional and managed services. 

Customer experience platform Genesys provides businesses with tools for seamless communication and personalized service delivery. Inoria was named the Genesys North America, Canada Partner of the Year for Genesys’ fiscal year 2024.  The tie-up introduces a Genesys CX solution to CallTower’s dynamic portfolio of unified communications offerings. 

AI-Powered Conversations: Expanding CAI Offerings 

Conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to technologies that enable machines to engage in human-like conversations, either through text or speech. It’s a cornerstone of the future of CX – empowering chatbots, voice assistants and IVR to deliver meaningful customer experiences.  

The Inoria solutions portfolio brings together other leading technology partnerships in CAI such as Kore.ai and Parloa, thus bringing the expanded portfolio of cutting-edge cloud communication technologies to enrich CallTower’s stable.  

CallTower’s Chief Executive Officer, Bret England, said:

“This acquisition offers our combined customers and the enterprise market with expanded communication solutions with extensive resources for design, licensing, implementation, integration, and support of an extensive list of CCaaS and CAI solutions along with our industry leading UCaaS offerings.” 

The acquisition positions CallTower for sustained growth and leadership in the enterprise communications industry, offering enriched solutions and services to its customers and partners. 

For more information, visit: calltower.com

Today’s All-Star line-up is stacked with industry leaders who have seen it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Recalling these experiences, 10 leaders put forward their most treasured lessons, which have held them in good stead as their careers have progressed.  

Below, our All-Stars layout these lessons and – in some cases – offer cautions as to what could happen if their peers overlook their advice. 

1. Innovate Now, or Be Left Behind Forever

Andrew Morawski, EVP & GM, Oracle Communications, articulated the importance of innovation perfectly. He explained, “The most valuable lesson around CX that I’ve learned is that the winners in every iteration of the next mobile generation are those who are constantly innovating. 

[They look] at the latest advances in technology to create quicker, seamless, better customer experiences through the channels they prefer using.  

“This means being everywhere your customers are but creating experiences that speak to their unique needs.” 

A key point here is to understand customer intents and to compose an experience – blending channels, AI, and humans – that fits the bill.  

2. Push the CX Train Forward with the Team Fully Onboard

Rosebella Abok, Global Head of Customer Experience at ENGIE Energy Access (Africa), stressed the importance of earning employee buy-in when moving the CX needle.  

“Change management is core to successfully implementing a CX Strategy,” she said. “Our mindset and behavior as employees is an endeavor to be a role model; reinforce mechanisms; develop talent and skills; and foster understanding and conviction.” 

3. Invest In CX, and Brand Loyalty Will Pay You Back

Jacob Eells, Customer Support Manager at CareScribe, urged his peers not to shy away from investing in CX. He said: 

“By investing in the customer experience, you can see a return on investment that is beyond what new business can bring in, as well as build brand loyalty and make customers for life.” 

4. Prioritize Empathy and Communicate with Care

Kumaraguru Loganathan, Contact Center Technology Manager at Priceline, gave tips on obtaining a gold standard in customer experience.  

 “The most valuable lesson that I learned in customer service is always to prioritize empathy and actively listen to understand your customer’s needs and perspective,” he said.   

 “This builds trust and loyalty, even when providing imperfect solutions; essentially, ‘putting yourself in the customer’s shoes’ to truly care about their situation.” 

5. Lead with Your Head, Heart, & Hands

How to showcase leadership in CX could be a whole article in itself, but it can be articulated in three succinct focal points: hearts, heads, and hands.  

That’s according to Georges Essama, Senior Manager of Customer Experience at Cameroon Telecommunications, who said: “I believe that sustainable success in driving change through customer experience is the combination of impacting hearts, heads, and hands. 

“Hearts to convince people to willingly embrace change. Heads to equip them with the right skills and knowledge. Finally, hands to work hard and fight for the change that will impact your customers and employees. This is the most important role of the leadership.” 

6. Collaborate with Critical CX Stakeholders

Out of all the talking points highlighted by the CX All-Stars, collaboration is by far the easiest to talk about but perhaps the hardest to implement. 

The benefits of fostering a collaborative environment are unparalleled, with Susanna Baque, Senior Director of Global Customer Experience at SCIEX, emphasizing the “importance of working with multiple leaders and functions to ensure strategic alignment and successful implementation of CX initiatives and programs.  

“CX is a team effort that requires effective leadership, too.” 

7. Break Down Those Internal Silos

Businesses run the risk of human and data silos – ultimately harming customer experience and service – when they don’t cultivate cross-function relationships.  

Stacy Sherman, Founder of Doing CX Right, said: “Silos are a significant barrier to delivering exceptional customer experiences. The blame game starts when departments don’t communicate, and CX accountability is lost. The customer ends up in the middle, being passed around with no resolution.”  

8. Don’t Just Share Data, Share Perspectives

As established, collaboration is key. That should go beyond sharing data, but also perspectives.    

Justin Robbins, Founder & Principal Analyst at Metric Sherpa, offered key learnings from their perspective.  

“Collaboration ensures you are not tackling CX in a vacuum. It’s the ability to bring together diverse perspectives of executive leaders, frontline employees, and everyone in between and align them toward a shared vision. 

“Finally, understanding executive measures and economic drivers that power a business is non-negotiable. You must speak the boardroom language, connecting CX initiatives to revenue, cost savings, and growth metrics. But here is the kicker: it can’t stop there.” 

9. Never Lose Sight of the Desired Outcome

As one of the key vendors for contact centers, few companies are better versed in discussing the most valuable lessons.  

Dennis Parker, Customer Experience Partner at AWS, offered a key message. “Trends change quickly, adoption happens slower, but differentiation becomes invisible.”  

“I always put myself in the consumer’s shoes, and in many cases, I am a consumer of the brands I support. Some of my interactions with brands have become almost frictionless to the point I do not even notice.”  

Offering an anecdote, he said: “I bought car insurance without ever talking to anyone, and it was completely self-service; when did this happen?”  

“I’ve learned that exceptional customer experience requires a customer-centric mindset, a deep understanding of pain points and desired outcomes, and a commitment to delivering frictionless, seamless interactions that become invisible to the customer.” 

10. Be Cautious of the Metrics You Target

Baker Johnson, CMO of UJET, suggested: “We all need to do a better job of thinking like customers and reflecting on our own personal brand interactions in our daily lives.  

“Too often, we sacrifice customer empathy and common sense at the altar of cost-containment and efficiency – creating a total disconnect between the business objectives we’re measuring and the customer experience we’re striving to deliver.” 

Become a CX All-Star & Share Your Perspective

So, there we have: the most valuable lessons from CX experts. 

However, you also have the opportunity to share your expertise, gain recognition, and contribute to the growing community CX Today is fostering. 

Eager to get involved? Register your interest here.  

Already, the series has spotlighted and celebrated the industry’s top contributors, innovators, and influencers. Now, we’re looking to take the community to new heights.  

Indeed, we’re offering the opportunity to participate in CX Today initiatives, contribute to featured articles, and share expert insights with our audience. There are lots of perks! 

 As our CX All-Stars secure these benefits, they become an integral part of our dynamic and engaged community, encouraging peer-to-peer discussions and disseminating essential knowledge to spur innovation within the CX industry. 

So far, the community has some of the most prominent thought leaders and industry contributors in the CX space. You can see a full roster of our CX All-Stars to date here! 

And, when you become an All-Star, you’ll be given a dedicated profile page in our All-Stars hub, where you’ll be able to share perspectives that will help guide your fellow industry pros.  

What Is CX All-Stars?  

 The CX All-Stars initiative recognizes accomplished industry professionals. Its goal is to build a strong community of committed professionals enthusiastic about driving advancements in customer experience. 

By acknowledging the industry’s key players, the CX All-Stars series will:  

• Recognize Industry Experts: Highlighting the voices that lead and inspire within the CX space. 

• Facilitate Peer Discussions: Promoting conversations on the pivotal topics shaping the future of communication. 

• Build a community: Creating a hub of industry experts. 

No matter if you are a hard-working practitioner or work for a tech vendor, service provider, consultancy, reseller, or system integrator, there’s an opportunity to get involved! 

How to Become a CX All-Star 

 Becoming a CX All-Star is quick and easy, and once you’re on board with our growing community, it starts with active participation in the CX Today community.  

This includes joining our LinkedIn group, engaging in discussions, contributing to editorial projects, and attending relevant events.  

 CX All-Stars are featured with exclusive profiles on CX Today’s website, showcasing their news, insights, and contributions. This acknowledgment encourages ongoing engagement and knowledge sharing within the community. 

Join Our Growing Community of CX All-Stars  

 Are you an industry leader or a passionate professional in the CX space? If so, we invite you to join the CX All-Stars initiative. This is your chance to gain recognition, share your expertise, and contribute to the growing community we have fostered at CX Today.   

 Interested in getting involved? Register your interest here. 

 By participating in the CX All-Stars initiative, you contribute to a community that celebrates individual achievements and propels the entire CX industry forward. Our initiative recognizes those who are not just part of the conversation but are leading it.  

Join us in continuing to make the CX All-Stars series a beacon of excellence and innovation in the unified communications industry. Your voice, expertise, and leadership can inspire others and shape CX’s future.