Headliner:

Jason Mercer-Pottinger
Senior Director, Americas Customer Care
Vantive
Customer Engagement Leadership Council Member
 
Why You Should Listen to Jason:
Bio is forthcoming.

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Invest wisely! Keeping It Simple to Ensure Success
 
Abstract:
Do you truly know and understand your role? Are your priorities aligned with your strategy? Are you investing in the right solutions and technology? Think again! In this session, we are going to recalibrate on what really matters to ensure success for you, your company and your customers!
 
Action Items:

• Rethink your priorities and the role you play in your business
• Identify gaps and roadblocks that will hinder success
• Empower your organization to focus on the basics to win

Rockstar Insight:

Lee Kemp
Vice President, Customer Experience
Veritiv
 
Why You Should Listen to Lee:
A people-focused and results-driven leader in Customer Experience (CX), Operations and Supply Chain, with over 20 years of leadership experience. Lee has developed and led successful, award winning global CX programs and strategies for Fortune 500 companies, leveraging a passion for people, practicality, data science and innovation to drive truly best-in-class performance and customer experiences. A US Army officer combat Veteran, Lee is driven by the desire to make a meaningful impact through purposeful leadership and transformative ideas.

Hosted By:

Joel Kell
Vice President, Customer Solutions
Elevate
 

Why You Should Listen to Joel:
Joel is a seasoned Operations and CX executive with two decades of experience transforming the value of customer interactions and experiences in the fintech industry. Renowned for his innovative strategies and unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction, Joel has consistently driven bottom-line growth through his visionary leadership. Joel brings invaluable insights into harnessing technology and empathy to create exceptional customer journeys.

 

Hosted By:

Philip Bennett
Customer Service Operations Manager
Empire-Today
 

Why You Should Listen to Philip:
Phil has over two decades of experience in the call center, building two centers and modernizing another. As a passionate advocate for using technology to improve the customer experience, he has faced legacy roadblocks in all of these operations, and has had to learn to deal with them in many ways.

Hosted By:

Beth Roberts
Executive Vice President, Operational Excellence
PatientPoint
 
Why You Should Listen to Beth:
With a diverse background spanning technology, healthcare, and innovation consulting, Beth brings a unique, cross-industry perspective to solving operational and leadership challenges. As Executive Vice President of Operational Excellence at PatientPoint, she focuses on developing leaders and building scalable strategies that drive business growth. Beth is passionate about turning complexity into clarity—and helping others do the same.

Hosted By:

Shannon Yeats
Global Vice President, Client Success, Contact Center
Entertainment Partners
 
Why You Should Listen to Shannon:
Bio is forthcoming.

Hosted By:

Heidi Rote
Vice President of Member Experience
Parsley Health
 
Why You Should Listen to Heidi:
Heidi is a seasoned sales leader with over 20 years of experience, known for her expertise in process improvement and call center implementation. She has a proven track record in reducing member churn, implementing AI to enhance customer interactions, and driving significant growth.

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Abstract:
Learn how one contact center improved agent productivity by simplifying complex processes and aligning with IT to introduce clearly guided flows and automation-ready opportunities—proving you can start small and scale with impact.

Action Items:

• Design and implement processes that provide agents with a single source of truth and clear visual guidance to improve performance and consistency
• Identify and prioritize automation opportunities that deliver quick wins—without requiring a full-scale transformation
• Collaborate with IT and engineering teams to build and roll out process-led strategies that are easy to implement and scale with evolving knowledge

Fab Facilitator:

Jaclyn Lo
Director, Customer Success
Procedureflow
 
Why You Should Listen to Jaclyn:
Jaclyn is a CX leader specializing in onboarding, digital adoption, and change management strategies within Contact Centers. Passionate about employee empowerment and driving sustainable results, her expertise lies in identifying potential roadblocks, managing stakeholders, and implementing effective communication plans to drive successful software implementations.

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Abstract:

Customer service leaders face a fragmented view of customer interactions, hindering their ability to truly understand and improve the customer journey. This leads to missed optimization opportunities and a reactive approach to service delivery. However, recent technological advancements in Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) present remarkable opportunities. This interactive session delivers actionable insights to help you translate AI analytics into reduced effort, improved CX, and smarter service decisions.

Action Items:

• Identify strategic use cases for AI analytics: Prioritize applications that maximize CX and operational efficiency based on your organizational goals
• Explore strategies for data integration and scalability: Discover methods for unifying siloed data and building a scalable, AI-ready architecture
• Develop an effort-based analytics framework: Measure and optimize contact center investments by focusing on reducing customer and/or service staff effort

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What Every Leader Needs to Know About Psychological Safety and Innovation
 

Abstract:

Most leaders say they want innovation, but their teams are still holding back good ideas. Not because they don’t care, but because it doesn’t feel safe to challenge the status quo for a myriad of reasons. You’ll experience a real-time method to unlock the ideas your team isn’t sharing. You’ll walk away with a simple tool to help your team evaluate every idea together, using criteria that teach strategic thinking and drive maximum value.

Action Items:

• Experience why smart teams hold back ideas and how to get them flowing again
• Use a simple, team-friendly framework to evaluate ideas by customer value, business value, and feasibility
• Build a culture where every idea gets surfaced, sorted, and sharpened, so your team thinks more strategically and delivers more value

Rockstar Insight:

Michael O. “Coop” Cooper
Founder & Executive Coach
High Performance Orgs

 

Why You Should Listen to Coop:
Michael “Coop” Cooper is passionate about the people side of change. He recognizes changing minds can be difficult but knows often it’s much easier and simpler than we might think. He empowers leaders at companies around the world to understand and appreciate the underlying NeuroEfficiencies that people have, to speak directly in terms of what is important to them and successfully sell their ideas and strategies.

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Abstract:

Organizations are deploying AI without understanding human impact, creating solutions that optimize metrics while degrading experience. Design thinking ensures AI serves human needs rather than replacing human judgment.

Action Items:

• Cultivate AI literacy within design thinking teams to evaluate which processes benefit from automation versus human touch
• Integrate human-centered design principles into AI implementation roadmaps to prevent technology from creating new friction points

Rockstar Insight:

Lucie Hyde
Senior Director of User Experience & Design
PayPal
 
Why You Should Listen to Lucie:
Lucie is a global content leader with senior roles at top tech brands including Amazon, eBay, and PayPal during periods of rapid growth. Her expertise spans content strategy, experience design, and commercial product ownership across e-commerce and financial services. Currently a Senior Director in PayPal’s Experience Design team, Lucie leads AI transformation and oversees experience architecture for the merchant design team. Lucie brings deep strategic, operational, and cross-industry experience to her work in driving impactful digital experiences.

Rockstar Insight:

Dan Gamber
Director of Experiences
Bridgestone Retail Operations, LLC
 

Why You Should Listen to Dan:
Bio is forthcoming.

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Abstract:
Panelists will walk you through their unique use cases and the key stages of their AI journey, from initial planning and deployment to ongoing optimization. Discover what strategies proved effective, which pitfalls to avoid, and how AI is transforming operations in real-world scenarios. Learn from these esteemed panelists’ experiences to better understand how AI can work for you.

Action Items:

• Identify high-impact AI use cases that enhance agent performance and customer satisfaction
• Avoid common missteps when implementing AI in contact center environments
• Apply proven strategies to drive efficiency, personalization, and measurable outcomes with AI

Moderator:

Cippy Seidler
Director, Consumer Care Center
Banner Health
 
Why You Should Listen to Cippy:
Speaking to and working with many diverse contact groups around the world has inspired and enlightened Cippy. It has brought positivity, new ideas and creativity to an already open mind about the importance and truly critical nature of the contact center environments. She has worked most of her career in Retail and Health Care contact centers helping others appreciate why internal and external customer service and brand loyalty begins in the contact center.

 

Panelists Include:

Heather Arthur
Vice President, Global Client Experience Centres
Scotiabank
 
Why You Should Listen to Heather:
Heather is a dynamic customer experience and sales industry expert with over two decades of experience. An award-winning professional and certified NLP practitioner, Heather is also the host of the Say YES Movement podcast, inspiring individuals and organizations to reach their full potential.

Natasha Jones
Director of Customer Service
King County
 
Why You Should Listen to Natasha:
With extensive experience in both the public and private sectors, Natasha brings a strong track record in setting strategic priorities, driving process innovation, and improving service delivery. She leverages data and analytics to identify challenges, design solutions, and lead teams to deliver equitable, measurable improvements in customer and employee experiences. Natasha’s background in journalism, communications, technology, and customer service gives her a unique cross-functional perspective. She combines voice of the customer insights with operational understanding and clear communication to lead impactful, future-focused initiatives.

Joel Kell
Vice President, Customer Solutions
Elevate
 
Why You Should Listen to Joel:
Joel is a seasoned Operations and CX executive with two decades of experience transforming the value of customer interactions and experiences in the fintech industry. Renowned for his innovative strategies and unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction, Joel has consistently driven bottom-line growth through his visionary leadership. Joel brings invaluable insights into harnessing technology and empathy to create exceptional customer journeys.

Jim McKeown
Vice President, Customer Experience & Mobility
Selective Insurance
 
Why You Should Listen to Jim:
Jim has over 20 years of experience building and leading diverse and complex Customer Experience, Mobility, Marketing and Digital Strategies for some of the best performing companies in the world.  At Selective Insurance, Jim drives the strategic vision for Selective’s CX strategy, and with his team, delivers unique omni-channel experience and best-in-class self-service and mobile offerings to Selective customers, agents and employees. Previously at UnitedHealth Group and AIG, Jim and his teams were responsible for driving strategic implementation of cutting edge products and solutions that drive both enterprise wide delivery and promote innovation.

Aaron Nye
Executive Vice President, Customer Operations
Connect America
 
Why You Should Listen to Aaron:
A customer service leader with 25 years of experience, Aaron drives AI-enabled healthcare operations that elevate the patient experience while reducing costs. As EVP of Customer Operations at Connect America and GM at 100Plus, he led initiatives that cut 2024 OPEX by 10% through strategic use of AI and offshore resources.

Lora Ross Lawson
Vice President, Contact Centers
Careington International Corporation
Customer Engagement Leadership Council Member
 
Why You Should Listen to Lora:
A 20+ year veteran in CX and contact center leadership, leading teams of 1,000 +. As VP of contact centers, Lora brings strategic vision, operational prowess, and a passion for innovation, delivering tangible results for all Careington brands, its thirty-two million members and clients.

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Abstract:
AI promises are everywhere, but how do you know where to start? In this session, we’ll discuss a framework for understanding where GenAI can be applied simply and successfully.

Action Items:

• Get a grip on what Generative AI is and what it is not
• Benchmark successful use cases where GenAI applies
• Develop an action plan to identify early wins that you build on

Fab Facilitator:

Dan Mannion
Chief Executive Officer
SparkCX
 
Why You Should Listen to Dan:
With three decades of technology business experience, Dan has built successful software businesses in customer experience, human capital, cloud, cybersecurity and AI markets. His ability to simplify the complex enabled him to scale billion-dollar businesses at four start-ups as well as Microsoft and Amazon.
 

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Abstract:
As AI handles more routine interactions, contact centers are increasingly tasked with resolving only the most complex, sensitive, and high-stakes issues—making Tier 3 the new Tier 1. This shift demands a rethinking of recruitment, training, and support strategies to prepare agents for deeper cognitive, emotional, and technical challenges from day one.

Action Items:

• Rethink job descriptions, hiring profiles and skills assessments to prioritize critical thinking, empathy, and problem-solving skills over traditional call center metrics
• Implement scenario-based training that mirrors real Tier 3 complexity, including regulatory nuance, emotional intensity, and cross-system troubleshooting
• Develop a Human in the Loop Mentorship model that pairs new hires with veteran agents who excel at high-complexity work to accelerate confidence and capability

Fab Facilitators:

Jon Lunitz
Head of Enterprise Solutions and Sales
DATAMARK, Inc.
 
Why You Should Listen to Jon:
With over two decades of experience in the BPO industry, Jon has developed a keen understanding of both the buyer’s and seller’s perspectives. In his recent article Tier 3 is the New Tier1: Reframing the Front Line, he notes, “Upskilling is a business-critical priority for both agents and leadership, directly impacting how your brand is perceived. The way your agents adapt and perform will be a clear reflection of your brand.”
 
Stephanie Young
Talent Acquisition Manager
DATAMARK, Inc.
 
Why You Should Listen to Stephanie:
With over 20 years of experience in talent acquisition and human resources, Stephanie brings a wealth of expertise in full-cycle recruitment, workforce development, and retention strategies. Her background spans corporate, retail, and staffing environments, where she led high-performing teams, implemented process improvements, and championed inclusive hiring practices. She is passionate about rethinking recruitment to meet the evolving expectations of today’s workforce and the strategic needs of modern organizations.
 

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Abstract:
AI-powered Agent Assist tools can help CX teams deliver faster, smarter service. This interactive session covers how to successfully implement these tools, upskill agents, and identify use cases that boost performance—while addressing common challenges to ensure real success. Whether you’re just beginning your AI journey or looking to enhance current deployments, this session offers actionable insights to help you transform your CX agents into AI-empowered champions.

Action Items:

• Upskill agents to maximize the benefits from AI tools
• Identify key CX use cases where AI can boost your agent’s efficiency
• Develop a plan to overcome common adoption and implementation challenges

Fab Facilitator:

Rebecca Jonsson
Vice President of AI Products
Foundever
 
Why You Should Listen to Rebecca:
Bio is forthcoming.
 

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Abstract:
Discover how Slavic401k overhauled its onboarding experience by identifying friction points, testing new engagement strategies, and implementing scalable solutions. This session will share what worked, what didn’t, and how measurable improvements in customer satisfaction and retention were achieved.

Action Items:

• Evaluate your current onboarding journey to identify friction points using customer feedback and behavioral data
• Implement iterative testing of onboarding touchpoints to uncover what resonates with users and what creates drop-off
• Integrate cross-functional collaboration to ensure onboarding improvements are scalable, measurable, and aligned with long-term customer success goals

Rockstar Insight:

Susan Weaver
Chief Customer Officer
Slavic401k
 
Why You Should Listen to Susan:
Susan’s career progression over the past 25+ years from a front-line processor and call center representative to Chief Customer Officer has been a profound and rewarding learning experience. Her innovative approach to contact center operations and relationship management has redefined the importance of the customer experience at Slavic401k. By consistently placing the customer at the heart of every decision, Susan has fostered a culture of empathy, accountability, and excellence, achieving outstanding results for both the business and the customers they serve.
 

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Abstract:
Voice of the Customer (VoC) programs must evolve beyond dashboards and diagnostics – they need to drive action. In this candid and forward-looking fireside chat, Nate sits down with Melissa to explore how one of the nation’s largest healthcare companies is transforming VoC into a strategic enterprise asset. You’ll gain insight into how CVS is embedding VoC across the organization, ensuring accountability, and using AI-powered insights to predict and shape customer experiences. From defining the right metrics to scaling impact, this session will offer practical guidance for CX leaders ready to move from listening to leading.

Action Items:

• Reframe VoC as a predictive, AI-enabled experience strategy—not just a reporting function
• Embed VoC across the enterprise with clear ownership and follow-through
• Define and track metrics that reflect real customer outcomes and business value

Whether you’re building a VoC program or looking to elevate its impact, this conversation will equip you with the mindset and tools to make customer feedback a true catalyst for change.

Rockstar Insights:

Melissa Archambault
Executive Director, Customer Experience Advocacy & Strategy
CVS Health

Why You Should Listen to Melissa:
With over 28 years of experience, Melissa has built her career in marketing and customer experience, specializing in performance measurement, voice of the customer programs, change management, and the standardization of best practices. She is adept at identifying and translating customer intelligence into business improvements that have driven brand loyalty, customer retention, and double-digit profitability.

Nate Brown
Head of CX Advisory
Metric Sherpa

Why You Should Listen to Nate:
Nate Brown loves two things very much…customer experience and community. Fortunately, these concepts go hand-in-hand! As a community builder, Nate co-founded CX Accelerator in 2018. Quickly growing to well over four thousand members, this vibrant collection of CX leaders is helping one another to maximize their career and accomplish remarkable things in service to others. Nate also heads up Advisory Services for Metric Sherpa, a research firm helping organizations to transform customer interactions.

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Abstract:
We all seek to slow churn and build a committed workforce. But how? This session will share ideas and a pragmatic approach to reach that goal.

Action Items:

• Identify the “right” team members
• Build the team step by step and “Maximize the box”
• Cultivate leadership with the skills to humanize KPI’s and build win-win solutions

Rockstar Insight:

Lora Ross Lawson
Vice President, Contact Centers
Careington International Corporation
Customer Engagement Leadership Council Member
 

Why You Should Listen to Lora:
A 20+ year veteran in CX and contact center leadership, leading teams of 1,000 +. As VP of contact centers, Lora brings strategic vision, operational prowess, and a passion for innovation, delivering tangible results for all Careington brands, its thirty-two million members and clients.

 

Abstract:

This session explores how to empower customer service agents with advanced critical thinking abilities to navigate complex customer interactions and deliver exceptional support. It focuses on transforming agents into proactive problem-solvers by providing them with processes, tools and mechanisms to help solve the problem in front of them, and be a part of long-term process improvement.

Action Items:

• Implement structured mechanisms to integrate your agents into process improvement
• Develop internal tools that make it easy for Agents to get to the right answers quickly
• Empower agents with decision-making frameworks that foster independent judgment, remove bottlenecks, and reduce reliance on rigid scripts, leading to more personalized and effective solutions
• Integrate agent feedback into product roadmaps

 

Capstone:

Nancy-Ellen Martin
Director of Customer Service
ThredUp
 
Why You Should Listen to Nancy-Ellen:
With 30 Years of Leadership in Customer Service, in the Insurance, Tech, and Retail industries, Nancy-Ellen has a track record of driving exceptional customer experiences across both the tech and retail sectors. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated a unique ability to blend operational excellence with a deep commitment to culture-building and customer satisfaction.

Headliner:

Venkata Nandanavanam
Director of Engineering, Customer Care Automation
Walmart

 
Why You Should Listen to Venkata:
Bio is forthcoming.

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Abstract:

The Customer Service leadership team at Tucson Electric Power was in a position to strengthen its people and process leadership development. This effort is to ensure the current and future leaders are aligned, supported and developed effectively. Hear how they leveraged a proven framework to move beyond traditional change management, equipping their leaders with the skills and mindset to navigate complex and ambiguous situations and developing their ability to adapt and make decisions amidst changing circumstances.

Action Items:

• Assess what has been in place and working for the organization
• Identify the change needed to experience true transformation and sustainable growth
• Leverage the Conscious Change Leadership Model to ensure the continuous improvement of the customer care

Rockstar Insights:

Tashonda Betts
Customer Contact Center Manager
Tucson Electric Power
 

Why You Should Listen to Tashonda:
Tashonda has over 25 years of experience and a deep knowledge of utility processes and how they impact the customer. She manages a group of approximately 150 employees in multiple facets including Operations, Training, Quality Assurance, Supervision and Customer Service. Her team handles over a million customer phone calls and more than 100,000 customer emails a year. Tashonda has also implemented numerous technological and procedural changes to keep abreast within the industry and exceed customers’ needs and expectations.

 
Laura Stroman
Manager of Credit and Collections and Special Plans
Tucson Electric Power
 

Why You Should Listen to Laura:
Laura brings over 20 years of experience in the Customer Contact Center industry to her role. Within the six years at the organization Laura has been dedicated to enhancing the customer experience. Her passion for the field drives her to seek out innovative strategies to engage and grow both internal and external customers.

 

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Abstract:

We will explore how agents can develop new skills and abilities to adapt effectively to rapid change. Drawing on insights from learning theory, organizational behavior, and real-world case studies, it highlights strategies for fostering flexibility, continuous learning, and resilience in dynamic service environments.

Key Take-Aways:

• Identify gaps in the current training process
• Implement ongoing skill development programs
• Build a culture of adaptability
• Empower agents with real-time support tools

Rockstar Insight:

Danny McPhaul
Head of Customer Experience
Ford Pro

Why You Should Listen to Danny:
For over 20 years, Danny has collaborated with a diverse range of clients, including niche tech startups, Ivy League universities, and global conglomerates. He has transformed client relationships and improved organizational outcomes through a unique blend of advocacy, strategic thinking, team building, and personal connection. His leadership approach has directly driven key performance metrics, including Net Promoter Score (NPS), client retention, and revenue growth.

Rockstar Insight:

Natalie Beckerman
Customer Operations & Support Executive
 

Why You Should Listen to Natalie:
Described as a fixer in the customer experience and customer contact space, Natalie has run top tier, large scale operations driving transformation and change, leading strategy, while conquering operational and service excellence across the Globe. She is known to build new business, increase revenue and turn around performance, while at the same time reenergizing and invigorating businesses and leaders. Natalie has done this in the telecommunications/mobile, Home Services, Hospitality and Fintech/Financial services industries.

Moderator:

Natalie Beckerman
Customer Operations & Support Executive
 

Why You Should Listen to Natalie:
Described as a fixer in the customer experience and customer contact space, Natalie has run top tier, large scale operations driving transformation and change, leading strategy, while conquering operational and service excellence across the Globe. She is known to build new business, increase revenue and turn around performance, while at the same time reenergizing and invigorating businesses and leaders. Natalie has done this in the telecommunications/mobile, Home Services, Hospitality and Fintech/Financial services industries.

 

Panelists Include:

Heather Arthur
Vice President, Global Client Experience Centres
Scotiabank
 
Why You Should Listen to Heather:
Heather is a dynamic customer experience and sales industry expert with over two decades of experience. An award-winning professional and certified NLP practitioner, Heather is also the host of the Say YES Movement podcast, inspiring individuals and organizations to reach their full potential.
 
Mary Henderson
Head of Contact Center Technology
IHG Hotels & Resorts
 

Why You Should Listen to Mary:
As Head of Contact Center Technology at IHG, Mary has championed innovation, inclusion, and performance on a global scale. Her journey to leading transformative CX programs across multiple industries offers insight into how women can lead with influence and impact in technology-driven customer experience roles.

 

Hosted By:

Beth Roberts
Executive Vice President, Operational Excellence
PatientPoint
 
Why You Should Listen to Beth:
With a diverse background spanning technology, healthcare, and innovation consulting, Beth brings a unique, cross-industry perspective to solving operational and leadership challenges. As Executive Vice President of Operational Excellence at PatientPoint, she focuses on developing leaders and building scalable strategies that drive business growth. Beth is passionate about turning complexity into clarity—and helping others do the same.

Hosted By:

Cippy Seidler
Director, Consumer Care Center
Banner Health
 

Why You Should Listen to Cippy:
Speaking to and working with many diverse contact groups around the world has inspired and enlightened Cippy. It has brought positivity, new ideas and creativity to an already open mind about the importance and truly critical nature of the contact center environments. She has worked most of her career in Retail and Health Care contact centers helping others appreciate why internal and external customer service and brand loyalty begins in the contact center.

 

Hosted By:

Nancy-Ellen Martin
Director of Customer Service
ThredUp
 
Why You Should Listen to Nancy-Ellen:
With 30 Years of Leadership in Customer Service, in the Insurance, Tech, and Retail industries, Nancy-Ellen has a track record of driving exceptional customer experiences across both the tech and retail sectors. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated a unique ability to blend operational excellence with a deep commitment to culture-building and customer satisfaction.
 

Hosted By:

Heidi Rote
Vice President of Member Experience
Parsley Health
 
Why You Should Listen to Heidi:
Heidi is a seasoned sales leader with over 20 years of experience, known for her expertise in process improvement and call center implementation. She has a proven track record in reducing member churn, implementing AI to enhance customer interactions, and driving significant growth.