Outstanding CX Leadership Award |
CX Excellence Team Award |
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2026 Recipients
Chief Experience Officer, Azure Standard
Karen Slusher is the definition of what modern CX leadership should be. She leads with a rare blend of strategic clarity, operational excellence, and a deeply rooted commitment to serving others. As Chief Experience Officer at Azure Standard, Karen embodies a values-driven, people-first philosophy that strengthens teams, elevates customers, and inspires everyone around her.
Karen approaches customer experience with a holistic perspective that integrates operations, service, communication, culture, and community. Her leadership reflects the understanding that CX is not a single interaction or moment. It is the cumulative result of how people are treated, how teams collaborate, and how purpose guides action across an organization.
Her strategic decisions consistently reflect a servant-leader mindset. She leads through service rather than authority, seeks understanding before judgment, and ensures that customers, partners, and employees all benefit from the choices she makes.
One of Karen’s most distinctive qualities is her faith-driven leadership. Her values show up not only in words but in action through integrity, humility, compassion, and respect. She creates environments where people feel supported, trusted, and encouraged to grow. She models grace under pressure, gratitude in success, and resilience in challenge.
Karen champions growth in every direction. She empowers independent and emerging brands through Azure’s distribution network while investing deeply in internal team development. Her belief that “people grow people” is evident throughout her work and leadership philosophy.
As a certified Kolbe Consultant, Karen integrates instinctive-strengths principles into her leadership toolkit, helping teams communicate more effectively, collaborate with less friction, and align around natural strengths. She also builds inclusive pathways for military-spouse talent and diverse candidates, recognizing that strong teams reflect a range of backgrounds and experiences.
At every level of leadership, Karen serves as a steward of relationships, a protector of culture, and an advocate for doing what is right for both customers and employees. She brings sincerity, transparency, and purpose to every interaction, creating a lasting impact on the people and communities she serves each and every day.
Karen embraces innovation and smarter ways of working, yet never loses sight of what matters most: people. Her faith, servant-leader mindset, and unwavering integrity define a leadership signature that strengthens culture, builds trust, and creates exceptional experiences.
2025 Recipients
Kelley CutforthVice President of Customer Service, Chegg Kelley Cutforth leads Chegg’s global customer service organization with a modern, data-driven approach rooted in student empathy. She oversees the full customer support ecosystem, including operations, experience design, and quality, ensuring Chegg delivers fast, reliable, and human support to millions of learners. Her leadership is marked by a strong focus on conversation intelligence, proactive issue detection, and the operational discipline needed to support students during high-stress, high-impact academic moments. Kelley stands out for transforming support into a strategic advantage. She champions connected data, real-time insights, and continuous improvement to elevate both agent performance and the student experience. Her ability to modernize service operations while keeping the student at the center embodies the type of CX leadership this award honors. The Chegg Team |
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Dave PitschVice President of Guest Services, Arc’teryx Dave Pitsch is a proven CX leader known for elevating the service experience across premium global retail brands. At Arc’teryx, he leads Guest Services with a philosophy rooted in authenticity, operational rigor, and a deep respect for customer relationships. His role spans global support operations, experience innovation, and service strategy, ensuring every interaction reflects the brand’s commitment to quality, craftsmanship, and trust. Dave specializes in building high-performing, emotionally intelligent service teams and creating experiences that reinforce brand loyalty far beyond the point of sale. His ability to scale guest-centric service models, empower frontline teams, and connect CX to the broader brand mission exemplifies the impact of true CX leadership. Dave has achieved incredible operational success, but what truly sets him apart is how generously he shares his experiences and shows up alongside his peers in this community. He does not lead from a distance. He walks with others, openly, honestly, and with a deep love for this industry. Dave’s heart and passion are bigger than he is, and if you know Dave and his towering height, that is really saying something! |
Todd SaleSenior Vice President, Customer Experience, Corpay Todd Sale leads Customer Experience at Corpay with a clear, disciplined approach to simplifying complex service environments and elevating quality across a rapidly growing portfolio. He oversees CX strategy, operations, and transformation initiatives that unify diverse business lines while maintaining high standards of trust, responsiveness, and customer satisfaction. Todd’s leadership is defined by his ability to combine operational excellence with modern CX thinking, balancing technology, process optimization, and human expertise. He is known for championing scalable models, strengthening service culture, and delivering consistently strong customer satisfaction results. Todd works tirelessly for his team. He pours into them as business colleagues and people. Todd is genuine and committed to lead and support his team and community. He leads with steady stewardship, wisdom, and a heart for people. His friendship, integrity, and commitment to serving others make him a deserving recipient of the Outstanding CX Leadership Award. |
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Tom McCormickSenior Director of Operations at Capital One Tom McCormick oversees Supplier Partner Operations within Capital One’s U.S. Card and Retail Bank business, with accountability for customer-experience enablement and vendor partner relationships. His operations remit spans large teams, complex outsourcing ecosystems, and high-volume customer touch points, making him a pivotal leader in ensuring that service delivery aligns tightly with brand promise and customer expectations. In his CX leadership, Tom emphasizes the human side of operations: building partner ecosystems that uphold quality, resilience, and trust while executing at scale. He has more than 30 years of operations leadership and speaks publicly on how to integrate supplier management, performance measurement, and customer-centric design into service models. His capability to combine operational excellence with a customer-obsessed mindset, ensuring that every outsourced channel still delivers on the brand’s core experience, is precisely the kind of leadership worthy of recognition in an Outstanding CX Leadership Award. The CapitalOne Team
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2024 Recipients
Ebrahim HyderVice President, Customer Service at Michael Kors Ebrahim Hyder has been the Vice President of Customer Service at Michael Kors since 2013 and an active member of the Execs In The Know (EITK) community since 2016. Ebrahim’s passion for the customer is undeniable, and he drives customer experience to new heights with a relentless enthusiasm for putting the customer at the heart of every decision. As a true leader, Ebrahim is not only focused on his personal growth but is equally dedicated to educating and mentoring his team, fostering a culture of continuous learning and development. Ebrahim actively encourages his team to embrace new trends and innovative approaches to improving CX, ensuring that Michael Kors remains at the forefront of the industry. As an active EITK Board Member since 2019, Ebrahim’s dedication extends well beyond his own organization. He generously gives his time to support peers across the industry, share insights, and collaborate to elevate CX standards for all. His passion is matched by a willingness to connect, engage, and build relationships that strengthen the broader community. Known for integrity, kindness, and commitment, he inspires others through his leadership. This award honors Ebrahim’s accomplishments and character. We recognize his team—Charles Zambelli, Renee Neratzas, and Andriana Palazzo—who drive customer success, innovation, and learning at Michael Kors while sharing within the community. |
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Michael A. JonesSenior Director, Customer Solutions & Shared Services, Formerly The Home Depot Michael A. Jones brings deep operational expertise to one of the world’s largest retail organizations, leading customer solutions and shared services with a focus on reliability, efficiency, and customer-first design. He is responsible for operations that support millions of customers across channels, blending process discipline with a modern approach to support innovation and omnichannel care. Michael is widely respected for his ability to create scalable service frameworks that streamline operations, enhance agent performance, and improve customer outcomes. His commitment to operational excellence, continuous improvement, and pragmatic innovation makes him a standout CX leader in a complex, high-volume environment. The Home Depot Team
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