Tuesday, February 24
7:30 PM – 9:30 PM Networking Nightcap – An Early Arrival Evening Social Event
Wednesday, February 25
6:45 AM – 8:30 AM Sandcastles at Sunrise
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM Registration
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Leader’s Choice: Challenge and Opportunity Session
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM Lunch
1:00 PM – 4:30 PM Opening Day Tech Forum & Workshop Sessions
4:45 PM – 5:30 PM CX Masterclass: A Look at the Ritz-Carlton Culture of Excellence
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM Welcome Reception & Registration
Thursday, February 26
7:15 AM – 8:15 AM Breakfast & Registration
8:15 AM – 10:15 AM Conference Kickoff & General Session
10:15 AM – 10:45 AM Networking Break
10:45 AM – 12:15 PM Breakout Sessions: Customer Shop Talks
12:15 PM – 1:15 PM Lunch
1:15 PM – 2:30 PM General Session
2:30 PM – 4:00 PM Innovations Lab
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM General Session
5:00 PM – 5:45 PM The Glam Gap – A short break to glam up before the Gala
5:45 PM – 6:30 PM Walk the Red Carpet & Cocktails
6:30 PM – 10:00 PM The Crystal Gala: Celebrating 15 Years of Brilliance
Friday, February 27
7:30 AM – 8:15 AM Breakfast & Registration
8:15 AM – 10:05 AM Conference Opening & General Session
10:05 AM – 10:30 AM Networking Break
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM General Session
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM Lunch

THE SCHEDULE IS NOT YET FINAL AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

Networking Nightcap – An Early Arrival Evening Social Event

Settle in and start connecting. Join us for drinks, light bites, and easy conversation with fellow CX leaders before the Summit officially begins.

Thanks to Our Partner:

THE SCHEDULE IS NOT YET FINAL AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

6:45 AM – 8:30 AM

Sandcastles at Sunrise

North Beach at The Ritz-Carlton

Start your morning on North Beach with Sandcastles at Sunrise, a hands-on, interactive experience full of fun, creativity, and friendly competition. Connect with fellow attendees, get your hands in the sand, and enjoy the stunning beauty of Amelia Island as you build your masterpiece. In support of mental health awareness, a $150 donation will be made to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for each participant, with extra contributions going to NAMI for the winning teams, making every moment of teamwork and creativity count.



8:30 AM – 5:00 PM

Registration


10:00 AM – 11:00 AM

Leader’s Choice: Challenge and Opportunity Session

Thanks to Our Partner:


11:30 AM – 1:00 PM

Lunch


1:00 PM – 4:30 PM

Opening Day Tech Forum & Workshop Sessions

Opening Day sessions allow you the opportunity to engage early with your CX leader peers and to deep dive on a specific subject. By design, these 60-minute sessions will have defined learning objectives, inspire interactive discussions, and provide dynamic engagement through an exercise, a demo, or lively discussion. Each session is unique, for a total of six sessions. Simply choose between a Tech Forum or Workshop topic for each scheduled session time.

Tech Forum

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Megan Lukitsch
Megan Lukitsch
Vice President of Global Sales, CX

People & Process Workshop

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Tech Forum

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People & Process Workshop

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Tech Forum

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People & Process Workshop

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Exporting Culture: How to Extend Your Brand’s Soul Into an Outsourced CX Model

Every brand has a culture—few know how to export it. As more companies blend internal CX teams with outsourced BPO partners, the central challenge becomes ensuring that customers experience the same authenticity, empathy, and values no matter who answers the call.

In this interactive workshop, GTCX CEO Bill Colton and Azure Standard’s CX leader Karen Slusher unpack how a brand’s “internal DNA” can be successfully extended beyond its four walls. Azure Standard, with its uniquely passionate customer following and deeply relationship-driven approach, has cultivated a CX model where agents are empowered to spend real time with customers, prioritize connection over speed, and build long-term trust. Translating that ethos to an external partner might seem impossible—yet Azure and GTCX have built a blueprint for doing exactly that.

Attendees will learn:

  • How to identify the essential cultural ingredients that truly define a brand
  • Why most companies miscommunicate expectations to BPO partners—and how to avoid those traps
  • How to operationalize culture (not just describe it) so an external partner can replicate it
  • What a real-world success story looks like from both the brand and partner perspective
    This session blends strategic insight with practical guidance from two leaders who have done it in the real world—not in theory.
Karen slusher
Bill Colton
CEO
Karen slusher
Karen Slusher
Chief Experience Officer

4:45 PM – 5:30 PM

CX Masterclass: A Look at the Ritz-Carlton Culture of Excellence

Exceptional customer experiences don’t happen by chance. They are built through culture, clarity, and disciplined execution. In this masterclass, Amanda Joiner, Global Vice President of The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center, shares how The Ritz-Carlton has sustained legendary service by empowering employees to truly own the customer experience.

The session will explore the core frameworks that guide behavior and decision-making across the organization, including the Credo, Motto, Three Steps of Service, Employee Promise, and the 12 Service Values. Together, these elements establish a shared language for service and a consistent standard for how care shows up in moments that matter.

Beyond philosophy, this session will showcase the practical systems that make excellence repeatable: how thoughtful selection, onboarding, recognition, and continuous upskilling reinforce a culture of ownership and enable employees to act with confidence and purpose.

Attendees will take away clear, actionable perspectives that elevate service culture across any organization, along with opportunities for peer interaction, guided table discussions, and reflection to help leaders connect the concepts to their own teams and environments.

Amanda Joiner
Amanda Joiner
Global Vice President

5:30 PM – 7:30 PM

Registration


5:30 PM – 7:30 PM

Welcome Reception

Oceanfront Lawn, The Ritz-Carlton

Join us as we officially kick off the Summit on the Oceanfront Lawn, a sweeping green space overlooking the dunes and the waters of the Atlantic. This relaxed outdoor setting offers a stunning backdrop for conversation and connection as the sun sets over Amelia Island. Enjoy great food, cocktails, and the company of CX peers in an atmosphere designed for easy networking and a warm start to the days ahead.

Thanks to Our Partner:


THE SCHEDULE IS NOT YET FINAL AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

7:15 AM – 8:15 AM

Breakfast & Registration


8:15 AM – 8:45 AM

Conference Kickoff

Start the Summit together with a high-energy kickoff that sets the tone for the days ahead. We’ll ground the room in what’s new, what matters, and what this community will explore together as we dive into our theme of CX Without Compromise: Setting the Standard for a New Era of Care.


8:45 AM – 9:15 AM

Keynote

Delivering Care Without Compromise: The Human-Tech Partnership at Visa

From her first job behind a supermarket checkout to leading Visa’s Global Client Care organization, Katie Beaudry has always understood that customer experience begins with empathy. What once required face-to-face presence has evolved into a world where data, AI, and predictive design enable care at scale — yet the heart of CX remains human. In this keynote, Katie will share how Visa is reimagining every stage of the service journey, building “self-healing” experiences and agentic AI systems that empower both customers and care teams to deliver seamless, personalized solutions in real time.

But transformation isn’t about technology alone; it’s about foresight, culture, and connection. Katie explores how her teams are blending human intuition with intelligent automation to deliver care without compromise. She’ll challenge leaders to rethink what preemptive service looks like in practice, how to equip teams for success in an AI-powered ecosystem, and how to keep the human touch alive at a global scale. Attendees will walk away inspired to raise the bar, not just by solving customer problems, but by anticipating them.

katie beaudry
Katie Beaudry
Senior Vice President, Global Head of Client Care

9:15 AM – 9:45 AM

Board Panel

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Uncompromised Leadership — When Self-Respect Becomes Priceless

When the stakes are high and the pressure is on, real leadership is revealed not by strategy decks or polished statements, but by the courage to act with integrity, even when it costs something. In this intimate discussion, two EITK advisory board members and seasoned senior CX executives share candid stories of when their values were tested under fire. When the easiest choice isn’t the right one, and when standing firm carries personal or professional consequences, this is when true leaders stand firm.

We’ll explore how leaders evolve from good intentions to becoming “the one” others can count on: the person who speaks up, takes risks, and acts on their convictions when everyone else stays quiet. The conversation will examine how self-respect becomes the source of leadership courage, fueling trust inside organizations and loyalty among customers.

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • The anatomy of being “the one”: what separates leaders who act from those who don’t.
  • How to build the kind of self-respect that makes difficult choices possible.
  • The difference between performative leadership and leadership that costs you something.
  • Ways courageous decisions create psychological safety for teams and trust with customers.
  • How to recognize when you’ve become the leader you intended to be.

Expect real stories of integrity under pressure—from culture flashpoints to customer-impacting crises—and leave with practical insights on how courage, vulnerability, and personal accountability can transform organizations. Attendees will walk away inspired to embrace self-respect as a leadership operating system that not only protects employees and customers but also creates the foundation for authentic, lasting trust.

lisa oswald
Lisa Oswald
Senior Vice President, Customer Service

Travelzoo
carolyne truelove
Carolyne M. Truelove
Vice President, Customer and Operations Excellence

American Airlines

9:45 AM – 10:15 AM

Panel

Thanks to Our Partner:

VXI

Beyond Recovery: Shaping a CX Model That Anticipates, Prevents, and Delights

Most service organizations remain focused on reacting to issues after they arise, yet the real opportunity lies in anticipating and preventing problems before customers ever need to reach out. This panel will explore how CX leaders are rethinking their approaches to become more predictive and proactive, leveraging a mix of customer data, journey signals, and emerging AI capabilities to spot friction points early and deliver pre-emptive support.

Panelists will discuss both the opportunities and the challenges in shifting from recovery to prevention — from making the internal case for investment in predictive solutions, to building the right organizational support, to ensuring governance and trust remain at the center. Expect practical insights into how companies are both executing and thinking about proactive outreach and empowering agents with “next-best actions,” all while learning from both successes and setbacks. Attendees will leave with a clearer view of how proactive strategies can reduce preventable contacts, elevate satisfaction, and lower costs while strengthening long-term customer relationships.

Seun Aiyese
Seun Aiyese
President of Retail Banking Experience
SBB
Dari Damazo
Dari Damazo
Senior Vice President of Support Services, DTO
Atlanticus
Mike Jones
Mike Jones
Senior Director Shared Services
The Home Depot
Andrea Hughes
Andrea Hughes
Senior Director, Customer Service

10:15 AM – 10:45 AM

Networking Break


10:45 AM – 12:15 PM

Breakout Sessions: Customer Shop Talks

Customer Shop Talk sessions are small, industry-expert-led discussions on a laser-focused topic. Attendees will pick two of the four available 40-minute sessions.

Next Level Learning & Development: The Operational Advantage of Learning Done Right

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Effortless customer experiences begin with effortless learning—learning that happens inside operations, not alongside them. Next-level Learning and Development blends seamlessly into day-to-day execution, transforming operations into an operational learning environment where learning is strategic, immediate, and continuous. Grounded in cognitive science and adult learning research, these approaches require no new tools or budget, yet deliver immediate, measurable improvements in performance and customer ease.

This session challenges the outdated, siloed model where Learning and Development is solely responsible for performance. Instead, it positions performance as a shared operational continuum—owned by leaders, reinforced in the moment, and sustained through science-backed practices. In an era where organizations are racing toward AI without understanding how people actually learn, this conversation returns to the foundations of research, demonstrating how trusted, evidence-based strategies can be applied immediately to maximize performance in dynamic environments.

Attendees will learn:

  • Immediate, research-backed strategies that drive measurable performance at no cost
  • Practical approaches to embed learning into operations for real-time execution impact
  • How to anchor operational learning decisions in cognitive science to consistently maximize performance
    Dr. Tiffany Cotterman
    Vice President of Customer Experience

Making CX a C-Suite Priority

Thanks to Our Partner:

 

 

CX friction is easy to spot on the front lines and far harder to elevate into an executive priority. Too

often, CX leaders come armed with anecdotes or dashboards that resonate locally but fail to translate into enterprise-level urgency. This session explores how leading organizations bridge that gap by pairing a clear narrative with hard data tied to business performance, risk, and customer outcomes, and turning CX pain into an executive ready business case.

Through real customer examples, Reddy will examine how a small, focused CX pilot delivered measurable wins that earned CEO attention and sponsorship. Attendees will leave with a practical playbook for translating frontline insight into boardroom language and how to build the internal momentum needed to scale CX initiatives across the enterprise.


12:15 PM – 1:15 PM

Lunch


1:15 PM – 1:30 PM

Afternoon Comments


1:30 PM – 2:00 PM

Panel

CX Livewire: Polling, Predictions, and Instant Feedback

Just as data drives the vital operational adjustments that CX leaders make every day, data also fuels the strategic decisions that power entire programs. During this session, panelists will dive into the data of critical CX topics the goal of contrasting results from recent Execs In The Know’s CX research with live polling of the CRS Amelia Island audience. Real-time insights will help audience members benchmark themselves against the room, while panelists provide headlights into some of the biggest challenges and successes at their own organizations.

Come prepared to participate during this high energy, fast-paced session which is sure to produce both surprises and confirmation.

Jim Von Seggern
Jim Von Seggern
Director of Market Research
Sagarika Prusty
Sagarika Prusty
Director, Data Analytics
justin mcmurtrey
Justin McMurtrey
Vice President, Operations

2:00 PM – 2:30 PM

Case Study

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2:30 PM – 4:00 PM

Innovations Lab

After a full day of discussions, step into a hands-on experience where CX innovation comes to life. Explore interactive demos and concepts showcasing real-world applications designed to enhance customer experiences across various channels and processes. This engaging, relaxed environment is the perfect place to exchange ideas, gain fresh insights, and connect with fellow leaders over great food and cocktails. Visit each station and receive a gift card.

Thanks to Our Partner:


4:00 PM – 4:30 PM

Panel

Beyond Deployment: The Quality Assurance and Measurement Essentials for AI-Powered CX

As AI reaches new levels of deployment within the contact center, the focus is all too often on speed to market rather than sustained quality and performance. Without rigorous monitoring, these solutions can drift from intended outcomes, generate inconsistent or inaccurate responses, and even erode customer trust. The difference between AI-powered solutions that delight versus ones that frustrate often comes down to how well performance is measured, tuned, re-tuned, and governed over time. 

This panel will explore why monitoring AI quality must be as much a priority as implementing AI itself. CX leaders will share emerging best practices for establishing performance benchmarks, aligning AI outputs with business and customer goals, and setting up governance models that evolve alongside the technology. Attendees will gain practical insights on how to track both quantitative and qualitative results, run an effective QA layer, detect bias or drift, and create feedback loops that ensure AI remains a reliable extension of the customer experience strategy. 

During this panel you’ll learn about: 

  • Which metrics are worth monitoring for generating actionable insights
  • Best practices for implementing a QA layer for AI-powered solutions
  • Common AI-powered solution performance issues that are detectable by better monitoring
Peter Howerton
Peter Howerton
Vice President, Customer Relationship Management
Digital Experience Solutions
Northwell
Ian Schmehl
Vice President, Enterprise Operations

Anindya Sundar Das
Head of Global Digital Experience


4:30 PM – 5:00 PM

Keynote

The Standard Is the Strategy

CX excellence isn’t created by software, scripts, or perfectly defined processes. It’s created by leaders, and the standard they’re willing to set for themselves. In this keynote, Travis Brown, former NFL quarterback and current pastor, delivers a direct challenge to CX executives: your team’s performance will never exceed the standard you personally embody.

Travis explores the uncomfortable but liberating truth that success can often mask slipping standards, and teams will always follow the tone the leader sets, especially when conditions aren’t ideal, pressure is high, or you’re leading teams you didn’t personally handpick.

This session will reshape how you think about standards, how they’re created, reinforced, and multiplied across the enterprise, and why EX will always dictate CX. Through powerful stories and practical leadership insight, Travis helps leaders see that the most scalable strategy for CX excellence is not a system… it’s a standard. And it starts with you.

Travis brown
Travis Brown
Senior Director, Campus Teams

5:00 PM – 5:45 PM

The Glam Gap: A short break to glam up before the Gala.


5:45 PM – 6:30 PM

Walk the Red Carpet & Cocktails


6:30 PM – 10:00 PM

The Crystal Gala: Celebrating 15 Years of Brilliance

The Ritz-Carlton

Join us for an unforgettable evening as Execs In The Know celebrates 15 years of community, leadership, and CX excellence. The Crystal Gala is a formal, “dress-to-the-nines” affair featuring elegant dining, music, dancing, and curated entertainment designed to honor the past and toast to the future. Gather with fellow leaders for a night of connection and celebration in one of the most iconic settings at The Ritz-Carlton, an evening worthy of this milestone moment.

Thanks to Our Partner:

THE SCHEDULE IS NOT YET FINAL AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

7:30 AM – 8:15 AM

Breakfast & Registration


8:15 AM – 8:45 AM

Conference Opening


8:45 AM – 9:15 AM

Keynote

Walmart’s People-Led, Tech-Powered Approach to Customer Support

As customer and associate support reaches a defining moment, CX leaders are being challenged to evolve faster than ever without losing the human connection that defines great service. In this keynote, Meghan Nicholas, Vice President of Customer Engagement Services at Walmart, will explore how large, complex organizations can modernize their service operations through a people-led, tech-powered approach. Drawing from real-world experience at scale, she will examine how today’s leaders are balancing rising expectations, accelerating technology, and the enduring need for empathy and trust across every customer touchpoint.

Attendees will gain perspective on designing service models that are both operationally resilient and deeply human, where innovation enhances, rather than replaces, meaningful connection. With the continued growth of automation, AI, and self-service, this session offers a timely, high-level look at how CX leaders can drive efficiency, clarity, and care simultaneously, setting a new standard for performance without compromise.

meghan nicholas
Meghan Nicholas
Vice President, Customer Engagement Services

9:15 AM – 9:40 AM

Rapid-Fire Case Study


9:40 AM – 10:05 AM

Rapid-Fire Case Study

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Automation Without Alienation: A People-First Workforce Strategy in the Age of AI

This session shares a real-world transformation story of how a large enterprise contact center moved from early skepticism about automation (“it will replace jobs”) to a people-first strategy that improved both operational performance and employee experience. The speakers will explore the strategic inflection point that led Cigna to adopt real-time automation—and the leadership work required to earn buy-in beyond senior leadership.

The discussion will highlight key lessons, measurable outcomes, and how today’s momentum in AI connects to the future of workforce orchestration—illustrating how automation and AI can work together to support scalable, resilient workforce strategies beyond the contact center.

Key takeaways for attendees

  • How to position automation as a workforce strategy that enhances performance and employee experience—not a job replacement narrative
  • What it really takes to drive adoption when executive alignment alone doesn’t translate to frontline buy-in
  • How real-time automation and emerging AI initiatives can coexist to strengthen CX strategy and long-term workforce agility
mary ann chandler
Mary Ann Chandler
Senior Vice President, National Accounts
shannon scott
Shannon Scott
Senior Manager, Business Product Owner

10:05 AM – 10:30 AM

Networking Break


10:30 AM – 11:00 AM

Panel

Thanks to Our Partner:

 

 

 

CX as a Growth Engine: Proving Value in the Boardroom

Customer experience leaders know that delivering exceptional service drives loyalty, retention, and long-term business value. Yet, securing investment for new tools, talent, and innovations often requires more than intuition or anecdotal wins. Many CX leaders still face challenges in articulating a compelling financial case for investment, translating the less tangible benefits of customer care into metrics that resonate with CFOs, CEOs, and boards. Without a strong internal case, initiatives risk being deprioritized in favor of more easily quantified projects.

This panel will dive into proven strategies for building persuasive ROI models that tie customer care excellence directly to revenue growth, reduced churn, and operational efficiency. Panelists will share best practices for quantifying knock-on effects like customer lifetime value, brand advocacy, and competitive differentiation, while also offering guidance on how to educate senior leadership on the true business impact of CX. Attendees will leave with practical tools and storytelling techniques to strengthen their internal advocacy and secure the resources needed to elevate customer experience initiatives.

jen joyce
Jen Joyce
Senior Vice President, Digital Customer Operations
craig barnes
Craig Barnes
Senior Vice President Customer Care and Retail Store Operations
Tanisha Parker
Tanisha Parker
Associate Director

11:00 AM – 11:30 AM

Keynote

kevin mcdorman
Kevin McDorman
Vice President, Customer Care


11:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Lunch