Customer self-service continues to rise, with AI continually absorbing low-level manual tasks in the contact center. Pair this with evolving hybrid working conditions and increasing customer expectations, and a picture starts to emerge. The job of a contact centre agent is becoming more emotionally and cognitively demanding, and leaders are being called to reimagine what frontline work looks like, and what kind of leadership it now requires. In this panel discussion, long-time CX leader and advisor Vinay Parmar, CX Network Advisory Board member and Managing Director, Customer Whisperers, joins industry pioneer Brad Cleveland, Senior Advisor to the ICMI and author of bestselling Contact Center Management on Fast Forward, to share what skills today’s contact centre leaders need to stay effective in a continually changing environment.

Vinay brings sharp insight into the everyday realities of agent life such as hybrid work, heightened emotional strain, and a younger workforce with different needs. Brad, who has been shaping the contact center industry since its inception, offers a macro lens on how leadership, AI, and agent enablement must evolve together.

Attendees will learn:

• Why resilience-building, empathy, and environmental awareness are core leadership skills, not just “soft skills”, in the hybrid contact center
• How to lead in an AI-first future where agents need to be supervisors, collaborators, and creative thinkers, not just problem solvers
• The importance of narrative-based data storytelling to influence stakeholders and elevate the contact center's strategic value

Both speakers featured in our Top 30 contact center leaders to watch in 2025 list.