Agenda Day 1
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Registration
Registration, Breakfast & Networking
8:30 am - 8:45 am
Welcome & Introduction from the Chair
Chair: Paul Sims -
Consultant,
Equal Experts
8:45 am - 9:15 am
AI: Behind the Hype
Linda Cereda -
Global Vice President - Marketing Data,
Nike
AI is moving from helping marketers optimise clicks to actively making decisions and transform way of working and consumer behaviours. Yet most brands are still not seeing the returns they expected.
This session looks at why so many AI efforts fail, not because of the tech, but because teams treat AI as automation tool for short term efficiency gains, not transformation. Drawing on real experience from inside Nike, Linda shares her perspectives on how to build AI as a long-term source of competitive advantage, and how strategy, data, people, and decision-making need to change together.
This talk covers:
● Nike case study on SNKRS App: How Nike deployed AI/first party data to drive consumer love, engagement and growth
● A proven approach to define AI strategy, looking at what changes and does not changes in an agentic world
● Why linear funnels are breaking down and what does it mean for brands and consumers
● Why winning with bots and humans makes owned data, brand, loyalty, and community more important than ever
● Her latest learnings on Generative Engine Optimization, including some fascinating new studies on agenteology and the psychology of bots
● Why clickless search, generative engines and AI agents change discovery and make owned data, brand, and community more critical than ever
● What it really takes to become AI-native: rethinking processes, people, and decision ownership beyond ‘plug-and-play’ tools
Join this session to demystify the hype and hear a practical view of how brands and retailers can redesign for an agentic world without losing fairness, trust, or brand power.
9:15 am - 9:45 am
SPONSOR PRESENTATION: How to Build Voice AI Agents That Actually Work
Catheryn Li, Co-Founder & CEO of Simple AI, shares how her team designs, builds, and deploys enterprise-grade AI phone agents for iconic businesses like DoorDash and Omaha Steaks.
In this masterclass, she'll walk through the real-world process:
- Getting started and writing effective evaluation frameworks to QAing conversations and cloning lifelike voices that align with your brand brand.
- Uncovering practical techniques and hard-won lessons from deploying production agents at scale that sound realistic and drive measurable business results.
Sponsored by: Simple AI
Networking
Data from Salesforce shows that nearly 40% of consumers (and more than 50% of Gen Z) already use AI for product discovery. As this shift accelerates, how is your brand’s loyalty reflected when a customer’s shopping mission is being undertaken by an agent?
Do you have access to this discovery data to help build a true 360° view of your customer? And how can you personalise when you’re no longer fully in control of the journey?
- If we’re moving towards an autonomous era where agents can purchase on customers’ behalf, what role does loyalty actually play?
- What is loyalty or brand to an agent, and can the emotional equity built with customers be reproduced through agentic commerce?
- What happens to loyalty when the agent acting for your customer is operated by a competitor?
10:25 am - 10:55 am
One-to-One Business Meetings
As AI agents begin to shop, search, and make decisions on behalf of consumers, brands face a fundamental shift. After all, how do you control the customer experience when you’re no longer in control?
11:35 am - 12:05 pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: Balancing AI with the ‘Human Touch’ to Deliver Customer Service Excellence
Deborah Honig -
Former Chief Customer Officer,
Samsung UK & Ireland
Hariss Amin - Global Lead of CX & AI Product Management - eCommerce, Hunter Douglas
Jonathan Beirne - Customer & Operations Director, musicMagpie
As AI evolves at breakneck speed and pressure mounts to adopt AI for efficiency, it’s tempting to use it across every part of customer service. But anyone who has ever called a contact centre knows the frustration behind the phrase ‘I just want to speak to a human’.
Lunch & Networking Break
12:05 pm - 12:35 pm
SPONSOR PRESENTATION: Reinventing customer experience with AI agents: Delivering fast, human service at scale
- Building a roadmap to turn customer service from a cost center into a driver of loyalty and lifetime value
- Lessons learned from migrating off legacy chatbot infrastructure and launching a new AI agent in weeks
- How to balance automation and empathy to create faster, more human experiences at scale
With the explosion of AI tools promising to transform customer experience, the question isn’t whether to invest, it’s where, how and why. Selecting the right partner has never been more important, but most leaders are paralysed by choice and under pressure to select the best partner, yesterday.
1:15 pm - 2:05 pm
Networking Lunch
Networking Break
In today’s fast-moving digital landscape, businesses often find themselves constrained by evolving technologies, fragmented platforms, and legacy systems that can’t keep pace. The question isn’t whether to replace everything, but how to extract the most impact from what you already have.
2:40 pm - 3:10 pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: Managing the Impact of Digital Transformation to Minimise Customer Frustration & Protect Loyalty
Elisabeth Fennell-Connell -
Director of Customer Service & Customer Experience,
Moonpig.com
Adrian Evans - Head of Digital Product Customer Commerce, B&Q Plc
Re-platforming is essential for long-term growth, but it can easily disrupt customer journeys and stall delivery if not managed carefully.
3:10 pm - 3:40 pm
SPONSOR PRESENTATION: Finding the Balance Between Cost & Experience & Unlocking Quick Wins to Foster Loyalty Whilst Protecting Your Budget
With budgets under pressure, retailers must strike a careful balance between reducing costs and protecting the customer experience that drives loyalty. Customers expect seamless, omnichannel journeys that are convenient and engaging, whilst the board insists they must be cost-effective to deliver - making it harder than ever to meet and exceed expectations.
Take part in a high-energy, interactive benchmarking session where you’ll respond to a series of divisive, quick-fire statements by physically positioning yourself from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’.
4:20 pm - 4:50 pm
One-to-One Business Meetings
4:55 pm - 5:25 pm
Using Technology to Power Loyalty at Scale & Increase Lifetime Customer Value
Chris Other -
Customer, Marketing & eCommerce Director,
Toolstation
As loyalty evolves from a marketing initiative to a growth engine, proving the ROI of your loyalty programme has never been more important – without numerical proof it’s near impossible to secure further investment.
5:25 pm - 5:55 pm
Turning First Party Data into Customer Intelligence to Uncover Friction Points, Personalise Experiences & Strengthen Loyalty
Matt Walburn -
Customer Executive Director of Marketing and E-Commerce,
A.S. Watson UK Superdrug Savers
Retailers are rich in first-party data but poor in customer intelligence.
Matt Walburn
Customer Executive Director of Marketing and E-CommerceA.S. Watson UK Superdrug Savers
5:55 pm - 6:25 pm
CHAMPAGNE ROUNDTABLE: Revisiting the Fundamentals & Unlocking Quick Wins to Strengthen Customer Loyalty Whilst Remaining Lean
In a climate where budgets are tight and customer expectations are rising, strengthening loyalty doesn’t always require major investment – the most impactful improvements often start with revisiting the fundamentals.
