Day One
10:00 am - 10:30 am
EST
Governance says how, ethics asks whether: Inside Philips' responsible AI model
Ger Janssen -
Head of Responsible AI,
Philips
While most governance frameworks address who owns policies and which guardrails apply, few ask whether an AI use case should go ahead at all. At Philips, the Responsible AI Office does both, owning the governance framework while IT owns infrastructure and security owns security controls. The Office supports the Philips organizations towards compliance with the EU AI Act and runs, on request, ethics assessments on internal projects and external tools before they are purchased.
In this session, Ger Janssen, Head of the Responsible AI Office, joins us to cover the model in three parts: governance, ethics questions to ask when implementing AI and where to start with the EU AI Act. We'll also touch on how his team turns down a vendor tool without becoming known as a department of blockers.
Attendees will learn:
- How The three-way ownership split for AI governance works
- The questions Philips asks of third-party tools before buying
- The first steps towards AI Act readiness: inventory and risk tiering
10:30 am - 11:00 am
EST
Contact centers in 2027 and beyond: What to expect and how to prepare
Developments in AI have brought huge change to contact centers in the last 5 years, and it's likely to do so in the next 5. With AI agents now able to do much of the low-complexity, high-volume tasks, and major advancements in voice AI technology making more complex and emotional tasks, the workload for human agents is becoming higher-stakes and more draining. Contact centers still need human agents, though, which presents a challenge for contact center and workforce management (WFM) leaders, who need to carefully navigate change management and evolving scheduling requirements to design a human + AI service model that works for customers, staff and the bottom line.
In this session, we'll reflect on the contact center of 2026 and explore what is going to change in 2027 and beyond. We'll walk through the operational realities of change management, workforce planning and employee and customer engagement. We'll demystify how a human + AI operating model works day to day and lay out a framework for building one.
Attendees will learn:
- Why "AI takes simple, volume tasks and humans take complex, emotionally charged tasks" approach can break down once you schedule around it
- How to rebuild WFM around complexity rather than volume in an AI-driven contact center
- How to protect agent wellbeing as their jobs get harder and more complex
11:00 am - 11:30 am
EST
Agentic commerce is coming. Is your team ready?
Google's early-2026 announcement of the new agentic commerce platform has ushered in a new era of customer experience. AI agents will now be able to search for, discover, compare and purchase products on customers' behalves. AI agents discover products and brands through operational realities rather than marketing messaging, including customer service response times, fulfilment rates and customer reviews. This puts discoverability and answer engine optimization (AEO) generative engine optimization (GEO) squarely into the hands of CX.
In this session, we'll look at what it takes to prepare for agentic commerce and how to give your brand the best chance of being chosen by an AI agent. We will cover what AI agents take into account during brand discovery, and CX should own the agentic commerce revolution.
Attendees will learn:
- Why agentic commerce, AEO and GEO should sit with CX
- What AI agents actually check before recommending a brand: response times, fulfilment rates and review scores, not marketing copy
- The first moves to make now, before agent-mediated discovery becomes the default way customers shop
11:30 am - 12:00 pm
EST
Driving AI adoption, internal momentum and customer trust
Agentic AI was identified by CX Network as the second-most significant trend in 2026, behind only 'AI for operations'. A lot of what is marketed as "agentic" is automation with better branding, and the companies furthest ahead are the ones being most disciplined about the distinction.
In this session, both panellists are starting from the same place: not "where can we roll out AI agents?" but "what commercial and customer problem are we looking to solve, and where does autonomy actually improve outcomes?" In customer-facing journeys, handing more autonomy to AI agents can reduce friction, but also sometimes weaken customer choice. Getting the balance right is crucial to maintain trust and compliance.
There is also an internal challenge. Agentic adoption stalls usually not because the tech isn't there, but because organizations treat it as a change management prerogative. Our panellists both run federated AI champion networks built of a different premise – that people adopt what they have helped to build. Through sprints, hackathons and buildathons, the teams prototype against problems they actually have, building capability and confidence faster.
Attendees will learn:
- How to separate genuine use cases from agent-washing, and how to measure customer appetite for AI and reduce journey friction.
- Why and how to start with commercial and customer problems rather than technology
- How to drive adoption through champion networks, buildathons and prototype sprints that actually apply to real work and create excitement
12:00 pm - 12:30 pm
EST
Human in the Middle: The case for giving AI to your staff before your customers
Andrew Laudato -
COO,
The Vitamin Shoppe
Many AI roadmaps start by moving customers away from people. The Vitamin Shoppe is starting with its people. The retailer sells supplements, where a wrong answer carries more risk than it would for a T-shirt, and its brand rests on expert advice across more than 640 stores in the US. So its AI goes behind the counter and behind the agent's screen first. The tool helps a newer associate turn a customer's goal, such as building muscle or sleeping better, into a specific recommendation.
In this session, COO Andy Laudato explains where the company is happy to automate outright, where it keeps a human in the middle, and where there isn't a strong use case for AI at all.
Attendees will learn:
- Where The Vitamin Shoppe draws the line between full automation and AI-assisted human conversations, and why
- How the cost of a wrong answer, rather than the cost of a contact, can set your automation boundary
- How an associate-facing assistant narrows the knowledge gap between new hires and experienced staff
