CX under pressure: New tech, new threats, new mandate

08/18/2026
By:

Sabina Onwuka
London Borough of Barking & Dagenham
Head of Customer Services

Monika Aufdermauer
KOHO
VP, User Success

Jim Tincher
Heart of the Customer
CEO and Founder

Dan Gingiss
The Experience Maker, LLC
Chief experience maker

Melanie Mingas
CX Network
Editor-in-chief

As a new generation of CX technology promises to deliver frictionless, hyper-efficient experiences, the specialists who have dedicated their careers to exceptional customer outcomes are finding themselves in unfamiliar territory. Many describe mounting pressure: to deliver more with less, to justify the cost of technologies that remain expensive and experimental, to develop new skills, and to prove their value not annually or quarterly, but daily.

The timing is less than ideal. As consumers turn to their AI assistants to discover new brands, products and services, discoverability and relevance are dependent on having an undisputable public track record for superior CX. Operational excellence, outstanding reviews, and coherent, unconflicted knowledge are now the currency of success. 

CX Network's editor-in-chief, Melanie Mingas, will host an engaging panel tackling how CX can thrive in an operating environment where business growth is the north star, but the route to it often bypasses the customer. Crucially, the panel will address the question on everybody's mind: Where does CX go from here?

The discussion will cover:

  • How CX practitioners can confront emerging threats posed by new tech, global economic pressures and changing job roles.
  • The challenges of maintaining relevance as AI transforms the operating environment for organizations and customers.
  • The new job roles emerging, and the skills practitioners will need in future.
  • Where the opportunities for career development and recognition lie moving forward.