Judges

Martin was CEO of one of the first BPOs and CX consultancies in the UK. He then spent a decade in the systems integration industry positioning the value of new technology and the associated change agenda. He is now in his fourth year as Brainfood Consulting offering a mix of services. These include conference chairing, keynotes, webinars, whitepapers, workshops, consulting and mentoring. Topics include emotive customer CX for customer interaction, customer service strategy, trends in contact centre technology, COVID triggered digital first agendas, automation and the human agenda.

Dan Miller founded Opus Research in 1986 and helped define Conversational Commerce through consulting engagements and by authoring scores of reports and advisories addressing business opportunities that reside where automated speech and natural language processing leverage conversational AI, analytics and contact centers.

As Director of the New Electronic Media Program at LINK/IDC from 1980-1983, he managed one of the first continuous advisory services in the technology analysis industry. He held executive positions at Atari, Warner Communications and Pacific Telesis Group.

Dan received his BA from Hampshire College and an MBA from Columbia University.

Ex Gartner Vice President of Research, with over two decades of experience covering CRM, CX and Customer Service. Leader of the Workforce Engagement Management and Voice of the Customer research and creator of the associated Magic Quadrants.

During my tenure at Gartner, I advised thousands of organizations of all sizes and industries around the world. Subsequently, I became the Chief Experience Officer at a leading WEM vendor, but have now returned to my roots as cofounder of Actionary (www.actionary.co.uk) - a new advisory services company, where market defining industry analysts each with c suite experience have come together to support CEOs and their leadership teams with personalized and actionable advice.

Liz Miller is a 30-year marketing veteran focused on the cross-functional team sport known as customer experience. Her research focuses on the evolution of customer engagement, the business demands on today’s Chief Marketing Officer, the rise of the Chief Customer and Experience Officers and the key trends shaping the Trust Economy.

Martin Schneider has had a unique career that has spanned both analyst and marketing practitioner roles, focused on high technology and related industries. The unifying factors have always been both a keen analysis of go-to-market/CX trends and his achievement of success as a marketing leader.

Schneider started his career as a journalist covering B2B technologies, and quickly transitioned into a role as the leading analyst covering application software for The 451 Group in NYC. Schneider then made the move to the vendor side, where he led successful go-to-market teams for several startups and established tech providers, including SugarCRM, Basho Technologies, Caspio and SupportLogic.

Schneider lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is a recording musician and restorer of vintage motorcycles in his free time.

Megan Burns is a customer experience strategist, author, and keynote speaker who helps companies build world-class customer experience programs that accelerate growth and drive strategic advantage. A former Vice President at Forrester Research, Megan has advised hundreds of corporations over her 20+ year career, including Microsoft, Workday, Akamai, FedEx, Verizon, and AT&T.

As the architect of two of the industry's most well-known frameworks - the Customer Experience Index and the Outside In Maturity Model - Megan is considered one of the world's foremost experts on leading experience transformation at scale. Her insights have been featured in dozens of publications like the Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine, AdAge, and CNBC, and Megan is a popular speaker at events like the Wall Street Journal's Experience Management Forum, CXPA Leaders Advance, the Chief Experience Officer Summit, and the Qualtrics X4 Summit.

As a CX pioneer, Megan is regularly invited to judge industry awards like the CXPA Innovation Awards and World Customer Centricity Awards and to appear on popular podcasts like Voices of CX and CX Luminaries. After interviewing Megan, one host said: "I've never seen anyone with customer experience so deeply in their blood."

Michael is an experienced high-tech leader, board chairman, software industry analyst and podcast host. He is a thought leader and published author on emerging trends in business software, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, digital first and customer experience strategies and technology. Currently, Michael is the Founder, CEO and Chief Analyst at Arion Research, a global cloud advisory firm; an advisor to G2 and Board Chairman at LocatorX. As a senior market researcher and leader Michael has deep experience in business software market research, starting new tech businesses and go-to-market models in large and small software companies.

Mila D’Antonio is a principal analyst on Omdia’s Customer Engagement team where she focuses on enterprise applications that enable personalized and connected customer engagement. Mila provides analysis of the key developments in customer engagement applications and emerging tech that improves customer interactions and enables personalized, relevant engagements. That includes research on customer engagement platforms, customer data platforms, and customer journey orchestration.

Prior to joining Omdia, formerly Ovum, in 2017, Mila worked as editor-in-chief at 1to1 Media. In addition, she holds a degree from the University of Pittsburgh where she studied English, journalism, and political science.

Before setting up her consultancy Nerys spent almost 18 years in some of the UK’s most responsive outsourcers managing contact center services for clients like Volkswagen, Vodafone, British Gas, the National Apprenticeship Service and Sky.

Since setting up Injection Consulting in 2015. Nerys has immersed herself into the contact center technology space.

This immersion into the world of contact center technology coupled with extensive operational experience has existed as the backdrop to carrying out regular Contact Center audits Delivering Transformation programs; Judging prestigious awards like the European Contact Centre & Customer Service Awards; Enterprise Connect; CX Today; Chairing the DMA Contact Centre Council for 3 years and being a regular on the webinar, keynote and podcast circuit talking all things Contact Center.

Oru Mohiuddin is a Senior Research Manager in European Enterprise Communications and Collaboration team. Based in London, she is responsible for IDC’s coverage of Unified Communications and Collaboration and Contact Center in the region.

Her work focuses on the transformation of business communication and collaboration in the evolving market, particularly under hybrid work. She closely looks at how modern communications and collaboration technology can help businesses to become agile, resilient and future-proof.

Head of Research at the Cavell Group, Patrick's main areas of attention within the cloud communications industry are the collaboration and customer experience sectors, including both CCaaS and CPaaS.

Patrick has been working in the business technology sector for over ten years, with a degree specialising in journalism and data analytics. Over this time Patrick has worked with the market's leading brands to understand their propositions and gain insight into their strategies, providing a conduit for information on some of the market's biggest news stories, emerging trends, and disruptive technologies.

Rebecca Wettemann is CEO and Principal Analyst of Valoir Inc., a technology analyst firm focused on the value of technology. Valoir provides research and advisory services to technology and business leaders with a focus on CRM, CX, HCM, and EX.

With more than 25 years of technology industry experience in the private and public sectors, Wettemann has led the market in its understanding of the value of cloud computing, digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI), and productivity in the digital workplace.

Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years’ experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging development, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals.

Shelly’s coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”

With 15 years of passion for customer experience, Julie Tano-Lawson has, over the course of her career, set up, directed and managed customer service, customer satisfaction and inside sales centers.

Julie is now the owner and a senior consultant at Cabinet-Conseil CX where she uses her expertise to help organizations develop a customer centric culture, build customer experience strategies and enhance contact center processes.

Ten plus years ago, I fell In love with the wonderful world of #workforcemanagement and it changed the trajectory of my life.

It was while working for companies like UnitedHealth Group, Walgreens, Liberty Medical, etc., that I learned the in’s and out’s of WFM, call center operations, and corporate principles that allowed me to deeply understand the discipline of Workforce management.

My love for Workforce management lead me to the technology that powered these centers. However, I immediately noticed there was an extreme user gap between the technology and the discipline.

Solid Rock Consulting was born! Solid Rock Consulting is a management consulting firm. We implement technology, optimize the tech currently in place and help companies build better WFM teams

Our mission is to ANNIHILATE the user adoption gap between technology and the user.

Today, I’m a sought after business consultant traveling the world helping contact centers improve their teams understanding and efficiency of workforce management and the technology that powers it.

I’m on a mission to normalize women in Tech and leadership roles.

Laura’s impressive CX career is a narrative of exceptionalism. Rising from roots in the contact centre as an agent on the frontline to a strategic force in management consulting leading digital CX transformation, and most recently a pioneer in CX tech startups.

She’s an award winning, visionary leader in the space, characterised by a rare blend of innovation and foresight. She is redefining enterprise engagement through technologies like GigCX and Generative AI making her a figure of authority in the customer experience landscape.

Laura has consistently set industry benchmarks and delivered measurable outcomes, resonating as a testament to her expansive expertise. Her profile transcends that of a typical leader; she is a definitive voice shaping the future of customer experience and business transformation.