Agility in an Age of Disruption

The day of this year’s Customer Engagement Summit also happened to be International Start a Rumour day. Well, a worthy rumour might just be that this was the best event so far in the five-year history of the Summit. And yet again it had a diverse, insightful and provocative range of speakers and opinions. It’s certainly a rumour I have been spreading since that Monday in November when speakers from across the globe came to share their thoughts on ‘Agility in an age of disruption’ and related topics.
I made the point in my opening address that this event is special in the customer engagement calendar for the unique opportunity to gather over 1000 CX and HR leaders at a venue to network, listen, learn, ask questions, be curious and gain further confidence in the strategic and operational choices that they make. Conviction in an age of uncertainty really is a valuable outcome from such an event. I also highlighted how uncertainty was being fuelled not just by political and macro-economic factors (such as Brexit, global trade, security issues, etc.) but also by the industry itself with big and bold, yet often conflicting, predictions and myths of how customers will be served in the future. Will it really all be robots, or will we want to have conversations with real people still?? Coming to this type of event ready to listen, consider and challenge to serve your own needs for information and certainty is an important activity and should be prioritised in the calendar, in my view.
We have had five years of this opportunity at the Summits, and it was my fifth year of again being privileged to be asked to Chair the main event. The perspective that this offers me is both exciting and daunting. I get to focus on and consider every single speaker in my sessions, to ask them questions before and after, and to take away something valuable from each. I’m aware that this is my own perspective and personal search for value, but at Ember we work with many of the world’s champion or aspiring service brands, and I take interest in the platform sessions for their benefit as well as mine, to better inform and shape the work we do. Attending the Summit therefore has a very real practical value and benefit I would trust