33 Famous CXOs and Influential CX Experts to Follow in 2026

Steven Van Belleghem is a customer experience author, keynote speaker, and entrepreneur who shares his ideas through six bestselling books and talks with brands like Disney and Salesforce. He co-founded Nexxworks, invests…

“I dream of a world with happy customers that share their excitement with all of their friends and family.”

Marsha Collier is an author, radio host, and speaker focused on e-commerce, social media, and customer service. She wrote eBay For Dummies and The Ultimate Online Customer Service Guide. She founded the…

“Sustainability is paramount and if AI is the way to go, I'm all for it.”

Jeanne Bliss founded Customer Bliss and co-founded the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA). She held senior leadership roles in customer experience, loyalty, customer satisfaction and retention, at Lands’ End, Mazda, Coldwell Banker,…

“Customer-driven grown only occurs when leaders have the attitude that customers and employees are the asset of their business.”

Helen Yu is the Founder and CEO of Tigon Advisory and focuses on customer experience, AI, cybersecurity, and digital transformation. She reaches a large exec audience on LinkedIn (117K+ followers), where she…

“I'm passionate about human-AI amplification rather than replacement, mentoring the next generation, especially women and underrepresented leaders in tech.”

Luke Jamieson is a CX and EX leader from Melbourne who writes, podcasts, and coaches, and he co-hosts the CX game show Twenty20ish. He’s also a core member of The CX Lead’s…

“Better signal. Better stories. Better CX.”

Jeff Sheehan leads CX JS Consulting and advises leaders on using the contact center to deliver measurable CX gains. He works across technology, banking, telecom, and retail, helping teams cut wasted contact,…

“The issue usually isn’t effort, tooling, or intent. It’s that customer demand is compensating for upstream failures—policies, processes, products, and handoffs the contact center doesn’t control but absorbs.”

Roy Atkinson is CEO and Principal Advisor of Clifton Butterfield, LLC and a recognized thought leader in IT service management (ITSM) and customer experience (CX). He focuses on bringing experience management—employee experience…

“Often the hardest thing we have to do is get out of our own way.”

If you want clear thinking on CX, Adrian’s a practitioner-author who’s spent 25+ years advising companies, speaking, and running workshops on service and experience. He wrote Punk CX, Punk XL, and How…

“Recognize customer data as a key competitive advantage: Although AI models are increasingly commoditized similar to chipsets, your unique customer data remains a critical differentiator.”

Ron Kaufman is a global keynote speaker and customer experience expert who specializes in building service cultures through his “Uplifting Service” approach. With 26+ years in the field, he’s a NY Times…

“A life well lived contributes to the well-being of others.”

If you lead CX, you’ll like Claire’s mix of practitioner grit and big-stage insight: she’s a keynote speaker and customer experience expert with 30+ years in CX, mystery shopping, and employee engagement,…

“When care is visible, trust deepens. When connection is real, growth becomes organic.”

Joseph A. Michelli, Ph.D., is a psychologist, consultant, and speaker focused on customer experience and service culture. For 30+ years he’s advised leaders at Starbucks, The Ritz-Carlton, Mercedes‑Benz, Zappos, and UCLA Health,…

“The machine can simulate the past, but it still can't navigate a novel future without a human at the helm.”

Steve Towers is the co-founder and CEO of BP Group (est. 1992). He’s a CX coach-author known for the Outside-In approach and the CEMMethod, with ACXC and CPPC credentials. He’s the best…

“Most CX programmes aim for one win. Revenue. Cost. Service. The real shift happens when you design for all three, at the same time. ”

Jay Baer is a customer experience strategist, Hall of Fame keynote speaker, and 7x bestselling author who’s advised 700+ brands, including 40 of the Fortune 500. He focuses on practical CX frameworks—like…

“The solution isn't acquiring more AI tools. It's making your tools work smarter together - and conversational inputs like voice make it infinitely easier to connect human intent to automated execution.”

Colin Shaw is the founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy, a customer experience consultancy with over 24 years in the field. He focuses on customer emotions and behavior, created the Naïve to…

“None of us are as clever as all of us.”

Chip R. Bell is a keynote speaker and author focused on customer loyalty and service innovation, advising Fortune 100 companies on customer-centric strategy. He pioneered customer journey mapping in the 1980s and…

“Great mentors view learning as a mutual treasure hunt. Since learning is a door opened only from the inside, a partnering approach achieves greater learner retention and ensures high performance application.”

Blake Morgan is a customer experience keynote speaker and futurist who hosts The Modern Customer Podcast and teaches on LinkedIn Learning. She has 15+ years in CX and has worked with companies…

“Customers expect you to remember them, not ask them to start over. That’s what changes the experience.”

Annette Franz is the founder and CEO of CX Journey Inc. and a CCXP with more than 30 years in customer and employee experience. She focuses on culture‑led change—what she calls the…

“Employee experience doesn’t improve when you add programs, but it does improve when you fix how work actually works.”

Dan Gingiss is a keynote speaker, author, and consultant known as “The Experience Maker,” with 20+ years leading CX, marketing, and digital at brands like McDonald’s, Discover, and Humana. He holds the…

“Sometimes the truth shows up before the words do.”

Stacy Sherman is a customer experience keynote speaker, author, and advisor, and the founder of Doing CX Right, with 25+ years in corporate leadership. She’s a LinkedIn Learning instructor and host of…

“Treat all customers like they matter, because they do.”

Scott Lee Holloway is a CCXP and Head of Customer Experience at APS Bank with 10+ years in financial services. He serves on the global board of the CXPA, was recognized by…

“The real transformation begins with mindset.”

Zach Hamilton runs Unf*cking Your CX, a platform and podcast that rejects NPS‑worship and pushes you to tie CX to revenue and CLV. He’s led CX, digital transformation, and operations inside retail…

“Most CX leaders don’t have a CX problem. They have a courage problem.”

Bill Staikos is a customer and employee experience leader and host of the Be Customer Led podcast, focused on bringing those disciplines together to create value for your company. He brings 25+…

“Stop simply telling your AI agents what to do. Give them an identity (no, not in a creepy way), define the agent’s boundaries, and force it through a structured thinking loop before it outputs anything.”

Shep Hyken is a customer service and customer experience expert, keynote speaker, and author, and he serves as Chief Amazement Officer at Shepard Presentations. He’s a New York Times bestselling author and…

“Customer experience rarely fails because of people. More often, it fails because of the process.”

You’ll know Jeff Toister as the Service Culture Guide—a speaker, author, and trainer who helps leaders build customer‑focused teams. He founded Toister Performance Solutions in 2005, and has written four customer service…

“AI is doing a lot for customers, but there are still situations where humans provide an advantage.”

Brad is a CX advisor, author, and keynote speaker focused on customer experience, leadership strategy, and customer service innovation. He’s worked in 60+ countries with clients like Apple, American Express, and USAA,…

“You’ll know you’re successful when anyone in the organization, regardless of department or role, can understand the map, and see where and how they are part of the journey.”

Dominic Brasoveanu is a CX consultant and founder of ROCA.WORK. Known as “Dominic The CX Guy” on YouTube, he shares practical Zendesk and CX how‑tos. He’s spent 15 years in customer experience…

“New leaders often think leadership means control. Real leadership looks different. You set direction. You build trust. Then you step back.”

Bernd Schmitt is a Columbia Business School professor and head of the EX GROUP, where he advises on customer experience, innovative strategy, and global brands. He’s the author of Customer Experience Management:…

“Create, gather, and share insights...build stronger brands. ”

If you’re a CX executive, you’ll value Nate Brown’s practical lens as Head of Education & Enablement at Metric Sherpa and co-founder of CX Accelerator. He’s spent 15+ years across customer service…

“Finding true balance between AI capabilities and human gifting is what will set you apart.”

You’ll find Ian Golding focused on helping you “operationalise” customer experience. He runs a consultancy founded in 2012 that consults, trains, mentors, and he speaks across 35+ countries in sectors like banking,…

“Too many organisations still struggle to capture customer insight that is accurate, reliable, representative, and truly meaningful. And even when they do capture it, there’s often an even bigger challenge: turning that insight into action.”

Mike Wittenstein is the founder and managing partner at Storyminers and a strategic storyteller and experience designer who helps leaders with customer experience, strategy, and change. He previously served as IBM’s eVisionary…

“Most leaders can sense when their business is ready for something more — but can’t yet put that “more” into words. That’s where I come in.”

David Avrin is a customer experience keynote speaker and consultant who pushes companies to be “Ridiculously Easy to Do Business With.” If you lead CX, you’ll get clear, usable ideas on simplifying…

“I strongly believe that one of the most important things you can do in your life is to travel beyond your borders.”

Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP, is the Founder and Chief Experience Investigator at Experience Investigators. She focuses on CX governance, customer journey mapping, voice of the customer, and helping teams shift from reactive…

“The reality is that not every CX initiative will have the same impact. The key is focusing on the work that truly improves the experience for customers and aligns with your CX mission.”

You’ll know Bill for his customer service and CX speaking and training, built on 30+ years in luxury hotel and resort management. He’s led at The Inn at Bay Harbor, Turnberry Isle…

“Customers seek the best emotional value in their experience, not your logically reasonable best price, product, or service.”