A New Era of CX Leadership
Customer experience is at an inflection point. Artificial intelligence is reshaping how businesses interact with their customers at every touchpoint. Expectations are rising. Loyalty is harder to earn, and easier to lose. And the leaders who are navigating this moment most successfully are not the ones chasing the latest technology. They are the ones who understand, more deeply than ever, what it means to put people first.
In 2026, the CX leaders worth following are those who blend visionary thinking with practical impact, who can talk about AI and automation in one breath, and compassion, belonging, and emotional memory in the next. They are executives, researchers, futurists, consultants, and practitioners. They span industries, continents, and disciplines. And together, they are defining what great customer experience looks like for the decade ahead.
Here, we spotlight some of the most inspiring CX leaders making waves in 2026, drawing on CX Network’s recognition of the top 40 future of CX leaders and our own exclusive conversations with practitioners shaping the field globally.
Why This List Matters
CX Network’s 2026 guide to the top 40 future of CX leaders celebrates individuals who are shaping the next era of customer experience, driving innovation, pioneering AI experiences, and creating human-centred strategies that will define CX in the years ahead.
What makes this year’s cohort particularly significant is the shared theme running through each of their philosophies: the conviction that technology must serve humanity, not replace it. These are not leaders who see AI as a threat to great service. They see it as a tool, powerful, transformative, but ultimately secondary to the human judgment, empathy, and compassion that turn good experiences into unforgettable ones.
The Leaders Shaping CX in 2026
1. Helen Bywater-Smith, Global CX Advisory Lead, Ipsos
One of the most grounded and inspiring voices in global CX, Helen Bywater-Smith brings over 20 years of experience to her role leading CX Advisory solutions across 90 markets at Ipsos. Her approach is rooted in a rare combination of qualitative depth, neuropsychology, human-centred design, and systems thinking, and it shows in every programme she touches.
Helen co-developed the Forces of CX framework, which identifies six key dimensions critical for building strong customer relationships and driving financial performance. She is also an Associate Lecturer on Service Design at the University of Warwick, where she co-designed a module inspired by philosophies of belonging, including the Ubuntu principle “I am because we are”, to shape a generation of CX-literate leaders. Recently Helen has been selected Among the Top 40 CX Leaders 2026.
In a field increasingly crowded with AI-first thinking, Helen is a reminder that the most enduring CX transformations are built on human insight, compassion, and the courage to act on both.
“CX obsession should really be people obsession, for colleagues and customers, and must start at the top and be a collective responsibility across the organisation.”
Find out Helen Bywater-Smith on LinkedIn
2. Jay Baer, CX Researcher, Author & Keynote Speaker
Jay Baer is a globally recognised business growth and CX researcher, with over 30 years’ experience advising Fortune 500 companies on customer service trends and digital transformation. Baer focuses on human-first CX in a digital world, helping companies balance AI automation with meaningful customer interactions.
His recent initiatives, including workshops on AI-enabled customer journeys and practical strategies for digital empathy, are directly addressing the challenge every CX leader faces right now: how do you scale without losing soul?
Learn more about Jay Baer
Find out Jay Baer on LinkedIn
3. Steven Van Belleghem, Futurist, Author & Co-founder of Nexxworks
Belgian futurist and co-founder of nexxworks, Steven Van Belleghem advises organisations on how technology, empathy, and strategy intersect to shape CX. He has delivered over 1,500 keynote presentations across 45 countries.
His prediction for 2026: the biggest shift will be the emergence of autonomous AI services that solve problems before customers even notice them, moving CX from reactive to predictive to, ultimately, self-driving.
Find out Steven Van Belleghem on LinkedIn
4. Calum Laming, Chief Customer Officer, British Airways
Calum Laming is Chief Customer Officer at British Airways, responsible for leading the airline’s marketing, onboard product, ground product, customer care, and in-flight experience teams, effectively owning the end-to-end journey for all passengers.
Under his leadership, BA is undertaking a major transformation effort, refreshing brand identity and aligning legacy service models with the expectations of a new generation of travellers.
Find out Calum Laming on LinkedIn
5. Tiffani Bova, Chief Strategy & Research Officer, The Futurum Group
Tiffani Bova is the author of two Wall Street Journal bestsellers and has spent nearly three decades shaping growth and transformation strategies for Fortune 500 companies.
Her central thesis, that growth and experience are inseparable, has never been more relevant. In an era where every business is wrestling with the ROI of CX investment, her research gives leaders the language and the data to make the case for experience as a growth engine.
Learn more about Tiffani Bova
Find out Tiffani Bova on LinkedIn
6. Amjad Khan, CX Operating Model Leader
Amjad Khan’s guiding principle: customers remember how an experience makes them feel. His focus is on building operating models, teams, and cultures that reduce friction and increase confidence, trust, and dignity, creating environments where better outcomes for customers and colleagues become the natural result of well-designed systems.
Find out Amjad Khan on LinkedIn
Checkout Amelia's Interview with us: Transformation, Leadership and AI
7. Bill Staikos, CX Strategist & AI Futurist
Bill Staikos regularly speaks on AI, synthetic data, and the future of CX, helping leaders anticipate emerging trends while keeping the customer at the heart of every transformation initiative.
His forward-looking perspective on synthetic data for faster, privacy-safe customer testing and AI-orchestrated real-time experiences makes him one of the most practically useful voices for CX leaders preparing for what comes next.
Learn more about Bill Staikos
Find out Bill Staikos on LinkedIn
8. Sandra De Zoysa, Group Chief Customer Officer, Dialog Axiata
Sandra De Zoysa is Group Chief Customer Officer at Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s leading telecommunications provider, and one of the region’s most experienced CX executives with over 30 years in the ICT industry.
Her vision: AI will evolve from driving efficiency to enabling empathy, and the brands that win will use intelligent, human-aware systems to create experiences that are deeply personal, ethically designed, and seamlessly intuitive.
Find out Sandra De Zoysa on LinkedIn
9. Amelia Kallman, Futurist & CX Innovation Speaker
Described as “The Futurist Storyteller,” Amelia Kallman is recognised for helping companies future-proof CX through emerging technologies, human-centred design, and responsible innovation.
She stands out for her ability to make the future of CX feel tangible and actionable, helping organisations understand not just what’s coming, but what they need to do about it today.
Find out Amelia Kallman on LinkedIn
Checkout Amelia's Interview with us: Amelia Kallman on AI, Human-Centered Innovation, and Why the Future is Now
What These Leaders Have in Common
Across every profile, every philosophy, and every vision on this list, one theme emerges again and again: the future of customer experience is human, even when it is powered by machines.
These leaders are not anti-AI. They are pro-humanity. They understand that technology is a powerful enabler, but that the emotional connections, the trust, the dignity, and the belonging that make great experiences memorable cannot be automated. They must be designed, led, and lived by the people inside every organisation.
“Humans will always electrify experiences.”, Helen Bywater-Smith
The Trends These Leaders Are Watching in 2026
The most forward-thinking CX leaders in 2026 are converging on several key shifts:
- Agentic AI: AI that acts autonomously on behalf of customers and brands, solving problems before they surface. Organisations that build trust into this layer will lead the next era of service.
- Hybrid Measurement: Moving beyond NPS to blend research data, behavioural signals, and conversational intelligence into a richer, more actionable picture of customer experience.
- Inclusive Experience Design: Building CX that works for everyone, by design. Leaders who embed accessibility, diversity, and belonging into experience strategy will build stronger emotional connections across broader audiences.
- The EX-CX Connection: AI will handle routine tasks while people focus on complex, sensitive, or growth-oriented interactions. Leaders who invest in their frontline will have a measurable edge.
- CX as a Growth Engine: The most commercially sophisticated CX leaders are connecting experience investment directly to financial outcomes, moving the discipline from cost centre to revenue driver.
Final Thought: Follow the People, Not Just the Trends
In a year defined by rapid change and relentless noise, the most valuable thing you can do as a CX professional or business leader is follow the people who are thinking clearly, acting boldly, and keeping the customer, and the humans who serve them, at the centre of everything.
The leaders on this list are those people. Follow them. Learn from them. And let their work challenge and inspire your own.
Read Next
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