WE ARE GOING LIVE AGAIN!!!

Mike Aoki is the President of Reflective Keynotes Inc. (reflectivekeynotes.com), a Toronto based training company that helps contact centres improve their customer service and sales results. A contact centre expert, Mike has been chosen by ICMI.com as one of the "Top 25 Customer Experience Thought Leaders" for the past eight years in a row. He serves on the advisory council of GTACC (the Greater Toronto Area Contact Centre Association.) He also received the GTACC Award for contact centre social media influence, and the Canadian Institute of Management's Quality Service Award for leadership. Mike is a frequent contributor to "Contact Center Pipeline" magazine and a member of their Advisory Board. He also co-authored the Amazon #1 bestselling leadership book, "Called to Action."

Penny is SVP of Residential Servicing at MCAP Service Corporation (https://www.mcap.com/), Canada’s largest independent Mortgage Finance Company. An operations executive with over 30 years of high achievement in the service industry, her bias for service excellence resulted in two successive Contact Centre Employer of Choice ‘Gold’ awards. Penny is passionate about social justice and has been involved in fundraising for charities working to free people caught in human trafficking. She was recognized as CMP Magazine’s “Woman of Influence” and is also a co-author of the Amazon #1 bestselling leadership book, "Called to Action."

Sangeeta founded SB Global Human Capital Solutions in 2008 as a boutique firm specializing in Talent Acquisition, Retention and Development of top-talent.

Sangeeta focuses on the human experience across all industries and channels, understanding both the employee and customer experience.  

With over 25 years of experience Sangeeta has partnered with several top-tiered companies helping create teams utilizing the Model of Human Behaviour, Positive Communication Strategies while building Emotionally Intelligent and Adaptable teams.

Sangeeta is a frequent contributor to various publications where she has written about subjects such as Recruitment, Retention & Development, DISC Personality Styles, Adaptability, Emotional Intelligence, Soft Skills & Creating Memorable Employee / Customer Experiences. Sangeeta is also a contributing author for four Amazon best-selling books.  

Sangeeta is a frequent speaker at conferences and a regular speaker on webinars focused on creating memorable human experiences. 

Anu Aduvala is the Director, Service Delivery at Allstate Insurance Company of Canada, a member of The Allstate Corporation. In this role she is responsible for leading and developing strategies to improve the customer and employee experience. Anu has more than twenty years' experience in building strategies to revive struggling organizations and transform or start-up operations while driving growth, efficiency as well as client and staff engagement. Anu also serves on the advisory council of GTACC (the Greater Toronto Area Contact Centre Association) and sits on the Board of Girls Inc. of Durham, a not-for-profit which empowers young girls to be strong, smart and bold.

Shaun Boothe is an award-winning hip-hop artist, TEDx speaker, and creator of ‘The Unauthorized Biography Series’. The Unauthorized Biography Series is a critically acclaimed musical project that celebrates the world’s greatest cultural icons through biographical rap songs – Repackaging History through Hip-Hop. Each chapter of the series captures the legacy of an influential iconic figure in a documentary-style music video. Icons featured in the series include Bob Marley, Muhammad Ali, Malala Yousafzai, Terry Fox, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, and more. Getting blog love from Kanye, tweets from Diddy himself - Boothe’s sixth icon in his series - and a feature on Forbes.com, it’s clear that he’s getting the attention of the right people. After spending 10+ years in the music industry, sharing stages with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Lauryn Hill, and Kendrick Lamar, a search for a more purposeful path led Shaun to the education market. It was here where he discovered how his Unauthorized Biography Series, combined with his passion for speaking, could be used as a powerful tool to both entertain and inspire others to achieve their own greatness. A few short years later, this new direction has grown into a thriving international career as an inspirational speaker and performing artist in middle schools, high schools, college campuses, corporations, associations, and performing arts centers alike.

Sandi Young is the Vice President Human Resources at Clarion Medical Technologies. Sandi’s passion and focus on the well-being of Clarion’s staff is noteworthy. Sandi develops genuine relationships with colleagues and partners with ease. Sandi is the kind of leader who inspires others to maximize their own talents and believe in themselves. Throughout her career and in particular through the challenges of a pandemic she has set in place programs and protocols to promote and encourage well-being, safety and a positive framework for all. Sandi’s leadership extends to the community where she is a well-respected mentor and volunteer. As the Cabinet Chairperson for the United Way she has a compassionate understanding of needs in the community. Those who come into contact with Sandi professionally or personally are touched by her genuine warmth and positivity. Throughout her life there have been accomplishments and setbacks personally and professionally. Having an understanding of self-care and mindfulness has been essential for her overall success. Communicating to others the message of education in mental health and overcoming stigma is an ongoing responsibility.

Jeff Doran is Founder and President of CCEOC Inc. He has been improving customer experience and corporate culture for over 30 years. His company provides culture building and employer branding services including: the national “Employer of Choice” market sector awards, the Canadian ICT Trail Blazer Awards and the Contact Center Employer of Choice certification program. CCEOC also provides employer of choice development programs, employee engagement surveys, data analysis, seminars, workshops and action plan facilitation services. Jeff Doran is a sought-after speaker and author, having presented at many leading industry events. His sense of humour and engaging style are always well received by audiences

Melissa Hurley is the Vice President, Learning and People Development with Bill Gosling Outsourcing; focused on global learning and leadership development strategies. She leads teams in 4 continents and brings her passion for learning, leadership, coaching and people development to build teams in Bill Gosling’s global contact center network. Melissa also brings over 18 years’ experience in financial services working in Operations, Sales, Employee Development and Operational Effectiveness. Melissa is a passionate leader who is driven to help individuals achieve their goals, pursue personal growth and is focused on developing leaders at all levels. She is a mental health advocate- using her own personal experiences to share her journey with others. Her objective is helping to reduce stigma and creating a safe space for open dialogue on mental health challenges. Melissa lives just north of Toronto with her husband and family, she is a proud mom to 2 young children, has 2 fur babies, and brings her Newfoundland down-home charm and humor to everything she does.

Adam has worked in the financial services industry for nearly 12 years in an array of progressive roles spanning across contact centre operations, project delivery, risk management and channel optimization. His decision to diversify across multiple verticals has made him a valuable asset with a demonstrated and consistent track record for driving enduring value. Adam’s inherent ability to transform the contact centre landscape, be people focused and drive results has made him “one to watch”. At CIBC, Adam’s primary mandate involves the optimization of the digital and IVR properties via demand management while maintaining a balanced view between client experience and reducing daily operating expenses. His sphere of influence spans across the enterprise where he manages a team of business analysts tasked to assess call topic distribution and surface opportunities for call saving & improved first contact resolution. Aside from his professional identity, Adam has a passion for inspiring others by being vulnerable and sharing his own life experiences. His biggest source of joy comes from his family and in particular, his beautiful daughter and wife.

Accomplished strategic executive with 20+ years of experience within Canadian software, cloud and technology markets. In his current role as VP & Country Manager at RingCentral Canada, Kevin leads the team in working closely with customers in transforming their business communications & collaboration. Prior to joining RingCentral, Krempulec served as VP & Country Manager at Genesys, as well as, Regional Vice President of Sales at Salesforce.com. Kevin has been recognized as one of the “Top 25 I/T Executives in the Canadian Channel” by Computer Dealer News.

Louay Rifai is the Head of Strategy, Visioning & Partnerships RBC Wealth Management Canada’s Digital, Data & Innovation group. He has over 14 years of experience within RBC working across Technology & Operations, Personal & Commercial Banking, Insurance and Wealth Management, with a focus on Digital, Analytics and Transformation program execution & strategy. Louay has successfully led the implementation of several key Digital & Omni-Channel capabilities, including RBC’s first Conversational AI platform.

Lilliette Davidson has spent over 15 years leading in a variety of industries from pharmaceutical, healthcare and life sciences, to fitness, retail and manufacturing. Reporting to the President, currently, she is Senior Director, Sales Operations & Customer Service with Staples Professional, a wholly owned division of Staples Canada. Staples Canada is transforming into ‘The Working and Learning Company’ and Lilliette will lead the Customer Service teams, and Sales Ops into the next generation. Prior to Staples, she was the Vice President, Business Management & Development, at Ontario Pharmacists Association (OPA); An organization focused on advancing the pharmacy profession as a vital healthcare provider through advocacy, innovation, and support services. Before joining OPA, Lilliette was Senior Director of National Customer Service & Inside Sales, at McKesson Canada, a Fortune 500 global healthcare leader. With her continuous improvement mindset, Lilliette, oversaw a major SalesForce implementation, made improvements to the onboarding programme and supported the integration of 20 Rexall stores’ technology conversion. Prior to McKesson, she had a variety of leadership roles in sales, operations, and sales planning at Dynacare and LifeLabs. When Lilliette is not at work, she keeps busy at home with her husband and 3 amazing kids. What helps bring balance to her life, is the love of fitness, wellness, and yoga. As a certified Yoga Teacher and Group Fitness Instructor she believes in leading change at work, and building personal resilience, one breath or sweaty workout, at a time. Lilliette, has earned an MBA (Lansbridge University), BA (University of Toronto), is Certified Change Management Professional (Prosci), and is a Six Sigma Green Belt (ICI Canada). As a volunteer, Lilliette supports several organizations or churches as an advisor or board director.

As SVP Operations at NFP in Canada, Debora Hendrickson is responsible for the national Personal Risk Sales & Service practice, spanning both High-Net-Worth and Mainstream Clients. Her mandate is to empower her leaders to deliver a great customer and employee experience across all touchpoints. Since joining NFP her team has made significant improvements on all customer facing metrics and are on the journey to build a culture of pride and accountability across a highly engaged team. Prior to joining NFP Canada in August 2021, Debora was the Chief Executive Officer of the Wayfarer Insurance Group, a Lifestyle Insurance Broker providing specialty expertise and insurance solutions to customers and brokers across Canada. Reporting to the Management Board with a mandate to grow Gross Written Premium in both owned and managed business across the portfolio, Wayfarer achieved consistent year over year growth of 5.5% per annum including through cross-sell opportunities beyond the niche products and expanding their offering in both personal and commercial lines segments. Under her leadership, they implemented a new Organizational Structure to align strengths and accountabilities to each leadership role which delivered a 5% savings in operational expenses in each of the first and second year of operations by reducing duplication, standardizing processes, and implementing expense guidelines. Along with the new structure they implemented a new operating model to create the one Wayfarer Group Brand to bring together the rich history of legacy brands under one message and customer value proposition while establishing digital marketing practices and appropriate KPI’s. Deb leveraged technology to digitize the process for adjusters and drive an improved customer experience, taking customer NPS from the low 60’s to a peak of 89.5 and sustained NPS over eighteen months of 85. Before joining Wayfarer, Debora had an extensive career at Aviva Canada that included increasingly senior leadership roles. Among her roles was Senior Vice President, Customer & Marketing, Sales & Distribution. As Aviva Canada’s representative on Aviva’s Global Customer Executive tasked to drive consistency of Brand across all markets, she helped drive work that resulted in recommendations on Market strategies, Brand voice and Customer principles to Aviva’s Group Executive and Management Board. Debora effectively integrated Customer metrics to better inform decisions across the Business Planning process and support marketing campaigns and align with Business owners on key success factors. She also managed the development of Marketing Strategies and oversaw the successful delivery of campaigns to support Customer proposition work in Personal Lines as well as for SME/Middle Market to support growth and increased awareness and visibility of the product for brokers, the insurance industry, customers, and new prospects. Debora’s roles also included, Senior Vice President Broker & Customer Care, Claims & Customer Service Operations, Senior Vice President Operations - Operations and Technology, Senior Vice President Claims Customer Experience, Vice President Claims Customer Care and Business Manager to the President and CEO of Aviva. Debora is an Executive Leadership Coach, has completed an Executive Business Education Program at the IVEY School of Business, and an Executive MBA Framework at Wharton School of Business and the London School of Business.

Laura has an impressive background of over 25 years in the Contact Centre space, where she has experienced every role from front line to senior leadership. Her extensive industry knowledge and diverse experience have shaped her into a true expert in the field. For the past 15+ years, Laura has channeled her passion into Coaching and Leadership as a dynamic instructional designer and facilitator, partnering with organizations such as Rogers, TELUS, Bell, NorthwestTel, FedEx, Air Miles and CIBC. She has dedicated herself to helping individuals and teams rise to their full potential while firmly setting the Customer experience and Employee experience as the North Star. Whether in virtual or in-classroom settings, Laura creates engaging and impactful learning experiences that resonate with her audience. Beyond her professional pursuits, she is also an avowed junkie of designer accessories and BIG cruise ships, she prefers shopping to sleeping, and is a proud ski and theatre Mom, finding joy and fulfillment in being her son’s biggest cheerleader!

Lisa is an exceptional leader who thrives on initiating change and implementing effective solutions within the financial industry. With a wealth of experience in client services and operations for major financial institutions, she consistently influences and improves business practices. Throughout her extensive career, Lisa has cultivated her skills during 13 years at the executive level and over 25 years in the financial services sector. This breadth of experience has provided her with a proven track record of spearheading transformative change, fostering positive team cultures, and elevating operational performance to achieve organizational objectives. She has consistently driven key performance indicators, revenue targets, employee and client experience ratings, and productivity metrics to high levels of success. What makes Lisa truly exceptional is her passion for coaching and mentoring leaders to optimize their business strategies and unlock extraordinary results. She firmly believes in empowering leaders to tap into the collective potential of their teams, harnessing the inherent magic within each individual to drive success.

Jennifer is an experienced Financial Services professional who has been in the industry for over 26 years. She is skilled in the Retail Bank, Problem Resolution, Auto Finance Operations, Wealth Management Communications and Employee Experience space, and most recently is in role of Senior Manager in Telephone Banking in charge of the New Hire program at CIBC. She has been a people manager for 15 years and is passionate about coaching and personal development. In her spare time, you will find her at the cottage, on the golf course or sharing a meal with family and friends.

Crystal Daigle is the Director of Operations for the Accor Global Reservation Centre (GRC) in Moncton, New Brunswick. With 14 years of Contact Centre experience, specifically within Sales and Loyalty programs, she is known for achieving exceptional engagement results, maximizing luxury hotel sales and guest experiences all while maintaining a healthy work/life balance. Crystal’s accolades include being awarded on two occasions as GRC’s Leader of the Year and achieved her Bachelors of Arts Degree at the University of New Brunswick.

Chi Wen Liang is a driven professional who is passionate about empowering others. She is Director, Client Services, at Questrade Financial Services. She joined in 2019 and works with a team of talented individuals dedicated to delivering exceptional service. With over 20 years in the financial services industry and the majority in leadership roles, Chi Wen is a firm believer that employee engagement and client experience are the foundation to every business decision. Prior to joining Questrade, Chi Wen managed financial planning teams providing comprehensive solutions to high net worth individuals and most recently led a senior advisory team across Canada. She made the pivot to Questrade to join a fast growing organization whose vision is to revolutionize financial services for the benefit of Canadians by providing the most innovative and cost effective financial services online.

Ian is Director, Digital Transformation at MCAP Service Corporation (https://www.mcap.com/), one of Canada’s largest Mortgage Finance Companies. A contact centre leader and coach for the past 20 years in multiple industries, his dedication towards employee engagement efforts culminated in the achievement of his team’s 2 successive Contact Centre Employer of Choice ‘Gold’ awards at MCAP. His current role has him leading the organization’s transformation efforts to improve the homeowner experience through the leveraging of people, process and technology. Ian is passionate about the customer experience and the correlation between their satisfaction, and that of the employees that service them. He currently resides in the Kitchener-Waterloo area with his wife Charlotte, and their 4 children. Monique is passionate about making a difference for clients, her teams, those around her and the world. She has a proven track record of building and leading contact center teams, various IT teams, WFM teams and general operations. Monique loves challenges and works at a fast pace. An avid learner and over achiever she dedicates her whole mind and time to her work, her family, multiple volunteer engagements and continuous learning.

Monique is passionate about making a difference for clients, her teams, those around her and the world. She has a proven track record of building and leading contact center teams, various IT teams, WFM teams and general operations. Monique loves challenges and works at a fast pace. An avid learner and over achiever she dedicates her whole mind and time to her work, her family, multiple volunteer engagements and continuous learning.

A versatile and accomplished global executive, Laura Fisher has more than 25 years of experience driving organizational performance by fostering leadership in others, leading transformational corporate and customer strategies, creating winning cultures, inspiring people to do/be more, and supporting them in bringing their best to work every day. A seasoned intrapreneur with a reputation for empowering excellence and elevating the performance of complex teams. Laura has excelled in roles from frontline to national office, domestic to international, and across diverse platforms and businesses encompassing client service, contacts centres, operations, sales, HR, and technology. As Vice President, Contact Centre for Manulife in Canada, Laura leads strategic planning, service strategy, operations, and quality in a customer obsessed organization that supports several Manulife business lines, including Insurance, Affinity, Bank, and Group Benefits. Partnering with a talented team of approximately 1,500 professionals in driving world class experiences for customers, advisors, plan sponsors, and plan members, she enjoys reflecting the “voice of the client” in Manulife’s efforts to advance its overall customer strategy, how it is experienced at every touchpoint, and how it makes people’s decisions easier and lives better. For 5 years prior to joining Manulife, Laura served as Vice President, Global HR Shared Services at RBC, establishing strategic direction and overseeing execution, innovation, and the global delivery of HR Shared Services that supported all RBC business groups and provided essential services to 84,000 RBC employees, 26,000 retirees, and 10,000 contingent workers. Leading a team of 400 HR professionals in multiple countries, she optimized regional models, added design thinking and process excellence capabilities, strengthened employee competencies, and integrated innovative technologies that enabled agile work and delivered better outcomes faster. As Senior Director, Personal Banking & Canadian Banking Operations for RBC, Laura established a new operating model and led 55 strategic business advisors in large transformational and agile programs that propelled business and exceptional client-and-employee experiences across six personal banking lines. In her preceding role as Head, RBC Insurance Advice Centre/Contact Centre, she led 600 Licensed Insurance Advisors and the delivery of sales, service, and client experiences to three million customers across the Home & Auto, Life and Travel businesses. Laura reduced operating costs and transitioned the Insurance Contact Centre to an authentic “Advice Centre” leading to better employee engagement and higher client satisfaction. Her earlier career experience at RBC spanned 14 years in nine progressive leadership positions. A passionate mentor, public speaker, and facilitator, Laura was one of seven speakers and panelists of Canada’s foremost change agents selected to contribute alongside John C. Maxwell and Jeremy Gutsche at a 250-attendee discussion on "Leading Change and Innovation in Today's Fast Paced Business Environment" at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Throughout her career she has championed and contributed to employer programs and initiatives focused on leadership development, promoting diversity, improving skills, empowering and engaging employees, finding better ways to do the right things, and getting them done together. Laura was born and raised in Montreal and is a graduate of Mount Allison University with a B. Com in Marketing. Laura is the proud mother of two boys (Justin and Ryan) and resides in Oakville, Ontario.

C-A de Magistris is VP, Operations for the Employer Solutions EFAP business. His portfolio includes North American intake call centers, Europe and India intake and clinical operations, and all support functions for intake and clinical operations globally (back office, training, workforce management, communications, and process improvement). C-A joined TELUS Health in 2020 with the mandate to lead and modernize service delivery operations.

Eric Sousa is the Director of Contact Center Support at Gore Mutual Insurance company where he leads a team of software engineers who maintain and enhance the capabilities of Gore’s Amazon Connect instance. Eric helped lead the implementation of Amazon Connect for a small cross section of the Claims team in April 2021 as part of Gore Mutual’s broader digital transformation initiative. Since then he and his team have helped Amazon Connect grow to handle service interactions for Gore Mutual’s entire Claims department, as well as their National Underwriting Operations team which includes Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Billing functions.

Ross has been with Tucows since its founding. After helping hundreds of thousands of Canadians settle on the newly discovered Internet in the 1990s at Internet Direct Canada, Ross led Tucows' launch of OpenSRS in 2000. He has managed Tucows' retail operations, including the launch of Hover, which provides its clients with simple yet powerful tools for managing domain names and email services. Today he leads the Customer Experience and Information Systems teams at Ting Internet, focusing on enabling Ting's employees to offer an unparalleled customer experience. Ross has been an active contributor to international and Canadian Internet policy and played a central role in developing several key Internet policies, including domain name portability, the evolution and the launch of new gTLDs, and consumer protection and privacy. In addition to his work at Tucows, Ross served as a long-time board member of CIRA, the steward of Canada's top-level domain, as the chair of its Board Governance Committee. Ross is also an accomplished ultra-distance cyclist who, in addition to cycling across Canada for charity in 2008, holds the current world record for the fastest crossing of the province of Ontario.

Sheila is the Principal Amazon Connect Specialist for AWS in Canada and leads the Canadian Amazon Connect practice. She is responsible for establishing Amazon Connect as the contact center market leader in Canada. She has more than 20 years of experience in the contact center industry as a Product Specialist as well as an independent consultant. Customer focused, Sheila is always finding new and innovative ways to solve for customer’s contact centre challenges and enabling them to extend a differentiated level of customer experience.

Greg English is AVP of Voice Services for Manulife Financial's Enterprise Technology and Services team and has been implementing and supporting contact centers over his 26 year tenure with Manulife. Greg has been involved in a number of fundamental changes in technology over that time. He helped move Manulife from isolated regional telephony solutions to a common global Avaya platform, and is now involved in refreshing that platform with a new digital approach leveraging industry leading Contact Center as a Service and Unified Communications as a Service solutions.

When it comes to Contact Centers, Dave has seen it all. He started his journey in the 90’s as an agent and continued through every role a contact center has to offer, eventually finding his way into his current role of Evangelist. Being Calabrio’s Product Evangelist is by far the favorite of all his roles as it gives him the ability and pleasure of sharing his knowledge and experience with other folks in the industry. And yes, being a father, grandfather, bassist, podcast host and photographer (and Texan), he uses words like “folks”. Combining 20+ years of experience in the industry with the rest of his life experience, Dave has a unique perspective of the tools, technology and challenges faced by today’s modern CX organizations and he looks forward to each and every interaction.

Micah is a knowledge management expert and enthusiast. He is Knowledge Centered Services certified (KCS), and has a passion for human knowledge sharing. He has been helping companies transform their knowledge management for more than 15 years. Micah has created patented software to help build and maintain knowledge bases. As a member of the founding team, and the VP of Product Management at ProcedureFlow, he is able to use his passion to help organizations manage their knowledge in ways they never thought possible.

Neal Dlin is a Human Experience (HX) driven executive and award-winning practitioner, consultant and executive coach with an almost three decade career driven by improving customer and employee experiences. Recognized by ICMI as a top 25 CX thought leader, Neal is regarded as a status quo-quashing, inspiring force who helps leaders and organizations rethink their interactions through the lens of our most common human needs. Neal’s HX lessons began early in life. Raised by a single mother in poverty, he credits her strength, compassion, vulnerability, and belief as the basis for his ability and determination to break the cycle of poverty and all the successes that followed. As Vice President of Customer Service Experience at Aviso Wealth and Founder of Chorus Tree, a boutique HX consulting firm, these same lessons continue to inform his approach, driving consistently remarkable outcomes for his organization and clients. With the belief that HX is not just a business philosophy but a life philosophy, he also founded Unsung Heroes Productions (UHP) after his mother’s passing. UHP is a musical theatre fundraising initiative that brings together community, connection, creativity, and compassion. To date, it has entertained tens of thousands of audience members and donated almost three quarters of a million dollars to charity. He even sings, performs, and dances (or at least miserably attempts to) in UHP’s shows. His most important role, however, is husband and father of four, from which he continues to learn and be inspired by the power of human experience-driven leadership. “In a world where division is too often used as political currency or a tool for the sustainment of power, there is comfort in the realization that our basic human needs are common to all, a universal constant, across geography, religion, gender, politics etc. The most powerful HX lessons are found in our relationships with family and friends when the impact of how we treat them or are treated by them is the most immediate and visceral. When we consider them as teachers and us as eternal students, we can see them so clearly and better connect their importance in how we design our customer and employee experiences in our professional lives. Even the words “customer" and “employee" are less powerful and therefore less than the word human, often serving to validate decisions we intuitively know don’t align with human needs. ” ~ Neal Dlin

John Wilkinson is PCI Pal’s lead Solutions Engineer in Canada and resides in Montreal. John has over twenty-five years of telecommunications engineering experience and has worked for several of the world’s most progressive service providers, equipment manufacturers and software makers. John consults with PCI Pal’s partners and end users to ensure business requirements, high-quality customer experience and PCI compliance are seamlessly delivered. John is passionate about customer experience and welcomes any opportunity to engage with PCI Pal’s customers to help make their contact centres more efficient and secure.

Michael joined Talkdesk at the beginning of 2022, bringing his experience in AI and ML, Conversational AI, knowledge management, enterprise search, and call center cloud solutions to the Talkdesk CCaaS platform.  Michael has managed a worldwide customer service team (at Vivisimo and IBM), delivered training, integration, and production implementation, as well as leading IBM Watson worldwide technical sales for search, NLP, text/content analytics and AI.  He has been a Principal Architect, Sales Engineer, Consulting Manager, and Director of Customer Service. Prior to that, Michael spent several years in AI consulting, including at Deloitte Consulting on the Applied AI team, six years at IBM Watson and eight years at Vivisimo, a small enterprise search vendor delivering Business Intelligence and Agent Assist solutions."

Jason has been a valued member of the Manulife team for over 25 years. During this time, he has held many different roles across most lines of business in back-office operations, contact centres and projects. For the past 13 years Jason has lead Contact Centre & Workforce Management teams, as well as key transformational projects that have been focused on implementation of new tools, capabilities and features all in an effort to improve both customer and agent experience. Jason has successfully led a series of large scale implementations of Salesforce Service Cloud, as well as Manulife Canada’s most recent Amazon Connect implementations.

With more than 30 years experience in the technology, financial services and retail businesses Scott has held various marketing, operations and client management roles at Canadian Tire Financial Services, Millennium 1 Solutions and ADP Canada. Currently Scott is Vice President Support Operations for Geotab, the world's leader in telematics, where he leads the customer support, partner support and field services business. Scott has deep expertise in business operations with a background in multi-channel contact centres as well as complex case management teams. Always passionate about the customer, Scott brings operational expertise and his marketing background to every challenge in our rapidly changing businesses. linkedin.com/in/scottwilliams90

Nygel Weishar is a knowledgeable Contact Centre industry leader, with 10 years+ experience evolving the way contact centres operate. Primarily focused on Digital Interaction channels, Nygel has worked with multiple Financial Institutions, up into his current role as Vice President of Service Enablement at CI Financial. At CI, Nygel and his team are tasked with transforming every element of the contact centre; from Knowledge Management, Workforce Optimization, Projects/Initiatives, Voice of the Customer, all the way to helping lead the Contact Centre Data Strategy efforts. In the past 3 years, CI has taken their contact centre from manual excel based tracking, to a cloud based telephony + data lake architecture that serves up crucial data to business leaders in real time. Outside of professional endeavors Nygel is an avid sports/technology fan, residing in Innisfil with his wife and two rambunctious/talkative boys (aged 5 & 7).

Leslie MacDonald is Vice President, Contact Centre Strategy & Design at Scotiabank. She leads the transformational change and continuous improvement of contact centre solutions, globally for the bank. Leslie has worked in the financial services industry for more than 20 years with broad experience in contact centre services, customer experience, retail payments, merchant payment processing and loyalty & rewards. She has managed large complex customer relationships, built sales support teams as well as lead corporate relationship management, product management and operational teams. Last year Leslie was a CRN Women of the Channel honouree – a recognition given to women executives whose insights and influence help drive channel success. Leveraging AI & technology to support & improve both the employee and customer experience.

Leads Miratech’s customer experience practice, combining extensive technology, operational and business expertise to help clients maximize and align technology with their strategic objectives. He has more than 20 years of experience in technology, product development, service delivery and operations functions in the Contact Center industry. Erik’s specialties include customer experience, workforce optimization, business intelligence, software development, infrastructure, cloud solutions, Automation and professional and technical services management. He is a proud member of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, a scientific organization chartered for the ethical advancement of AI.

During his 13 years in the Telecommunications and Customer Experience industries, Sasith had exposure across multiple roles.  Starting as an engineer, he quickly evolved to Lead engineer, Consultant, Solution Architect, Chief Architect and finally Managing Director. With a keen eye for business operations along with his technical expertise, Sasith is able to bring a high value to any management team working on digitalizing their Customer Service processes. Through his accomplishments, Sasith has been recognized by various leaders and peers in the Contact Centre and Customer Experience Industry. In the last 9 months, he has been the key initiator of developing Activeo’s practice in North America, setting up the company and hiring a local team.

David is passionate about building personalized, predictive and customer-centric brand experiences. Based in Canada, he has been helping medium and large enterprises across the country to leverage next generation technology solutions and engagement practices to enhance brand awareness and inspire consumer loyalty for over 15 years. David has worked within the healthcare, retail, utilities, telco, government, insurance and financial sectors to develop and expand their CX, EX, and Digital transformation strategies in order to drive greater business value through the right combinations of automation, innovation and insights into X-channel and X-platform journeys over time.

Afshan was voted by her clients to be in the ICMI top 25 thought leaders in North America. This acknowledgement was based on her brand of overachieving in building and sustaining world class status in customer and employee engagement. As all of a contact center’s metrics are determined in each moment of truth between a customer and a front line Team Member, she is known for producing results and sustaining them. She and her team partner to transform companies to being a truly customer and employee centric coaching cultures. This is achieved by installing innovative strategies that drive behaviour change and continuous improvement at every level. This includes a range of services from strategic planning to front line sales and service training. To ensure high adoption and sustainment of gains, Afshan has created a unique leadership and coaching training program called Elevate to Great Leadership and Coaching Series or E2G which has been certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). As a self-proclaimed ‘student for life’, Afshan’s passionate about learning and applying what she learns. What truly makes the difference for Afshan is results – not just hard results like higher customer satisfaction or increased revenue, it’s employee and leader satisfaction that creates the energy to sustain gains. With 30+ years of experience in Telecom, Utilities, Financial Services, Packaged Goods, E-Commerce and Technology, working across all communication channels in contact centers, retail and ‘in field’ sales and service, you’ll reap the benefit of her vast experience. Her client list includes TELUS, Bell, Scotia Bank, CIBC, BMO InvestorLine, FedEx, Nestle, ECOMM 911 to name just a few clients. Away from a client’s site, Afshan sits on the GTACC Advisory Board and is a contributing author to 3 books, Call Centers FOR DUMMIES, Game Changing Ideas: 10 Years of SwitchGear Insights, and Amazon Kindle best-selling book Called to Action. Afshan is also a proud member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF), Women Business Enterprises (WBE) and a requested speaker. When Afshan closes her lap-top she enjoys hiking, concerts & comedy with her husband and her 2 bossy cats Frankie & Maui ensure she understands they are priority #1! Afshan Kinder, Partner, Switchgear Ltd, www.switchgear.ca 647 298 5252

Randy Clapp serves as the Country Lead for AmplifAI in Canada, a SaaS company providing an AI-Driven People Enablement Platform tailored for employee-centric workforces. With a career spanning over 30 years in the technology and customer experience sectors, Randy has made significant contributions to renowned brands such as General Motors, Electronic Data Systems, Hewlett Packard, Avis Rent-a-Car, United Health Care, and CompuCom. Randy firmly believes that front-line leaders play a crucial role as enablers in any employee-centric organization. Their exceptional ability to understand and connect with employees, foster a positive work culture, and drive performance and engagement renders them indispensable in creating a thriving and successful workplace.

With 8+ years of experience in the contact center and CCaaS industry, Brad has developed a keen eye for helping contact centers understand areas for improvement and leveraging modern tools to boost CX and customer loyalty. Brad's combined experience within a contact center and helping deliver cloud solutions to contact centers has helped him achieve a holistic view of both ends of the spectrum. This also allowed him to gain a deep and realistic understanding of contact center needs.

Chris Harper has been working at Online Business Systems for 4 years and is the Senior Director of Digital Advisory Services. Chris is a uniquely diversified Certified Management Consultant (CMC), Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Business Analysis Professional who uses his skills and expertise to help organizations unlock a competitive advantage using digital transformation.

Daniel Cheung - VP of Enterprise Partnerships with ContactPoint 360 - has forged his career in client relations and partnerships spanning over a decade, with nearly ten years spent in the BPO industry. His experience extends to over 15 years in lead generation and marketing, with a notable ability to develop successful strategies that drive business growth. As a technology enthusiast, Daniel focuses on the potential of AI to revolutionize the customer experience model. His belief in AI’s transformative ability has led to its effective integration into businesses, making customer interactions more personalized and efficient. As a seasoned leader, Daniel's expertise includes managing contact centers for digital and tech clients across various geographies. His efforts have facilitated improved communication and market presence for these companies. Essentially, Daniel combines strategic leadership, technological insight, and a passion for enhancing customer experiences.

Frank's career has spanned a wide range of industries, including CRM, Messaging, Customer Engagement, Customer Experience Orchestration, and AI automation. In these roles, Frank has been spearheading all aspects of product development, from strategy and ideation to Product-led growth and go-to-market initiatives.

Prior to Five9, Frank held a variety of executive roles for Genesys, LiveWorld, Quadient, ModelN to address some of the key challenges in Customer Experience including bringing to market Social and Messaging based Digital Engagement solutions to help top leading Commerce, Transportation and Services brands such as Walmart, Fedex, United reinvent and modernize their CX strategy.

Frank is also a strong advocate for using AI to drive the Experience economy and unify CX as an Enterprise discipline across the currently siloed Service, Sales and Marketing areas that hamper the realization of a truly delightful customer experience.

Frank received a master’s degree and Doctorate in computer science from CentraleSupelec University in Paris.

Tracy Fleming is a CX Technologist at Zoom. Focusing on driving thought leadership around emerging technologies for customer and employee experience. Tracy has over 25 years of industry experience and has participated on multiple industry advisory councils for governments, colleges and Universities. Previously, Tracy was at Avaya Canada for over 20 years in the Office of the CTO. Most recently, he was with Amazon Web Services as a Principal CDA for Amazon Connect.

Larissa sets the standard for what it looks like to have fun, overcome adversity and work hard to achieve your biggest goals. A Team Canada Softball member since 2013, she is a part of a distinguished group of women that remained resilient for 13 years following the removal of Softball from the Olympic program in 2008.   In 2020, Larissa and her teammates were given one shot to make history and be the first Canadian softball team to bring home an Olympic medal. When burnout and an Olympic postponement came into the mix, a childhood dream was nearly jeopardized and ripped away...but it wasn't.   A story of determination, resiliency, and self-acceptance, Larissa encourages her audiences to consider what is possible when you shift your perspective. She motivates audiences to be better team players by seeing obstacles as opportunities, taking action, and harnessing the qualities that make them great.   A World Record Holder, Pan-American gold and silver medalist, 2x World bronze medalist, and an Olympics bronze medalist, Larissa knows all it takes to exceed your potential.