We'll open the doors a little early and let folks in. Sometimes, we have surprises, sometimes, we play music, sometimes it's a little quiet. Get there a little early to be ready for kick-off!

Announcements and gratitude, schedule for the day, and general information about the event.

Machines Customers: The Evolution Has Begun

What if your next customer isn’t human? In a world increasingly run by AI, machines are rapidly becoming independent economic actors, making buying decisions without human intervention. In her provocative talk, “Machines Are Customers Too,” Katja Forbes challenges businesses to radically rethink their approach to customer experience. She unveils how traditional customer journeys, trust-building, and engagement strategies must evolve to accommodate AI-driven agents and autonomous systems as genuine customers.

Leveraging her award-winning expertise in CX innovation and her role as Executive Director at Standard Chartered Bank, Katja delivers a compelling vision of the near future: one where the customer is code, and loyalty is algorithmic. This bold session isn’t just speculative. Katja provides actionable frameworks and a clear roadmap, empowering leaders to adapt, innovate, and harness this shift as a powerful engine for growth. Prepare to rethink everything you know about your customers. The future is here…machines are buying.

Katja Forbes

Katja Forbes is a fearless CX innovator and award-winning leader who consistently challenges the boundaries of customer experience and AI. Named one of Westpac/AFR’s “100 Women of Influence” and ranked among CX Network’s Top 20 CX Leaders in AI and Financial Services, she boldly transforms traditional corporate cultures into dynamic, client-centric powerhouses. As Executive Director, Head of Client Experience, Insights and Development at Standard Chartered Bank, Katja expertly blends human-centered design with cutting-edge technology, establishing her organisation as a global thought leader. An outspoken advocate for women in leadership, her compelling voice, sharp insights, and magnetic on-camera presence make her an industry standout.

15 minute break.

The Human Signal: Architecting for Emotion, Not Just for Experience

As designers, we champion the link between design and emotion when creating user experiences. But what happens when the human emotions in the creation process—the "noise" of stakeholder pushback and team resistance—threaten to derail your brilliant work?

Are you tired of feeling like you're on a "hamster wheel," fighting a constant battle to prove the value of your work?

This session will challenge you to stop seeing these moments of resistance as frustrating setbacks and start embracing them as crucial human signals—data points that unlock deeper trust and impact in your work.

We'll explore how to decode the emotional change curve that your team and stakeholders are silently navigating. You'll learn a practical playbook to lead the emotional energy of your projects, turning the turbulence and doubt that often comes out of left field into a catalyst for creative collaboration. It’s time to move beyond managing the process and embrace your ultimate responsibility to guide the people through it.

Key Takeaways
● Decode the signals: Identify the hidden emotional dynamics—from anxiety to blame—that stall projects and quietly undermine progress.
● Navigate the curve: Learn to actively guide your team and stakeholders through the Kubler-Ross change curve, transforming resistance into buy-in and acceptance.
● Lead with empathy: Architect a new approach to leadership by focusing on people, not just process, to ensure your innovations thrive and deliver the impact they were designed for.

Brianna Sylver
Brianna Sylver is a nationally recognized innovation strategist who helps Fortune 1,000 organizations and city governments unlock growth, align teams, and lead through complexity. She is the founder and president of Sylver Consulting, a global research and strategy firm that blends the disciplines of Market Research (MR), User Experience/Design (UX), and Business Strategy to drive transformative change.

Brianna is the author of Leading Through Free Fall: How Innovators Turn Turbulence into Trust, a practical guide for leaders navigating uncertainty, change, and team dynamics in high-stakes environments. Her talk reveals the emotional signals that often derail innovation—and offers a clear framework to lead with resilience and build trust in times of flux.

Brianna’s insights have been spotlighted by PDMA, QRCA, and HSM Management (Brazil). Known for her clarity and candor, Brianna delivers tools—not just talk—that help audiences take action.

She holds a BFA in communication design from the University at Buffalo and a MDes from ID at Illinois Tech.
Connect with Brianna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/briannasylver

15 minute break.

15 minute break.

Intentional Leadership

The world of design and the contexts in which it operates are constantly evolving, making it increasingly clear that our approach to leadership must be adaptive. What does this mean for us, whether we lead large departments or small project teams? And how can we effectively guide teams in progressive organizations undergoing rapid digital transformation, or conversely, in those that are slower to adapt?

By focusing on developing specific skills, disciplines, and characteristics within ourselves, we can better prepare for the challenges of leading our teams and collaborating with partners. This approach also positions us to be leaders who can coach, nurture, and elevate our teams, equipping them to excel in their work.

What You’ll Learn

In this presentation, Aaron will share practical insights, tools, and techniques gleaned from his successes and failures in growing leadership skills, overcoming challenges, and successfully developing teams.

Key Takeaways

Gauging and improving your Emotional Quotient (EQ) as a leader.
Understanding the crucial role of vulnerability and transparency in successful leadership.
Developing adaptive communication and leadership styles to suit diverse team members and partners.
Leading through enabling autonomy and empowering your team.
Establishing personal norms for successful leadership.

Aaron Irizarry
Aaron Irizarry is the SVP of Design for Retail Lending at PNC Bank. He’s all about leading teams to create scalable design strategies for PNC’s Retail Lending products and services. You might also know him as the co-author of “Discussing Design: Improving Communication and Collaboration Through Critique.”

When he’s not busy guiding teams and mentoring designers, Aaron loves spending time with his wife and two daughters. He’s also passionate about sharing experiences through food, cheering on the LA Dodgers, and getting his hands dirty in his garden.

15 minute break.

Think Like a Leader: 10 Things UXers Should Stop (and Start) Doing to Reclaim Their Power

Every week, working with UXers and product designers at all levels — in addition to those serving on teams of the clients he consults with — Joe Natoli hears the same refrains over and over:
 
I’m stuck. 
 
I’m lost. 
 
I can’t. 
 
I’m not allowed. 
 
They won’t let me. 
 
They don’t respect me.
 
They don’t listen. 
 
They don’t care.

After 30+ years in this industry, Joe knows how true all of it is. He knows just how often UXers and Product Designers are marginalised, ignored and left out of critical decisions, even in organisations who publicly trumpet themselves as design- or UX-centric. 

And Joe know how much all that hurts, how personally we take it.

And after all this time, he also knows that sometimes, there truly is nothing you can do about that. Sometimes your proposals for UX improvement — additional user research, more design iteration cycles, or user testing — are shot down by folks on the business side of the house whom you’ve never met.

Here’s the thing: almost all of this stems from a lack of leadership; a lack of influence. And what you may not realise is that you actually have more power and influence than you think. And even if you don’t have influence, you are absolutely capable of gaining it — no matter what your job title is.

In this talk, Joe’s going to show you why all that is true. He’ll also give you concrete ways you can overcome these obstacles, change your thinking and recognise the power you don’t realise you hold — and begin using it.

Joe Natoli
Joe Natoli is a UX consultant, author and speaker. For over three decades, he’s advised, trained and empowered the UX, design and product development teams of some of the world’s largest organizations, from Fortune 100 companies to U.S. Government agencies and startups. He has published ten books — the most recent being the second edition of the bestselling The User Experience Team of One with Leah Buley for Rosenfeld Media — and is a regular keynote speaker and lecturer at industry conferences and corporate events across the globe.

Joe has also taught more than 350,000 students through his online courses and the UX 365 Academy, at ux365academy.com, in addition to a private coaching practice.

Joe’s approach to improving product UX and design focuses on addressing systemic, personal dynamics issues across individuals, teams and organizations: combating impostor syndrome and increasing self-confidence, improving communication and collaboration, addressing fear and dysfunction driving poor management practices and redesigning inappropriate, counterproductive processes.

His experience has been that when these root causes are improved and solved, the output of the work—and the experience people have with it—improves dramatically.

Joe lives in Washington DC with his wife Eli and three kids, and he strives to be the person his dog Rosie thinks he is. You can find Joe (as well as a voluminous collection of free UX + product design resources) online at givegoodux.com.