This week, we’re fresh off our annual all-company offsite. The inaugural Stradaganza was held in Toronto, and it brought together Ada employees across provinces, countries, and timezones. And although I’m sure many of us are happy to be back in our home offices (and our sweats), the in-person connections we made are unmatchable. It’s given us new perspective, energy, and focus.

Now, all our eyes are on Ada Interact. Our premier event, held in-person in Chicago on September 14, is bringing together thought leaders from across industries to talk about the next chapter of CX and the role of Automated Brand Interactions (ABI) moving forward.

The roster for Ada Interact is stacked with experts from some of the world’s biggest brands like 8x8, Mailchimp and Vox Mobile. Sure, you can attend virtually. But as we learned last week, there’s nothing quite like getting to the source of the action — up close and personal with the industry leaders we look up to.

Here’s a sneak peek of the exclusive presentations and featured speakers you’ll get to see with us in-person at Ada Interact.

Driving efficiency with new automated engagement strategies

Ron Pollock, COO at Vox Mobile

Every customer interaction is an opportunity to build trust, deliver value, and ultimately, drive growth. And the brands that are looking to reduce the cost of service by talking to customers less are thinking about this problem backwards.

We’re talking to Ron Pollock, COO at Vox Mobile, about how their automation strategy drives efficiency and reduces costs — without compromising the customer experience. Ron oversees Vox’s operations from both a budgetary and leadership standpoint. His focus is on improving client and employee happiness, which has resulted in industry-leading client satisfaction and employee retention.

Learn how Vox Mobile adopted automation to reduce dependency on inefficient channels, scale a high-quality support experience, and protect their bottom line. 

Benchmarking against best-in-class CX

Sarah Ricketts, Director of Business Solutions, Intuit Mailchimp

Have you ever wondered how your automation strategy stacks up against your peers?

For this session, we’re joined by Sarah Ricketts, Director of Business Solutions at Intuit Mailchimp. Sarah is a business and tech leader with over 15 years in project management, process optimization, software innovation, and organizational strategy. She leads cross organizational teams to focus on creating a seamless support experience for internal and external customers.

You’ll learn how the pros automate more valuable interactions across the customer experience. Mailchimp ranks best-in-class on Ada’s Brand Interaction framework — our new maturity model and benchmark for automation strategies. Sarah’s sharing her team’s journey and their plans for the future. You won’t want to miss this one!

The value of automation in any economy

Nir Galpaz, GVP Technical Services and Support, 8x8
Anna Skidmore, VP of Customer Care, BFA

Learn how leading brands are future-proofing their customer experience and scaling operations in any economic conditions with automation.

Nir Galpaz is a customer support executive with over 20 years of experience in high-growth and start-up organizations in B2B. As 8x8’s VP of Technical Services and Support, Nir is responsible for the technical support strategy and operations of the company, with a team of over 400 engineers in 11 global locations. 

Anna Skidmore is an operations executive that oversees the customer care team for BFA, the world’s largest beauty subscription brand. She has over 15 years of experience in the ecommerce industry, and supports all aspects of the member experience — from service vision and strategy, to contact center operations, partnership management, and channel strategy focused on automation. 

In the leadership panel, they’ll discuss the large macroeconomic changes that have affected brands — from lockdowns and supply chain disruptions, to booming ecommerce sales and digital transformation — with moderator Dan Code-McNeil, Ada’s CRO. 

Find out how Nir and Anna have adjusted their strategies with automation to go beyond “weathering the storm,” and why a business ignoring automation is missing opportunities to safeguard operations and gain a competitive edge. Nir and Anna will illustrate how implementing automation as critical infrastructure in their CX strategy has helped them support business goals, growth, and deliver on brand promises. 

Build vs. buy: Frameworks for decision-making in automation technology

Hollis Donaldson, VP of Operations, Fanatics Betting & Gaming

Know when to partner with an automation vendor and when to customize and build yourself. This session will cover the evaluation criteria brands need to consider when assessing automation partners, the pitfalls to avoid, and the must-ask questions in your decision-making process.

You’ll get the goods on this topic from an industry leader who’s experienced the process first-hand. Hollis Donaldson, VP of Operations at Fanatics Betting & Gaming (FBG), is responsible for leading all of FBG’s customer service operations across the US, including customer service, fraud, payments, learning and development, and workforce optimization. Prior to FBG, he spent over a decade in financial services at Citi and SoFi. 

Hollis is giving attendees the practical advice they need to make an informed decision by walking us through his team’s recent vendor evaluation process, and the reasons why they chose Ada as their automation partner. 

Sounds good, doesn’t it? These are just some of the incredible sessions we have lined up for our in-person attendees at Ada Interact in September. Join us in Chicago to get the most out of your seat at Ada Interact.