The HCCM Regatta Conference 2025, held on July 4th at Henley Business School, was a pivotal event where senior leaders, in partnership with OCX Cognition, explored leveraging strategic AI to fundamentally reimagine business cultures for enhanced customer relationships and growth, culminating in a scenic cruise along the Henley Royal Regatta course.

Overview

The conference addressed the critical need for organizations to strategically implement AI to achieve competitive advantages, unlock revenue opportunities, and foster customer-obsessed cultures. It highlighted that while many companies had used AI for basic chatbots and marketing automation, true visionary leaders were integrating AI to fundamentally improve customer relationships and deliver superior customer outcomes, which was increasingly a business imperative and a compliance mandate in regulated industries.

The morning agenda was packed with insights from esteemed guest speakers, offering diverse perspectives on customer transformation, customer-led growth, and customer experience.

Key Themes Explored During the Conference

Throughout the sessions, several core themes consistently emerged, shaping the discourse on the future of customer management:

1. Strategic AI Implementation: Discussions centered on how AI could go beyond basic applications to fundamentally reshape business culture and improve customer relationships.

2. Customer-Led Growth: Attendees learned about utilizing AI and data to predict customer needs, track satisfaction, anticipate churn, and drive profitability.

3. Customer Experience Transformation: The focus was on moving from traditional survey-based systems to proactive, data-driven approaches that delivered targeted and responsive experiences.

4. Compliance and Business Imperative: Speakers highlighted AI’s role in meeting regulatory requirements (e.g., Consumer Duty in Financial Services) while driving business success.

Keynote Speakers & Their Contributions

The conference featured an impressive lineup of thought leaders who shared their expertise and vision:

Professor Moira Clark (Founder & Director, HCCM): As the conference host, Professor Clark set the stage, emphasizing the evolving business-customer relationship and the role of strategic AI in reimagining business cultures for stronger customer connections. Her expertise in Strategic Customer Management underpinned the conference’s focus on customer centricity, experience, and retention.

Tey Bannerman (Partner, McKinsey): His session, “The Bold Reset: Act Now on Customer Experience,” urged companies to move beyond reactive survey-based systems. He advocated for using big data, predictive analytics, and machine learning to proactively understand customer desires, unlock efficiencies, predict behavior, and drive loyalty into profitability.

Richard Owen (CEO, OCX Cognition): As the co-developer of NPS, Owen’s presentation, “After NPS, Customer AI: The Next Transformative Wave in Customer Management,” highlighted how AI was creating new opportunities for efficient, customer-led growth and transforming the productivity of customer-facing teams through prescriptive and agentic technologies, building on the foundation laid by NPS.

Panel Discussion

Moderated by Professor Moira Clark, this insightful panel “How AI Can Drive Better Customer Engagement and Outcomes” featured:

Dwayne Browne: Global AI and data strategist, Amazon Web Services.

Chris Adlard: Director of CX & Compliance, Elephants Don’t Forget.

Sean Keane: Co-founder and Managing Director, Service Economics.

The panel provided practical considerations for AI implementation, sharing real-life best practices and pitfalls to avoid. They aimed to separate AI myths from reality, demonstrating how AI could genuinely improve both customer engagement and outcomes.

Key Takeaways

Attendees left the conference with actionable insights and a clear understanding of the path forward for customer management in an AI-driven era

AI for Cultural Transformation, Not Just Automation: A strong message conveyed was the call for a paradigm shift in how organizations viewed AI. It was not just about automating tasks or improving efficiency in isolation, but about fundamentally reimagining business culture to become customer-obsessed. This involved embedding AI to improve customer relationships and deliver better outcomes across the entire organization.

Beyond Reactive CX to Predictive & Proactive: A significant takeaway was the call to move beyond traditional, reactive customer experience measurement (like survey-based systems) to a more predictive and proactive approach. Leveraging big data, predictive analytics, and machine learning enabled companies to anticipate customer needs, personalize experiences, and identify opportunities for growth and loyalty before issues arose.

Strategic AI for Competitive Advantage and Revenue Generation: The conference emphasized that strategic AI implementation was a direct driver of unprecedented competitive advantages and new revenue opportunities. By optimizing customer experience and relationships through AI, businesses could unlock significant economic value.

AI as a Business Imperative and Compliance Mandate: Particularly in regulated industries, the intelligent application of AI for customer management was highlighted not just as a “nice to have,” but as a crucial business imperative and a compliance mandate (e.g., in line with Consumer Duty in Financial Services). This underscored the serious implications of neglecting strategic AI in customer interactions.

The Evolution of Customer Management: From NPS to Customer AI: The conference signaled the next wave in customer management, building upon the foundational impact of NPS. Richard Owen’s session highlighted how Customer AI was now providing entirely new opportunities to optimize customer experience, drive efficient customer-led growth, and enhance the productivity of customer-facing teams through advanced technologies.

Practical Insights and Real-World Applications: through keynote speeches and the panel discussion, attendees gained actionable insights, real-life best-practice examples, and a clear understanding of the challenges and pitfalls to avoid when implementing AI for customer advantage.

 
In essence, the HCCM Regatta Conference 2025 equipped senior leaders with the knowledge and inspiration to harness the full potential of AI, not just for operational efficiency, but as a transformative force to build deeper customer relationships, drive sustainable growth, and ensure compliance in an increasingly AI-driven world.