Call Center Campus – Day 1 – May 18, 2026 

8:00 AM – 8:50 AM: Breakfast Sponsored by Liveops

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM: Official Welcome & Opening Remarks, Bruce Belfiore, CEO, BenchmarkPortal 

9:15 AM – 10:15 AM: Opening Keynote Prickly Truths: Leadership Readiness in the Age of AI Presented by Jim Iyoob and Melissa Wood, Presenting Conference Sponsor Etech Global Services / ets labs  

The AI pitch is smooth. The demos are polished. Nobody mentions the prickly parts.

Your supervisors will resist because they're scared. Your agents will find workarounds to avoid the AI. Your metrics will get worse before they get better, if they get better at all. The vendor's implementation team will disappear right when you need them most.

These are the conversations nobody wants to have during the sales process. But if you're not prepared for the sharp edges of AI implementation, you'll bleed budget, lose good people, and end up with expensive technology that sits unused.

This session addresses the uncomfortable realities of AI adoption that most conference speakers dance around. Not because we're pessimists, but because the contact centers that succeed are the ones willing to face hard truths early rather than discovering them six months into implementation.

Attendees Will Walk Away With:

• The leadership gaps that sink AI projects (that your current team likely has)
• Questions vendors hope you won't ask before signing
• Why your frontline leaders are your biggest risk and biggest asset
• A readiness framework that tells you if you're actually ready or just wishful thinking
• The real timeline for AI maturity (hint: it's longer than the vendor said)

10:15 AM – 10:45 AM: Mid-Morning Refreshment Break in Exhibit Hall

10:45 AM– 11:15 AM: Before You Deploy AI: The 15-Minute Reality Check Every Organization Needs Presented by Bruce Belfiore, CEO, BenchmarkPortal

11:15 AM – 12:00 PM:  Real-World Case Studies – Innovation in Action

Getting Started with AI: Start Small, Win Big Presented by Benton Smith, VP of Research and Development, Total.Care and Martin Golavar, Senior Director of Contact Center Solutions, CareXM

For decades, After-Call Work has been a necessary evil, a drain on agent energy and a bottleneck for customer queue times. But what if the "wrap-up" happened before the agent even hung up?

Join us as we explore a real-world example of how Generative AI fundamentally shifted the ACW landscape at CareXM. We’ll dive into the mechanics of automated disposition, note-taking, sentiment analysis, follow-up, and instant CRM updates. Learn how CareXM reduced wrap-up time by 50%, improved reporting accuracy, and allowed agents to focus on what they do best: being human.

Key Takeaways:

• How to eliminate manual data entry using LLMs (Large Language Models).
• Strategies for maintaining data integrity and QA in AI-generated notes.
• The ripple effect: How reduced ACW improves Agent Experience (AX) and retention.
• Identifying the "low-hanging fruit" in your current ACW workflow.
• Balancing automation with the "Human-in-the-loop" for complex cases.

12:00 PM: Lunch

1:00 PM – 1:45 PM – Real-World Case Studies – Innovation in Action - Choose from Session A or B as listed below.

Session A: The Oasis Effect: Restoring Agent Faith in a Sea of Complaints Presented by Pam Reilly, Senior Manager of Customer Engagement, Waste Management

In a challenging Contact Center environment where every shift is a never-ending line of complaints, frontline agents face constant pressure, negativity, and scrutiny. Behind the noise, however, are countless stories of impact, lives changed, and problems solved. Sadly, most of these positive calls often go unheard.

This session empowers leaders to restore belief and pride in their teams by highlighting the good, sharing real-life success stories, and turning frontline stress into purpose. Leaders will walk away with actionable strategies to:

• Amplify the positives: Capture and share the wins and impact your agents deliver every day.
• Balance the noise: Help your team see the bigger picture beyond complaints and errors.
• Build resilience and confidence: Equip agents to believe in themselves, the company, and the value they provide.
• Foster a culture of purpose: Transform frontline stress into engagement, retention, and pride.

Join us to learn how to create an environment where your teams feel inspired, empowered, and confident in the difference they make. 

Session B: What is the new AI CX Superpower - Hint - It’s Continuous Personalized Training Presented by Dan McCann, CEO & Chief Learning Officer, SymTrain and Tamara Schroer, Vice President, Education & Development, Working Solutions

What if training didn’t stop at onboarding but instead became a continuous driver of performance?

In this session, SymTrain and Working Solutions will share a real-world case study on transforming training into an operational superpower.  Learn how AI-powered simulation and continuous coaching combined with your LMS and CX scorecards improve agent readiness, reinforce skills over time, and deliver measurable business outcomes.

This session will walk through the full journey to deliver real results highlighting how training can evolve into a scalable performance engine across the entire agent lifecycle. Discover how leading organizations are delivering real ROI in less than 90 days with vertical AI that connects training directly with operations, performance, QA, and customer experience outcomes.

Walk away with practical strategies to turn your data into a clear framework to build the superheroes of the future, your CX professionals.  

1:50 PM – 2:35 PM – Real-World Case Studies – Innovation in Action- Choose from Session A or B as listed below.

Session A: From Bots to Better Decisions: How AI Transformed Workforce Management Without Reducing Headcount Presented by Jennifer Springs, Director, Workforce Management, MAXIMUS

AI in workforce management is often framed as a threat to jobs but what if it’s actually the key to elevating your team’s impact?

In this real-world case study, Maximus shares how they successfully deployed AI-driven automation to eliminate some of the most time-consuming, manual workforce management tasks such as processing exemption requests and automatically updating attendance for sick calls workflows that previously generated hundreds, and at times thousands, of exceptions each week.

By automating this routine work, Maximus didn’t reduce headcount. Instead, they repurposed time and talent.

This session explores how their WFM team shifted focus from administrative “busy work” to higher-value initiatives, including:

• Trend analysis and forecasting
• Agent behavior and performance insights
• More informed, data-driven decision-making
• Proactive workforce strategies instead of reactive fire drills

Attendees will walk away with a practical understanding of how AI can be used to augment, not replace WFM teams, along with ideas for where to reinvest reclaimed time to drive better outcomes across the contact center.

Session B: - Engagement That Drives Results: The Science, The Strategy, The Proof  Featuring Gallup's Framework & Alta Resources' Impact Presented by Amy Bouthilet, Vice President Global Talent, Alta Resources and Lauren Hunter, Associate Principal, GALLUP

In a world saturated with AI and technology promises and performance dashboards, the organizations pulling ahead have something simpler and more powerful in common - highly engaged teams. This session brings together Gallup's validated engagement science and Alta Resources' real-world application to make the case that engagement isn't an HR initiative, it's a business strategy. Gallup will share the research, the data, and the framework behind what actually drives retention, productivity, customer experience, and profitability in contact centers. Then Alta Resources will show what it looks like when an organization stops treating engagement as a metric and starts building their entire operating model around it - culminating in recognition as a Gallup Exceptional Workplace winner.

• Reframe what engagement actually means - not another dashboard or annual survey, but the measurable state of your team that Gallup research shows directly predicts retention, productivity, customer experience, and profitability
• Understand the science and business case behind Gallup's engagement framework - the research, the data points, and why the manager relationship remains the single greatest lever for contact center performance

See engagement science in action - how Alta Resources operationalized Gallup's framework into the CARE Coaching Model, earned recognition as a Gallup Exceptional Workplace winner, and what that journey looks like for your organization.

2:45 PM – 3:15 PM – Afternoon Refreshment Break

3:15 PM – 4:30 PM: From Insight to Impact: An Amazon-Led Customer & Culture Lab

Plenary Roundtable Activity Presented by Matt Jorat, Senior Customer Solutions Manager, Amazon Web Services

Day 1 - All Hands on Deck: The Customer Experience Reality Check

As Call Center Campus Day 1 comes to a close, Amazon leads an all-hands-on-deck working session designed to surface what’s really happening inside today’s contact centers.

This is not a presentation, it’s a collective intelligence exercise.

Participants will engage in facilitated discussions to explore:

• The biggest challenges impacting customer experience today
• Where leaders feel stuck between strategy and execution
• What’s breaking under scale, speed, AI, and rising customer expectations
• Where teams are excelling and why

Insights, themes, and tensions will be captured live, creating a shared snapshot of the current CX and leadership landscape. 

The session ends with a clear promise: these insights won’t disappear into notes, they’ll become the foundation for Day 2.

4:30 PM DAY ONE CONCLUDES

Call Center Campus – Day 2 – May 19, 2026

8:00 AM – 8:50 AM: Breakfast

9:00 AM – 9:30AM – Anchoring What Matters: Customer Obsession in Action at Amazon Wrap Up Session from Day 1 Presented by Matt Jorat, Senior Customer Solutions Manager, Amazon Web Services

Day 2 kicks off by bringing the voice of the community back into the room. Amazon opens the morning by reflecting key themes and findings from the Day 1 working session, then anchoring them to Amazon’s Leadership Principles and culture of customer obsession.

Attendees will explore:

• How Amazon’s principles show up in real-world decision-making
• How customer obsession scales across teams, technologies, and channels
• What leaders can borrow, adapt, and apply regardless of company size
• How culture, leadership behaviors, and CX outcomes are inseparable

This session connects the dots between what leaders are experiencing today and how Amazon operationalizes clarity, accountability, and customer-first thinking at scale.

The result? Attendees leave with language, frameworks, and leadership behaviors they can immediately take back to their organizations.

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM: Day 2 Morning Keynote - Humanizing Help Presented by Jeff Toister, Toister Performance Solutions

Artificial intelligence is a wonderful thing. Many customers prefer AI-powered self

service for routine tasks. But there are still times when customers need human help!

This entertaining presentation shares three ways customer service should be

humanized and how human service can create a strategic advantage. Discover how

customer-focused organizations serve with humanity to deliver exceptional customer

experiences.

• Discover what makes humans uniquely good at service
• Identify situations where customers need human help
• Create a plan to make your service more humane

10:30 AM – Mid-Morning Coffee Break & Book Signing

Join Jeff Toister, author of Human Service: The Skills AI Can’t Replace, for a book signing during the break. Sponsored by ROI CX Solutions. Each attendee will receive a complimentary copy of the book.

11:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Real-World Case Studies – Innovation in Action - Choose from Session A or B as listed below.

Session A - Presented by ROI CX Solutions

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: LUNCH

1:00 PM – 1:45 PM – Real-World Case Studies – Innovation in Action featuring Laivly along with Jeff Toister.

1:45 PM -2:30 PM – Real-World Case Studies – Innovation in Action - Choose from Session A or B as listed below.

Session A: Stop Wandering. Your Path Out of the Vendor Desert Presented by Ben Edwards & Ethan Larsen, Sandler Partners

Most teams aren’t short on options, they’re buried in them with too many vendors, overlapping capabilities, and no clear path. This session cuts through the noise and shows how to align solutions to business priorities whether that means adopting solutions that reduce technology or labor costs, or shifting spend to more cost-effective providers. We’ll share real examples of organizations that avoided costly missteps and made more confident choices with the right guidance.

Session B: Be Kind. Be Reliable. Be Better Every Day: Building a Purpose-Driven Workforce that Delivers Award‑Winning CX Presented by Zack Thompson, Director, Customer Contact Operations & Summer Novy, Analyst, Analyst, Customer Services, Salt River Project

What does it take to deliver award‑winning customer satisfaction year after year, especially in a high‑volume contact center?

In this session, leaders from Salt River Project’s Customer Contact Operations share how a deliberate focus on employee engagement, culture, and purpose has helped sustain 24 consecutive J.D. Power customer satisfaction awards.

Attendees will learn how SRP aligns organizational strategy with frontline engagement through clear purpose, leadership connection, recognition, wellbeing, and continuous development. The session highlights practical engagement initiatives and cultural commitments that have driven both exceptional employee experience and industry‑leading customer satisfaction, even during periods of workforce and operational challenge.

This presentation offers actionable insights for CX and contact center leaders looking to strengthen engagement, reduce burnout, and create meaningful customer experiences that last.

2:30 PM– 3:00 PM - Afternoon Refreshment Break

3:00 PM – 3:30 PM -  Roundtable Discussions
These interactive sessions are anchored by expert discussion leaders and designed to foster meaningful peer-to-peer exchange. Attendees will choose from a series of curated topics, engaging in thoughtful dialogue and leaving with fresh perspectives and actionable ideas.

Discussion Leaders to include Banner Health, ZIZO Technologies, Call Finder, BMP ConnecX, TriWest Health Alliance and Boeing.

3:30 PM– 4:00 PM – Roundtable Discussions – Topics Repeat – See 3pm description for leaders and topics.

4:00 PM – 4:30 PM – WRAP UP PLENARY

4:30 PM – DAY 2 CONCLUDES

6:30 PM -  Grand Finale Dinner & Awards Ceremony Celebration

Final Day: Optional Workshops

The final day of Call Center Campus: Desert Oasis is all about turning inspiration into action.

Join us for optional workshops designed to take a deeper dive into the topics that matter most to you and your organization. These smaller, hands-on sessions provide personalized learning and practical takeaways you can immediately apply back at your contact center.

Whether you’re exploring AI Readiness, Contact Center Management leadership strategies, fine-tuning QA & Performance Metrics, or uncovering new ways to elevate the customer experience, these workshops offer the perfect way to wrap up your time in the desert.

As you head home, you’ll leave refreshed, refocused, and ready to lead with clarity and confidence empowered by the insights, connections, and energy of your Desert Oasis experience.