The CX Retreat 2025, hosted by Ashton Media, convened top customer experience leaders for two days of deep dives, networking, and candid discussions. While Artificial Intelligence (AI) remained the undeniable hot topic, the overwhelming consensus moved beyond the ‘shiny new tool’ hype toward a grounded, customer-centric approach.
Leaders expressed a healthy scepticism about some of the more grandiose AI claims, re-emphasising the fundamental need to first identify and solve a clear customer or business challenge before implementing any AI solution. This focus on foundational strategy over technological novelty paved the way for sharing genuinely exciting, AI-enabled use cases rooted in tangible value.
As such delegates emphasised the need to maintain connection with real humans while delivering real value to customers and the business. Elisa Adams, CEO of Sprout Strategy, predicts, “Human to human interaction will be back in vogue as digital twins, scams, and cyber security threats make humans want to talk to a real person again. We will see more in person experiences being developed eg bank branches, retail stores etc will become a differentiator”.
Lachlan Davidson, GM for Customer Strategy & Performance from Bupa, explains,”The current wave of AI experimentation is undoubtedly achieving much for brands, particularly in gathering insights and creating more frictionless experiences. This is the low-hanging fruit, and it’s essential work—it raises the bar for what customers expect from every company”.
“However”, adds Davidson, “the risk is that this initial application of AI leads to a set of customer experiences that are all pretty similar. While seamless is good, it doesn’t give a customer a unique reason to remember or choose your organisation”.
The discussions, presentations, and think tanks took place on the Mornington Peninsula at the RACV’sS Cape Schank resort. Delegates enjoyed a relaxed yet effective environment for building relationships: The format of the event was specifically designed to promote natural, organic networking rather than forced interactions.
The interactive think tank sessions were a core part of the event, encouraging collaborative problem-solving and idea-sharing among peers. Delegates had the opportunity to work through their challenges, explore new strategies, and discuss the latest trends, technologies, and cultural shifts required to build a customer-obsessed business.
Keynote presentation by Tim Stierman from IKEA
A highlight of the retreat was the keynote presentation by Tim Stierman, Digital Product Leader of the Global CX Platform at the Inter IKEA Group, who travelled from the Netherlands to share how the retail giant is building on enriched customer listening strategies. “Great experiences don’t happen by coincidence. They’re designed carefully,” said Stierman. IKEA aims to create mindful and meaningful experiences that bring a moment of happiness. His advice to delegates was:
- Focus on the customer, not the KPI: While strong KPIs are useful, being too rigidly tied to them (like Net Promoter Score, which he noted is a better brand KPI than an agile CX optimisation tool) can lead to data manipulation or a failure to respond to changing customer needs.
- Start building an actual data foundation: A clean, well-labelled data set is crucial for long-term success, especially with the rise of AI.
- CX is a culture, not a department: It must happen throughout the entire organisation, from the global franchisor to the individual store coworker.
Predictions for 2026
Over the two days plenty of discussions of what the industry can expect for 2026 took place, positioning the event as a forward-looking forum for senior leaders to shape their strategies. Some of the predictions and strategies for 2026 put forward by delegates included:
- AI for signature experiences – Lachlan Davidson (GM, Customer Strategy & Performance, Bupa): Lachlan’s prediction centred on the need for organisations to evolve their use of AI. He argued that instead of using AI merely for optimising the basics and creating frictionless but generic service, brands must leverage it to identify and deliver signature customer experiences. These are unique, memorable moments that truly differentiate a brand and give customers a compelling reason to choose it over competitors.
- Predictive and proactive experiences – Siân Howatson (Head of Customer Insights, Swyftx): Siân focused on the maturation of personalised CX. Her prediction was that the industry will finally achieve true proactive and predictive personalisation at scale. She noted that while this concept isn’t new, modern technology now allows companies to move beyond costly one-to-one interactions to efficiently deliver anticipatory service—such as a notification informing a customer of a problem before they even realise a problem exists.
- The unified CX platform – Dannielle Pearson (Head of Customer Strategy, Concentrix): Dannielle predicts that the unified CX platform will move from an aspirational goal to a tangible reality. This consolidation of technology is essential for delivering the seamless, connected journeys customers expect, by breaking down system silos to provide agents and systems with a single, holistic view of the customer.
The CX Retreat 2025 served as a powerful reset for senior Customer Experience leaders. Conveniently nestled in the beautiful setting of the RACV Cape Schanck Resort, the event facilitatedcandid discussions that moved beyond technological hype to focus on foundational strategy.
The CX Retreat is an annual event. CX Retreat 2026 is booked in for 8-9 October.
The Customer 360 Symposium is taking place in the Hunter Valley between Tue 31 March – Wed 1 April