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Our flagship event returned this year to explore the future of AI in customer experience. With the theme Fluent, we brought together experts from Microsoft, Hard Rock, SimplyHealth, SafeRide, Metro Bank, and more to share real-world breakthroughs in AI and automation. Topics ranged from lifelike customer conversations to intelligent analysis and measurable growth.
Keynote: Toward the agentic enterprise
PolyAI Co-Founder and CEO Nikola Mrkšić opened VOX 2025 with a vision for the agentic enterprise: organizations that don’t just use AI for efficiency but run on it. These are businesses that are aware, constantly improving, and coordinating work between humans and AI in real time.
Nikola described how AI is evolving beyond automating repetitive tasks:
- Creating systems that sense, coordinate, and act
- Emerging as a nervous system that connects employees, AI agents, and data
- Helping businesses spot issues in real time, learn from every interaction, and continuously improve
Leaders from across healthcare, retail, hospitality, and finance delivered a clear message that the agentic enterprise is already here, and organizations that embrace it now will define the next era of business.
A roadmap for leaders to build trust in change
Sol Rashidi, Chief Strategy Officer, AI & Data at Cyera, shared lessons from more than 200 enterprise AI deployments. She drew an important distinction that using AI means adopting tools to assist with tasks, while doing AI means redesigning workflows, deciding which tasks are human-led and which are AI-led, and building systems that create real business impact.
Here’s what stood out from Sol’s session:
- Focus on solving real business problems rather than chasing trends
- Treat data governance, security, and operational readiness as equally important to innovation
- Thoughtful AI frees employees for higher-value work, supports new services, and strengthens the business overall
Sol emphasized that AI works best when it is purposeful, trusted, and naturally embedded into how people work.
Conversational AI past, present, and future with Microsoft
Alan Ross from Microsoft shared insights from scaling conversational AI across industries, including the launch of Dynamics 365 Contact Center. He explained that AI is changing support work by automating routine cases and helping experts resolve complex issues faster.
Key lessons from Alan’s session:
- Voice remains the ultimate test of conversational AI because it requires emotional nuance and human-level understanding
- AI is reshaping support work by handling routine cases and assisting experts with complex issues
- Contact centers are moving toward blending humans, AI agents, and low-code tools to design and guide autonomous behavior while maintaining compliance and control
Alan’s view is that the future of contact centers will rely on a smooth partnership between humans and AI, combining automation with thoughtful oversight.
Making every guest interaction count: AI and service innovation in hospitality
A hospitality panel featuring Brian Jeppesen, Director of Contact Centers at Fertitta Entertainment, Stephanie Wheeler, Vice President of Revenue Management at Boyd Gaming, and Nadir Khan, Vice President of Customer Care & Revenue Optimization at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casinos, explored how AI can enhance guest experiences while supporting human teams. They emphasized that the real question isn’t how to deploy AI agents, but why.
Here’s what the panel highlighted:
- Start with clear goals, like reducing call abandonment and freeing agents from routine tasks, so AI complements staff instead of replacing them
- Early AI deployments often focus on simple FAQs and call transfers before expanding to more complex interactions, such as reservations and loyalty management
- Thoughtful rollout enables teams to learn and improve while gradually increasing AI’s impact on guest experience
The panel’s view is that AI works best in hospitality when it enhances human service and aligns with measurable guest outcomes.
Where AI automation and traditional banking meet
Nathan Pearson, GM, Financial Services at PolyAI, and Lee Protheroe, Director of Business & Retail Service Centres, Metro Bank, emphasized that banking is a relationship business. Trust starts with getting the simple things right before moving on to complex, high-stakes advice.
Insights from the session:
- AI can deliver intelligent, context-aware support to every customer, helping democratize high-touch banking
- High-quality financial guidance becomes accessible beyond private banking while keeping human expertise central where it matters most
- Thoughtful AI adoption helps banks build trust, improve efficiency, and enhance customer experiences without replacing human advisors
The ultimate vision is to democratize high-touch banking by enabling AI to deliver intelligent, context-aware support to every customer. This makes high-quality financial guidance accessible beyond private banking, helping banks improve trust and efficiency while keeping human expertise central where it matters most.
Rx for CX: Centering patients in an agentic world
Healthcare leaders from SafeRide Health, SimplyHealth, and DOCS Dermatology discussed how AI can strike a balance between efficiency, patient outcomes, and human-centered service. Their advice was to start small, demonstrate value through simple processes, and then scale up.
Our panel left the audience with a few lessons:
- Automation reduces cognitive load, letting agents focus on empathy and judgment
- AI enables more personalized care across channels while supporting staff rather than replacing them
- Starting with small, high-impact processes allows teams to prove value and build confidence before scaling AI adoption
The panel emphasized that AI works best in healthcare when it enhances patient care, supports human expertise, and is rolled out thoughtfully.
How Simplyhealth supports their digital transformation with PolyAI.
Read the case studyBuilding a Service Superpower, Zendesk + PolyAI
John Aniano, SVP of Product and CRM Applications at Zendesk, explored how AI is reshaping customer service, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges for agents, organizations, and customers. He shared insights on automation, voice, Copilot tools, and the evolving role of agents.
Highlights from John’s session include:
- Agent Copilot provides context and recommended actions to reduce cognitive load and enable faster, more accurate decisions
- AI is a tool that empowers agents, reshapes workflows, and helps organizations deliver better customer outcomes in a modern enterprise environment
- Voice remains a resurgent channel, highlighting design challenges and opportunities for AI-assisted service
Building a winning team: How customer service and IT leaders partner to drive AI adoption
Sue Colle and Chuck Harris from Mohegan Sun shared their journey implementing PolyAI and turning their AI agent, Meg, into a full-fledged team member. Meg started by handling FAQs and gradually took on event registrations, hotel bookings, and more, freeing agents for higher-value work.
Key takeaways from their experience included:
- Collaboration across teams was critical. IT handled technical integration, customer service refined scripts, supported in the design of Meg’s voice, and shaped handoff rules
- Agents were deeply involved to ensure AI met human service standards
- The rollout improved guest experiences, reduced wait times, lowered agent stress, and boosted morale
The session showed that AI works best when it’s integrated as a team player, designed with human insight, and supported by collaboration across the organization.
Hearing you loud and clear: AI at the intersection of healthcare and retail
Brianna Warner from Audibel and Nicole Rayner from PolyAI explored how AI is transforming hearing healthcare and retail. Brianna highlighted how her lived experience with hearing loss shapes her work and emphasizes the importance of empathetic service.
Highlights from the session:
- Successful healthcare AI programs are transparent, have a clear identity, and align with the organization’s mission
- Thoughtful AI implementation improves operational efficiency while allowing teams to focus on the moments that matter most
- Empathy and human insight remain essential in designing AI that truly supports patients and customers
The session reinforced that AI works best when it supports people, aligns with organizational values, and enhances service without losing the human touch.
VOX 2025 made it clear that AI works best when people and technology work together. Start small, focus on high-impact areas, involve your team, and scale as you learn. When done right, AI empowers your people, improves experiences, and drives better outcomes for your organization and your customers.
Watch every session on demand.
