This session will explore how the role of the CMO is being reshaped by rising customer expectations, rapid advances in data and technology, and the increasing need for brands to act with clarity and purpose. It will examine why today’s CMO must operate as the organisation’s chief customer advocate, a driver of commercial growth, and a catalyst for cross functional transformation. The session will outline the skills, partnerships and mindsets required for CMOs to thrive in this next chapter - and why those who embrace this evolution will be best positioned to define the future of marketing.

Private equity is increasingly shaping the UK financial services landscape, bringing new opportunities, expectations, and pressures for marketing leaders. In this session we will explore how firms can prepare for investment, the role marketing plays in supporting valuation and deal readiness, how to manage communications through the transaction process, and what to expect post-acquisition. As businesses prepare to share the stage with private investment, how can marketing teams best navigate the rise of private equity and emerge unscathed on the other side?

In this fireside chat chaired by Mark Evans, David will reflect on his current role at Lloyds Banking Group, his philosophy and approach to marketing, and the learnings he has taken from his successful career across UK financial serviceas.

Bradley will discuss the latest themes and thoughts around agentic AI. 

Kajsa will discuss her role as Director of Channel Marketing at Federated Hermes, where she leads global advertising, content and video strategy across multiple markets and distribution channels. From delivering integrated campaigns that balance brand and commercial objectives to building the channel marketing function from the ground up, she has shaped a team designed to support growth across intermediary and institutional audiences. In this session, she will reflect on what it takes to establish a high-performing channel marketing capability within a global asset manager, aligning stakeholders, defining strategy, embedding process and ensuring campaigns resonate locally whilst maintaining global consistency.

Wendi Sturgis is Head of Global Sales at Yext, responsible for the company's strategy and growth across both North America and EMEA. She brings decades of leadership experience across technology, ecommerce, digital marketing and innovation. Sturgis is a seasoned technology executive with a career spanning senior roles at Yahoo!, Oracle, Gartner and fast-scaling startups. She previously served as CEO of Cleverbridge, a global e-commerce and subscription management platform, where she led an ambitious growth strategy and partner programme.

Notably, Wendi formerly served as CEO of Yext Europe and held several executive roles on the company's early leadership team. She played a pivotal role in establishing Yext's presence in the European market during its formative growth period. Sturgis' career is defined by innovation, customer obsession, and a commitment to diversity in technology. Her leadership extends to her service as an independent board member at various for-profit companies, including New Relic, Sabre and The Container Store. She is deeply committed to investing in our next generation of leaders in technology and STEM and has served as the Chair of the Georgia Tech President's Board and as a trustee of the Georgia Tech Foundation.

Kirsten will explore the ways in which asset and wealth managers can get themselves in front of and appeal to ultra high net worth audiences. 

If you needed any evidence to suggest why TV is definitely not dead then look no further than this case study that demonstrates how TV was put to the test not to deliver brand or even performance outcomes, but to effective CRM. Trumping all other traditional BTL channels and more than doubling ROI, Lloyds Bank leveraged data and tech to deliver propensity modelling, postcode targeting and inflight optimisation to support an always-on CRM campaign on television, putting Scottish Widows messaging into the front rooms of it’s B2B2C customers. This case study shows the power of TV as it delivered high return, broke the diminishing return curve pattern typical for TV advertising and created multiplicative outcomes for email and DM. This discussion outlines the organisational, compliance and data challenges that were overcome and how real-time closed loop measurement can be used to prove TV as the unlikely hero of CRM.

Distilling the career learnings from over 250 (yes, 250!) podcasts, Mark will explore what you can do when you're feeling lost in your career and want to figure out what's next. Whether you push for promotion, pivot industries, or even decide to start over, this session will empower you to think about what you want, and how you should go about getting it.