Headliner Keynote: The Future of Connected Customer Conversations

• Ruth Zive, Chief Marketing Officer – LivePerson

In her keynote, Ruth Zive, CMO of LivePerson, will explore AI’s transformative power in telecommunications. She will discuss the current focus on improving customer conversations, high expectations around AI, and how to address growing skepticism. Zive will highlight the need for personalized interactions to help telcos stand out, and trace LivePerson’s journey from inventing business chat to leading in GAI applications, showing how they help brands bridge the AI gap.

Regulatory Partnerships and the Future of Messaging

• Caitlin O’Neill, director, Messaging Product Development, Canadian Telecommunications Association
• Ian Scott, Former CRTC Chair – Canadian Telecom Regulator

Former Chair of the CRTC, Ian Scott will share his thoughts on the future of telecommunication and of regulatory policy and what business leaders need to do to protect the network.

Business Intelligence and Monitoring in a Multi-Channel Network

• TJ Thinakaran, Content & Strategy Advisor, MEF
• Caitlin Long, Director, Commercial Product Management – Bandwidth Inc.
• Michael Blum, Director, Product Management, Cloudmark Division – Proofpoint
• Simeon Coney, Chief Strategy Officer – Enea
• John Bruner, President and CEO – Aegis Mobile

In a multichannel world striving to become omnichannel, how can we protect the network? What feedback loops are in place, and can they be improved? How will existing processes to know your customer, know your traffic, and know your customer’s customer scale in the RCS and OTT world? Leaders from Proofpoint, Enea, Aegis, and Bandwidth will address these and other critical questions.

Just Build It! The Challenges of Building for a Conversational World

• Harpreet Singh, Senior Manager, Next Gen Wireless Team – TELUS
• Surinder Anand, CTO & VP Product Management – Dotgo
• Sri Ramchandran, SVP & CTO – SOMOS
• Trevor Macdonald, Senior Director and messaging Services Strategy – Syniverse
• Jonathan Vimont, Director, NA Product Operations – Sinch

Our goal is to have a technical, in-depth conversation about the challenges of building solutions on top of a heterogeneous, complicated network and creating what Grady Booch calls “the illusion of simplicity.” Each panelist brings a unique perspective on how to address the common demand to “just” build solutions, despite the complexities involved. This panel promises to offer valuable insights into overcoming the technical hurdles we face in our industry.

Doing More With Text: Conversational Commerce in the Age of AI

• Paul Wheeler, Regional Vice President North American Carrier Relations, Twilio
• Trevor Rubel, President and COO – Authvia
• Dom Ramirez, CTO and Co-Founder – Textual
• Alexa Davidovic, Head of FinServ, Americas – Sinch

Join us as we explore how AI is revolutionizing conversational commerce through text messaging. Learn how businesses are using AI to enhance customer interactions, streamline sales, and improve support. Innovators on the panel will discuss how they are pushing the boundaries of traditional e-commerce. Discover new strategies, successful use cases, and the future potential of AI-driven text commerce. Understand the challenges and opportunities in this evolving landscape.

The Fast Track to Innovation, Collaboration and Fighting Fraud

• Tina Donaldson VP, Strategy – Netnumber

The communications and telecom ecosystem is a vital and complex system underpinning our interconnected world — and it’s only getting more complex by the day. Evolving requirements are pushing the delivery of new services to support advanced use cases for businesses and end users while the fight against fraud expands and grows in its urgency. Still, service providers and network operators need a way to effortlessly scale and broaden their capabilities to remain competitive. They need a tool that can help them build a fast track, paving quick paths through complex ecosystems to expertly provision next-gen campaigns, enable communications and empower carrier solutions — all while protecting these use cases against bad actors.

Using the Message to Protect the Network: A Follow Up

• Mike Reading, Vice President Of Technical Services, Cloudmark Business – Proofpoint

In the follow-up discussion to the Miami presentation, Mike Reading will explore further the critical aspects of network protection. Building on the foundation laid in Miami, Mike will continue to leverage state-of-the-art tools from Cloudmark and Proofpoint to illustrate advanced concepts. He will further articulate that ‘protection’ encompasses a variety of meanings across different stakeholders, highlighting new developments and the evolving nature of threat mitigation. This session will offer fresh insights and updated strategies, reinforcing the multifaceted approach necessary for robust network security.

The Future of RCS and OTT Messaging: Navigating New Frontiers

• Caitlin O’Neill, Director, Messaging Product Development, Canadian Telecommunications Association
• Ryan Tollofson, Director – Marketing & Emerging Services – Telus
• Bruce Bales, Director, CPaaS Messaging Business – Cisco
• Eddie DeCurtis, CEO and Co-Founder – Shush
• Tony DeRuvo, Strategic Partnerships – Infobip

Join industry experts from Infobip, Cisco, Shush, and TELUS as they explore the evolving landscape of RCS, RBM, and OTT messaging, highlighted by Apple’s recent enablement of RCS. Discuss consumer awareness and strategies to guide customers through the unknowns. Examine the impact of branded messaging, the role of WhatsApp, and the future of A2P SMS. Understand the latest trends, challenges, and the opportunities of interactive, conversational rich media interactions and how to navigate and thrive in this dynamic market.

One Message Many Paths: The State of Text Messaging in North America

• Stefan Heller, Vice President, Business Development & Strategic Partnerships – The Campaign Registry
• Maya Stoyanova, Senior Manager, Consumer Trust and Enablement Americas – Telesign
• Brit Buchan, Global Wholesale Development – The Americas – Twilio
• Sarah Giraldi, Director, Governance and Messaging Operations – EZ Texting
• Marcelo Frizzo, VP Strategic Accounts North America – Infobip

In the follow-up discussion to the Miami presentation, leaders from Twilio, Infobip, Telesign, and Ez Texting will discuss best practices for choosing the correct endpoint for text messaging. The past few years have been transformative in the industry. This panel will provide a ‘State of the Union’ on Messaging in North America, offering fresh insights and updated strategies for navigating the evolving landscape of text messaging.

WhatsApp Business Messaging in North America

• Bruce Bales, Director, CPaaS Messaging Business – Cisco
• Juan Gobi, Client Partner – Meta

In the follow-up discussion to the Miami presentation, Meta and Cisco will explore the current growth opportunities for WhatsApp for Business in North America. Building on their success in different markets, they will discuss strategies for further expansion and highlight the evolving landscape of business communication through WhatsApp. This session will offer fresh insights and updated strategies, showcasing the potential for growth and innovation in leveraging WhatsApp for Business.

Closing Keynote

Closing keynote by IC Group President Duncan McCready