On September 26, Kyiv hosted the 19th CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE CONFERENCE, the only cross-industry event in Ukraine that brought together business leaders and experts in the field of customer experience.
This year’s theme, “A System for Profit,” was a response to a key challenge for companies: how to make customer experience not a one-time initiative, but an operating system that has a consistent impact on profit, reputation, and business development.
The conference was attended offline and online by 500 top managers, team leaders, and experts from various industries who strive to create effective service standards.
In her welcoming speech, KA Group founder Alona Zhupikova emphasized that customer experience always marks the beginning of a new stage of development:
“Customers change, contexts change, technologies change. CX is a living organism, and the task of business is to understand how it works and respond in a timely manner.”
She stressed that it is data research, language analytics, and the implementation of AI solutions that help predict customer needs and create products of the future.
From strategy to measurement
Olena Tsysar, an international expert in strategic development at SK, presented a model of customer experience maturity, which she described as a “mosaic” of three elements: motivation, organization, and culture.
“Our main goal is to bring the customer’s voice back into the business. CX is not just about standards or handling complaints. It’s about humanity and respect for the journey of each customer and employee,“ she emphasized.
Kirill Yezhov, Business Development Director at Kantar Ukraine, continued the theme. He stressed that without clear metrics and accountability, customer experience remains just a good idea:
”82% of CEOs worldwide consider customer experience to be a growth factor. But real results only come when a company can not only listen to the customer, but also act quickly based on data.”
He presented an approach that combines X-Data (customer emotions and experiences) and O-Data (operational metrics), emphasizing the importance of consistency in processes, roles, and culture in creating a CX management system.
Examples of change: from a bank to a super-premium brand
Yulia Moroz, Sales Director at Oschadbank, shared her experience of a large-scale service transformation. Thanks to automation and multi-channel services, more than 70% of customer inquiries are now handled by a voice assistant.
“The customer is the starting point for all changes. Only when CX works as a team system does the customer receive fast and seamless service,” she noted.
Every year, Oschadbank processes 400,000 requests and remains the only bank that has mobile branches even in frontline territories.
Oleksandr Kotolup, founder of Figaro Catering, continued this theme. He focused on the importance of emotions in service: “The WOW effect is an emotion of surprise and joy that brings money, repeat customers, and high loyalty. Emotions work, and they need to be directed in the same way as the fashion industry does.”
Igor Blystiv, Director of Marketing and Innovation at Kormotech, explained how working with three key audiences—veterinarians, breeders, and end consumers—enabled the company to build an entire ecosystem for the Optimeal brand, which strengthened its position in the market.
“Look at the customer on the scale of the entire ecosystem. Create long-term initiatives that become pieces of something bigger,” emphasized Igor Blystiv.
Journey management in action
Oleg Koss, founder of Lanka.CX, focused on dynamic customer journey maps. He explained that journey management should be a living tool integrated into the daily work of teams. According to international research, implementing this approach results in:
+37% increase in customer satisfaction,
+15% additional sales,
+18% improvement in customer retention.
“Complex services need a conductor. Journey management synchronizes teams and helps them focus on a common result,” the expert noted.
Simplicity as a strategy
Mykola Chumak, co-founder and CEO of IDNT, concluded the substantive part of the presentations with the topic of simplicity in services and products.
“Simplicity is not minimalism. It is a strategic cleansing of the superfluous, which allows customers to interact with the company quickly and clearly,” explained Mykola Chumak.
He highlighted five principles of simplicity: empathy, understanding complexity, focus, human language, and attractive design.
Data-driven CX
The panel discussion “Data-driven CX” brought together experts from Minimal, Uklon, Ajax Systems, Colobridge, and the Banda agency.
They talked about how to combine analytics and creativity so that data not only records results but also helps create a better experience for customers.
Volodymyr Brazhnyk, Marketing Director at Minimal: Data is the basis for decision-making.
Maria Tsvid, Product Manager and Analytics Strategist at Colobridge: Analytics points the way and helps create relevant messages.
Mykola Umanets, Head of Customer Experience Development at Uklon: Metrics must be based on real needs, otherwise they will remain numbers without any real impact.
Maria Nevzorova, Director of Technical Support, Service, and Repair at Ajax Systems: She shared her experience of scaling support services without losing a personalized approach to customers.
Customer voice and innovation
The second panel discussion brought together representatives from Dnipro-M, DILA, WOG, NovaIT, and Revisior. They discussed how to integrate customer voice into product strategy and create a culture of rapid feedback.
Vladislav Zhilikhovsky, Dnipro-M, emphasized that speech analytics allows businesses to hear customers in real time and gain insights that change the quality of service and speed of decision-making.
Iryna Dergachova, DILA, added: “Speech analytics minimizes manipulation because it is based on real customer voices, not assumptions.
Another key point was the technological approach presented by Oleg Kushil, WOG, and Dmytro Romaniuk, NovaIT. They explained how modern algorithms help to quickly analyze thousands of customer conversations and identify problems before they become critical.
The experts agreed that companies that quickly test ideas and feedback become more resilient to market changes and are able to launch new services faster than their competitors.
Practice: CX as a winning strategy
To not only hear ideas but also experience their impact, participants took part in a workshop led by Marina Bereziuk, a business psychologist and service expert. The approach is based on understanding service as an interconnected structure where each element influences the other. Working in teams, participants modeled their own customer experience systems, focusing on four key components: people, processes, monitoring, and motivation. This exercise showed how even small changes in one element can transform the entire system.
Participants’ insights
The conclusion of the conference was a kind of summary in the form of joint reflection. Participants shared their own discoveries and key ideas that they will take with them to work.
Roman Orlov, Kron: “Before the conference, I thought that customer experience was just surveys and changes. Now I see that it is a holistic system where all the tools work together.“
Ruslana Kharuk, EverHelp:
”An impressive customer experience is impossible without a quality employee experience. This is the foundation of success.“
Dmytro Pashko, marketing consultant: ”Customer experience is becoming the main currency of business. Marketing departments are transforming into CX marketing, which deeply studies customer behavior and becomes a point of change within the company.”
Partners
General partner: Oschadbank.
Official partners: Kormotech, Colobridge, and Linkos Group. Thanks to the support of the partners, participants were able to exchange experiences and learn about modern solutions in technology, the food industry, and digital services.
Conclusion
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE CONFERENCE provided new knowledge, partnerships, and insights that will help Ukrainian companies create a systematic, transparent, and profitable business that develops through customers.
KA Group events calendar: https://kagroup.ua/#kalendar
Contacts: info@kagroup.ua
KA Group – kagroup.ua
Interfax-Ukraine – information partner
