Our list of the UK’s top 50 customer experience professionals, in partnership with Cognizant, Google Cloud and Salesforce, will be announced in five phases.
This time last year the economy was looking decidedly gloomy, the threat of recession never far from our minds. The spectre of inflation and cost restraints haunted organisations’ efforts to serve and inspire their customers.
None of the macroeconomic challenges that faced us then have disappeared in 2025; indeed, the shifting geopolitical plates are adding new uncertainty in the form of tariffs and trade wars. For all the potential downsides being created by political manoeuvring and the vagaries of supply chains, it’s the search for growth that’s dominating businesses' minds.
Consumer brands are fighting to win their customers’ hard-earned discretionary spend. B2B brands are looking for the competitive advantage that tips the investment scales. Public sector organisations are striving to improve service in a challenging environment.
The thread linking them all is the pursuit of a better customer experience. And it’s with this in mind that Marketing Week – in partnership with Cognizant, Google Cloud and Salesforce – launches its quest to name the seventh CX50 list of the UK’s top customer experience professionals.
CX50 — 2021
In compiling the list of 50 names, and the analysis that will accompany it, we’re continuing with the sector-focused approach we put in place in 2024. Moving the story along, we’ll be putting increased focus on how these individuals and their organisations are adapting to the new realities being created by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
For more information, take a look at the methodology box below, and look out for our first announcements of the list’s newest members.
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Marketing Week launches seventh CX50 list for 2025
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
The Marketing Week CX50, in partnership with Cognizant, Google Cloud and Salesforce, is the pre-eminent annual list of the UK’s top 50 customer experience professionals. In 2025, we are repeating the sector-focused approach to choosing the list’s members first adopted in 2024, representing the variety of customer experiences provided by B2C, B2B and public sector organisations. The CX50 2025 is divided into the following five sectors, each featuring 10 professionals:
Our criteria and methodology for determining the CX50’s members remain the same as in previous years. In order to create a pool of candidates, we combine nominations from Marketing Week and Cognizant’s professional networks with research into independent measures of organisations that perform highly on CX. To select the final list, we then assess individuals’ achievements in the past year and over the course of their careers against the three criteria of impact, innovation and influence.
The CX50 members possess an eclectic set of skills and responsibilities, all crucial in the effort to deliver exceptional customer experience.
methodology
Russell Parsons
Editor-in-chief
Marketing Week
Retail, consumer goods, travel and hospitality
Financial
services
Public
sector
Manufacturing, logistics, energy and utilities
Life
sciences
Salesforce
As AI evolves from assistive to agentic – making decisions and taking actions on customers' behalf – the relationship between brands and their customers is being redefined. The most forward-thinking CX leaders are preparing for this shift by building experiences that serve human customers and their AI representatives equally effectively. We're proud to celebrate these pioneers who are charting the course toward more intelligent, intuitive and truly customer-centric organisations.
Google Cloud
The convergence of cloud capabilities and AI fundamentally transforms how organisations design and deliver customer experiences. We're especially inspired by how today's leaders create experiences that adapt intelligently to individual needs while maintaining transparency and control that builds enduring trust.
Cognizant
Our 'New Minds, New Markets' research confirms we're entering a pivotal era where AI-powered experiences will reshape customer relationships, with AI-friendly consumers projected to drive more than half of consumption by 2030. The CX50 celebrates the visionaries who are already balancing technological innovation with human intuition. These leaders understand that investing in exceptional customer experiences is essential for building market share and lasting loyalty.
Rohit Gupta, Managing Director, UK and Ireland, Cognizant
Google Cloud
Salesforce