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Welcome to the event schedule for SD Expo 2026! You’ll see all the talks and workshops available, and you can pick and choose across all tracks to create your own schedule for the event. Please reach out in #event-sd-expo in Slack if you have any questions!

Tip: Talks run 20 minutes and happen every half hour!
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Tuesday, August 25
 

8:00am CDT

Expo Hall Open for Registration
Tuesday August 25, 2026 8:00am - 8:00am CDT

Tuesday August 25, 2026 8:00am - 8:00am CDT

9:00am CDT

Opening Keynote: So What's My Job Now?
Tuesday August 25, 2026 9:00am - 9:20am CDT
As AI takes on more of the predictable work in support, the real question is what's left for the people doing it. Drawing on data from roughly 400 innovative support teams and a million support professionals. Ryan challenges the assumption that automation maps directly to job loss, and lays out a framework for what the role now requires: owning outcomes, teaching the system, and orchestrating work across people and AI.
Speakers
avatar for Ryan Wang

Ryan Wang

Co-founder/CEO, Assembled

Tuesday August 25, 2026 9:00am - 9:20am CDT
Room 120 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

9:30am CDT

How Great AI Agents Are Created
Tuesday August 25, 2026 9:30am - 9:50am CDT

Speakers
avatar for Vincent Chan

Vincent Chan

Founder, Northoak

Tuesday August 25, 2026 9:30am - 9:50am CDT
Room 312 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

9:30am CDT

Support Owns the Release
Tuesday August 25, 2026 9:30am - 9:50am CDT

Speakers
avatar for Josh Carpenter

Josh Carpenter

Senior Director, Customer Support, Arkestro
I've been building and managing support teams for more than a decade, with more decades before that as a support engineer and project manager. My experience spans fintech, hospitality, home services, .gov, and aerospace. I am passionate about technical operations and support ops in... Read More →
Tuesday August 25, 2026 9:30am - 9:50am CDT
Room 313 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

9:30am CDT

Break Your Team's Burnout Loop
Tuesday August 25, 2026 9:30am - 9:50am CDT

Speakers
avatar for Anna Brozek

Anna Brozek

Owner, Soma Naperville

Tuesday August 25, 2026 9:30am - 9:50am CDT
Room 315 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

9:30am CDT

Conversation Corner: Team structure and roles in an AI-first support org
Tuesday August 25, 2026 9:30am - 9:50am CDT
If AI is handling more of the ticket volume, what happens to the org chart? Teams might be rethinking headcount, the types of roles they need to hire for, and what a promotion looks like. Want to compare what people are restructuring toward, not only theorizing about.
Tuesday August 25, 2026 9:30am - 9:50am CDT
Room 380 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

10:00am CDT

12+ Ways to Use AI for Support Ops
Tuesday August 25, 2026 10:00am - 10:20am CDT

Speakers
avatar for Francoise Tourniaire

Francoise Tourniaire

Owner and Principal, FT Works
Support and Customer Success expert | AI practitioner | Author
Tuesday August 25, 2026 10:00am - 10:20am CDT
Room 312 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

10:00am CDT

The Right Reviewer Changes Everything
Tuesday August 25, 2026 10:00am - 10:20am CDT

Speakers
avatar for Valeriia Golubieva

Valeriia Golubieva

Quality & Training Lead, CX Ops at Manychat, Manychat

Tuesday August 25, 2026 10:00am - 10:20am CDT
Room 313 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

10:00am CDT

Upskill Your Team for the Future
Tuesday August 25, 2026 10:00am - 10:20am CDT

Speakers
avatar for Andrew Randazzo

Andrew Randazzo

Manager, Customer Support, Fin (formerly Intercom)

Tuesday August 25, 2026 10:00am - 10:20am CDT
Room 315 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

10:00am CDT

Visibility Is Your Career Superpower
Tuesday August 25, 2026 10:00am - 10:20am CDT

Speakers
avatar for Shaneika Booker

Shaneika Booker

Manager, Customer Success & Support, Honeycomb Insurance

Tuesday August 25, 2026 10:00am - 10:20am CDT
Room 316 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

10:00am CDT

Conversation Corner: Customer relationship strategies and tactics
Tuesday August 25, 2026 10:00am - 10:20am CDT
Customer relationships aren't just the responsibility of one team, but should be shared across the entire organization. Everyone from support to sales to ops benefits when relationships are intentional rather than transactional. We will chat through what works for folks and what fails.
Tuesday August 25, 2026 10:00am - 10:20am CDT
Room 380 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

10:30am CDT

NETWORKING TIME
Tuesday August 25, 2026 10:30am - 10:50am CDT

Tuesday August 25, 2026 10:30am - 10:50am CDT
Room 314 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

11:00am CDT

Conversation Corner: Keeping customer-facing AI current: knowledge management as an ongoing discipline
Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:00am - 11:20am CDT
Getting customer facing AI live is a project with an end date. Keeping the content behind it accurate is a job that never ends, and many teams are not staffed for that. Who owns article upkeep on your team, how do you stay on top of needed AI updates, and does content need to look different for an LLM than it does for a human?
Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:00am - 11:20am CDT
Room 380 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

11:00am CDT

From Single Chats to Scalable Agents
Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:00am - 11:20am CDT

Speakers
avatar for Greg Johnson

Greg Johnson

Head of NA Customer Success Team, LuxCreo Inc.

avatar for Alexandra Barker

Alexandra Barker

Customer Success Supervisor, LuxCreo

Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:00am - 11:20am CDT
Room 312 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

11:00am CDT

The Support Playbook That Keeps Up With Product
Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:00am - 11:20am CDT

Speakers
avatar for Brett Rush

Brett Rush

Founder, Rush to Resolution
20 years of experience leading and building SaaS Customer Support. My team spanned 4 timezones, handled 3M users, and maintained 98% CSAT before Adobe acquired the company. I love biking, kayaking, swimming, traveling, and all-things-sourdough with my wife and 6yr old daughter.
Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:00am - 11:20am CDT
Room 313 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

11:00am CDT

Building the Culture Where Your Team Stays and Thrives
Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:00am - 11:20am CDT

Speakers
avatar for Chrissy Sebald

Chrissy Sebald

Director, CX Practice & Support Operations, Boldr

Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:00am - 11:20am CDT
Room 315 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

11:00am CDT

One Knowledge Base, Three Readers
Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:00am - 11:20am CDT

Speakers
avatar for Riz Sherif

Riz Sherif

Director of Customer Experience, Credit Repair Cloud

Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:00am - 11:20am CDT
Room 316 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

11:30am CDT

Trusted AI in CX: What Transformation Actually Requires
Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:30am - 11:50am CDT

Speakers
avatar for Caroline Dangson

Caroline Dangson

Product Marketing Manager, Kustomer

Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:30am - 11:50am CDT
Room 312 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

11:30am CDT

Why Dashboards Don't Change Behavior and What Leaders Should Do Instead
Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:30am - 11:50am CDT

Speakers
avatar for Stephanie A Jones

Stephanie A Jones

Customer Experience Leader, FLEek

Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:30am - 11:50am CDT
Room 313 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

11:30am CDT

Leading Through What You Cannot Fix
Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:30am - 11:50am CDT

Speakers
avatar for Michelle McGowan

Michelle McGowan

Director of Operations, Rocket Money

Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:30am - 11:50am CDT
Room 315 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

11:30am CDT

Imagine Without Limits: The Scientific Method of Growth
Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:30am - 11:50am CDT

Speakers
avatar for Sarala Conlan

Sarala Conlan

Senior Customer Support Manager, Kojo

Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:30am - 11:50am CDT
Room 316 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

11:30am CDT

Conversation Corner: Sustaining yourself as a support leader
Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:30am - 11:50am CDT
A year of AI fear, team anxiety, and, in some cases, a shrinking team is a lot to carry. How are you taking care of yourself through it, and what's helped?
Tuesday August 25, 2026 11:30am - 11:50am CDT
Room 380 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

12:00pm CDT

Lunch Break
Tuesday August 25, 2026 12:00pm - 1:30pm CDT

Tuesday August 25, 2026 12:00pm - 1:30pm CDT

1:30pm CDT

The 40% Problem: AI Strategy for Tickets That Won't Deflect
Tuesday August 25, 2026 1:30pm - 1:50pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Niraj Ranjan Rout

Niraj Ranjan Rout

Founder, Hiver

Tuesday August 25, 2026 1:30pm - 1:50pm CDT
Room 312 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

1:30pm CDT

Unlock Advocacy by Blending AI with EI
Tuesday August 25, 2026 1:30pm - 1:50pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Jamie Shibley

Jamie Shibley

CEO | Engagement Strategist, The Expressory

Tuesday August 25, 2026 1:30pm - 1:50pm CDT
Room 313 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

1:30pm CDT

Never Lose a Coaching Thread
Tuesday August 25, 2026 1:30pm - 1:50pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Reagan Helms

Reagan Helms

VP of Customer Experience, Planning Center

Tuesday August 25, 2026 1:30pm - 1:50pm CDT
Room 315 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

1:30pm CDT

Future Proofing Our Careers in the Age of AI
Tuesday August 25, 2026 1:30pm - 1:50pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Marlene Summers

Marlene Summers

Senior Vice President of Global Support, ECI Software Solutions
Tuesday August 25, 2026 1:30pm - 1:50pm CDT
Room 316 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

1:30pm CDT

Conversation Corner: Practical ideas for using AI for support ops
Tuesday August 25, 2026 1:30pm - 1:50pm CDT
There's a lot of interest and success in using AI for self-service and assisted support, but AI has plenty of potential for Support Ops too. We will share experiments and use cases so we can all benefit from the wisdom of the crowd.
Tuesday August 25, 2026 1:30pm - 1:50pm CDT
Room 380 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

2:00pm CDT

SaaS Support from Swarm to Self-serve
Tuesday August 25, 2026 2:00pm - 2:20pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Oliver Williams

Oliver Williams

Support Hero, SmugMug
I have been with Awesome for 16 years on the SmugMug Support team. I am a parent to two great kids - Charles (6) and Evelyn (2). I enjoy spending time with my kids, fishing, golfing, hiking, and working on house projects.
Tuesday August 25, 2026 2:00pm - 2:20pm CDT
Room 312 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

2:00pm CDT

How to Unlock Shadow Knowledge and Create a Culture of Knowledge Sharing
Tuesday August 25, 2026 2:00pm - 2:20pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Martin Hobratschk

Martin Hobratschk

Founder, Cognita Knowledge Management LLC

Tuesday August 25, 2026 2:00pm - 2:20pm CDT
Room 313 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

2:00pm CDT

The Rise of the Support Engineer
Tuesday August 25, 2026 2:00pm - 2:20pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Daniel Kimber

Daniel Kimber

CEO & Co-Founder, Brainfish

Tuesday August 25, 2026 2:00pm - 2:20pm CDT
Room 315 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

2:00pm CDT

Building the Human Systems Behind AI Support
Tuesday August 25, 2026 2:00pm - 2:20pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Victoria Crow Dog

Victoria Crow Dog

Senior Engineering Manager, Clever

Tuesday August 25, 2026 2:00pm - 2:20pm CDT
Room 316 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

2:00pm CDT

Conversation Corner: Connecting support data to revenue: renewals, expansion, and churn signals
Tuesday August 25, 2026 2:00pm - 2:20pm CDT
Support sits on some of the clearest signals of whether a customer will renew, expand, or churn, but that data rarely reaches the people making those kinds of decisions. Let’s compare how people are surfacing what they see in tickets and conversations to the parts of the business that act on it daily.
Tuesday August 25, 2026 2:00pm - 2:20pm CDT
Room 380 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

2:30pm CDT

NETWORKING TIME
Tuesday August 25, 2026 2:30pm - 3:00pm CDT

Tuesday August 25, 2026 2:30pm - 3:00pm CDT
Room 314 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

3:00pm CDT

Build vs. Buy: The AI Decision Every CX Leader Needs
Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:00pm - 3:20pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Sam Chandler

Sam Chandler

Director of Customer Success, Commercial, Kustomer
Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:00pm - 3:20pm CDT
Room 312 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

3:00pm CDT

Building a Work Waze - How Clear Processes Protect Teams from Burnout
Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:00pm - 3:20pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Carol Lea

Carol Lea

Customer Service Representative, Flickr

Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:00pm - 3:20pm CDT
Room 313 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

3:00pm CDT

When Support Gets Weird
Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:00pm - 3:20pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Jil McKinney

Jil McKinney

Director Customer Support, Descript

Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:00pm - 3:20pm CDT
Room 315 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

3:00pm CDT

Stop Letting Your Helpdesk Design Your Support Team
Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:00pm - 3:20pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for James Amey

James Amey

Founding Solutions Engineer, Plain

Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:00pm - 3:20pm CDT
Room 316 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

3:00pm CDT

Conversation Corner: Soft skills are not soft at all
Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:00pm - 3:20pm CDT
Soft skills are often considered inferior to technical skills, but as chatbots take on low-complexity issues, support teams are being asked to handle angry, frustrated customers, and those who want to bend rules. How do we train and coach team members? What's working and what's counter-productive? How do we balance what we do at onboarding time and what we do later?
Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:00pm - 3:20pm CDT
Room 380 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

3:30pm CDT

Using AI to Clean Up Your Messy Knowledge Base
Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:30pm - 3:50pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Cora Van Leeuwen

Cora Van Leeuwen

Technical Support Specialist, Attio

Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:30pm - 3:50pm CDT
Room 312 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

3:30pm CDT

Moving from Transact to Transform
Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:30pm - 3:50pm CDT
Speakers
avatar for Dan Rohda

Dan Rohda

Senior Director, Customer Support, CARET
Support teams aren’t just a safety net. They are the climbers out front. They keep the promise of your brand, make it easy for customers to stay, deliver clear benefits that drive value realization, and affirm the vision that fuels your ascent. Talk to me about how to align teams... Read More →
avatar for Joreen Audrey Baquilod

Joreen Audrey Baquilod

Senior Manager of Customer Support, CARET
Join my team for a chat on CARET Support shifting from transactional ticket resolution to transformational customer relationships. Learn what drove the change, lessons learned, and practical strategies for building trust and lasting customer success. See you Tuesday, 3:30! If you... Read More →
avatar for Aaron Dionne

Aaron Dionne

Associate Manager, Technical Support, CARET

Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:30pm - 3:50pm CDT
Room 313 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

3:30pm CDT

How Leaders Can Turn Support Roles into Lasting Careers
Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:30pm - 3:50pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Daver Jennings

Daver Jennings

Technical Support Senior Manager, OverDrive, Inc.

Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:30pm - 3:50pm CDT
Room 315 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

3:30pm CDT

You Are a Product Manager Now
Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:30pm - 3:50pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Joshua Boock

Joshua Boock

Director of Customer Support, Sauce, Inc.

Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:30pm - 3:50pm CDT
Room 316 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

3:30pm CDT

Conversation Corner: Support, CS, and Sales ownership in the age of AI
Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:30pm - 3:50pm CDT
As AI potentially takes on more of the routine incoming questions, support teams hover between two paths: shrink, or prove they can deliver something bigger than reactive fixes. Could support take on more ownership of the customer relationship? And how could they communicate across success and sales to take on success related work instead of ticket resolution alone?
Tuesday August 25, 2026 3:30pm - 3:50pm CDT
Room 380 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

4:00pm CDT

AI Needs Instructions. You're It.
Tuesday August 25, 2026 4:00pm - 4:20pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Susannah Barnes

Susannah Barnes

Sr. Manager, Digital Customer Experience, Alation

Tuesday August 25, 2026 4:00pm - 4:20pm CDT
Room 312 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

4:00pm CDT

Unlocking the Power of Support Reports
Tuesday August 25, 2026 4:00pm - 4:20pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Andrew “Coach” Rios

Andrew “Coach” Rios

Founder, Cityside Fiber / RIOS MGMT
Andrew is a technologist, runner, and passionate CX leader with 25 years of experience. He has played every position on a customer experience team and built world-class global support teams at startups and Fortune 100 companies such as Megapath, Fitbit, Cisco, and Turntide Technologies... Read More →
Tuesday August 25, 2026 4:00pm - 4:20pm CDT
Room 313 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

4:00pm CDT

From Support Engineer to Leader
Tuesday August 25, 2026 4:00pm - 4:20pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Matt Dunn

Matt Dunn

Matt is a seasoned Technical Customer Support Engineer, Manager, Coach and Leader. Having actively resisted going down the management path for many years, once he finally made the leap, he learned a thing or two about the difference between being a great support engineer and managing... Read More →
Tuesday August 25, 2026 4:00pm - 4:20pm CDT
Room 315 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614

4:00pm CDT

Turn Support Reps into Code Contributors
Tuesday August 25, 2026 4:00pm - 4:20pm CDT

Speakers
avatar for Melissa Silberstang

Melissa Silberstang

Happiness Engineer, Automattic

Tuesday August 25, 2026 4:00pm - 4:20pm CDT
Room 316 DePaul University - Lincoln Park Student Center, 2250 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL, US, 60614
 
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