Achieving Business Impact through World-class CX
4-7pm, May 13, 2025 @ FareStart (Seattle, WA) | Co-presented by Seattle SIM
Ticketing now open for our next event: 4-7pm May 13th at FareStart!
See below for details on our next event, hosted by FareStart. Register today!
Welcome back to FareStart’s flagship restaurant!
By popular demand, we’re returning to FareStart for our May event, taking place 4-7pm on May 13th. Located in the heart of the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, FareStart offers a brilliant venue, with convenient access from all commute paths and free parking across the street. With food and drinks provided by FareStart — and a rockstar panel on CX — you can look forward to a fun evening connecting with old friends and new ones, alike!
Achieving Business Impact through World-Class CX
In times of market turbulence and economic uncertainty, customer experience (CX) becomes a critical differentiator for sustaining and enhancing business performance. Whether you’re responsible for driving metrics above or below the line, or simply want to understand ways you can future-proof your business, exceptional CX can be the make-or-break factor in keeping current customers engaged and winning new ones.
Our executive panel will explore challenges and success strategies for creating a world-class customer experience, and how to translate it into business results. Drawing on a mix of functional and industry experience, panelists will discuss examples from their own distinguished careers delivering customer experiences in the public and private sectors, including through King County, Microsoft, Amazon, Expedia, REI, T-Mobile, Nordstrom, Disney, Adobe, Hilton, Airbnb, Oracle, Marchex and more. Bring your questions and get ready for an engaging discussion and audience Q&A.
For sponsor inquiries or other assistance, please contact info@seattletechforum.org.
Arrival
4pm
Open networking hour, with casual table topics
Hosted bar and heavy appetizers, provided by FareStart
Fireside Chat
5pm
Nikhil Kolar serves as the Vice President of Content Ecosystem and Growth for MSN, Microsoft's personalized news and interests platform, reaching millions of users globally through Windows devices and Microsoft consumer applications. In his current role, Nikhil oversees content partnerships and experiences featuring 8,000+ brands and individual creators, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, diverse content to MSN's global audience.
With over two decades of expertise in business, product, and engineering leadership, Nikhil is a seasoned executive dedicated to delivering transformative experiences. To date, his career has spanned computer science, management consulting and product leadership across Amazon, Oracle, Marchex and Microsoft, with impact in broad range of areas including customer experience, partnerships, content trust and safety, intelligence, programming, business operations, and monetization.
Nikhil is deeply passionate about creating innovative, engaging experiences for both consumers and partners, fostering high-performing, collaborative teams, and driving sustained growth across the ecosystem.
Clay Walton-House has spent his career in customer-focused strategy, working across various industries and business models to improve customer engagement, retention, and loyalty. A dynamic leader who enjoys building teams, he believes all organizations have a role to play in facilitating social progress, improving the wellbeing of their customers, and being responsible stewards of the environment.
Clay currently serves as the Divisional Vice President of Membership, CX, Insights & Planning at REI, supporting teams whose charter is to leverage the power of data and insights to better understand and serve co-op members, enabling long-term sustainable growth. Founded in 1938, Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) is the nation's largest consumer cooperative, existing to inspire, educate and outfit people for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship.
Prior to joining REI, he spent 15 years consulting to clients across B2B and consumer industries while at Lenati and PK (now known as Concentrix Catalyst), building a nationally recognized practice focused on customer retention and loyalty. Clients included highly respected businesses such as Microsoft, T-Mobile, Nordstrom, Disney, Adobe, Hilton, Airbnb and many others.
Stephen Heard currently serves as the Interim Chief Information Officer for King County, and department director of King County Information Technology (KCIT). In his role as interim CIO, Stephen oversees a biennium budget of $377 million and leads a talented team of over 450 technology professionals who deliver core I.T. services to more than 15,000 King County employees across all departments.
Stephen joined KCIT in 2007 and has served in many positions, most recently as Chief Technology Officer. In this role, Stephen partnered with county business leaders to target cost-effective and innovative technology solutions. His teams successfully executed key technology improvements that strengthened the resiliency of platforms that are foundational to King County's digital public services; these enhancements have resulted in the reduction of major incidents by 50% across a three-year period.
Prior to coming to the County, Stephen worked in the private tech sector. Stephen has over 20 years of information technology experience including technical and leadership roles within financial services, consumer products, and local government organizations.