Sailing the Waters of Innovation: A Round-Up of 'Disrupt on the River'

As the sun set on London's iconic River Thames, attendees of our 'Disrupt on the River' event found themselves not just on a boat, but at the helm of the future of customer engagement. 

Hosted by Sabio Group in collaboration with Twilio, this event, part of Sabio's 'Disrupt Roadshow' series, successfully unfolded another chapter in the discourse of digital transformation. 

Hosted by a distinguished quartet of Stuart Dorman, Sabio's Chief Innovation Officer; Rob Scutchings, Sabio's Chief Technology Officer; Mike Odekerken, Contact Centre Sales Manager for DACH, UK&I and Nordics at Twilio and Jason Flynn, Director EMEA Partners at Twilio, the event was far from your standard corporate meet-and-greet. 

Instead, it was a shared exploration into the cutting edge of Customer Experience (CX) trends, with a focus on Generative AI, examples of current use cases and future capabilities as well as how organisations can begin to take advantage of the technology. 

Envisioning an Exciting Future: Turning the ‘What Ifs into the Now Hows’ 

The speakers discussed a wide range of topics, including the rise of conversational AI, the importance of personalisation, and the need for businesses to be data-driven. They also shared insights from their own experiences working with customers to improve their CX. 

“Dare to disrupt and innovative,” Sabio’s Stuart Dorman urged attendees, setting the tone for the evening. “We are not just passively reacting to CX trends. We are envisioning the future and shaping it together with our partners, prospects and clients. 

“CX is more important than ever. In today's digital world, customers have more choices than ever before, so businesses need to make sure they're providing a brilliant experience or they'll lose out." 

Rob Scutchings echoed this sentiment and further emphasised Sabio's commitment to technological advancement: “We're here to turn the ‘what-ifs’ into the ‘now-hows’. At Sabio, we strive to innovate and transform the technology landscape to deliver unprecedented customer engagement solutions." 

The presence of Twilio, one of the industry’s true CX titans and a key Sabio partner now for several years, underscored the synergy between the two hosts. Mike Odekerken emphasised this, saying: “Twilio and Sabio are in this together. Our mutual goal? To unlock the immense potential of customer engagement, by delivering scalable, flexible, and robust solutions tailored for every unique client.” 

Meanwhile, Mike’s colleague – Twilio's Jason Flynn - added a compelling note saying: “It was a great event and we had a lot of great conversations with attendees about their CX challenges and how we can help them solve them.” 

He continued: “The power of communication is remarkable. We’re proud to stand with Sabio to harness this power, thus driving better customer experiences and business results.” 

The Spirit of Innovation Captured on the Water 

This lively night of discussion was beautifully punctuated by dinner and drinks aboard the 4-hour cruise - which departed Westminster Pier at 5.45pm before returning at 9.45pm - and encapsulated the spirit of innovation within an equally creative setting. 

Guests hailed from a diverse range of industries and included the likes of HSBC, Wise Payments, TEN Group, B Braun, SPS, the Travel Corporation and Voneus. Each one left with a richer understanding of AI and the role that generative AI can play in enabling CX. 

While 'Disrupt on the River' is over, its reverberations will continue to ripple out. The goal of Disrupt is to inspire innovation in the world of CX and to bring together like-minded organisations that can share and learn from each other. 

Sabio and our friends at Twilio want to push the boundaries of CX, inspiring organisations to create brilliant experiences through innovation and disruptive technologies. 

As the night concluded, the metaphorical ship of 'Disrupt on the River' docked, but in many ways, the journey for Sabio, Twilio, their guests for the evening and all organisations looking to differentiate themselves through CX is only just beginning. The future of CX and digital transformation, it seems, is as wide and as promising as the Thames itself. 

‘Disrupt on the River’ marks another successful step in Sabio’s Disrupt Roadshow series.  

It's an exciting time to sail the river of innovation, and we can't wait to see where the current takes us next...