CX on the Frontier:
Breaking the Rules of Human and AI Engagement
Debate I: The Human Limit
The Human Limit: Examining the Limitations of Human Empathy, Intuition, and Emotional Intelligence in CX the Next Generation
This debate is designed to explore a core question at the heart of next generation customer experience. How far can human capability realistically scale in modern CX, and where does it break down.
Meet our panel:
Elaine Lee
Vulnerability and Inclusive Customer Experience Specialist
Elaine Lee is Managing Director at Reynolds Busby Lee, where she advises organisations on customer experience and responsible marketing. She brings strategic insight and a practical, people-first approach to help brands improve communications, loyalty, and support for vulnerable customers. She also works with contact centre teams to effectively deliver those communications in personalised and engaging ways that ensure brand engagement and loyalty.
Danny Wareham
Psychologist, Author, Accredited Coach, Psychometrician
Danny believes that happy bees make tasty honey.
With a purposeful culture, strategy and support systems, high performance becomes a side effect.
He is a psychologist, author, accredited coach, and psychometrician whose work lies at the intersection of leadership, culture and personality, with a focus on individual differences – especially the “dark triad” traits of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism.
An expert in culture and leadership dynamics, Danny has been recognised among the Global Top 25 Thought Leaders on Culture and the Top 50 in Leadership and has spent nearly 30-years in contact centre, retail and fintech industries, designing cultures, leadership systems, and strategies in which energy, clarity, and collaboration multiply success.
He is the founder of Firgun, a consultancy whose Hebrew name captures his core motivation: “the genuine, sincere and pure happiness for another person’s accomplishment or experience”, whose clients include Worldpay, M&G Investment Bank, and LEGO.
Dr Debashish (Deb) Sengupta
Senior Academic, Award-winning Author specialising in Psychology and Generational Behaviour
Dr Debashish (Deb) Sengupta is a Senior Academic and Course Leader for the MSc International Business & Management programme at the University of Portsmouth, London Campus. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), an award-winning author, researcher and educator with over 25 years of international experience across the United Kingdom, the Middle East and India. His career is distinguished by academic leadership, teaching innovation, research scholarship and deep engagement with industry and professional practice.
An award-winning author, Deb has written nine books, including the acclaimed Penguin Random House title The Life of Y: Engaging Millennials as Employees and Consumers, winner of the DMA–NTPC Best Business Book Award and featured in the Stanford University Library collection. He is also the author of The Life of Z, a widely recognised book on Generation Z, alongside several other professional and business titles. His forthcoming academic textbook, Human Resource Management: Understanding Traditional Foundations and Modern Innovations, will be published by Routledge (UK). He is also co-author of Stumped: Life Behind and Beyond Twenty-Two Yards, published by Penguin Random House and launched at the House of Lords in June 2025.
Deb’s research interests span generational behaviour at work, gender and entrepreneurship, sustainable consumption, the future of work and higher education transformation. His peer-reviewed scholarship has been published in international journals including the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Social Responsibility Journal, Fashion, Style & Popular Culture, and the International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets. He also contributes to sector publications on higher education strategy, employability and pedagogy, writing on curriculum reform, skills development and educational transformation. He has received multiple research honours, including the Best Research Project Award (2022–23) presented by the Education Minister of Bahrain. He holds dual PhD degrees and a Harvard University teaching certification.
Deb’s academic work is driven by a commitment to bridging theory and real-world application. His teaching philosophy centres on active blended learning, authentic assessment and industry-embedded education, enabling students to develop analytical rigour, professional confidence and employability skills. At the University of Portsmouth, he leads curriculum innovation through live industry briefs, simulations and civic-engaged projects, including a flagship collaboration with the London Borough of Waltham Forest on sustainability and decarbonisation feasibility. His Industry Educator model, which integrates global practitioners into classroom learning, has influenced teaching practice across programmes and campuses.
He has previously held senior academic leadership positions, including Associate Professor and HR Area Coordinator at the Royal University for Women in Bahrain, as well as Professor, Area Chair, and Director at Alliance University in India. In these roles, he led accreditation and quality assurance initiatives, including AACSB curriculum and assurance-of-learning standards, programme transformation and curriculum mapping. Beyond academia, Deb has designed and delivered executive education, leadership development, and professional training programmes for organisations across the UK, the Gulf region, and India, and serves as an international speaker, mentor, and advisor to startups and leadership teams navigating generational and organisational change.
Deb’s work reflects a sustained commitment to educational innovation, research-informed practice and meaningful partnerships between universities, industry and society.
Meet our trilogy chair:
Marianne Withers
Business Partner, Atombit
Marianne Withers is a recognised force in customer experience, operational transformation, and human-centred innovation. As Founder & CEO of The Verity Centre, and now leading Atombit’s CX, People, and Technology Transformation portfolio in the UK, she is shaping a new era of intelligent, emotionally attuned business performance. Marianne combines deep operational expertise with emerging technology to deliver data driven, design led solutions that redefine how organisations serve, support, and connect with their customers.
With over 30 years’ experience across financial services, healthcare, energy, and the retail sector, Marianne is renowned for transforming cultures, elevating performance, and unlocking sustainable growth. Her work bridges commercial impact with human insight, creating environments where people thrive, technology amplifies capability, and customers feel genuinely understood.
As an Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Portsmouth, she mentors founders with strategic guidance, innovation support, and ecosystem building, championing inclusive entrepreneurship and advancing women in enterprise. Marianne also serves as a Non-Executive Director for The Road from Karachi, providing strategic counsel to its founder and driving the organisation’s long-term vision, operational maturity, and community impact.
Bold, authentic, and instinctively future-focused, Marianne is a catalyst for meaningful change, empowering people, accelerating innovation, and redefining what modern leadership looks like.