CX Network announced its guide to the top 50 AI leaders to follow in CX for 2026 and Brian Solis is on the list!

his year’s list highlights individuals from across the globe who are redefining how technology and human insight come together to elevate customer experiences.

As artificial intelligence (AI) accelerates across industries, its promise to transform how we work comes hand-in-hand with very real concerns about unemployment: recent data from the National University suggests that 30 percent of current jobs could see significant automation by 2030, with routine roles – including some customer service and data entry roles – especially exposed to change.

This list highlights leaders who aren’t simply responding to AI disruption, but harnessing its potential to drive more empathetic, effective, and human-centered customer experiences. From strategic thinkers to ethical AI advocates, these voices are guiding the future of CX.

Nominations for this year’s list were gathered through a global outreach campaign across CX Network’s digital channels. The nomination period remained open for several weeks, inviting submissions from across industries, regions and roles. The approach ensured a diverse and representative pool of candidates, reflecting the breadth of innvovation happening in AI-driven CX today.

To compile this list, the CX Network team evaluated leadership impact, influence on AI-powered CX strategy, contributions to the broader industry conversation, and demonstrated innovation across people, process, and technology. Listed alphabetically, each profile includes key insights and curated content to help you learn about the most forward-thinking leaders in the space.

Brian Solis, ServiceNow

Head of global innovation at ServiceNow, and author of X: The Experience When Business Meets Design, Brian Solis challenges leaders to rethink not just what they build with AI, but why they build it.

For Solis, AI is not a CX strategy, but an enabler of strategy that would otherwise be impossible. He argues that success should be measured the way customers actually feel and remember: “Did it reduce effort, speed up resolution, and increase trust?”
He also pushes for an “experience integrity score” that measures whether AI explains its actions in plain language and truly removes friction, not just automate yesterday’s processes.

Speaking on agentic AI, Solis told CX Network:

“AI flips CX from reactive support or transaction commerce or engagement to proactive experience design, where the best interactions are the ones customers never have to initiate. It also means the customer journey is increasingly mediated by agents, so brands must earn machine trust with clean customer and intent data, transparent policies, and experiences designed for both humans and their AI copilots (that’s right, we’re talking about CX and now AX…agent experience and how you deliver seamless experiences for agents!). In that world, experience becomes a customer and agentic operating system, and AI is the choreography behind every moment that matters.”

Our top pick of Brian Solis’ content:

• LinkedIn newsletter: ROI: Return on Ignorance 
• Find out what Brian Solis is talking about on LinkedIn