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Ken Hughes

Global Customer Experience Strategist, Leading Consumer Behaviouralist & Award-Winning Keynote Speaker

Ken Hughes is a bestselling author, award-winning speaker, and one of the world’s Top CX Influencers. Trusted by Fortune 500 brands, he delivers high-impact keynotes that blend consumer psychology, humour, and insight—transforming how audiences understand their customers, their future, and themselves. A world-class speaker for unforgettable events.

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Bio

Ken Hughes is one of the world’s leading authorities on customer experience, consumer behaviour, and the psychology of human connection. Known globally as ‘The King of Customer Experience’, his mission is to help brands move beyond the transactional and build emotional relevance in everything they do.

With over two decades advising Fortune 500 companies across retail, tech, finance, and healthcare, Ken blends behavioural science, digital anthropology, and storytelling to decode the modern and future consumer. Named one of the Top 50 Global CX Influencers, he is celebrated worldwide for his electrifying stage presence — a fusion of deep insight, humour, and theatrical energy that provokes real change.

A #1 bestselling author on customer experience, Ken’s latest book Taylormaking: A New Era of Modern Branding and Customer explores how brands can craft deeply personal and emotionally engaging experiences. He is also a part-time university lecturer, TED speaker, and CEO of a leading CX insight agency that helps organisations unlock growth through loyalty, innovation, and future thinking.

Ken is the only global keynote speaker delivering a talk on “The Taylor Swift Phenomenon”, analysing her as one of the most powerful marketing minds of our time — a unique blend of fandom, authenticity, and emotional connection. His version of this talk has been featured in major global forums and business schools, including the University of California's Rady School of Management.

Off stage, Ken works as a life strategist with elite athletes, entertainers, and C-suite leaders, helping them harness creativity, performance, and focus to achieve peak potential.

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Keynotes

Featured Keynote

The Blue Dot consumer. Understanding the modern customer connection

In this dynamic keynote, Ken Hughes explores the shifting landscape of modern consumerism by comparing today’s customers to the familiar blue dot on a digital map — always at the centre, expecting the world to orient around them. This metaphor highlights the evolution towards deep customer-centricity, where brands must tailor experiences to be instant, personal, and emotionally intelligent.

Rather than engaging in purely transactional relationships, modern consumers seek meaning, relevance, and mutual connection. They expect brand experiences that reflect their identity and values — authentic, immersive, and emotionally engaging.

Ken also examines the accelerating impact of technologies like AI, robotics, and immersive platforms on consumer expectations. With Gen Z and Gen Alpha reshaping the market narrative, this keynote delivers powerful insight into how brands can stay relevant by understanding and responding to this new centre-of-gravity customer mindset.

Taylormaking. How to use customer experience to build brand success

Taylormaking. How to use customer experience to build brand success

In this keynote, Ken Hughes draws bold parallels between brand strategy and Taylor Swift’s playbook for creating fierce emotional loyalty. Her Eras Tour isn’t just a concert — it’s a masterclass in customer experience, authenticity, and fan connection.

Ken unpacks how brands can cultivate the same devotion by investing consistently in both customer and employee experiences. From delight tactics and co-creation to community-building and personalisation, he reveals what it takes to move from transactional relationships to emotional brand belonging.

This is a talk about the emotional architecture of loyalty — about creating fans, not just customers. Packed with practical examples and strategic insights, it’s a must for brands looking to connect deeper, build resonance, and turn engagement into long-term success.
AI, Data and Disruption. Winning the race for customer relevance

AI, Data and Disruption. Winning the race for customer relevance

Artificial Intelligence is changing everything — not just how consumers buy, but how they think, choose, and relate to brands. In this powerful keynote, Ken Hughes explores how technology is reshaping customer engagement, and what brands must do to keep pace.

Rather than focusing on the mechanics of AI, Ken addresses its impact on behaviour — and how brands can harness it to build smarter, faster, more meaningful connections. He highlights the convergence of tech innovation with rising generational expectations, from Gen Z to Gen Alpha, and what this means for business transformation.

Through a behavioural lens, Ken unpacks how data, algorithms, and automation are rewriting the CX playbook — and why emotional intelligence is more important than ever. It’s not just the rules that are changing — the game itself is being rewritten.
Emcee Squared

Emcee Squared

Ken’s reputation as one of the most sought-after keynote speakers is partly due to his sheer energy, charm and on-stage presence. Add relevant and bespoke content to the mix, short intelligent inter-speaker presentations all day, a powerful keynote address, significant time spent getting to know speakers before your event, gamification & interaction with the audience, and being a ‘Golden Thread’ that links the event from start to finish, you have a powerful Emcee presence.

Topics

Retail & Consumerism

Showreel. Ken Hughes

Time bending -- 365 ways to unlock creativity and innovation

The blue dot consumer Keynote | Ken Hughes

Taylormaking Keynote | Ken Hughes

‘Taylormaking': Taylor Swift Hailed as a ‘Genius' as ‘Life of a Showgirl' Drops Worldwide

On the same day ‘Life of a Showgirl' arrives, Ken Hughes's new book highlights why Taylor Swift is being hailed as a ‘genius' and one of the most influential artists of her era.

Emotional Intelligence and The Future of Customer Connection

In this episode of Simply CX by Microsoft, Nicole sits down with behavioral scientist and CX visionary Ken Hughes to explore the emotional side of customer experience. Together, they dive into why emotional loyalty and customer intimacy are the true differentiators in an increasingly commoditized, AI-powered landscape.

Why customer intimacy is the future of CX

Ken Hughes, “King of CX”, unpacks the psychology behind brand intimacy, emotional engagement and the power of investing in genuine connections.

Pampering customers by taking inspiration from Taylor Swift

The spotlight was on him. Ken Hughes is a true showman. With more than one string to his bow, the Irishman is not only the self-proclaimed king of customer experience and the world's leading consumer behaviourist. He's also a formidable comedian.

The blue dot consumer: What can financial services learn from Taylor Swift, Red Bull, and United Airlines

Why don't customers get a bottle of champagne at the end of their mortgage? – asks Ken Hughes, Consumer Behaviouralist and The King of Customer Experience. Speaking with our very own David Penn, Hughes explores the customer of the tomorrow, and why focus on customer experience should turn into customer intimacy. He shares what brand connection can mean and explains what Taylor Swift, Red Bull, and United Airlines got right in this area.

Decode, Delight, Devote: Turning Customers Into Tribes Through Gamification

What makes Taylor Swift fans (Swifties) more than just an audience? They're a tribe. They don't just consume music; they decode Easter eggs, trade bracelets, and recruit new members. It's not marketing anymore—it's meaning.

The Hidden Language of Loyalty: CX Connection is Everything

Customer Experience (CX) is often misunderstood by brands as a process or a metric (like NPS), but in reality, it should be felt emotionally by the customer — it's not a transaction, it's a connection. Humans are wired for connection, and just as people unravel without meaningful relationships, brands falter when they lack true emotional engagement with their customers.

2025 Taylormaking: A New Era of Modern Branding and Customer Connection

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We cannot thank Ken enough for the outstanding session he gave on Consumer Experience. Our audience was totally blown away and loved the humour Ken brings to the stage. He is on another level altogether and has a unique ability to drive home those all important messages that our Dentists need to survive in today's competitive environment. Needless to say we will be seeing a lot more of Ken in the future.

ALIGN

Ken is an energetic, thought-provoking speaker. I've had Ken speak at two Google events now and Ken has scored higher than any other speaker I've ever had before, lasting a longtime in the memories of the delegates

GOOGLE

As a B2B brand we needed to stay relevant and connected with our customers during this time. Ken was the first person we thought about approaching and the webinar series he delivered has had such strong feedback. Sessions sold out way beyond our expectations and delegates stayed engaged far longer than we had ever hoped. It was entertaining, informative, and had all the usual magic and sparkle that Ken delivers onstage

MICROSOFT

Ken really brought the modern consumer to life for our licensees and retail partners. His insight into customer connection and evolving expectations was fascinating to hear.

NFL

I could listen to this guy all day. As always an amazing insight into customers and the essence of CX relationships

PAYPAL

Ken's true talent is the tailoring of his content to our audiences. We have invited him to speak at several different Red Bull events in Europe, and he always challenges each of us to think outside of the box. He is an educational and inspirational presenter, as entertaining and engaging as he is challenging. His ‘King of Customer Experience' title is well deserved.

RED BULL

We were looking for someone that could talk with us around the psychology of customer experience and Ken was the perfect fit. An intelligent, inspiring and entertaining session.

STARBUCKS

We chose to bring Ken in as keynote for our customer and partner event as he really understands the digital consumer and the challenges our client partners face. It was one of the best sessions of the event.

TIK TOK

Watching a room of the most powerful CFOs in Switzerland enraptured by Taylor Swift storytelling was a sight I never thought I would see. Thank you so much Ken. You promised you would go beyond our expectations, and you certainly did. You and Miss Swift should be a double-act.

UBS

The speech with Walmart management really opened our eyes to how the business could use consumer insight and knowledge to unlock significant potential. The human aspect of it all was really useful to come back to and set a lot of minds thinking.

WALMART

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Ken Hughes

Bio

Keynotes

The Blue Dot consumer. Understanding the modern customer connection

Topics

Ken is an energetic, thought-provoking speaker. I've had Ken speak at two Google events now and Ken has scored higher than any other speaker I've ever had before, lasting a longtime in the memories of the delegates

Ken really brought the modern consumer to life for our licensees and retail partners. His insight into customer connection and evolving expectations was fascinating to hear.

I could listen to this guy all day. As always an amazing insight into customers and the essence of CX relationships

We were looking for someone that could talk with us around the psychology of customer experience and Ken was the perfect fit. An intelligent, inspiring and entertaining session.

We chose to bring Ken in as keynote for our customer and partner event as he really understands the digital consumer and the challenges our client partners face. It was one of the best sessions of the event.

Watching a room of the most powerful CFOs in Switzerland enraptured by Taylor Swift storytelling was a sight I never thought I would see. Thank you so much Ken. You promised you would go beyond our expectations, and you certainly did. You and Miss Swift should be a double-act.

The speech with Walmart management really opened our eyes to how the business could use consumer insight and knowledge to unlock significant potential. The human aspect of it all was really useful to come back to and set a lot of minds thinking.

Let's find your perfect speaker!

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Ken Hughes

Bio

Keynotes

The Blue Dot consumer. Understanding the modern customer connection

Taylormaking. How to use customer experience to build brand success

AI, Data and Disruption. Winning the race for customer relevance

Emcee Squared

Topics

Ken is an energetic, thought-provoking speaker. I've had Ken speak at two Google events now and Ken has scored higher than any other speaker I've ever had before, lasting a longtime in the memories of the delegates

Ken really brought the modern consumer to life for our licensees and retail partners. His insight into customer connection and evolving expectations was fascinating to hear.

I could listen to this guy all day. As always an amazing insight into customers and the essence of CX relationships

We were looking for someone that could talk with us around the psychology of customer experience and Ken was the perfect fit. An intelligent, inspiring and entertaining session.

We chose to bring Ken in as keynote for our customer and partner event as he really understands the digital consumer and the challenges our client partners face. It was one of the best sessions of the event.

Watching a room of the most powerful CFOs in Switzerland enraptured by Taylor Swift storytelling was a sight I never thought I would see. Thank you so much Ken. You promised you would go beyond our expectations, and you certainly did. You and Miss Swift should be a double-act.

The speech with Walmart management really opened our eyes to how the business could use consumer insight and knowledge to unlock significant potential. The human aspect of it all was really useful to come back to and set a lot of minds thinking.

Let's find your perfect speaker!

Explore

Quick Links

Keep Up To Date