November 10, 2025

The Judges’ View from the International Customer Experience 2025 Awards

By Geoff Spick

This week, a global stampede of businesses, all leading exponents of customer experience, will descend on London. Destination, the award ceremony of the International Customer Experience 2025 Awards.

The judging took place last week, with over 300 judges presiding over 58 categories, from Best Citizen Experience to Best CX for Vulnerable Customers.

With such a workload, the judging spread over several days of consideration. You can find a list of the ICXA finalists here.

Hot on the heels of the recent UKCXA ceremony, the international flavour of the competition added new layers to customer experience. Congratulations to all the judges and finalists dialling in from as far afield as Australia, Malaysia, Mexico, the US and across Europe and the Middle East.

Now we’re post event do take a look at all the glitz and glamour from the awards night.

Insights from the International Customer Experience 2025 Awards’ Judges

An experience in itself, CXM was on hand to ensure smooth proceedings. Despite the complex nature of getting so many people in one virtual space, the judging largely went smoothly. Each finalist made a 15 minute presentation, and dealt with 15 minutes of questions, before the judges came to a verdict.

Hamdi Al-Amawi, Chair of Judges for the Best Use of Customer Insight and Feedback- Strategic Approach category, set the tone, “This is a very crucial approach that organizations MUST implement to succeed in businesses. Great presentations were delivered by the finalists with real case studies and examples of how they elevate customer experience at their organizations by utilising customer insights and feedback.”

Another, Scott Lee Holloway, was “!absolutely blown away by the incredible work being done around the world to embed a genuinely customer-centric approach. From creative CX innovations to deeply human stories of transformation, the standard this year is exceptional, and I can’t wait for the presentations to begin and to be walked through each submission in greater detail.”

And Sue Duris summed up the overall mood, saying “This year’s entries have been the hardest to judge yet. Every finalist is doing genuinely transformative work—the bar for CX excellence keeps rising. That’s what excites me most. We’re not celebrating incremental improvements. We’re recognising organisations fundamentally rethinking how they create value.”

Can we Have the Votes of the Belgian Jury?

Of course, not everything can go right across such a tight schedule, with a few unexpected glitches in The Matrix.

From animals photobombing (hello, guest judge-pup Nora) some of the categories, and, inevitably, there was the odd communications glitch. But the teams persevered and everyone worked together to deliver the vast majority or presentations on time.

And not every presenation was pitch perfect, but that isn’t the point, as Rick Mans highlighted, ahead of the judging.

“Many great teams decided their work was ready to be seen. That’s harder than it sounds. The entries that show up aren’t always polished solutions that are fully finished. They’re always proof that someone cared enough to finish and to make a difference.”

These teams aren’t hedging. They’re not softening their ideas or apologising for ambition. They made something, named it, and put it forward and should be proud of the difference they are making! That takes guts.”

Congratulations from the CXM team to everyone at Awards International, the judges and, most importantly, the finalists. We hope to see you all at the Park Plaza London Riverbank, on the 12th November. The Awards are hosted by Ian Golding and Nienke Bloem, and we’ll be running around bringing you the news and interviews.

Are you keen on signing up as a judge or entrant for the 2026 edition? Visit the ICXA page for early sign up news in the coming weeks.