February 18, 2026
The Winners Revealed! 150 CXM Stars in 2026
The votes are in, the judges have deliberated, and the results are finally here! We’re delighted to unveil the CXM Stars 150 winners for 2026 — celebrating the most dynamic, impactful, and inspiring customer experience leaders and influencers from around the world.
The CXM Stars programme continues to shine as a uniquely community-driven collection of individuals who are building the future of Customer Experience — not just talking about it. This year, we had entries from CX leaders in 35 countries!
This year, we made some key changes to CXM Stars. Firstly, as a truly global initiative, it was important to extend the opportunity for CX leaders to get involved from anywhere in the world. This year, we have crowned 150 leaders, which is roughly triple the number from previous years.
Celebrating Global CX Leadership
The CXM Stars list recognises excellence, influence, and impact across all parts of the customer experience ecosystem — from transformation leaders and innovators to storytellers and strategists. This year saw a record number of over 10,000 votes cast from the CX community.
The final rankings were determined by a combination of community votes and expert-judge scoring, strengthening the balance between popular recognition and peer-reviewed excellence.
You can review the finalised list of winners here.
What Makes a CXM Star?
Being named a CXM Star isn’t about titles or tenure — it’s about impact. These leaders have:
- Achieved measurable CX improvements across their organisations, or their customer’s organisation
- Championed client-focused strategies that generate real results
- Contributed to the community, shared knowledge and endeavoured to inspires others
Did you miss the deadline to enter the programme for 2026? You can register your interest for next year’s programme with David Dungay by sending an email to [email protected]
Thank you!
This programme continues to grow because of the passion and engagement of the CX community. We extend our thanks to everyone involved, including:
- To everyone who nominated a coworker or leader — thank you.
- To those who took the time to vote and share their favourite CX leaders on LinkedIn — your voice is significant.
- And a huge shout-out to our expert judging panel, whose insight helped shape this list. You can find the judging panel here.
Your participation drives greater visibility for CX excellence worldwide.
What This List Says About CX in 2026
The 2025 CXM Stars reflect key shifts in the industry:
CX has entered the boardroom and is becoming a significant driver of business strategy and decision making. As a result, CX leadership is present in businesses across the globe and is no longer just a ‘nice to have’, but an essential business function. We are seeing leaders emerge from economies outside of the global powerhouses and there is something to be learned about how different cultures and regulatory environments view their long-term CX strategies. One element remains true regardless of geography, there’s a rising emphasis on evidence-based decision-making and human-centred design. This shift puts data and humans at the heart of decisions and will become increasingly important as AI continues to penetrate organisations and impact customer engagements.
Peek behind the list and you’ll see the future of CX isn’t singular — it’s shared, collaborative, and evolving rapidly.
CX Vision
As we celebrate today’s leaders, we also look forward to what’s next.
These CXM Stars aren’t just doing great work now — they are defining what customer experience will look like over the next decade. Their observations, innovations, and teamwork spirit are forming the foundation of CX as we manage major changes in the workplace.
Stay tuned for deeper features on many of these CXM Stars, including exclusive interviews and success stories you won’t want to miss.
