Conference Keynotes
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Happiness Doesn’t Pay: Why satisfied employees leave and how to achieve deep employee bonding Greg Daines CEO Founder ChurnRX Every organization has been operating on the principle that retention is all about satisfaction. There’s just one problem: it isn’t true! Greg will present ground-breaking research that explodes the “satisfaction" myth, reveal why people really stay, and show the simple playbook a new generation of leaders are using to create lasting employee and customer bonding.
Greg (aka "the churn doctor") is the SaaS industry's leading expert on customer churn and driving durable growth. Throughout his career as a founder, CEO, customer success leader, and consultant, he has made a habit of challenging conventional thinking. Greg is widely known for his ground-breaking research on customer churn and growth. Greg is a frequent keynote speaker and podcast guest, works closely with industry leaders as an executive coach and business transformation consultant, and writes extensively on topics of customer success and SaaS growth. Greg holds advanced degrees in business and economics from MIT and Cambridge University.
| Artificial? Please, I’m the Intelligence Behind this Operation Cara North Co-Founder VitalSmarts As AI infilrates everything from course content to coaching bots, L&D professionals face a big question: will you automate… or elevate? This session hits pause on the AI hype machine and digs into a critical truth: machines may process data, but only humans design for meaning. AI can crank out text in seconds, but it can’t read the room, build trust, or spark real behavior change. That’s where you come in. We’ll dissect what AI actually does well and where it falls flat. We will have real discussions about how to partner with AI without becoming its intern, and get practical tools to build inclusive, emotionally intelligent, learning science–backed programs that still feel unmistakably human. This isn’t a fight against AI, it’s a reminder that you are the intelligence behind this operation. Let’s reclaim our role as the architects of learning, growth, and purpose in our organizations. Cara North is an award-winning learning experience leader with experience across higher education, corporate L&D, and independent consulting. Known for her practical, learner-centered approach, Cara has designed and led programs in new hire training, job-specific skill development, leadership training, and accessibility-forward learning initiatives. Her career has spanned university classrooms, Fortune 100 companies, and the freelance world: giving her a unique, cross-sector perspective on what makes learning both effective and meaningful. Cara is the author of Learning Experience Design Essentials and teaches as an adjunct instructor at Boise State University where she mentors the next generation of L&D professionals. |