COVER Customer Care Conference 2026: Roundup

Kicking off the morning, Beth Whelan, chief strategy and data officer, Reassured discussed whether AI will ever replace an adviser. The rise in AI and data machine learning is changing customer expectations, Whelan told delegates, with customers expecting highly personalised recommendations, ongoing values and relationships rather than one off transactions. "AI should be able to understand when a customer is confused, disengaged and it should be able to adjust accordingly," Whelan said. However, it has limitations, such as lacking deeper awareness, flexibility and judgement to solv...