Why I Believe the Future of CX Must Be Responsible by Design
By Clare Muscutt, Founder of Women in CX
For as long as I’ve worked in customer experience, I’ve believed one thing deeply:
Building a brilliant customer experience doesn’t happen by accident — it happens by design.
It’s a line I’ve repeated for years. On stage. In boardrooms and beyond.
One that’s been shared, quoted, and attributed back to me more times than I can count.
But what matters far more than where it’s been quoted is why it still matters.
Because today, that belief feels more urgent than ever.
Over the past year, I’ve had hundreds of conversations with people working in CX — inside our Inner Circle community, at WiCX UnConferences, on panels, and in quieter, more honest moments behind the scenes.
Different industries. Different roles. But the same tension kept coming up.
Customer experience is being asked to carry more responsibility than ever — for growth, retention, trust, efficiency, and brand reputation — while the systems around it are becoming more complex, more automated, and harder to influence.
And increasingly, technology — particularly AI — is being introduced faster than experiences are being intentionally redesigned.
What struck me wasn’t a lack of ambition. It was the opposite.
People care deeply about doing this work well. They want to create experiences that work — for customers, for employees, and for the business. But too often, they’re trying to do that inside operating models that were never designed to support good experience in the first place.
“Customer experience is being asked to carry more responsibility than ever — for growth, retention, trust, efficiency, and brand reputation — while the systems around it are becoming more complex, more automated, and harder to influence. And increasingly, technology — particularly AI — is being introduced faster than experiences are being intentionally redesigned”
That’s why, in 2026, we’ve articulated something we’ve been circling for a long time at Women in CX.
Our 2026 Manifesto: Responsible CX by Design.
Not as a trend. Not as a campaign. But as a clear, deliberate point of view.
To me, Responsible CX by Design is the natural evolution of that long-held belief.
If experience doesn’t happen by accident, then neither does responsibility.
Responsibility has to be designed in — through the choices we make about journeys, systems, metrics, technology, and leadership behaviour.
It means recognising that AI and automation don’t magically fix broken experiences — they amplify whatever design already exists.
It means understanding that efficiency without intent creates risk, not progress.
And it means leaders being willing to own not just outcomes, but the impact of how those outcomes are achieved.
That’s why our 2026 focus is on design and leadership.
Because design shapes the experience — but leadership determines whether good design is allowed to survive, scale, and succeed.
The WiCX 2026 Manifesto is the collective expression of this belief.
It’s been shaped by the lived experience of our members, the conversations we’ve hosted globally, and the realities people are navigating inside complex organisations every day.
For me, it also represents a full-circle moment.
A belief I’ve held for years is now something we’re standing behind — publicly, collectively, and with intent.
You can read the full WiCX 2026 Manifesto here.
And if it resonates, I hope you’ll be part of what comes next.
Because building a great customer experience has never happened by accident… the future of Responsible CX won’t either.
Clare Muscutt
Women in CX | Founder & CEO
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