NiCE World 2026 aims to push AI beyond pilot trials

NiCE has announced NiCE World 2026 in Orlando, an event aimed at companies moving from AI trials to broader deployment.

At the gathering, NiCE plans to present updates to its customer experience AI platform and agentic AI products. More than 2,500 customer experience and technology executives are expected to attend.

Participating organisations include Citi, Hyatt, Fabletics, Aetna, British Telecom, Geico, Lowe's and Nationwide. Strategic partners due to take part include Accenture, AWS, Concentrix, Deloitte, Pindrop, PwC, ServiceNow and Snowflake.

The programme will feature more than 150 sessions on strategy, architecture and execution, along with hands-on AI labs, training sessions and an AI Agent Factory, where attendees will build and certify an AI agent during the event.

The conference reflects a broader push by technology suppliers to move the market narrative beyond pilot projects and toward operational deployment. In customer service, that shift has centred on AI for self-service, journey management and workforce operations.

For NiCE, the event also provides a stage for senior leadership to outline product direction. Scott Russell, Chief Executive Officer; Jeff Comstock, President of Product & Technology; and Philipp Heltewig, Chief AI Officer, are scheduled to deliver keynote sessions on the company's approach to customer experience AI.

Customer-led sessions are expected to focus on real-world deployments, suggesting NiCE wants to highlight practical use cases and operational detail rather than broad claims about AI adoption.

Market focus

Agentic AI has become a prominent term across the software industry, generally referring to systems that can take action across tasks with less human intervention. In contact centre and customer experience software, suppliers have increasingly applied the label to tools designed to automate service requests, guide agents and manage workflows.

NiCE is positioning its event around that theme as competition intensifies among customer engagement software providers. Large technology groups and specialist vendors alike are trying to show that AI systems can do more than assist staff with recommendations, and can instead complete a greater share of customer-facing and back-office work.

Attending organisations are expected to discuss how they use AI to automate self-service, orchestrate customer journeys and improve workforce performance. Those three areas have become key battlegrounds in the customer experience technology market as buyers seek lower service costs and faster resolution times.

Although the event is in the US, the list of named participants points to an effort to draw a broad mix of multinational customers and partners. More than 25 other organisations are also expected to join the programme.

Executive message

Russell framed the conference around operational scale rather than experimentation.

"AI isn't an add-on to customer experience; it's the intelligence powering it. The focus now is execution at scale. NiCE World is where leaders come to see what that looks like in practice-deploying AI with precision, governing it with confidence, and delivering real business impact. This is where the future of customer experience comes to life," said Scott Russell, Chief Executive Officer, NiCE.

NiCE's description of the event suggests it wants to link product announcements with customer case studies and partner support. That formula is common at enterprise software conferences, where suppliers try to reassure buyers that adoption can move beyond technical pilots into business processes with governance and training in place.

NiCE operates in a competitive field spanning contact centre software, workforce engagement tools and broader customer experience systems. AI has become central to that contest, with vendors under pressure to show measurable returns and clearer implementation paths for large organisations.

The Orlando agenda, with its focus on customer stories, technical sessions and AI agent building, suggests NiCE is trying to appeal both to senior decision-makers and to practitioners responsible for deployment. Leaders from major brands are expected to share how agentic AI is changing customer experience operations.