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The CCMA has announced the launch of an extensive programme of online and in-person events and workshops aimed at supporting contact centre professionals as they continue to tackle the challenges and complexities of deploying and operationalising AI technologies.
The programme comes at a time when a significant proportion of contact centre leaders rank AI and automation adoption as their primary task for the 12 months ahead. In a CCMA member survey conducted in June 2026, 58% of respondents said “the adoption of AI and automation” was their top priority over the coming year. 54% of respondents rank AI adoption and integration as their top support requirement from the CCMA.
The programme begins on 12 November 2026 with AI Readiness for Customer Operations, a five-part online seminar series exploring how organisations can move from experimenting with AI to redesigning customer operations around it. Chaired by the CCMA’s Head of Content Chris Ward, the series will feature AI and customer-operations and AI specialist Martin Hill-Wilson alongside operational leaders, combining expert perspective with practical experience and audience debate.
Together, the sessions will combine expert guidance with learning from within the CCMA community, helping leaders compare experiences, assess readiness and make informed choices as they develop increasingly AI-assisted operations.
Alongside the seminar series, the CCMA Academy has launched its AI Leadership Programme, a structured six-module learning journey for people shaping, leading or implementing AI change in the contact centre. The programme is designed to help leaders assess organisational competence, distinguish practical opportunities from hype, determine where AI and human expertise create the greatest value, prepare roles and skills, establish effective governance and redesign customer resolution for an AI-enabled future.
Delivered through two immersive London masterclasses and four interactive virtual workshops, the programme runs from 20 January to 12 May 2027. Participants will apply learning within their own organisations and build towards a personalised AI Leadership Action Plan, turning ambition into clear priorities and practical next steps.
In addition, a UK-wide AI Reality Check Roadshow will complement the online series and Academy programme, creating highly interactive forums where contact centre leaders can compare experiences, hear practical AI stories and learn from others across the CCMA community. Hosted at member sites around the UK from December 2026 and across the first quarter of 2027, the exact dates, venues and agendas for the roadshow events are set to be revealed in the coming weeks.
Leigh Hopwood, CEO of the CCMA, said of the educational series: “Contact centre leaders do not need more AI hype. They need practical support to decide where AI can create genuine value, how to prepare their people and operations and how to move forward responsibly. By combining expert thinking with honest experiences and learning from within our community, this programme will help leaders turn AI ambition into confident action.”
About the CCMA
For more than 30 years, the CCMA has been dedicated to supporting contact centre leaders. We push ourselves to do more for our thriving membership base, which is the largest community of industry professionals in the UK.
The CCMA was founded with the goal of sharing best practice and networking to improve skills and knowledge in order to progress contact centre operations – and we live by that to this day.
We give those who work in contact centres the chance to discuss ideas and share experiences through member-only events online and in-person. Member organisations are invited to become Accredited through the Contact Centre Standards Framework and get independent guidance on where they can improve. There is the opportunity to compare operations against industry standards and 40+ core metrics, via our annual CCMA Benchmark.
Our training arm, CCMA Academy gives contact centre professionals at all levels a structured learning opportunity to support both personal and professional development for the benefit of their operations. We also celebrate the progress our industry is making through the UK National Contact Centres Awards. Those that win go on to share their stories through channels such as the UK National Contact Centre Conference, Best Practice Visits and CareerTalk, while also providing input into our CCMA Circles and other events.
In 2026, the CCMA coordinated the UK’s first National Contact Centre Day, a celebration that engaged more than 4m people both within and outside the sector, via online and in-person events held by a vast range of organisations across the country. The event will take place annually, with the next National Contact Centre Day set for 3 March 2027.
www.ccma.org.uk
Press contact
Chris Ward
Head of Content
CCMA
chris@ccma.org.uk
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