Larry Leung has been reappointed Chair of the Regional Canadian Council of the Customer Experience Professionals Association for a second consecutive year, an uncommon distinction within the global organization’s leadership structure. The nomination extends Leung’s leadership tenure with CXPA Canada to four years, following two years as co-chair and now a second year as chair, at a time when customer experience is becoming increasingly central to business strategy across retail and service industries.
“Typically people only get one year, maybe two at most,” Leung said in an interview. “Being re-nominated more than once reflects the trust the organization has in the work we’ve been doing and the impact we’ve been able to make across industries.”
CXPA is a global, independent non-profit dedicated to advancing customer experience as a professional discipline. The organization supports more than 4,000 team members worldwide, administers the Certified Customer Experience Professional credential, and connects a global community of practitioners through education, events, and thought leadership.
Leung noted that CXPA’s global reach continues to grow, with more than 25,000 followers across social platforms and a steadily expanding base of certified professionals. The organization is approaching its 15th anniversary, marking a period of significant evolution in how customer experience is defined and measured.
“The profession started from a marketing mindset, focused on advertising and touchpoints,” Leung said. “Today it has become much more holistic. Customer experience now touches trust, relationships, reputation, and increasingly, financial performance and revenue attribution.”
Within Canada, CXPA’s regional council plays a critical role in localizing global standards and supporting professional development. Through meetups, webinars, and networking, the council works to elevate customer experience as a recognized business discipline in Canadian organizations.
Bringing a Global CX Leadership Summit to Toronto
One of the most significant milestones during Leung’s tenure is the decision to bring CXPA’s CX Leaders Advance conference to Toronto April 27-29, 2026. The event marks the first time the global leadership summit will be held outside the United States, a move Leung says required sustained advocacy from the Canadian council.
“Canada fought hard to host this marquee CX event,” he said. “About 250 global CX leaders will be landing in Toronto to discuss what matters today and what leaders need to be thinking about tomorrow.”
The conference agenda will focus heavily on artificial intelligence, not from a purely technical perspective, but through the lens of how AI is reshaping customer experience, governance, and risk management.
AI, Risk, and the New Mandate for Customer Experience
Leung believes customer experience has entered a new phase, one where it increasingly overlaps with enterprise risk management. As brands operate across digital, physical, and social channels, reputational risk can emerge from places far beyond traditional customer service interactions.
“Customers are paying attention all the time,” he said. “It could be a store interaction, a service call, or even a comment attributed to someone once associated with your brand. All of that can affect trust and loyalty.”
He pointed to recent high-profile examples where misinformation or legacy associations triggered consumer backlash, forcing brands to respond quickly to protect trust. In this environment, Leung sees AI as both an opportunity and a responsibility.
“AI can help organizations monitor sentiment in real time, summarize conversations, and identify emerging risks before they escalate,” he said. “But it also raises questions around consent, privacy, and how data is actually being used.”
Canadian Retail, Privacy, and Regional Complexity
For Canadian retailers, Leung emphasized that customer experience strategies must account for regulatory and cultural differences across provinces. Operating nationally often means navigating bilingual requirements, varying privacy laws, and differing consumer expectations.
“If you operate in Quebec, the rules are very different,” he said. “Brands sometimes fail without realizing it, simply because they haven’t designed experiences that reflect those realities.”
This complexity reinforces the need for customer experience leaders who understand governance, data, and systems, areas where Leung’s background in audit, IT risk, and quality management provides a distinct perspective.
Personalization, Loyalty, and Smarter Use of Data
Looking ahead to 2026, Leung expects Canadian retail to move beyond transactional loyalty models toward more nuanced, data-informed relationships. He sees brands increasingly combining transaction data, browsing behaviour, in-store interactions, and location insights to better understand customer intent.
“Loyalty is no longer just about how often you buy,” he said. “It’s about how you spend, why you spend, and how the brand helps you get value from what you bought.”
That shift includes more education-driven content, better onboarding for complex products, and proactive support designed to reduce frustration and complaints, particularly as smart technology becomes more prevalent in homes.
Rethinking Physical and Digital Retail Experiences
Leung also highlighted how data is reshaping physical retail, from store layouts to merchandising decisions. Heat mapping, conversion tracking, and behavioural analysis are increasingly informing how spaces are designed and how products are presented.
“Store layouts and window displays are becoming data-driven,” he said. “It’s about showcasing what customers actually respond to, not making assumptions.”
In luxury retail, he expects high-touch experiences to remain critical, even as digital tools evolve. Higher-priced products still benefit from in-person interaction, storytelling, and a sense of belonging that cannot be fully replicated online.
As Chair of CXPA Canada, Leung sees his role as both a convener and a translator, helping organizations connect customer experience strategy to real business outcomes. Through his consulting work at Transformidy, he continues to advise organizations across retail, travel, and government. He is also working on a book on the customer experience industry and leadership to be published in 2026.
“Customer experience now sits at the intersection of trust, technology, and revenue,” he said. “Brands that treat it as a risk management function, not just a service layer, will be better positioned to compete.”
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