Speakers

Jessica Laird is a senior utility and customer operations executive with more than 25 years of experience leading large-scale transformation across North American energy organizations. She is recognized for building high-performing teams, stabilizing complex operations, and delivering measurable improvements in customer experience, operational performance, and financial outcomes. Jessica currently serves as Director of Customer Experience Operations at Arizona Public Service (APS), where she leads a large, distributed organization focused on delivering reliable, efficient, and customer-centered service at scale. Her role spans contact center operations, process optimization, and technology enablement, with a strong emphasis on aligning day-to-day execution with long-term transformation priorities. Prior to APS, Jessica was Senior Vice President of Customer Experience at LUMA Energy, where she built the customer organization from the ground up during one of the most complex utility transformations in North America. In this role, she led a team of 800+,''implemented a CCaaS''platform, launched digital customer channels, and established governance, quality, and performance frameworks that delivered industry-competitive service levels. Jessica also led significant improvements in revenue recovery and billing operations, helping stabilize a multibillion-dollar portfolio in a highly challenging regulatory and operational environment. Earlier in her career, Jessica played a key role in launching and scaling ATCO Energy'''s retail business, where she built core operating processes, stood up customer care and billing capabilities, and supported rapid growth while maintaining strong customer satisfaction. She has also led strategy and operations work, large-scale outsourcing, and technology programs. In addition to her operating roles, Jessica has served as an executive advisor, supporting utilities across North America on transformation programs, vendor strategy, and operating model design. Her advisory work focuses on helping organizations bring clarity to complex decisions, strengthen governance, and deliver results in high-risk, high-visibility environments. Jessica is known for her direct, practical leadership style and her ability to translate strategy into execution. She brings deep expertise in customer operations, field service integration, digital transformation, and large-scale program delivery, with a consistent focus on accountability, simplicity, and outcomes.