Chicagoland-HDI A Great 2025

Help Center
< All Topics
Print

Chicagoland-HDI A Great 2025

Posted
Updated
ByDawn Christine Simmons

Chicagoland-HDI A Great 2025: Wow thanks to everyone who continues to congratulate me for completing one year of service as part of the amazing leaders I get to partner with as we stand up our new Chapter, in our first year. It was an amazing year, and our 2026 is looking to be even better! I began writing for Support World, and working with Chicagoland-HDI. At last my heart is at home in our community of best practices. Just in time for the paradigm shift from Industrial Service Management to Agentic AI Service and Support.

The HDI Local Chapter Officer Leadership Summit in Columbus was epic

That nation’s biggest personalities and leaders together for a weekend of sheer fun, inspiration, and nonstop motivation. I cannot wait for NEXT years Summit to be MORE present for MORE events. I was supercharged from this event and everyone there did.

Leading up to this, I was delighted to have my article listed in the top 10 trending articles of Q3. There is so much talent in this publication.

image

A major highlight for me was recognition in HDI’s Top 10 Trending Articles of Q3, where the article
“MythBusters: We Created Shadow IT. Now Let Us Fix the Dark Threat” ranked alongside some of the most influential HDI content of the quarter.

Why this mattered:

  • It validated that Shadow IT is a leadership and service design issue, not just a security problem
  • It reinforced demand for balanced governance that removes friction instead of adding it
  • It showed the community is ready for mature conversations about experience, access, and accountability

We started the discussions and best practices in our Chicagoland-HDI A Great 2025 start, that continues

Industry, Education, and service and support is in a scramble for the specific secure, and proven tools and how to engage and prepare people that know how and why to integrate AI properly into a service and support model. how to skill employees to become stewards of quality service capabilities.

AI is no longer “next year.” Gartner found 77% of service & support leaders feel executive pressure to deploy AI, and 75% report increased AI budgets. At the same time, Gartner warned that 40%+ of agentic AI projects may be scrapped by 2027 when outcomes and governance aren’t clear—so Reuters suggests Support leaders must measure value, not hype.

Across industries, organizations grounded in strong leadership best practice communities outperform peers by over 20%. Meanwhile, service desks are evolving into experience hubs powered by automation, chat-based support, and generative AI.

Against this backdrop, Chicagoland HDI delivered what leaders actually need: practical guidance, trusted community, and real-world insight across AI service management, ITSM, ITIL, and service delivery transformation. These resources didn’t just inform—they equipped leaders to act with confidence.

Chicagoland HDI: Year-in-Review Highlights

This past year marked a pivotal chapter for Chicagoland HDI—one defined by leadership clarity, community momentum, and a decisive shift toward human-centered, AI-enabled service excellence. Across events, content, and partnerships, the chapter consistently delivered what modern IT and service leaders need most: practical insight, trusted community, and measurable outcomes.

Signature Programs & Milestones

Executive Leadership Day – Humanizing IT & XLAs

HDI Chicagoland: Executive Leadership Day Agenda:
HDI Chicagoland: Executive Leadership Day Agenda:

This flagship leadership event brought executives and practitioners together to address one urgent reality: technology strategies fail when leadership behaviors don’t align with culture and experience.

Topics covered included:

Featured speakers delivered actionable frameworks, not theory—helping leaders translate experience data into decisions that improve engagement, resilience, and performance.

HDI Chicagoland Annual Boat Cruise

HDI Chicagoland Boat Cruise Aisera And Happy Signals

The annual boat cruise became more than a networking event—it became a community moment we will look forward to for years to come.

Why it stood out:

  • Leaders joined from across regions, reinforcing cross-chapter collaboration
  • Sponsors engaged authentically through conversation, not sales pitches
  • Mentorship, recruiting conversations, and partnerships formed organically

This event proved that strong relationships accelerate learning and leadership growth.

Thought Leadership & Content Recognition

Chicagoland HDI’s voice extended well beyond local events through contributions to industry dialogue.

  • It validated that Shadow IT is a leadership and service design issue, not just a security problem
  • It reinforced demand for balanced governance that removes friction instead of adding it
  • It showed the community is ready for mature conversations about experience, access, and accountability

Powerful Sponsors Made a successful 2025 Possible

We look to 2026 with even greater optimism, and hope to partner with more service and support industry leaders. There are many topics are members would like to be part of, and with greater sponsorship, partnership and even programming we can continue to articulate leading value through this new AI Service Paradigm, and evolve the Service and Support Excellence practices that HDI has delivered for decades, always evolving with the industry demand, steadfast focus on collaboration, partnership and innovation.

Chicagoland HDI’s programming is powered by sponsors who believe in community, education, and service excellence. Their support enabled high-impact events and accessible leadership development.

Key sponsors of 2025 included:

  • Protiviti
  • HIT Global
  • XLA Institute
  • SymphonyAI
  • Aisera
  • HappySignals
  • Splashtop
  • Robert Half

These organizations didn’t just sponsor events—they invested in leadership capability, workforce readiness, and responsible innovation.

Who can we include in our leadership circle for 2026? We are looking to expand our sponsors, thought leaders, and panels of best practice voices.

Influential Speakers & Voices

The chapter welcomed respected industry leaders who consistently connected strategy to execution:

  • Wesley Eugene – Translating human-centered principles into repeatable leadership systems
  • Doug Rabold – Measuring what matters through experience-driven outcomes
  • Tim Lawes – Turning AI potential into human-centered impact
  • Barrett Shrader – Leading through disruption with resilience and clarity

Their sessions consistently delivered frameworks leaders could apply immediately, not just inspiration.

Core Topics We Advanced

Across all programming, several themes emerged as mission-critical:

  • Human-Centered IT Leadership – Trust, empathy, and experience as leadership responsibilities
  • XLAs & Experience Management – Measuring outcomes instead of outputs
  • AI-Enabled Support – Responsible, governed use of generative and agentic AI
  • Service Desk Evolution – From ticket resolution to experience enablement
  • Governance & Shadow IT – Fixing root causes through better service design
  • Workforce & Leadership Pipelines – Mentorship, inclusion, and career pathways

Together, these topics reflect a maturing service profession—one that understands technology alone does not create value.

Why This Year Mattered

This year mattered because it showed what’s possible when:

  • Leaders learn together instead of in isolation
  • Sponsors invest in people, not just platforms
  • AI conversations include governance and humanity
  • Experience becomes a leadership metric, not a side project

Chicagoland HDI didn’t just host events—it built momentum. It strengthened a community where service excellence, AI readiness, and human leadership coexist.

That foundation now positions the chapter—and its members—for an even more impactful year ahead.

What’s Next for Chicagoland HDI

Looking ahead:

  • Deeper AI service pilots
  • Stronger student-to-leader pipelines
  • Expanded thought leadership
  • Continued focus on human-centered outcomes

The foundation is strong. The future is collaborative.

Other Chicagoland-HDI A Great 2025 Resources

image
Showcasing Chicago Service Excellence: HDI Chicagoland Illinois Chicagoland Website: https://hdc-chicagoland.silkstart.com/ Contact: Daniel Guinto Email: danielguintohdi@gmail.com
Showcasing Support World Service Excellence: HDI Chicagoland Illinois
https://hdc-chicagoland.silkstart.com/ or https://www.linkedin.com/groups/133719
Table of Contents
↑