About the Session
As one of the most populous and diverse states in the country, New York faces a unique challenge: delivering equitable, accessible, and user-friendly services to millions. In this session, Abbey Kos, New York’s Deputy Chief Customer Experience Officer, will share how the Governor’s Office of Customer Experience embeds customer experience (CX) principles across its agencies, driving better experiences both online and off.
Learning Objectives
This session will explore how New York is:
- Applying human-centered design to modernize critical services
- Using data, journey mapping, and resident feedback to identify pain points and improve service delivery
- Building centralized digital tools and shared services to streamline experiences across agencies
- Committing to accessibility, plain language, and equity as foundational CX pillars
Whether you’re leading a digital transformation or just getting started in CX, this session offers practical strategies and powerful inspiration from one of the nation’s most ambitious state-level efforts.
Presenter Information
Abbey Kos was appointed Deputy Chief Customer Experience Officer by Governor Kathy Hochul in March 2025. A trained user researcher and content strategist, she has more than 15 years of experience leading digital transformations for federal, state, and local governments across the United States and the United Kingdom.
Abbey joins the Executive Chamber from Amazon Web Services, where she managed Amazon’s digital experience portfolio for state and local governments nationwide. Prior to that she served as Director of Strategy at 18F, the White House’s “gold standard” of government transformation. While at 18F, she founded the agency’s service design team and led content for the first government-wide response to COVID-19.
Before her work in and for the state of New York, Abbey spent five years in London leading content for FutureGov (a transformation agency dedicated to improving local government social services) and Doteveryone (a responsible technology think tank led by Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho), as well as 10 years leading public affairs campaigns in Washington, DC. She is a frequent university guest lecturer, including at Harvard Kennedy School and the University of Michigan, and previously served on the board of Technologists for the Public Good.
Abbey holds degrees from Hiram College in Ohio and the London School of Economics and Political Science. She lives in Brooklyn.