SERVSIG 2026
SERVSIG 2026

Plenary Sessions & Keynote

Plenary Session • June 11th 2026

 

Care and Innovation for Humanity

SESSION CHAIR

Picture of Ray Fisk

Ray Fisk

Founder/President of ServCollab & Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Marketing at Texas State University

More info

Featured Speakers

Picture of Cristina Mele

Cristina Mele

Professor of Service Innovation at the University of Naples Federico II

More info
Picture of John Bateson

John Bateson

Visiting Professor of Management at Bayes Business School, University of London

More info
Picture of Jorge Correia-Pinto

Jorge Correia-Pinto

 Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Minho & Director of Pediatric Surgery at the Hospital of Braga

More info
Picture of Luísa Bernardes

Luísa Bernardes

International Projects Manager at the Portugal Social Innovation Mission Unit

More info

Ray Fisk is Professor of Marketing at KU Leuven & Founder/Co-Director of the Center for Service Intelligence (CSI) at Ghent University (Belgium). He serves as co-editor of the Journal of Service Research. His research focuses on the role of customers, employees, and technology in service encounters. He has received numerous distinctions, including multiple Best Paper Awards, Best Reviewer Awards, the Journal of Service Research Outstanding Associate Editor Award, the Best PhD Tutor Award from Ghent University, the Emerging Service Scholar Award from the American Marketing Association, and the Steve Baron Award for outstanding contributions to the service research community. Bart has served as co-chair of the Service Special Interest Group (SERVSIG) of the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the Service Marketing Special Interest Group of the European Marketing Academy (EMAC). He is also the co-founder of the Let’s Talk About Service Conference (LTAS) and founder of the Belgian Service Research Days (BSRD).

Cristina Mele is  Professor of Service Innovation at the Department of Economics, Management and Institutions, University of Naples Federico II.  She serves as the University’s Delegate for Innovation and Third Mission and coordinates the Smart Innovation Lab. Her research focuses on innovation, smart technologies and social robots, value creation, markets, and service ecosystems. She has authored approximately 300 scholarly publications. Her work has appeared in leading international journals, including Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Service Research, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Service Management, among others. Cristina is the recipient of the Service-Dominant Logic Award (2019), the Edvardsson Industry Impact Award (2025), and the Grönroos Service Research Award (2025). She also serves as an ambassador for ISSIP (International Society of Service Innovation Professionals).

John Bateson is visiting Professor of Management at Bayes Business School, University of London. Formerly a Professor at London Business School and Stanford Business School. He has over twenty years of business experience, including roles as a management consultant and CEO of a multinational company listed on the London Stock Exchange. He is currently a Trustee of two large European medical charities. His research focuses on the ageing consumer, ageism, and technology, and he is the author of numerous articles and books in the field of service marketing.

Jorge Correia-Pinto is a distinguished Full Professor and Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Minho, while also serving as the Director of Pediatric Surgery at the Hospital of Braga. A preeminent figure in pediatric and neonatal surgery, he has performed over 15,000 interventions, including more than 750 neonatal procedures, and pioneered minimally invasive techniques in Portugal. Beyond clinical practice, he is internationally acclaimed for his leadership in translational research and surgical education. He directs global training programs that educate over 500 surgeons annually, supported by a prolific research career featuring more than 250 peer-reviewed publications (h-35) and collaborations with elite institutions such as IRCAD in Strasbourg. In 2026, his transformative contributions to infant minimally invasive surgery were recognized with the Ministry of Health’s Gold Grade Distinguished Service Medal, cementing his legacy as a global leader in advancing specialized surgical care and medical innovation in Pediatric Surgery.
Luísa Bernardes is International Projects Manager at the Portugal Social Innovation Mission Unit and Centro Region Representative. She has extensive experience in social innovation, international cooperation, and European funding programmes. She previously worked in the Simplification and Interconnection Unit of the Agency for Cohesion and Development, where she acted as the Portuguese EaSI National Contact Point and expert on the establishment of National Competence Centres for Social Innovation. She is also the founder of Mulheres Incomuns, (‘Uncommon Women‘) a community dedicated to celebrating women’s success and leadership. Over the years, she has contributed to innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems through roles at Copernicus Accelerator and the Enterprise Europe Network, supporting SMEs in innovation management, internationalisation, access to funding, and strategic growth across sectors including space, environment, and healthcare.

Plenary Session • June 12th 2026

 

Human-Centered AI in Service:
Orchestrating Technologies, People & Organizations

SESSION CHAIR

Picture of Bart Larivière

Bart Larivière

Professor of Marketing at KU Leuven & Founder/Co-Director of the Center for Service Intelligence at Ghent University

More info

Featured Speakers

Picture of Daniela Seixas

Daniela Seixas

Founder & CEO at Tonic Easy Medical

More info
Picture of Jochen Wirtz

Jochen Wirtz

Vice Dean of MBA Programs & Professor of Marketing at the National University of Singapore

More info
Picture of Nelson Pinho

Nelson Pinho

Global Head of Digital & AI at EDP

More info
Picture of Paulo Novais

Paulo Novais

Professor of Computer Science at the University of Minho & Coordinator of LASI – Associated Laboratory for Intelligent Systems

More info
Bart Larivière is Professor of Marketing at KU Leuven & Founder/Co-Director of the Center for Service Intelligence (CSI) at Ghent University (Belgium). He serves as co-editor of the Journal of Service Research. His research focuses on the role of customers, employees, and technology in service encounters. He has received numerous distinctions, including multiple Best Paper Awards, Best Reviewer Awards, the Journal of Service Research Outstanding Associate Editor Award, the Best PhD Tutor Award from Ghent University, the Emerging Service Scholar Award from the American Marketing Association, and the Steve Baron Award for outstanding contributions to the service research community. Bart has served as co-chair of the Service Special Interest Group (SERVSIG) of the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the Service Marketing Special Interest Group of the European Marketing Academy (EMAC). He is also the co-founder of the Let’s Talk About Service Conference (LTAS) and founder of the Belgian Service Research Days (BSRD).
Daniela Seixas is a medical doctor, neuroscientist, and entrepreneur passionate about connecting different areas of knowledge. Founder of Tonic App, a professional mobile platform for physicians, built alongside a team with a strong focus on collaborative culture. She holds a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Porto in collaboration with the University of Oxford, and an Executive MBA from IE Business School. Daniela further completed executive programs at Harvard Business School and specialized training in AI Governance and Privacy through IAPP, with interests spanning healthcare, technology, entrepreneurship, and responsible AI.

Jochen Wirtz is Vice Dean MBA Programs and Professor of Marketing at the National University of Singapore. He is a leading authority on services marketing and management and a best-selling author of over 20 books, including “The Human-Agent Orchestrator: Leading and Scaling AI-Driven Organizations” (2026) and Services Marketing: People, Technology, Strategy (2022, 9th ed.). With combined sales of over 1.5 million copies, they have become the globally leading services marketing textbooks. In recognition of his excellence in research, teaching and executive education, Professor Wirtz has received over 60 awards, including the Christopher Lovelock Career Contributions to the Services Discipline Award and the Christian Grönroos Service Research Award. Furthermore, Professor Wirtz has been recognised as one of the 81 Highly Cited Researchers in Economics and Business globally in 2025 in Web of Science; he was ranked #22 in Marketing in the Stanford Ranking, and was named 2025 Top Scholar by ScholarGPS being ranked #80 in Marketing; together, placing him among the world’s most prominent researchers.

Nelson Pinho joined EDP in 2021 and currently serves as Global Head of Digital & AI, driving the company’s ambition to become an AI leader in the Power & Utilities sector. In this role, he leads EDP’s digital transformation and the scaled deployment of enterprise AI across its global operations. Before joining EDP, he served as Chief of Staff to Portugal’s Secretary of State for the Digital Transition and led Microsoft’s Healthcare business in Portugal. Earlier in his career, he was a member of the Executive Board of Compta. Nelson holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering and Management, is a graduate of the INSEAD Advanced Management Programme, and holds a Master’s in Services Engineering and Management and a degree in Computer Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto.

Paulo Novais is a Full Professor of Computer Science at the University of Minho, Portugal, where he heads the ISlab (Synthetic Intelligence) research group within the ALGORITMI Centre. His research focuses on the design of intelligent systems increasingly sensitive to human presence, combining autonomy with reliability. He serves as Director of the Doctoral Programme in Informatics and the Master’s Degree in Artificial Intelligence at the School of Engineering. He also coordinates LASI and the CAIRNE|Guimarães Office, the Portuguese branch of the Confederation of Laboratories for Artificial Intelligence Research in Europe. He has co-authored over 500 scientific publications and has held leadership roles in the AI community, having served as President and currently serving as Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Portuguese Association for Artificial Intelligence. In recognition of his distinguished academic and scientific career, he received the Career Recognition Award from the Ibero-American Society of Artificial Intelligence in 2022.

Keynote Speaker • June 12th 2026

 

From the Service academy to the community:
Defining and driving social impact in service research

Picture of Rebekah Russell-Bennett

Rebekah Russell-Bennett

University of Canberra, Australia

More Info
Service research is uniquely positioned to move beyond theory and act as a design science that builds real-world solutions. By adopting a transformative service lens, researchers can transition from simply observing phenomena to intentionally improving human, economic, and environmental conditions. True social impact in this field is achieved through engaged scholarship, where researchers collaborate with service ecosystems and multi-actor networks to create value for people. Using practical frameworks, service scholars can ensure their work addresses global challenges and advances service theory while providing verifiable evidence of social benefit across micro, meso, and macro levels. This presentation will outline new frameworks and thought-leadership on social impact by service scholars and present empirical evidence of different pathways to achieve intentional, long-term social and economic change. Real-world examples in energy, health and housing will be used to demonstrate the pathway to impact. Bio Professor Rebekah Russell-Bennett is the Associate Dean Research of the Faculty of Business, Government and Law and a marketing professor at the University of Canberra, Australia. She has extensive experience working with the public and private sector in addressing social problems including energy efficiency, breast screening services, homelessness prevention, blood donation and public transport use. Rebekah is the founding editor of the Journal of Social Impact in Business Research and previously co-edited the Journal of Services Marketing for ten years. She has been awarded $27m in external funding, published over 300 peer-reviewed articles, supervised 52 students, and has an h-index of 57 with 27,000 citations.

Bart Larivière is Professor of Marketing at KU Leuven & Founder/Co-Director of the Center for Service Intelligence (CSI) at Ghent University (Belgium). He serves as co-editor of the Journal of Service Research. His research focuses on the role of customers, employees, and technology in service encounters. He has received numerous distinctions, including multiple Best Paper Awards, Best Reviewer Awards, the Journal of Service Research Outstanding Associate Editor Award, the Best PhD Tutor Award from Ghent University, the Emerging Service Scholar Award from the American Marketing Association, and the Steve Baron Award for outstanding contributions to the service research community. Bart has served as co-chair of the Service Special Interest Group (SERVSIG) of the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the Service Marketing Special Interest Group of the European Marketing Academy (EMAC). He is also the co-founder of the Let’s Talk About Service Conference (LTAS) and founder of the Belgian Service Research Days (BSRD).

Cristina Mele is  Professor of Service Innovation at the Department of Economics, Management and Institutions, University of Naples Federico II.  She serves as the University’s Delegate for Innovation and Third Mission and coordinates the Smart Innovation Lab. Her research focuses on innovation, smart technologies and social robots, value creation, markets, and service ecosystems. She has authored approximately 300 scholarly publications. Her work has appeared in leading international journals, including Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Service Research, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Service Management, among others. Cristina is the recipient of the Service-Dominant Logic Award (2019), the Edvardsson Industry Impact Award (2025), and the Grönroos Service Research Award (2025). She also serves as an ambassador for ISSIP (International Society of Service Innovation Professionals).

John Bateson is visiting Professor of Management at Bayes Business School, University of London. Formerly a Professor at London Business School and Stanford Business School. He has over twenty years of business experience, including roles as a management consultant and CEO of a multinational company listed on the London Stock Exchange. He is currently a Trustee of two large European medical charities. His research focuses on the ageing consumer, ageism, and technology, and he is the author of numerous articles and books in the field of service marketing.

Jorge Correia-Pinto is a distinguished Full Professor and Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Minho, while also serving as the Director of Pediatric Surgery at the Hospital of Braga. A preeminent figure in pediatric and neonatal surgery, he has performed over 15,000 interventions, including more than 750 neonatal procedures, and pioneered minimally invasive techniques in Portugal. Beyond clinical practice, he is internationally acclaimed for his leadership in translational research and surgical education. He directs global training programs that educate over 500 surgeons annually, supported by a prolific research career featuring more than 250 peer-reviewed publications (h-35) and collaborations with elite institutions such as IRCAD in Strasbourg. In 2026, his transformative contributions to infant minimally invasive surgery were recognized with the Ministry of Health’s Gold Grade Distinguished Service Medal, cementing his legacy as a global leader in advancing specialized surgical care and medical innovation in Pediatric Surgery.

Luísa Bernardes is International Projects Manager at the Portugal Social Innovation Mission Unit and Centro Region Representative. She has extensive experience in social innovation, international cooperation, and European funding programmes. She previously worked in the Simplification and Interconnection Unit of the Agency for Cohesion and Development, where she acted as the Portuguese EaSI National Contact Point and expert on the establishment of National Competence Centres for Social Innovation. She is also the founder of Mulheres Incomuns, (‘Uncommon Women‘) a community dedicated to celebrating women’s success and leadership. Over the years, she has contributed to innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems through roles at Copernicus Accelerator and the Enterprise Europe Network, supporting SMEs in innovation management, internationalisation, access to funding, and strategic growth across sectors including space, environment, and healthcare.

Bart Larivière is Professor of Marketing at KU Leuven & Founder/Co-Director of the Center for Service Intelligence (CSI) at Ghent University (Belgium). He serves as co-editor of the Journal of Service Research. His research focuses on the role of customers, employees, and technology in service encounters. He has received numerous distinctions, including multiple Best Paper Awards, Best Reviewer Awards, the Journal of Service Research Outstanding Associate Editor Award, the Best PhD Tutor Award from Ghent University, the Emerging Service Scholar Award from the American Marketing Association, and the Steve Baron Award for outstanding contributions to the service research community. Bart has served as co-chair of the Service Special Interest Group (SERVSIG) of the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the Service Marketing Special Interest Group of the European Marketing Academy (EMAC). He is also the co-founder of the Let’s Talk About Service Conference (LTAS) and founder of the Belgian Service Research Days (BSRD).

Daniela Seixas is a medical doctor, neuroscientist, and entrepreneur passionate about connecting different areas of knowledge. Founder of Tonic App, a professional mobile platform for physicians, built alongside a team with a strong focus on collaborative culture. She holds a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Porto in collaboration with the University of Oxford, and an Executive MBA from IE Business School. Daniela further completed executive programs at Harvard Business School and specialized training in AI Governance and Privacy through IAPP, with interests spanning healthcare, technology, entrepreneurship, and responsible AI.

Jochen Wirtz is Vice Dean MBA Programs and Professor of Marketing at the National University of Singapore. He is a leading authority on services marketing and management and a best-selling author of over 20 books, including “The Human-Agent Orchestrator: Leading and Scaling AI-Driven Organizations” (2026) and Services Marketing: People, Technology, Strategy (2022, 9th ed.). With combined sales of over 1.5 million copies, they have become the globally leading services marketing textbooks. In recognition of his excellence in research, teaching and executive education, Professor Wirtz has received over 60 awards, including the Christopher Lovelock Career Contributions to the Services Discipline Award and the Christian Grönroos Service Research Award. Furthermore, Professor Wirtz has been recognised as one of the 81 Highly Cited Researchers in Economics and Business globally in 2025 in Web of Science; he was ranked #22 in Marketing in the Stanford Ranking, and was named 2025 Top Scholar by ScholarGPS being ranked #80 in Marketing; together, placing him among the world’s most prominent researchers.

Nelson Pinho joined EDP in 2021 and currently serves as Global Head of Digital & AI, driving the company’s ambition to become an AI leader in the Power & Utilities sector. In this role, he leads EDP’s digital transformation and the scaled deployment of enterprise AI across its global operations. Before joining EDP, he served as Chief of Staff to Portugal’s Secretary of State for the Digital Transition and led Microsoft’s Healthcare business in Portugal. Earlier in his career, he was a member of the Executive Board of Compta. Nelson holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering and Management, is a graduate of the INSEAD Advanced Management Programme, and holds a Master’s in Services Engineering and Management and a degree in Computer Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto.

Paulo Novais is a Full Professor of Computer Science at the University of Minho, Portugal, where he heads the ISlab (Synthetic Intelligence) research group within the ALGORITMI Centre. His research focuses on the design of intelligent systems increasingly sensitive to human presence, combining autonomy with reliability. He serves as Director of the Doctoral Programme in Informatics and the Master’s Degree in Artificial Intelligence at the School of Engineering. He also coordinates LASI and the CAIRNE|Guimarães Office, the Portuguese branch of the Confederation of Laboratories for Artificial Intelligence Research in Europe. He has co-authored over 500 scientific publications and has held leadership roles in the AI community, having served as President and currently serving as Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Portuguese Association for Artificial Intelligence. In recognition of his distinguished academic and scientific career, he received the Career Recognition Award from the Ibero-American Society of Artificial Intelligence in 2022.

Service research is uniquely positioned to move beyond theory and act as a design science that builds real-world solutions. By adopting a transformative service lens, researchers can transition from simply observing phenomena to intentionally improving human, economic, and environmental conditions. True social impact in this field is achieved through engaged scholarship, where researchers collaborate with service ecosystems and multi-actor networks to create value for people. Using practical frameworks, service scholars can ensure their work addresses global challenges and advances service theory while providing verifiable evidence of social benefit across micro, meso, and macro levels. This presentation will outline new frameworks and thought-leadership on social impact by service scholars and present empirical evidence of different pathways to achieve intentional, long-term social and economic change. Real-world examples in energy, health and housing will be used to demonstrate the pathway to impact.

Professor Rebekah Russell-Bennett is the Associate Dean Research of the Faculty of Business, Government and Law and a marketing professor at the University of Canberra, Australia. She has extensive experience working with the public and private sector in addressing social problems including energy efficiency, breast screening services, homelessness prevention, blood donation and public transport use. Rebekah is the founding editor of the Journal of Social Impact in Business Research and previously co-edited the Journal of Services Marketing for ten years. She has been awarded $27m in external funding, published over 300 peer-reviewed articles, supervised 52 students, and has an h-index of 57 with 27,000 citations.