In today’s crowded, commoditized market, the greatest value a business offers isn’t in what it sells — but in who its customers become. In this keynote, bestselling author B. Joseph Pine II — co-creator of the Experience Economy— explores The Transformation Economy, where competitive edge comes from staging transformative experiences that help people flourish. Pine shows how to move beyond goods, services, and even experiences to deliver lasting change by guiding customers toward their aspirations — whether improving health, growing wealth, developing wisdom, or finding purpose. With vivid examples and actionable frameworks, this session empowers leaders to unlock premium pricing, deeper loyalty, and growth by becoming true transformation businesses.

Today, businesses compete globally for customers’ time, attention, and money. People crave meaningful social experiences, especially now after the coronacrisis, which has heightened our desire for connection over things. Experience is key — how you design, present, and stage offerings, and how you engage both customers and employees. With goods and services commoditized, memorable experiences are what truly stand out. Based on Pine’s bestselling The Experience Economy.

Most businesses don’t think deeply enough about our most precious human resource: time. In the Experience Economy, time is the true currency — valued more than goods or services. Today’s competitive edge lies in how customers and employees spend their time. Future success depends on creating experiences they see as time well spent—or even better, transformations that offer time well invested. Now’s the moment to decide: How will you design the time of those you serve and employ? Will it be compelling enough to shape a vibrant future? In this powerful talk, Joe Pine shares essential insights for turning today’s challenges into tomorrow’s opportunities.

To stage compelling customer experiences, you must first create compelling experiences for your employees. Delivering greater value to customers starts with providing meaningful employment value — giving employees a reason to choose and stay with your company. Since employees generate your economic value, they need the tools and environment to design and stage personal, memorable, and engaging experiences—built on an employee experience that is just as rich. Drawing on The Experience Economy and newer thinking, Joe Pine shows how companies can turn employee experiences into a powerful competitive advantage.

There are no markets, only customers! Markets, as commonly conceived of in business, are a convenient fiction for companies that do not want to treat customers as the individuals they truly are. Simply put, all customers, whether consumers or businesses, are undeniably, unremittingly, unalterably unique. Joe Pine makes all this abundantly clear and then provides clear prescriptions for how companies can stop marketing and start customering.