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From Sticky Notes to Bold Pilots: Your Challenge from INFLIGHT 2025

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Utility and telecom leaders came together in Dallas, Atlanta, and Orlando in June 2025 for the first three stops of INFLIGHT 2025, a wildly innovative event series co-hosted by the Utility 2030 Leadership Collaborative (U2030) and Paymentus. The focus was on tackling the urgent challenges of balancing affordability and lowering cost-to-serve while improving the customer experience (CX).

 

The What’s Next in Billing, Payments & Engagement​ Gallery Walk is a creative session at INFLIGHT 2025—an interactive experience designed to move beyond ideas and inspire real pilots that participants can launch within six months.


Gallery Walk: From Conversation to Action

In small groups, participants rotated through five poster stations, each focused on a critical theme:

  • Digital Billing

  • AI, Machine Learning, Data & Analytics

  • Print-to-Payment Customer Communications

  • Customer Self-Service Channels

  • Equitable Solutions

 

At each station, participants explored four questions:

  1. Where are the most significant opportunities to lower cost-to-serve without sacrificing customer experience?

  2. What new solutions could serve more people at a lower cost?

  3. What barriers stand in the way?

  4. What bold pilot could we launch within six months?

 

By the end of the session, colorful sticky notes covered the posterboards.


Bold Pilots to Consider

Below are some of the most promising ideas that surfaced during the Gallery Walk. Your challenge: choose at least one idea in each section to share with your team.

 

Digital Billing: Drive Adoption, Fast

·       Default to Paperless: Auto-enroll new customers with opt-out flexibility.

·       Incentivize Digital: Offer credits or discounts for going paperless.

·       Utility Geek Squad: Deploy teams into the community to help customers overcome digital hurdles.

 

AI, Machine Learning, Data & Analytics: Get Smarter

·       AI-Powered Reminders: Predict late payments and send targeted nudges.

·       Automate Exceptions: Use machine learning to resolve billing errors proactively.

·       Data-Driven Outreach: Identify at-risk customers and connect them to support.

 

Print-to-Payment Customer Communications: Simplify the Journey

·       QR Codes on Bills: Enable instant mobile payments.

·       Text-to-Pay with Plans: Let customers pay by text and automatically set up payment plans.

·       Consolidated Statements: Provide a single bill for multiple accounts to reduce confusion and speed up payment.

 

Customer Self-Service Channels: Empower and Engage

·       One-Stop Portal: A unified hub for account management and payments.

·       Chatbot Support: AI chatbots to guide customers through everyday tasks.

·       On-Demand Videos: Short tutorials to assist with routine actions.

 

Equitable Solutions: Close the Gaps

·       Community Ambassadors: Train local representatives to promote and explain affordability programs.

·       Language Access: Expand language options across digital and print channels.

·       Equity Audits: Regularly review systems to identify and eliminate unintended barriers.


Your Call to Action: Pick. Pilot. Lead.

These ideas are more than concepts—they are the foundation for meaningful pilots. The only thing standing between your team and real progress is a decision to act.


How to get started

  1. Select one bold idea from each theme.

  2. Discuss your selections with your team this week.

  3. Commit to piloting at least one idea within six months.


Join Us at an Upcoming INFLIGHT 2025 Gallery Walk

The Dallas, Atlanta, and Orlando stops are complete—but INFLIGHT 2025 is just getting started. We will be in Los Angeles and Denver in August and Seattle in September. Don't miss the next Gallery Walk and other interactive sessions to spark bold solutions for affordability and cost-to-serve challenges.

 

Learn more and reserve your spot: INFLIGHT 2025 | Utility 2030 - Live


Contact Us to Turn Ideas into Action

Ready to move from ideas to impact? U2030 and Paymentus are happy to help you design, launch, and scale pilots that deliver real results. Let's work together to accelerate your progress.

 

Utility 2030 Leadership Collaborative

Contact: Chris Hilborn

 

Paymentus

Contact: Nicole Haskins

 

 
 
 

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