What the New 2026 Service & Warranty Lifecycle Summit Speakers Bring to the Conversation
The 2026 Service & Warranty Lifecycle Summit continues to grow with six additional leaders joining the speaker community. Their experience spans customer service, consumer technology policy, warranty management, data intelligence and AI, financial products, program design and warranty performance.
Taking place October 19–21 at the Westin Southfield Detroit, the Summit is designed to connect leaders across the Service & Warranty Lifecycle around practical operating questions. The newest speakers add distinct perspectives to a program built for cross-functional learning, peer exchange and actionable discussion.
A focused view of internal warranty stakeholders
Eric Bloink, Warranty Performance Manager, Interior and Exterior at General Motors, adds a specialized performance perspective to the speaker community.
Warranty performance is shaped by the interaction between product systems, claims data, quality processes and organizational response.
Eric has been highly engaged in the Purchasing and Cost Sharing Leadership Xchange Group and will contribute to a focused internal perspective on warranty performance and what it takes to align stakeholders, improve decisions, and drive meaningful results.
Technology policy through the consumer lens
Justin Brookman, Director, Technology Policy at Consumer Reports, adds a perspective that is increasingly important across connected products and services.
As organizations expand their use of data, connected technologies and AI, leaders must consider more than operational capability.
Consumer expectations, responsible data practices and technology policy all influence how new approaches are designed, communicated and governed.
Brookman’s participation strengthens the Summit’s ability to examine innovation alongside trust and customer impact.
Warranty leadership grounded in daily operations
Uma Boddapati, Senior Warranty Manager at Sensata, brings direct warranty-management experience to the conversation.
Warranty teams sit at the intersection of product performance, claims operations, customer experience, quality improvement and financial accountability.
That position gives warranty leaders a valuable view of how decisions travel across the organization and where disconnected processes can slow action.
Her operational perspective will help ground the discussion in the realities warranty teams manage every day.
Connecting data intelligence and after-sales quality
Arnon Shafir, VP Data Intelligence & AI at Upstream, joins the Summit as organizations continue to explore how connected-vehicle data and AI can support earlier, better-informed decisions.
His MAPconnected session focuses on the journey from concept to customer impact and how manufacturers can turn connected data into action.
The conversation will examine the role of proactive quality frameworks, early issue detection and AI-driven insight before a traditional claim is created.
The objective is not technology for its own sake. It is understanding where timely intelligence can improve quality, service and customer outcomes.
Structure, governance and measurable value
Jimmy Bynum, CEO of Garde Solutions, brings experience across financial products, insurance, benchmarking and program design.
Through MAPconnected’s Financial Products & Insurance Xchange Group, Bynum has helped frame discussions around risk ownership, governance, capital allocation, dealer participation and lifecycle value.
His participation connects those structural questions to the practical challenge of building programs that perform for the business, its partners and its customers.
A customer-service perspective from Crown Equipment
Ben Bergman, Director of Customer Service at Crown Equipment, joins the program with a direct view of how service organizations support customers, coordinate operational priorities and translate internal capability into a stronger customer experience.
Crown Equipment will also contribute a client case study to the October program. That combination of leadership perspective and practical application gives participants an opportunity to explore how service decisions play out inside a working organization.
A broader conversation across the lifecycle
The strength of the Summit comes from bringing these perspectives into one connected program.
Customer service cannot be separated from product quality. Warranty performance cannot be understood without data. Technology decisions must consider policy, trust and customer impact. Financial-product structures influence both business outcomes and long-term customer value.
These six speakers expand the conversation across those intersections and reinforce the Summit’s practical, cross-functional approach.
The 2026 Service & Warranty Lifecycle Summit takes place October 19–21 at the Westin Southfield Detroit.
