Tristan Thomas

Director, CustomerFirst Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, UK Government

Tristan leads CustomerFirst, a new unit set up in GDS to deliver radical change to government customer services. He was Monzo employee #14, instrumental in taking the company from zero customers to millions. Initially brought in to lead community building, Tristan later served as VP of Marketing, Communications and Policy, shaping Monzo’s identity and growth and growing the company to over 5 million customers. He later founded Packfleet, a delivery tech startup that reinvented a greener and more customer focused approach to parcel delivery. Tristan brings this experience to drive CustomerFirst’s bold, user-centred approach within government.

Summit Day One - Tuesday, 6th October 2026 [CET]

12:35 Presentation: Transforming Government Services: Applying Start-Up CX Thinking to Legacy Environments

For millions of people, interacting with government services still means long wait times, repeated forms, and fragmented systems. Through the launch of CustomerFirst, the UK government is taking a new approach: bringing together civil service expertise and private-sector innovation to redesign public services from the ground up. In this session, former Monzo VP Tristan shares how CustomerFirst is applying modern technology, AI, and service design principles to transform citizen experiences while supporting frontline teams.

Learning Objectives

• Learn how organisations can redesign services around users rather than systems

• Explore how technology and AI can simplify large-scale service delivery

• Examine how large organisations can apply modern CX thinking to legacy environments

Key Takeaways

• Insight into how CustomerFirst is modernising government service delivery

• Lessons on applying CX innovation in large, complex organisations

• Perspectives on designing services that work better for both citizens and frontline teams

Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Tristan.

Download The Latest Agenda

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