Litmus Live 2026Behind every send is
Register TodayIt’s all about human connection
Every day, we email real people who want personalized messages, not “first_name” tags. But how do you keep a human touch while embracing AI, automating campaigns, and keeping up with the constant inbox changes?
Event speakers
Special guest speakerGary Vaynerchuk
Founder and CEO at VaynerX and VaynerMedia
Keynote speakerAnn Handley
Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs
Keynote speakerJay Schwedelson
President, CEO, & Founder at Outcome Media, SubjectLine.com, GMH
Ross Adams
PM Principal Architect at Microsoft
Israa Alrawi
Founder at The Winbox
Tom Bartel
SVP, Data Services at Validity
Marcel Becker
Senior Director, Product Management at Yahoo
Rodrigo Brandão
Head of User Retention at UTUA
Mark Briggs
Founder, Chairman, and CEO at Validity
Lauren Castady
Design Leader, Accessibility Advocate & Creative Consultant at LC Creative
Laura Christensen
Senior Director, Professional Services at Validity
Reece Cohen
Campaign Developer – CRM at Virgin Atlantic
Chase Dimond
Partner at Structured
Magnus Eén
Deliverability Manager at Westwing
Megan Farquharson
Email Strategist at Validity
Danielle Gallant
Senior Email Strategist at Validity
Jenny Gibson
SVP of Product Management, Email at Validity
Matt Gore
Chief Technology Officer at Validity
Courtney Grab
Director, Customer & Lifecycle Marketing at Validity
Guy Hanson
VP, Customer Engagement at Validity
Matthew Harris
CEO at Dyspatch
Al Iverson
Industry Research & Community Engagement Lead at Vailmail
Jeanne Jennings
Chief Strategist at Email Optimization Shop
Jimmy Kim
CEO at Inboox.ai
Larry Kim
Fouder at Customers.ai
Anna Levitin
CRM & Lifecycle Marketing lead at DoorLoop
John Lockie
CRM Delivery Manager at Virgin Atlantic
Tylor Loposser
Associate Creative Director at Zeta Global
Leah Miranda
Manager, Lifecycle Marketing at Zapier
Beth O’Malley
Founder, CRM, Email & Marketing Specialist at astral
Jay Oram
Head of Development at ActionRocket
Cynthia Price
SVP, Marketing at Validity
Mark Robbins
Developer Advocate of Email Experience at Customer.io
Fernando Rubino
Global Email Marketing Manager at Canyon Bicycles GmbH
Julie Stuck
Senior Email Strategist at Validity
Rafael Viana
Senior Email Strategist at Validity
Lisa Wester
Senior Manager, Global Marketing Automation at Copeland
Chad S. White
GVP of CRM Strategy at Zeta Global
Our 12th Litmus Live conference brings the brightest email minds together
Learn how to put human-centric marketing at the heart of your 2026 email strategy.
Agenda
Authenticity meets AI: GaryVee on marketing’s next frontier
Gary Vaynerchuk, also known as “GaryVee,” is one of the leading global minds on what’s next in culture, business, and the internet. He’s celebrated for his foresight in recognizing early trends and patterns that impact markets and consumer behavior.
Gary joins Validity’s Chairman, Founder, and CEO, Mark Briggs, to break down what marketers are getting right, what they’re getting wrong, and how to use AI without sacrificing authenticity or customer trust. From the evolution of social media to the impact of AI on content and customer attention, this conversation focuses less on hype and more on what actually drives results.
Founder, Chairman, and CEO at Validity
Founder and CEO at VaynerX and VaynerMedia
What to do differently in 2026 (the email edition)
New year. New rules. New realities.
In 2026, attention will be cheaper to generate—and harder to earn. As AI accelerates content creation and feeds grow louder and faster, the inbox has become one of the few places where trust and connection still have room to thrive. Our inboxes may be full, but paradoxically, email done right has become a refuge—for customers and prospects overwhelmed by the bad stuff.
In this provocative and energetic talk, Ann Handley explores what has become a genuine competitive advantage in an AI-accelerated world—starting with email, and what it uniquely enables: storytelling that creates meaning, earns trust, and supports a slower, more sustainable way to build relationships that actually last.
BONUS: Learn why you shouldn’t be afraid to use em dashes.
**(CONTEST TIME! Count the em dashes Ann used in this description. She’ll reward a few sharp-eyed winners during her keynote at Litmus Live 2026!)
Come for the insight. Stay for the humanity.
Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs
From data to clicks: building personalized experiences that connect
Personalized experiences are no longer nice-to-haves. Consumers expect marketers to know them better and send them exactly what they want—without being creepy.
Every time a consumer receives an email with a promotion they won’t use, copy that doesn’t resonate, or product recommendation they’re not interested in, trust is lost.
Luckily, data is here to help you understand and tailor content to your subscribers so you only send them valuable, relevant content. Easy, right?
Join four email personalization experts as they discuss the do’s and don’ts for personalized experiences in 2026, including how to plan, create, and deliver emails your subscribers will love.
Founder at The Winbox
Senior Director, Professional Services at Validity
CEO at Dyspatch
CRM & Lifecycle Marketing lead at DoorLoop
Head of Development at ActionRocket
Where is email marketing headed in 2026?
The pace of change in the word of email is dizzying, and just keeping up is hard enough …never mind figuring out what’s coming next!
In this session, Guy Hanson, Danielle Gallant and industry expert, Al Iverson, will review the emerging trends and new technologies that will shape email marketing in 2026 and beyond. They’ll predict how mailbox provider sender requirements will evolve, how AI’s new role as gatekeeper to the inbox will redefine engagement, why consumers’ relationship with email will change, what new metrics senders will need to monitor success, and what new laws will emerge to govern this fast-changing landscape.
VP, Customer Engagement at Validity
Senior Email Strategist at Validity
Industry Research & Community Engagement Lead at Vailmail
The inbox decoded: how mailbox providers really think about email
Inbox placement has never been more complex, or more misunderstood. In this behind-the-scenes discussion with experts from Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, we’ll explore how they think about marketing email in an AI-driven era—and how it affects your subscribers.
Learn what they consider a “good actor,” how sender reputation is built and lost, and what recent mailbox provider updates mean for your deliverability strategy. From DMARC enforcement to AI-enhanced phishing and evolving inbox experiences, this session will equip you with practical insights to future-proof your email program
SVP, Data Services at Validity
Marcel BeckerSenior Director, Product Management at Yahoo
Campaign Developer – CRM at Virgin Atlantic
VP, Customer Engagement at Validity
How to make post-event follow-up not suck for you (or your customers)
Your event ends. The scramble begins.
Multiple teams start building overlapping follow-ups, timelines slip, and the impact gets diluted.
This talk, by Zapier’s Manager of Lifecycle Marketing, walks through how a single operator can use agentic workflows to automate outreach and content distribution. It might just be your new favorite way to turn post-event activity into pipeline—minus the chaos and burnout.
Manager, Lifecycle Marketing at Zapier
How to connect your email workflow for full funnel success
Lisa Wester from Copeland joins Validity’s Director of Customer Marketing for a fun, interview-style session.
Learn how Copeland uses DemandTools, BriteVerify, and Litmus to create emails that land in the inbox in less time. From pre-send planning to post-send analysis, Validity tools help Lisa and her team constantly improve their sends and build long-lasting relationships with their subscribers.
Courtney GrabDirector, Customer & Lifecycle Marketing at Validity
Senior Manager, Global Marketing Automation at Copeland
Live email optimization with the pros
One of our most requested sessions is back! Two internal experts are joined by our host, Danielle Gallant, and one of the top email developers to optimize your emails—live. They’ll make recommendations based on accessibility best practices, proper email structure, CTA do’s and don’ts, and decades of email experience.
Are you interested in getting an email featured in this session? Submit your send here.
Danielle GallantSenior Email Strategist at Validity
Email Strategist at Validity
Senior Email Strategist at Validity
Mark RobbinsDeveloper Advocate of Email Experience at Customer.io
Coming soon
Founder, Chairman, and CEO at Validity
Matt GoreChief Technology Officer at Validity
The new edge in email: AI, omnichannel playbooks, and pitfalls to avoid
Email is evolving fast, and the brands winning in the inbox are moving even faster.
In this high-energy session, Jay will break down how AI is supercharging email performance, how to plug email into powerful omnichannel journeys, and the must-use playbooks that keep you one step ahead of your competition.
You’ll see real-world examples of what’s working right now, learn where AI delivers real lift (and where it’s just hype), and walk away with quick, practical tips you can put to work immediately. Expect bold ideas, smart shortcuts, and fresh inspiration to help your email stand out, drive action, and stay ahead in a noisy digital world.
Jay SchwedelsonPresident, CEO, & Founder at Outcome Media, SubjectLine.com, GMH
How Virgin Atlantic uses Validity products
Coming soon
Campaign Developer – CRM at Virgin Atlantic
VP, Customer Engagement at Validity
John LockieCRM Delivery Manager at Virgin Atlantic
Let’s go global: expert advice for connecting with international audiences
Creating a solid email strategy can be difficult for regional or national audiences. When you expand your audience internationally? Well, that adds an entirely new layer of complexity.
Cultural differences, language barriers, and various privacy laws all have to be addressed so you can connect with subscribers in a meaningful way.
This convo, with email experts from Germany and Brazil, dives into the key differences and steps you must take when sending to global audiences. This includes email strategy tweaks, managing various laws, and juggling the nuances of regional MBPs and spam filtering companies.
Head of User Retention at UTUA
Deliverability Manager at Westwing
SVP, Marketing at Validity
Global Email Marketing Manager at Canyon Bicycles GmbH
Retention redefined – a practical framework for profitable newsletters in 2026
In this session, Chase and Jimmy break down the retention mindset shift that’s occurring with modern customer journeys. They’ll discuss adapting to a modern AI framework and lifecycle, including metrics that matter in 2026 and beyond.
Partner at Structured
CEO at Inboox.ai
Beyond the hype: real B2B email strategies for AI, automation & inboxing
AI may be hot, but strategy still matters. Learn how to use AI, automation, and audience-first content to drive B2B email performance across the full prospect journey.
Join us and learn:
- Where AI fits (and doesn’t) in a high-performing B2B email program.
- How to optimize automation for longer, more complex B2B sales cycles.
- Why Gmail tabs and inbox placement still matter, and how to address it.
- How to align email content to real buying stages, not just sales pressure.
- How to keep your emails human, even when machines are part of the process.
Jeanne JenningsChief Strategist at Email Optimization Shop
Embrace AI for your email campaigns in 2026
Coming soon
Manager, Lifecycle Marketing at Zapier
Larry KimFouder at Customers.ai
Founder, CRM, Email & Marketing Specialist at astral
Senior Email Strategist at Validity
Accessibility is personalization: 3 email mistakes still breaking UX in 2026
Accessibility in email is often treated as a compliance checklist, or worse, a creative constraint. But when we zoom out, accessibility is actually one of the most powerful forms of personalization we have.
In this session, Lauren Castady and Tylor Loposser will reframe email accessibility as designing for real people in real contexts: people reading on cracked phones, in bright sunlight, with aging eyes, cognitive overload, assistive technology, or temporary limitations. You’ll learn how accessible email practices improve scannability, trust, and performance for everyone, not just users with declared disabilities.
They’ll tackle common fears head-on, such as “Accessibility will break our brand,” “Legal made us do it,” or “We don’t have time.” Through real-world email examples, learn inclusive design can live comfortably inside brand systems and often strengthens them.
You’ll leave with three practical actions you can implement immediately, with no redesign required, plus concrete guidance for navigating compliance, brand guardrails, and stakeholder buy-in. Whether you’re a designer, developer, marketer, or email leader, this session will help you move accessibility from “nice-to-have” to a strategic advantage.
Design Leader, Accessibility Advocate & Creative Consultant at LC Creative
Associate Creative Director at Zeta Global
Omnichannel subscribers and the growing urgency to manage them better
A small but growing percentage of your customers have opted into multiple digital marketing channels, such as email, SMS, and push. This group is so much more valuable than single-channel subscribers that every brand should be reevaluating their marketing programs through an omnichannel lens. Increasingly, digital marketing success is no longer about how well brands manage their channels, but rather how well they manage their subscribers’ experiences across channels.
In this session, you’ll learn strategies for:
- Coordinating and optimizing cross-channel messaging, so omnichannel subscribers receive a cohesive and unified experience across channels.
- Creating additional omnichannel subscribers, since they’re worth so much more than single-channel subscribers.
- Mitigating churn among these highly valuable subscribers.
Tweaking marketing workflows, so your operations are oriented around the customer instead of channels.
You’ll leave with practical, actionable tips to better manage your omnichannel subscribers and increase cross-channel revenue.
GVP of CRM Strategy at Zeta Global
Coming soon
SVP, Marketing at Validity
SVP of Product Management, Email at Validity
Relive Litmus Live 2024
Chad White walked us through buzz-worthy sends, Dan Oshinsky spoke about newsletters, Emily Ryan helped us with welcome email hooks, plus 24 other great sessions. Watch the recordings here.
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