Woody Berner

Head of Design Technology AT&T

Woody Berner is a visionary leader in customer experience and product design, currently serving as the Head of Design Technology at AT&T. With over two decades of executive experience spanning design and CX, product management, strategy, sales, network operations, and IT systems, Woody has a proven track record of driving transformative results.

In his current role, Woody leads a team of 50 design and UX research experts, directing strategic initiatives that enhance the experience for over 40 million U.S. consumers and 60,000+ frontline employees. His innovative approach integrates sentiment, operational, and financial data throughout the customer lifecycle, ensuring that every interaction drives satisfaction and loyalty. By combining immersive research and customer co-created prototypes with strategic partnerships in product management and engineering, Woody’s team delivers groundbreaking products, transformational software experiences, and reengineered scaled solutions. Their efforts have generated over $2 billion in total value, achieving more than a 40X ROI on the design team’s cost.

Under Woody's leadership, AT&T has seen significant accomplishments, including doubling wireless NPS over four consecutive years and spearheading projects that yield ongoing savings exceeding $200 million annually. His expertise in deploying advanced technologies, such as a fully automated customer journey model integrating objective and sentiment data, as well as leveraging AI, NLP, and multimedia closed-loop approaches for customer insights, has established new standards in customer engagement and product development.

Woody's extensive background includes leading the strategic initiatives that catalyzed AT&T’s multi-billion-dollar investment in the Fiber business, and spearheading the cybersecurity Dev/Ops team, where he transformed the product portfolio with a $100 million capital budget. His strategic vision and ability to align complex initiatives with overarching business goals have solidified his reputation as a trusted advisor to C-level executives.

Woody holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance from the University of North Texas, where he played with the world-renowned One O'clock Lab Band. A passionate jazz musician, Woody continues to perform and record music in the Dallas area.

Residing in Allen, Texas, with his wife Neely and their four children, Woody values quality family time and frequently shares his love for music.