Citywealth Leaders List, 60 seconds interview – Phil Cuming, Comnexa
This week’s 60 seconds Citywealth Leaders List interview is dedicated to Phil Cuming, Co-founder & Partner at Comnexa.
Tell Citywealth readers about your role and the brand you represent.
I’m Phil Cuming, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Comnexa. We are a Salesforce Summit Partner helping financial services, legal and professional services organisations design, implement and operate Salesforce in complex, regulated environments. A lot of our work focuses on CRM, client onboarding, relationship management, workflow automation, marketing integration and increasingly AI-enabled delivery. Comnexa turns 10 in 2026, which is a proud milestone for us. We have grown organically from a small Jersey business into a recognised boutique Salesforce partner working with clients across the UK, Europe, the US, the Middle East and Africa.
What does a typical day look like for you?
There is not really a typical day, which is part of what I enjoy. My role sits across sales, partnerships, client relationships, marketing and business strategy. A day might involve speaking with a financial services firm about modernising client onboarding, working with Salesforce on a joint opportunity, reviewing a proposal with the team, supporting our marketing activity, or thinking about where Comnexa should invest next. As we have grown, my role has shifted away from day-to-day operations and more towards growth, client strategy and positioning the business for the next stage.
What recent campaign, rebrand or initiative are you most proud of?
Our 10-year anniversary celebrations have been a real highlight. We wanted to mark the milestone in a way that brought together clients, partners and colleagues, rather than just posting about it. One of the key moments was our reception following Salesforce World Tour London in June, where we hosted customers, partners and friends of Comnexa at the Good Hotel rooftop bar. It was a chance to celebrate the journey so far, but also to talk about what comes next, including ComnexaX, our AI-enabled implementation framework designed to accelerate Salesforce deployment and improve delivery consistency.
What are the biggest marketing challenges facing private wealth firms today?
Trust is still everything, but the way trust is built has changed. Private wealth firms need to communicate expertise, discretion and stability, while also showing that they are modern, responsive and easy to do business with. That is not always easy in a conservative market. Many firms are also sitting on complex legacy processes and fragmented client data, which makes it harder to deliver the kind of personalised, joined-up experience clients now expect. Marketing can no longer sit separately from technology, data and operations. The client experience has to match the brand promise.
How do you differentiate a private wealth brand in a crowded and often conservative market?
I think differentiation comes from being clear, specific and authentic. Many private wealth brands use similar language around trust, expertise and personal service, so the real opportunity is to evidence what that means in practice. How quickly can you onboard a client? How well do your teams understand relationships across entities, families and jurisdictions? How consistent is the experience from first conversation to ongoing service? The firms that stand out are those that combine human expertise with well-designed systems, clean data and a genuinely client-centred operating model.
What metrics matter most to you when measuring success?
From a commercial perspective, we look at revenue growth, new client wins, retained and expanded client relationships, managed services growth and the quality of opportunities we are creating. But the more important metrics are often the ones that show whether we are building a sustainable business. Are clients coming back to us? Are Salesforce and our clients trusting us with more complex work? Are we delivering projects predictably? Are our accelerators reducing time to value? Are we creating stronger outcomes for regulated businesses? Those are the measures that really matter.
What do you consider to be the most important attributes for a marketing leader?
Clarity, commercial awareness and credibility. A good marketing leader needs to understand the market, the client, the sales process and the operational reality behind the brand. In sectors like financial services and private wealth, marketing cannot be superficial. It has to be rooted in substance. The best marketing leaders are able to turn complex propositions into clear, compelling stories without losing accuracy or trust. They also need curiosity, because the market is changing quickly, especially with AI, data and digital client experience becoming more important.
Who or what inspires your creative thinking?
A lot of my best ideas come from conversations with clients and the team. I find it more useful to listen to what people are actually struggling with than to start with a blank sheet of paper. I am also inspired by businesses that make complex things feel simple. That is very relevant to our world because Salesforce, AI, regulation and operational change can all feel overwhelming. The creative challenge is to make the value clear and practical. I also look at how fast-moving technology businesses position themselves, then think about how that can be applied appropriately in a high-trust financial services context.
Where was the last place you travelled for work or inspiration?
London, for Salesforce World Tour and our 10-year anniversary drinks reception afterwards. It was a great mix of industry insight, partner conversations, customer meetings and celebration. Events like that are useful because you get a sense of where the market is moving. This year, the themes around AI, Agentforce, Slack and connected data were particularly strong. It also reinforced how important it is for firms to move beyond experimentation and think seriously about how AI can be embedded into real business processes.
If you were not in private wealth marketing, what would you be doing?
I come at this more from technology, sales and business growth than traditional private wealth marketing. If I was not doing this, I suspect I might be tackling the same problem from the client side, as it’s a space I understand well. I also enjoy building businesses and have another technology project in progress that focuses on tourism, so I suspect I’d dedicate more time there or on other start-up ideas.
How do you relax after a busy campaign or event?
Usually by getting away from the screen. In the summer that is days at the beach in Jersey with my young family, in winter it is playing hockey – it’s impossible to think about work mid-match, so that escapism is vital! That said, I quite enjoy the energy around campaigns and events, especially when they bring clients, partners and colleagues together. The real relaxation often comes once you know the work has landed well.
Which private wealth brand do you think is getting it right, and why?
I think the strongest brands in private wealth are those that manage to balance heritage and modernity. They do not abandon trust, discretion and personal relationships, but they recognise that clients now expect a more connected, digital and data-informed experience.
I cannot speak publicly about all of our clients, but two who have provided case studies for us, and are therefore ones I can speak about, are W1M and JTC. Both businesses have evolved significantly in recent years, but have kept a very clear narrative around what they are good at, who they serve, and the value they provide. That clarity matters in a market where many firms can sound quite similar.
For me, the brands getting it right are those investing seriously in client experience and operational infrastructure, not just marketing campaigns. The real differentiator is whether the service model behind the brand is strong enough to deliver on the promise.
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