Podcasts about CX

In this episode, Dave shares his journey of recovery from selling only on Amazon and reducing his dependency on the platform. Dave explores how he's growing sales for his brand after recognizing industry changes. He discusses what he learned from the content marketing industry, the cyclical nature of e-commerce, and the importance of building sustainable systems outside of Amazon's immediate reach. Thinking about taking some risk off the table? Or are you looking at taking an extended break from e-commerce in general? Know what your e-commerce business is worth with Quiet Light Brokerage. More Staffing connects ecommerce founders to top Filipino talent across supply chain, operations, CX, marketing, finance, and creative. More Staffing helps you build a team with real depth, at a cost structure that makes it viable for a brand at any stage. Check out MORE. Staffing today to get all of your open positions filled for Q3. Timestamps 00:00 - From dependency to strategic recovery 02:22 - The "seven-year itch" in business 03:22 - Impact of AI on content marketing 05:47 - Shifting focus from Google rankings 07:13 - Rebuilding with different channels 09:38 - The typical lifecycle of a product on Amazon 11:03 - Short-term success versus long-term defensibility 13:28 - Beating the ripoff and duplicate culture on Amazon 14:26 - Building off-Amazon sales channels 15:54 - Indirect advertising strategies & lead funnels 17:46 - Differentiating products for Shopify vs Amazon 20:42 - Long-term growth mindset: demand, sales, and scaling 22:38 - Building the team: sourcing Filipino talent via morstaffing.co 25:04 - Manufacturing lessons  28:00 - Industry complexity as an opportunity, not just a hurdle As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, leave a comment down below if you're interested. Don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. Thanks for listening! Until next time, happy selling!

As enterprises move agentic AI from controlled pilots into production customer-facing workflows, the gaps in data continuity, governance, and human-agent coordination become the deciding factors in whether AI scales or stalls. In this episode, Shri Nandan, VP of AI Experiences at Comcast, examines why customer experience has become the real stress-test for enterprise AI — and what it takes to scale with customer trust intact. The conversation covers the three data foundations required for context continuity in production, practical principles for human-AI orchestration, and why cross-team governance — a single North Star across CX, IT, and operations — is what separates the organizations that scale from those that fragment. This episode is sponsored by NiCE. Learn how to structure landing pages for higher conversion and how to use self-qualification systems to prioritize high-intent leads. Download our free PDF report, "B2B AI Lead Generation Guide," at emerj.com/aig1

This video is sponsored by Salesforce. This week on The Modern Customer Podcast: Amber Armstrong, CMO of Agentforce Applications at Salesforce, joins me for a conversation recorded live at Salesforce Connections. Everyone is talking about AI agents. But according to Amber, the biggest question customers are asking is surprisingly simple: "Where do I start?" We discuss what's separating companies seeing real results from those still stuck in experimentation, why data readiness matters more than most people realize, and how AI agents are helping marketers engage customers, generate pipeline, and focus more on strategic work. As Amber explains, the future isn't about replacing marketers. It's about giving them the tools to do more of what humans do best. #SalesforcePartner Blake Morgan was called "The Queen of CX" by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Learn more at www.blakemichellemorgan.com 

Nearly every marketing leader has been told to "do more with AI" — and many of them are now sitting on a pile of pilots, a growing bill, and not much to show their CFO. So why is it that adoption of AI in marketing is so high, while the number of organizations actually getting predictable returns from it is so low?Agility requires the discipline to reimagine how work gets done before automating it — because pointing AI at a broken process just produces a faster broken process.Today, we're going to talk about:- Why so many enterprise AI initiatives stall between ambition and production, and what separates the organizations that succeed from the ones that quietly cancel their projects- How marketing and CX teams can move from disconnected experiments to a governed, agent-powered operating model that turns a brief into live 1:1 engagement- How to make the economics of AI predictable — so the people approving these investments can actually forecast both outcomes and costTo help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Don Schuerman, CTO & Head of Marketing at Pega. About Don Schuerman As CTO and Vice President of Marketing & Technology Strategy at Pegasystems, I see my role as being a "Chief Translation Officer" – bridging the gap between cutting-edge technology and real-world business value. With 25 years of experience in orchestration and AI technology, I'm passionate about translating complex technical concepts into meaningful solutions that drive digital transformation for global organizations. My approach to technology leadership has been shaped by an unexpected source: 20 years of improv comedy at ImprovBoston's Mainstage. The skills I honed there – active listening, storytelling, and thinking on my feet – now help me connect with both technical teams and business leaders. It's where I also met my wife, proving that sometimes the best partnerships form when you say "yes, and..." At Pega, I lead the intersection of technology and go-to-market strategy across our enterprise AI decisioning and workflow automation platform. My focus is two-fold: translating the power of technology into tangible value for our Fortune 500 clients, while ensuring our technology roadmap reflects the evolving needs of these organizations. Don Schuerman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donschuerman/ ---------- Resources ---------- : https://www.pega.com Pega provides the leading AI-powered platform for enterprise transformation. The world's most influential organizations trust Pega's technology to reimagine how work gets done by automating workflows, personalizing customer experiences, and modernizing legacy systems. Since 1983, Pega's scalable, flexible architecture has fueled continuous innovation, helping clients accelerate their path to the autonomous enterprise. Learn more at Pega.com We're proud to be a media partner for #MAICON26 - Oct. 13-15! Learn how AI can power your marketing and business and help you grow smarter. Use code AGILE150 to save! https://aglbrnd.co/r/7fe458ced0f04658Reach your customers with Reddit. Spend $500 in ad spend, get $500 back in ad credit! Learn more: https://advertalize.com/r/491818c79fb1873fDon't miss We Make Future - the International Festival of Innovation in AI, Tech, and Digital Marketing, June 24-26 in Bologna. Learn more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/c80991afff416bb2The most influential minds in software, AI, and engineering leadership will be at WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America, September 23-25 in San Jose. Learn more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/60a7299222a7bcf1 Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is it possible to fill up your week on the CX, and even if you can, should you? And fuel watch has been relegated to the end, just like the football scores.Website: https://petercoath.comPodcast: https://redcircle.com/shows/pete-the-courier-drivers-sunday-q-and-a-the-story-so-farE-Mail: petethehxtrucker@gmail.comBuy the Book https://amzn.eu/d/05AfKX2wJoin the CX: https://teg-influencer-referrals.referral-factory.com/uyjbvRtJGet Insurance: https://tinyurl.com/pthxtFuel card people: https://www.xpressfuel.co.uk/applydtAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The Value Paradox: Why Guests Are Spending More and Forgiving Less Consumer sentiment is at an all-time low, yet people are still spending. The World Cup just kicked off on American soil. And right here in Polk County, Florida, a landmark healthcare partnership just opened its doors with a vision that every hospitality leader should study. In this episode, I unpacks the paradox reshaping restaurants, hotels, and every guest-facing business right now: guests are opening their wallets and they are less forgiving than ever when the experience falls short. The brands winning aren't the cheapest or the fanciest - they're the ones whose people make guests feel like the money was worth it. We talk about lessons from the Watson Clinic and Orlando Health ribbon cutting in Lakeland - a masterclass in designing for the future. We also talk about the FIFA World Cup as the ultimate high-stakes CX case study, with a practical playbook for host cities, hotels, restaurants, and stadium concessions operators facing surge volume, international guests, and a global spotlight. In this episode: Why value has less to do with price than you think - and the three layers that actually drive loyalty The K-shaped consumer market and what it means for your frontline team The World Cup CX playbook: cultural fluency, surge staffing, recovery, and finishing strong Three leadership moves to make this week -not next quarter Perfect for: hospitality leaders, business owners, CEOS, COOs, CX/EX professionals, operational managers, retail and service teams, training and development leaders, and anyone responsible for people and performance (and sales growth).   Book time with me to learn about our speaking, training, and consulting services: https://calendly.com/thetonyjohnson/strategy  Links & Resources:

Want to secure executive buy-in? Stop waiting for a strategic brief from leadership, learn how to pitch solutions that solve your VP's biggest headache.Tired of doing incredible journey mapping work only to realize you still aren't invited to the room where important business decisions are made? In this episode of the Journey Management Playbook, Martin and I break down a highly specific, 5-slide pitch designed to get you a seat at the executive table. Learn how to stop being viewed as just the "journey maps person" and start navigating boardroom politics like a pro.in this episode Why asking your VP what could get them fired is the ultimate shortcut to tapping into executive urgency. A tactical, step-by-step breakdown of how to write your own strategic brief and present a high-value proposition.How to handle heavy pushback from stakeholders and turn a painful "no" into meaningful progress.How to reposition customer experience (CX) from a minor workshop activity into a core business solution.We've put together an Objection Response Cheat Sheet with the most common pushbacks and ways you can navigate them. You can download it for free using the link in the show notes.Enjoy and keep making a positive impact.~ Marc[1. LINKS

The BPO Industry Isn't Dying. But It May Need to Reinvent Itself Faster Than Anyone Expected. Yuma AI CEO Guillaume Luccisano argues that customer experience providers must evolve from labor arbitrage specialists into AI orchestrators and systems integrators—or risk becoming irrelevant. For years, critics of the business process outsourcing industry have predicted its demise. First it was robotic process automation. Then conversational AI. Then Generative AI. Yet the industry survived every previous wave of disruption because technology changed the way work was delivered rather than eliminating the need for the service itself. In episode 420 of the CX Files, Guillaume talks to Mark Hillary about these changes and how BPOs may need to adapt. https://www.linkedin.com/in/guillaumeluccisano/ https://yuma.ai/ -------------- Summary: Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the impact of AI on the BPO industry, featuring Guillaume Luccisano, CEO of Yuma AI. Luccisano argues that traditional BPO models are outdated, emphasizing AI's potential to automate 100% of customer service within 2-3 years. He highlights Yuma AI's success in deploying AI agents since 2023, achieving automation rates up to 89%. Luccisano predicts a significant shift in the job market due to AI, suggesting BPOs must evolve into systems integrators to survive. He also notes the cost efficiency of AI, with interactions costing under $1 compared to $4-$8 for human agents. ---- The BPO Industry Isn't Dying. But It May Need to Reinvent Itself Faster Than Anyone Expected. Yuma AI CEO Guillaume Luccisano argues that customer experience providers must evolve from labor arbitrage specialists into AI orchestrators and systems integrators—or risk becoming irrelevant. For years, critics of the business process outsourcing industry have predicted its demise. First it was robotic process automation. Then conversational AI. Then Generative AI. Yet the industry survived every previous wave of disruption because technology changed the way work was delivered rather than eliminating the need for the service itself. But according to Guillaume Luccisano, founder and CEO of Yuma AI, this time may be different. Speaking on Episode 420 of the CX Files podcast, Luccisano argued that the traditional BPO model—selling customer service through large pools of human agents—is facing a challenge unlike anything it has encountered before. His view is stark: AI is no longer just helping agents do their jobs better. It is increasingly capable of doing the job itself. And if that trend continues, the industry will need to redefine its purpose. The End of the "Cost Per Interaction" Era Luccisano's company specializes in AI-powered customer service automation for retail and e-commerce brands. He claims some clients are already automating the vast majority of customer interactions. What has changed, he argues, is that AI is no longer limited to answering questions from a knowledge base. Modern AI agents can access customer records, understand context, follow workflows, execute transactions, and complete tasks. In other words, they are moving beyond information retrieval and into operational execution. This matters because the traditional BPO business model has largely been built around charging for human effort—whether measured in agents, hours, seats, or interactions. If AI can handle increasing volumes of customer contacts at a fraction of the cost, then the economics begin to shift dramatically. A contact that once required several dollars of human labor may eventually be resolved for a few cents in computing costs. Even if those figures are debated, the direction of travel is becoming difficult to ignore. The Problem Isn't Technology. It's Incentives. One of Luccisano's most interesting observations is that many outsourcing providers are already talking extensively about AI. The question is whether they are deploying AI to genuinely transform operations or merely adding enough AI to satisfy customer demand while protecting existing revenue streams. That creates an uncomfortable tension. A provider whose business depends on thousands of agents has little incentive to aggressively deploy technology that could reduce the number of agents required. As Luccisano noted, many providers find themselves caught between serving today's business model and preparing for tomorrow's. The challenge is not technical. It is organizational. And perhaps even existential. Why Investors Are Nervous The sharp decline in the share prices of several publicly traded CX providers has fuelled speculation about the sector's future. Luccisano believes investors are not simply reacting to hype. They are attempting to price in a future where customer service becomes significantly more automated, more efficient, and therefore less dependent on large labor-intensive operations. Whether investors have overreacted remains open to debate. But the market is clearly asking a difficult question: What happens to a company built around managing tens of thousands of customer service agents when customers increasingly expect AI-driven efficiency? The answer remains uncertain. But it is a question every provider now has to confront. The Hidden Complexity Most Critics Ignore To his credit, Luccisano does not dismiss the value that BPOs create today. Customer interactions are only one piece of a much larger operational puzzle. Large CX providers manage compliance requirements, regulatory obligations, security controls, multilingual operations, workforce management, governance frameworks, quality assurance, and complex integrations across dozens of markets. Replacing an individual customer service interaction with AI is one thing. Replacing the entire operational framework surrounding customer service is something else entirely. This is where many simplistic predictions about the "death of BPO" fall apart. The institutional knowledge accumulated by major outsourcing firms still has value. The question is whether that value can be repackaged. From Outsourcer to Systems Integrator Perhaps the most important idea from the conversation was Luccisano's belief that the future role of the BPO may look less like a labor provider and more like a systems integrator. Rather than selling headcount, providers could sell expertise. Rather than managing agents, they could manage AI agents. Rather than staffing operations, they could design, orchestrate, govern, optimize, and continuously improve AI-enabled customer experience ecosystems. This is a subtle but profound shift. It moves the provider higher up the value chain. The emphasis shifts from execution to orchestration. From labor to outcomes. From workforce management to intelligent systems management. Ironically, this would bring some BPOs closer to the role that companies like IBM, Accenture, and other major technology integrators evolved into years ago. A Difficult Transition The challenge, of course, is that transformation is easier to describe than to execute. Reinventing a startup is one thing. Reinventing a global organization employing hundreds of thousands of people is another. Many of today's largest CX providers are highly successful businesses with established customer relationships and predictable revenue streams. That success can become a barrier to change. The dilemma is obvious. How aggressively should a company invest in technologies that could cannibalize its own business? History suggests that incumbents often struggle with precisely this problem. The Bigger Question Perhaps the most controversial part of Luccisano's argument extends beyond outsourcing entirely. He believes AI is creating a broader economic transformation that will affect many knowledge-based professions, not just customer service. Software engineering, consulting, administration, legal services, and customer experience are all beginning to feel the effects. If he is right, then the debate is no longer about whether AI will change customer service. The debate is about how quickly institutions can adapt to a world where intelligence itself becomes abundant and inexpensive. The Future May Belong to the Adaptable The most important takeaway from this discussion is not that BPOs are doomed. In fact, Luccisano repeatedly acknowledged that some providers will survive and potentially thrive. But survival may depend on abandoning the assumption that customer service is primarily a labor business. The providers that succeed could be those that become trusted advisors, AI operators, governance experts, and systems integrators. The providers that fail may be those that continue selling people when customers increasingly want outcomes. The outsourcing industry has reinvented itself before. The question now is whether it can do so again—at the speed AI demands.

Most leaders think they are delivering a great customer experience. Pierre Charchaflian of IBM says they are delivering yesterday's version. The new standard is not fixing problems when customers report them. It is knowing about the problem before the customer does, and solving it before they have to ask. That shift, from reactive to anticipatory, is what separates the brands that customers stay loyal to from those they leave without explanation. The technology to do it exists right now. Most companies are not using it. Pierre has spent 25 years at the intersection of data, technology, and customer experience, and he says this transformation is unlike anything he has seen before. The window to act is open. It will not stay that way. What You Will Learn About Anticipating Customer Needs With AI: What agentic AI actually is in plain language, why it is fundamentally different from prior AI capabilities, and what it means for your CX strategy starting now Why IBM's research found that technology stack limitations, not budget or talent, are the number one barrier preventing CMOs from delivering the customer experience they already know they need to deliver How agentic search engines are becoming a direct threat to brand digital presence, and what leaders need to do before their customers' AI agents start bypassing them entirely Why anticipating a customer's need before they express it is now a measurable competitive advantage, and what separates the companies building that capability from the ones still reacting How AI can read sentiment, detect frustration signals across structured and unstructured data, and trigger a response before a customer decides to leave Why conversion is the metric that tells the truth about whether your customer experience is actually working, and what NPS and CSAT consistently miss Download IBM's Win the Moment report now: https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/en-us/report/customer-intent?utm_id=Stacy-Sherman-AdobeSummit-LinkedIn-IBVCMOStudy-04-16-26 #IBMPartner Have a question or thoughts to share? Leave a voice message: https://www.speakpipe.com/StacySherman Learn more at DoingCXRight.com and subscribe to the newsletter for more actionable strategies.

If you've ever shouted “just let me talk to a person” at a chatbot, this one's for you. Jeannie Walters is joined by special cohost Brandon McGovern, Senior Director of Customer Experience at HP, to pressure-test the biggest question in AI customer service right now: how do we automate without breaking trust?We start with a headline that feels like a warning label. Norse Atlantic Airways offers dirt-cheap tickets, but customers say there's a catch: customer support is so locked behind tech that getting help can become impossible. We unpack why this isn't simply a “tech problem,” but a governance and leadership problem. When companies remove phone numbers, skip the escape hatch, and ignore high-emotion journeys like refunds and disruptions, they don't just frustrate people, they create financial harm and open the door to fraud.Then we zoom out to the enterprise reality. Cisco's line that adopting AI is “like surgery without the drugs” is painfully honest, and it frames the messy middle many CX teams are living through. We talk about why rushing to automate tasks can amplify mistakes, how to redesign workflows around outcomes, and why “faster” is the wrong North Star compared to what's now possible. Along the way, we dig into authenticity, rising customer expectations, and why AI is killing the illusion of fine print as customers use their own tools to read policies and push back.If you're leading CX, contact centers, or digital support, you'll leave with practical guardrails for pilots, measurement, and intent selection. Subscribe, share this with a teammate, and leave a review with the biggest AI question you're wrestling with right now.About Brandon McGovernSenior Director of Customer Experience at HPUnderstanding your customers isn't enough. I build the systems that turn that understanding into outcomes.I'm a Senior Director of Customer Experience at HP, leading enterprise-wide measurement, analytics, and operations that enable the company to understand and act on customer sentiment in real time. I oversee a global Voice of the Customer ecosystem capturing tens of millions of signals annually, translating them into product, service, digital, and brand strategy decisions across the business.My work has delivered double-digit NPS improvements and material revenue impact by shifting CX from a reporting function to an operational and strategic capability - powered by data, automation, and applied AI.Beyond enterprise implementation, I build with AI hands-on - personal projects in game design, product prototyping, and workflow automation using Claude, Lovable, and other tools. Building outside my domain teaches me where AI actually breaks down, which makes me a better architect of AI-powered operating models at work.I bring engineering depth coupled with business leadership (MBA, MS in Electrical Engineering, Stanford executive education), and I specialize in building scalable CX platforms, driving cultural change, and aligning executives around customer-led transformation. Follow Brandon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonmcgovern/Articles Mentioned:- Norse Atlantic Airways Offers Dirt-Cheap Tickets. There's a Catch (Wired) -- https://www.wired.com/story/norse-airlines-ftc-complaints-ai-scams/- Cisco exec says adopting AI is like 'surgery without the drugs' (Business Insider) -- https://www.businessinsider.com/cisco-ai-adoption-customer-service-2026-5- Dissatisfied: Three-fourths of AI customer service rollouts are a letdown (The Register) -- https://www.theregister.com/ai-ml/2026/05/13/ai-customer-service-bots-get-rolled-back-at-74-of-firms/5239800Enjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

It's your weekly TA & Recruitment news blast with the Scoop from TaPod. This week we cover all kinds of angles, including Uber brutalising their HR Team; 12.5% tariffs imposed by the USA for allowing imports of goods created by modern slavery; Atlassian says AI is making teams slower; the daily commute is dead; businesses spending pay rises on AI; the top 10 in-demand jobs and much more.Thanks to Indeed for partnering with us to bring you the Scoop.

This week on Tapod, we catch up with Jamie Leonard – Founder of Recfest – The LARGEST Talent Acquisition event in the world! Imagine over 4000 recruiters in the field at Knebworth, UK – in the biggest and baddest conference/festival on the planet. This year's theme revolves very heavily around human intervention in a world transfixed on AI. With a focus on practitioner delivery and case studies  Thanks to Greenhouse for partnering with us this month. 

Salesforce Connections 2026 had an ambitious narrative: apply agentic AI to turn marketers from bogged-down admins to "makers." But how did that narrative go over with attendees? And how do Salesforce customers achieve these changes and reduce marketing/sales pain points - even on older "heritage" releases? Does the fragmentation of enterprise data remain an obstacle? Jon Reed hashes out these questions and more with Rebecca Wettemann, who has done notable research through Valoir on CX data fragmentation. Can the two get to the bottom of the show on the clock, before their conference room time expires? We're about to find out...

Salesforce Connections 2026 had an ambitious narrative: apply agentic AI to turn marketers from bogged-down admins to "makers." But how did that narrative go over with attendees? And how do Salesforce customers achieve these changes and reduce marketing/sales pain points - even on older "heritage" releases? Does the fragmentation of enterprise data remain an obstacle? Jon Reed hashes out these questions and more with Rebecca Wettemann, who has done notable research through Valoir on CX data fragmentation. Can the two get to the bottom of the show on the clock, before their conference room time expires? We're about to find out...

How the 90s favorite $4 billion bookstore chain sleepwalked into bankruptcy...

David Rickard is a partner at Everest Group. He is based in the UK. David recently visited Ethiopia for the Elevate Africa event. In this conversation with Peter Ryan David gives his take on Ethiopia and Africa more generally for CX and BPO.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/dwrickard/ https://www.everestgrp.com/ https://www.weelevateafrica.org/ --- Africa has been talked about as "the next big thing" in outsourcing for at least two decades. South Africa became a serious global CX delivery location. Egypt built a powerful multilingual BPO proposition. Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, and several other markets are now attracting attention as buyers look beyond the traditional offshore giants. But Ethiopia is starting to enter the conversation in a more serious way. In Episode 419 of CX Files, Peter Ryan interviewed David Rickard, a partner at Everest Group, shortly after David returned from the Elevate Africa conference in Ethiopia. The conversation was valuable because David was not offering a promotional pitch. As an analyst, his job is to look at both sides of the equation: the opportunity and the obstacles.

Are basic chatbots hurting your customer experience? In this episode of the RETHINK Retail Podcast, guest host Christine Russo sits down with Antanas Bakšys, CEO and Co-Founder of Ace Waves, to discuss the massive transformation happening in retail CX. Antanas shares insights from his 15 years in ecommerce, explaining how retail customer support is shifting from rigid software into an elite autonomous workforce. KEY TAKEAWAYS: - Beyond Chatbots: Why legacy retail automation fails and how to transition to true AI teammates. - Customer Service Debt: How to identify this hidden burden in your organization and clear it out. - Risk Management: How autonomous AI agents safely handle sensitive tasks like refunds and cancellations. - Future of Retail CX: A contrarian 12-month prediction on where retail automation is heading. Meet Ace Waves at Shoptalk Europe! > Heading to Barcelona this June 9th through 11th? Meet Antanas and the team in person at the Ace Waves booth.

“Customer experience is not about selling a product anymore. It's about selling trust.” Cisco Webex: Turning Agentic AI Into Trusted Customer Engagement, As Cisco Live spotlights agentic AI, security and observability, Vinod Muthukrishnan explains why Webex Customer Experience sits at the front line of AI adoption By Doug Green “Customer experience is not about selling a product anymore. It's about selling trust.” That was the larger message from Vinod Muthukrishnan, Vice President and General Manager of Webex Customer Experience at Cisco, in this Technology Reseller News podcast recorded at Cisco Live. Muthukrishnan connects several of the biggest themes at Cisco Live — agentic AI, observability, security and the network — to the place where they ultimately become real: the customer experience. As AI moves into customer-facing environments, the stakes change. An autonomous agent may access corporate data, customer information, PII and confidential systems. It may then act autonomously and communicate directly with customers, partners and outside entities. Put those steps together, Muthukrishnan says, and the threat surface becomes potentially “infinite.” That is why he argues that AI-powered customer experience cannot be treated simply as a front-end application opportunity. “For me, it's an infrastructure game,” says Muthukrishnan. The ability to observe, secure, manage and respond to AI-driven systems at machine scale becomes essential. The conversation reflects a larger shift in the contact center and customer experience market. AI is no longer just a tool for routing calls, answering routine questions or assisting agents. It is becoming a new operating layer for customer engagement. That creates major opportunities for better service, faster resolution and more personalized interactions. But it also raises new questions about trust, governance, data access and operational control. For Cisco Partners, MSPs and enterprise teams, that changes the conversation. The question is not simply how to add AI to the contact center. The question is how to build a secure, observable and trusted CX environment where AI can operate safely and effectively. Muthukrishnan's message is that Webex Customer Experience is positioned at that intersection. CX is where the promise of AI meets the expectations of real customers. It is also where enterprises will need to prove that autonomous systems can be useful, secure and trusted. In this podcast, Muthukrishnan outlines how Cisco Webex is approaching that challenge and why trusted customer engagement may become one of the defining measures of success in the AI era. Learn more at: https://www.webex.com/contact-center.html

Dave shares 5 unique ways his team leverages AI across 3 brands to make products more personal, streamline operations and optimize marketing efforts — without the usual image editing tips that everyone talks about. Thinking about taking some risk off the table? Or are you looking at taking an extended break from e-commerce in general? Know what your e-commerce business is worth with Quiet Light Brokerage. More Staffing connects ecommerce founders to top Filipino talent across supply chain, operations, CX, marketing, finance, and creative. More Staffing helps you build a team with real depth, at a cost structure that makes it viable for a brand at any stage. Check out MORE. Staffing today to get all of your open positions filled for Q3. Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction 02:30 - Creating a custom Shopify app  04:00 - Challenges from developing custom apps 05:30 - Using Cursor for app development 07:00 - Using Cloudflare for hosting apps 09:00 - Designing custom inventory management tools 17:00 - Using AI for video creation and how Dobby Ads produces quality content 21:00 - Efficient PPC management with manual oversight and AI automation 25:00 - Hiring professionals in the Philippines with MORE. Staffing 30:00 - Experimenting with OpenClaw and its potential  Resources & Links: Dobby Ads MORE Staffing Cursor IDE Railway Laravel Framework Cloudflare DigitalOcean

Your contact center agents are not the only people responsible for your customer experience. Every person in your company who touches a product, a process, or a decision is shaping how your customer feels about your brand, whether they realize it or not. Chris Morrissey, General Manager of Customer Experience at Zoom, calls this horizontal CX, and it starts with one question every leader should be asking every employee, every quarter: how did you use what you learned from customers to make a better decision? When that question becomes routine, "not my job" stops being an option. This episode covers what it takes to build that accountability across every role, every channel, and every technology decision your company is making right now. What You Will Learn Why measuring individual interactions instead of full customer journeys causes teams to celebrate outcomes that are actually failures Which voices of the customer most companies are collecting but never routing to the teams making product, marketing, and service decisions Why keeping customers is a bigger revenue lever than acquiring them at scale, and why most recognition and compensation structures have not caught up to that reality What it takes to make store staff, product owners, and agents show up as one brand to a customer who does not care about your org chart Why the pressure to adopt AI fast may be creating a problem worse than the one companies are trying to solve Have a question or thoughts to share? Leave a voice message: https://www.speakpipe.com/StacySherman Learn more at DoingCXRight.com and subscribe to the newsletter for more actionable strategies.

Airline customer satisfaction increased 3% year over year. That's one of the strongest gains across the travel sector, according to new research from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Forrest Morgeson, Director of Research Emeritus at ACSI, shares what's driving those gains and how airlines are improving across multiple customer touchpoints—from mobile apps and reservations to in-flight internet and access to information throughout the travel journey.

Momentum is the thing every CX leader wants and almost nobody hands you. When you're staring at a 12-month roadmap but drowning in daily requests, it's easy to feel like you're working nonstop while nothing actually changes. We built this conversation for that exact moment, and we keep it practical: seven days, one intentional move, and a clear path to visible customer experience impact.We walk through a simple three-step framework we use with leaders who are trying to turn CX strategy into action. First, we orient before we act by choosing where our energy belongs instead of reacting to whatever is loudest. We talk through a clear set of focus areas and how a quick assessment can highlight the biggest gap between the experience you want to deliver and what's getting done right now. Then we get real about focus: protecting time, avoiding data rabbit holes, and picking an outcome you can actually ship in a week.Finally, we make one intentional leadership decision that isn't driven by urgency or the inbox. That decision might be defining what success looks like, revisiting a customer experience mission statement, or having the buy-in conversation you've been avoiding. The goal is not perfection. The goal is momentum you can feel and results you can point to.If you're ready to try the seven-day challenge, listen now, share this with a CX peer who feels stuck, and subscribe so you don't miss what comes next. After you listen, what's the one move you'll commit to this week?Exclusive for podcast listeners: Get your 7-Day Free Trial of CXI MembershipOther Resources Mentioned:Learn more about the CXI Navigator™ framework -- https://experienceinvestigators.com/our-framework/Take the CXI Compass™ assessment -- http://CXICompass.comOrder your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comExperience Investigators -- https://experienceinvestigators.comEnjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

It's your weekly TA & Recruitment news blast with the Scoop from TaPod. This week we cover all kinds of angles, including Lauren wants us to stop talking about AI and then doesn't stop talking about it; bad hiring decisions cost $7.3 billion annually; redundancy and then enforcing non-competes – is that fair? Would you call someone a ‘fat, ugly pig' in an interview? Ghost jobs on the increase; the Fair Work Commission hands out a pay rise; Gen Z not lazy but harder to manipulate and much more.Thanks to Indeed for partnering with us to bring you the Scoop.

This week on Tapod, we catch up with Rachel Hill, Managing Director at Hill Consulting HRS & Founder at The Recruitment Skills Academy. But Rachel is on a mission. Along with our very own Craig Watson, she has developed the first-ever accredited vocational training for our industry in a Certificate IV in TA and Diploma in TA Management. Not only that, but they are also about to launch the Talent Acquisition Association of Australia – TAAA. This is a member-based industry association to drive the professionalism and standards of talent acquisition in the region. The TAAA will provide guidance and resources, lobby the government, be the voice of internal recruitment and test frameworks around new strategies and technologies. They have already signed on a number of vendor partners who will contribute data, whitepapers and special deals to members. It's high time we are seen as a true profession, and that can only be the case if we take steps to act like one.Thanks to Greenhouse for partnering with us this month. 

On this episode, we explore what rigorous AI safety testing looks like for customer-facing AI — and why most deployments carry more risk than the teams running them expect.Testing AI before launch is standard practice. But one-time manual testing treats AI like a deterministic system. Model behavior is probabilistic, and the consequences of inadequate testing fall into four categories: people data harm, other types of data harm, reputational harm and commercial harm. Each represents a distinct exposure with real consequences for your organization and your customers.Meaningful AI safety testing requires something different: continuous, automated adversarial testing at scale, designed to find what a bad actor would find before they find it. TELUS Digital's benchmark research, running 34 models through more than 620,000 simulated attacks, found attack success rates ranging from 1% to 90%, and identified five gaps in how most organizations approach testing: scale, scope, variety, repetition and simulation realism.Bret Kinsella, senior vice president and general manager of Fuel iX at TELUS Digital, draws on the GenAI safety model benchmark report to explain where CX AI tends to fail adversarial testing methods, how the exposure management framework reframes risk as an ongoing operational discipline and the question every CX leader should be asking about the AI their customers are currently interacting with.Show notesWatch Uncharted, TELUS Digital's AI safety and security summit, on demand: https://www.telusdigital.com/insights/fuel-ix/resource/uncharted-ai-security-safety-summit-videosDownload the full GenAI safety model benchmark report: https://www.telusdigital.com/insights/fuel-ix/resource/genai-safety-benchmark-2026Learn more about Fuel iX Fortify, TELUS Digital's continuous adversarial testing and validation platform for enterprise AI, and request a free AI safety & security analysis: https://www.telusdigital.com/solutions/fuel-ix/fortifyConnect with Bret Kinsella on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bretkinsella/

John DiJulius explains why so many leaders believe their customer experience is improving while customers feel something very different. Summary: In this episode of The Customer Service Revolution Podcast, Denise Thompson and John DiJulius unpack one of the most dangerous gaps in business today: the difference between what leaders think customers are experiencing and what customers are actually feeling. A 2026 customer experience report referenced in the episode found that 66% of CX practitioners believe customer experience improved last year, while only 17% of consumers agree. That gap is not just a measurement issue. It is a leadership issue. John explains why survey scores, dashboards, and internal reports can create false confidence. He also discusses why customer feedback often fails to become customer intelligence, how silos distort the experience, and why frontline employees are often closest to the truth but least empowered to fix recurring friction points. The episode challenges leaders to stop judging customer experience from the conference room and start getting closer to the real customer journey. Companies that want to build loyalty, reduce friction, and create a true competitive advantage must measure what matters, listen to what customers are actually saying, and follow through with systems, standards, and accountability. Takeaways There is often a major gap between what companies think they are delivering and what customers actually experience. Leaders may be investing in CX, tracking scores, and launching initiatives, but customers may still not feel meaningful improvement. Survey scores alone are no longer enough. John argues that survey fatigue has made traditional feedback less reliable. Many customers do not complain; they simply leave. Customer feedback and customer intelligence are not the same. Feedback tells you how someone feels about an interaction. Customer intelligence helps you understand who the customer is, what they need, what they value, and where friction exists. Frontline employees often know the problems before leadership does. Contact center teams, sales teams, and customer-facing employees hear recurring complaints daily. The problem is that many companies lack a system to capture and act on that intelligence. Silos create customer experience breakdowns. Departments often optimize for their own numbers, but customers experience the company as one organization. Implementation is where most CX initiatives fail. Launching the idea is easy. Measuring, training, coaching, reinforcing, and holding people accountable is the hard part. Leaders need to become their own customers. Ordering your own product, calling your own contact center, testing your own digital journey, and experiencing your own process can expose friction dashboards miss. Customer experience is not a short-term ROI play. Cost-cutting, discounting, layoffs, and acquisitions may improve short-term numbers, but they can damage the long-term experience. AI can help leaders hear the real customer voice. Customer sentiment analysis can reveal recurring issues across calls, chats, emails, and support interactions without relying only on low-response surveys. The ultimate question is not, "Are we working on CX?" It is, "Would our customers say it is actually better?" Quotes "Customer experience can't be judged from the conference room alone." "If customers are not feeling the improvement, then the work isn't finished." "Survey scores can create false confidence if they are not connected to the real customer journey." "Feedback is one thing. Customer intelligence is another." "The frontline often knows where the friction is. The question is whether leadership has a system to hear it and fix it." "EX equals CX. What employees experience, customers will experience." "Don't just ask, 'Are we working on customer experience?' Ask, 'Would our customers say it is actually better?'" "Implementation is the hard part. Launching the idea is easy." "Some customers do not complain. They just quietly leave." "Leaders need to roll up their sleeves and get closer to the customer." Chapters List 00:00 – Introduction: The Gap Between CX Perception and Reality Denise introduces a major disconnect between what CX professionals believe and what consumers report feeling. 01:58 – Why Companies Think Experience Is Improving John explains why there may be a lag between CX initiatives and customer perception, but also why leaders may be missing the real experience. 03:43 – Why CX Initiatives Fail After Launch John discusses flavor-of-the-month initiatives, poor execution, and the importance of measurement, training, coaching, and accountability. 04:52 – How Leaders Become Disconnected from Customers John explains how growth, P&L pressure, and short-term decision-making can distance leaders from the actual customer experience. 06:54 – The Role of Silos in Customer Experience Gaps Denise and John discuss how departments can unintentionally create friction when they do not understand one another's impact on the customer. 08:48 – Signs of a Customer Experience Delusion John challenges companies that rely too heavily on surveys and NPS without understanding what those metrics may be missing. 10:26 – AI, Customer Sentiment, and Real-Time Intelligence John explains how AI can help companies identify recurring customer issues through calls, emails, chats, and sentiment analysis. 11:45 – Customer Feedback vs. Customer Intelligence John defines customer intelligence and explains why different customer avatars have different needs, expectations, and pain points. 14:14 – Why Companies Collect Feedback but Fail to Act Denise and John discuss why employees and customers stop giving feedback when nothing changes. 16:51 – How Leaders Can Stay Close Without More Surveys John recommends AI sentiment analysis, contact center focus groups, and direct conversations with frontline employees. 18:41 – Becoming Your Own Customer Denise shares an example of executives testing their own product experience and finding major improvements before launch. 20:04 – How to Know CX Strategy Is Working John explains the importance of a return-on-experience dashboard, employee energy, task forces, and internal alignment. 21:54 – Consulting CTA Denise explains how The DiJulius Group helps organizations uncover friction, build systems, and create consistency at scale. 22:43 – The Danger of Relying Only on Survey Scores John explains why low response rates and incomplete survey answers can distort the truth. 23:27 – What Companies Should Do This Quarter John recommends speaking directly with VIP customers, creating a CX champion, forming a task force, and following a proven methodology. 24:44 – Closing Challenge Denise challenges leaders to ask whether customers would say the experience is actually better. Links: The DiJulius Group Methdology: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/x-commandment-methodology/ Company Service Aptitude Test:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/c-sat-forms/individual-c-sat/ Schedule a Complimentary Call with one of our advisors:  tdg.click/claudia Ask John!  Submit your questions for John, to be aired on future episode:  tdg.click/ask Customer Experience Executive Academy: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/project/cx-executive-academy/ Experience Revolution Membership:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/membership/ Books:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/shop/ Contacts:  Lindsey@thedijuliusgroup.com , Claudia@thedijuliusgroup.com If you want to learn how world-class organizations build cultures customers cannot live without, explore The Experience Revolution Membership. Inside the membership you'll gain access to livestream workshops, practical frameworks, and proven strategies used by organizations around the world. Learn more at https://thedijuliusgroup.com/membership/ Learn More If your organization is working to improve customer experience but struggling to connect it to measurable business outcomes, The DiJulius Group can help. Visit: https://thedijuliusgroup.com Listen to more episodes: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/the-customer-service-revolution-podcast/ Subscribe We talk about topics like this each week; be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss an episode.  

Today's episode of the Punk CX podcast features a series of interviews that I conducted with Zendesk executives while at Relate, their annual customer event in Denver last week. I talked to Tom Eggemeier, CEO, Zendesk, Shana Simmons, CLO, Zendesk, and Cristina Fonseca, VP Product, Zendesk. Some of the things we cover include the big themes and takeaways from the event, including some background on the big product announcements, AI trust and why trust is a core differentiator, how Zendesk are working with clients to help them build trust with their customers, the future of work and how we can prepare ourselves and our teams for that. This interview follows on from my recent interview – Trust and transparency will be the CX differentiators of the future – Interview with Chris Angus of 8×8 – and is number 588 in the series of interviews with authors and business leaders who are doing great things, providing valuable insights, helping businesses innovate and delivering great service and experience to both their customers and their employees.

The annual CXOutsourcers Mindshare event took place in Ottawa, Canada, earlier in May 2026 (May 18-20). Peter Ryan took a microphone onto the conference floor to capture ideas and comments from the delegates in Canada for this CX-focused event. https://cxoutsourcers.com/ In this episode of CX Files you will hear comments from: Sean Duncombe - COO, Neuroframe (USA) https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanduncombe/ Nathalie Siphengphet - CMO and VP Strategy, NQX (Canada) https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathaliesiphengphet/ Yanique Grant - Chief CX Specialist, ElevateCX (USA) https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaniquewagrantcx/ Seandette Wiltshire - Founder, The Contact Hub (Barbados) https://www.linkedin.com/in/seandette/ Dave Rumble - various roles including Director and Chair Maistro Group and board advisor to NDH Group (UK) https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-rumble-4a4a09b/ Krzysztof Herdzik - Co-founder and Chief Expert, Nalu Experts (Poland) https://www.linkedin.com/in/krzysztofherdzik/ Fauad Nasir - CEO and Founder, EmpireOne BPO (Canada) https://www.linkedin.com/in/fauad-nasir/ Anna Yotova - Head of Innovation and co-founder, CALLBOXS (Bulgaria) https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-yotova-2471aa17b/ Veronica Richards - VP at WW Calls Canada (Canada) https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronica-richards-9b26969/ Faye Joubert - CRO, iTalk International (South Africa) https://www.linkedin.com/in/fayevaldajoubert/ Terez Rijkenberg - Executive Coach (UK) https://www.linkedin.com/in/terezrijkenberg/ Vinay Parmar - MD, Customer Whisperers (UK) https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinayparmar/   Note: the order listed here is the order the voices feature in the podcast - there is no secret formula about the order. It's the order in which Peter sent the audio files to Mark Hillary to be included in this episode.

Pulled from the Hiring Excellence vault while a new season finishes mixing, Johnny's 2023 conversation with Wendy Mayer, VP Candidate Experience at Pfizer, that only gets more relevant. Wendy came to candidate experience from strategy, CX and employee experience, and brings all of that lens to TA. A practical take on why 'perfect' is the wrong target, which moments actually matter, and the small change — putting her name on every candidate email — that did more than she expected.

In this episode of the Finovate Podcast, host Greg Palmer sits down with Craig McLaughlin (CEO) and Baron Conway (Chief Strategy Officer) of Finalytics.AI to discuss their impressive achievement of winning Best of Show at FinovateSpring for two consecutive years (2025 and 2026).The conversation explores how Finalytics.AI is revolutionizing digital banking by solving a critical challenge faced by community financial institutions: delivering personalized, high-touch experiences through digital channels while leveraging the wealth of customer data these institutions possess. Craig shares the company's origin story, explaining how they recognized that existing third-party platforms weren't adequately addressing the unique needs of financial institutions, leading them to build a specialized solution from the ground up.The discussion delves into Finalytics.AI's recent innovations over the past 12 months, including advanced personalization through learner algorithms, dynamic rates engines, intelligent calculators that indicate high customer intent, and comprehensive full-funnel reporting capabilities. Baron emphasizes how their platform transforms digital and marketing teams from cost centers into profit drivers by providing insights that extend beyond application submissions to actual funding amounts and outcomes. The intelligence layer that Finnalytics.AI provides sits between various point solutions, integrating data from disparate systems to deliver truly personalized experiences across the customer journey—from initial search ad engagement through to product recommendations and conversions.Both executives share valuable insights for fintech founders on approaching different types of financial institutions, emphasizing the importance of patience, relationship-building, and understanding that each organization has unique needs regardless of whether they're credit unions, community banks, or larger institutions.They stress that success in this space requires playing the long game, responding quickly to customer needs, and truly understanding each institution's specific market challenges and business objectives. Looking ahead, Finalytics.AI is focusing on exposing their intelligence layer via APIs to enhance CRM, contact center, and marketing automation tools, while also exploring opportunities in agentic banking to automate processes and enable financial institutions to focus on what they do best: human engagement powered by intelligent data insights.More info:Finalytics: https://finalytics.ai/; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finalyticsai/Craig McLoughlin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mclaughlincraig/Baron Conway: https://www.linkedin.com/in/baronconway/Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/FinovateSpring: https://informaconnect.com/finovatespring/#Finovate #FinovateSpring #Banking #banks #creditunions #personalization #data #communitybanks #CX #marketing #digitaladoption #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #innovation #digitraltransformation #fintech #finserv #modernization

Companies are embracing AI faster than ever before, and many leaders are realizing that successful transformation depends just as much on people and culture as it does on technology. This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Dr. Michael Housman, AI builder, founder of AI-ccelerator, and author of Future-Proof: Transform Your Business with AI or Get Left Behind, shares practical ways companies can use AI to accelerate innovation, improve customer experience, and prepare for the future of work. We also discuss why successful AI adoption depends as much on leadership, employee buy-in, and culture as it does on the technology itself.

According to research by Gartner, 84% of business leaders report their company's identity must significantly change to achieve strategic objectives. But how do you know when the time is right? And more importantly, how do you ensure that change goes smoothly? Riley Rogers: Welcome to the Win/Win Podcast. I’m your host, Riley Rogers. Join us as we dive into changing trends in the workplace and how to navigate them successfully. According to research by Gartner, 84% of business leaders report their company's identity must significantly change to achieve strategic objectives. But how do you know when the time is right? And more than that, how do you ensure that the change goes smoothly? Here to discuss this topic is Shelly Luciano, Vice President of Strategy at Leah. Thank you so much for joining us today, Shelly. I’d love if you could just kick us off by telling us a little bit about yourself, your background, and your role. Shelly Luciano: I’m Shelly Luciano. I’m Brazilian. I studied industrial engineering in Brazil and France. I started my career working in infrastructure and R&D, so that experience gave me a strong foundation in execution early on. Back in 2014, I moved to the UK to pursue my MBA at London Business School. I used business school to transition from a technical background into strategy on a global scale. After my MBA, I spent three and a half years in strategy consulting. That work helped me learn how companies compete in larger markets. What I realized is that although strategy consulting is intellectually fascinating, I was being more and more drawn to the business. So I transitioned into tech about five years ago. I joined what was then ContractPodAI, which is now Leah. Today, I’m Vice President of Strategy and Operations. My team focuses on aligning strategic priorities, supporting cross-functional execution, and ensuring our go-to-market approach reflects both where the company's headed and what our customers need. One of the most valuable parts of my role is staying close to our customer base. These conversations give me and the company a lot of valuable insight into how the market is evolving and how organizations are actually adopting AI. I then bring these insights back into the organization, back into Leah, to inform product direction, enable our customer success team, and ensure that our strategy remains grounded in real market needs. Ultimately, my role sits at the intersection of strategy, go-to-market execution, and customer insight. RR: I think you have a fascinating role, to be quite frank, and also a really wonderful story. To go from “I'm trained as an engineer,” to “now I've got my MBA, I'm in consulting, and today I work in tech and have for the last five years,” that's really an incredible journey that I imagine must have given you a real wealth of experience that serves you very well at Leah. SL: It’s funny because if you asked me when I graduated in Brazil what I'd be doing now, I wouldn't have guessed. The world has changed so much. My world has changed so much. So I feel very lucky and blessed to do the job that I do. I really like it. My company's fascinating. My role is fascinating. My company gives me room to change as long as I'm adding value and my team is adding value. So I'm really happy. RR: Yeah, and that's certainly evidenced by the fact that you spent five years in one tech company when the average tenure is just over two, so something really must be going right. I'd love to dig a little bit deeper into this exciting, challenging, and evolving role that's been keeping you at Leah for the last few years. You're there to keep an eye on what's happening in the market so your reps can tell a story and your engineering teams can build a product that the market both wants to hear and to see. More than that, you're also there to break down silos and operationalize your strategy so it really shows up in everyday workflows. In this work, what kind of things tend to crop up—challenges or obstacles that make it difficult to build the connections that bridge that gap between strategy and execution? SL: For me, there are two major challenges I see in equipping internal teams to drive growth. First, strategy and execution often evolve at different speeds. A leadership team can align relatively quickly on a strategic direction, but translating that direction into how hundreds or thousands of people operate day to day can take much longer. For me, strategy only really lands when it keeps showing up in customer conversations. What you portray needs to align with what your client base and the market are seeing. If the people talking to customers every day don't understand the problems that your company is solving and why, then your strategy hasn't really landed. It's just a deck. It's lovely to build these ideas, but you've got to be able to execute on them. As companies scale, the complexity increases much faster than people expect. You have more industries, more personas, a larger product portfolio, and if you don't have the right systems and alignment, that complexity can create a lot of confusion internally. And if your team is internally confused, then everyone else is too. RR: So your job is to keep an incredibly close pulse on the market and on technology as they both evolve. And it's a little bit of an endless task because the market will always shift and technology will always evolve. So you've got to be right there with it as the voice of reason for the organization, telling everyone, “Okay, here's what's happening, and here's how we're going to move with it.” As someone who, by job description, is very comfortable with change and evolution, can you share with us how you're thinking about how Leah, as an AI-first company, is keeping pace through major technology shifts, and then how other organizations should think about translating these shifts into their own organizational and operational processes? SL: Leah has been an AI-first company for years, way before LLMs. What changed with LLMs is the speed and scope at which we can execute our strategy much faster. We've been using machine learning in our platform for a long time, so the foundation was already there. We already had a really strong team. What LLMs did was introduce a step change, and our founder, Sarvarth, is a visionary. He saw straight away how that was going to change the game. All these changes in the past few years did not change our direction, but for the client base, what they can really see is that LLMs have expanded the use cases that we can deliver. And I think that's what matters to customers—how can we solve more of their problems? With Leah, we've moved from traditional automation into what we describe as an agentic operating system. That means our AI is not just supporting workflows. We can do much more than that. We can now reason across data, understand context, and orchestrate actions. That is so exciting, as you can imagine, for someone who works in strategy because it feels limitless. Going beyond static workflows, you now have systems that can adapt dynamically to the problems that we're solving. And that's where the speed and pace of innovation really comes in. Once you move into an agentic model, you're no longer limited to predefined use cases. You can continuously expand how AI is applied across not only our internal organization but also our client base. From a strategy and operations perspective, the challenge is not adopting the technology, because we've been able to do it and we continue to do it. The challenge is how do we operationalize it? Strategists love frameworks, so if I had to group it, I'd say there are three ways I think about this. The first part is strategic focus. The risk with AI, within all this opportunity, is diffusion. So we need to be deliberate about which use cases we prioritize. We need to define where we can deliver the most value, because being AI-first doesn't mean doing everything. It means scaling the right use cases. The second part is how do we translate that into go-to-market execution? As I mentioned before, strategy only really lands when your customers can speak about you. Organizations need to understand how to position AI. We need to be able to explain it clearly so we can apply it across different industries and contexts. That's where systems like Highspot can really help us translate this within our organization and externally. The third thing is continuous customer feedback loops, because customer proximity is the most valuable strategic signal we can have. To be a strategist in tech, your goal is not to define a static AI strategy. You're always on a feedback loop, and you need to be agile. The tools and teams that support you need to be comfortable with always learning and always putting our best foot forward. RR: So as you alluded to, you and the team actually recently went through a rebrand. From ContractPodAI, you became Leah, named after the organization's flagship AI offering. I'd be curious to hear how, with these challenges to strategy-aligned execution in mind, you and the team made sure that everyone was telling the same story and supporting the same strategy, even as the brand message and narrative shifted so drastically. SL: Leah was already a product of ours that had taken a bigger and bigger piece of our client base. So moving from ContractPodAI, which was very contract-focused, into Leah made sense because the Leah product had become a much bigger part of who we were and our identity. When we came into becoming the Leah brand, we were ready in many ways. You're never fully ready for a full rebrand. There's still a lot of work. But we had the tools and processes in place to help us in that transition. In 2021, we had just raised $150 million from SoftBank's Vision Fund. At that point, I knew we were going to grow exponentially, so I wanted to manage as many growing pains as possible. At that stage, we were evolving from having a relatively general pitch to a much more sophisticated message tailored by industry and persona, and our platform was expanding even back then. I realized that we needed a way to ensure that our entire organization stayed aligned on how we communicate value because, as companies scale, complexity increases. More products, more industries, more ways customers can use your platform. So when trying to solve that problem, that's when we looked into Highspot. We wanted Highspot to help us ensure the entire organization could work from the same narrative. Highspot is now used across our sales teams, SDR teams, CX teams, and actually it has expanded because once people hear about it, they want to know what the go-to-market teams are presenting. I'm really glad we implemented Highspot four or five years ago now because since then the customers that we serve have grown and the breadth of our platform has grown. Putting things in place before you come to that stage is actually really important. RR: Can you walk through where Highspot fit into the picture and how you and the team used it to trickle down that message so, to your earlier point, strategic vision didn't get lost in that wonderful game of telephone between C-suite strategy and individual contributor execution? SL: When I came in, we had a general pitch on how we went to market. One of the reasons I was hired is because I came in to do an industry strategy, and there was a lot of research involved—both internally, looking at how we were using the tool for certain industries, and externally, looking at market potential and product fit for each industry. Based on that, I prioritized a few industries to start developing content and enablement around. That's when I looked into Highspot because we had a SharePoint at the time, and it was already not fully updated. People pasted things on top of it or saved materials to their computers and never checked the right version again. I came to Highspot with a very clear use case. There were other features and capabilities that we wanted, but the core problem I wanted to solve was creating one single source of truth. It seems like a SharePoint should do that just fine, but it didn't because we needed something that would help us as we continued scaling product growth, use case growth, and overall organizational growth. It was going to become really hard to enable everyone and make sure people accessed the information they needed at the right time. That's what we got Highspot for, and that's what we continue using it for. RR: So once you defined the strategy of the rebrand, where did you see friction between what you were telling reps—“Here's our new message, here's our new strategy”—and what they were actually saying and doing in the field? Where was there misalignment, and how did you and the team tackle that? SL: Once the strategy and story are defined, the real challenge is behavioral change at scale. Organizations tend to align on a narrative relatively quickly at a conceptual level. But alignment alone is not the end goal. Execution is. Execution, particularly in customer conversations, can take time. The friction I've observed is not usually resistance. It's normally a knowledge gap or a confidence gap. Sometimes you have the knowledge, but you're not confident in that knowledge. As your platform evolves and you're no longer selling a single product for a very defined use case, you're helping customers on a journey. You need to understand a variety of challenges across different workflows, industries, and personas. In that environment, the challenge is not whether teams understand the narrative. The bigger challenge is whether they can apply it dynamically in real conversations. What we consistently see is that reps are comfortable with the core story, but uncertainty appears around the edges. When a customer asks something slightly outside the standard pitch or challenges how the solution applies to their specific context, that's where execution can break down. For reps to feel confident using the right language and positioning the platform correctly, they need to understand things at a deeper level. With all the advancement in AI, we can develop things so quickly, but that also creates challenges because emerging technologies move incredibly fast. There's something new every week. If your software can deliver so much, there are a lot of questions reps need to feel prepared for, and we need to give the organization the ability to operate with clarity and confidence in this complex environment. Highspot has helped us do part of that, particularly in making sure teams understand how we're positioning ourselves, but there's also a lot of technical enablement and training that we need to make sure they complete. Teams have to prepare for conversations in many different contexts, and that fundamentally changes how an organization executes. You can't just memorize anymore. You need to understand. Ultimately, scaling a company is not about having the best strategy on paper. It's about ensuring that all of your employees can bring that strategy to life and communicate it with passion. RR: Yeah. I love the way you landed that because you're 100% right that to a certain extent it can be a knowledge gap, and another layer can be that confidence gap. But then that third and final layer is the context gap. Can reps embody the strategist? Can they embody the strategy? Reps want to do well. It benefits them and it benefits you. So when things are going awry, it's not intentional. It's hard to get up to speed and start delivering in the field, especially when things are changing so rapidly. If you can slowly bridge all those gaps, your strategy starts to encompass the whole company. And again, it's such a cool role that you have, getting to bring that to life and then watch it trickle out into every customer conversation your teams are having. You mentioned 2021 and implementing Highspot, and it's been five years since then. In that time, what key results have you seen? Any wins that you're especially proud of, whether early on or today during this rebrand phase? SL: Highspot is now widely used across the organization. We have the sales team, SDR team, CX team, and leadership all using it. Initially, we bought licenses only for the sales team, and since then we've more than doubled, if not tripled, our licenses because people continue asking for access. I think that's one of the biggest indicators of value. What I continue to see, and why I continue investing in the platform, is consistency. You want to be consistently delivering and positioning yourself in the market. As our product offering expanded and we began serving multiple industries and personas across different regions, it became critical that teams could access the most relevant materials quickly. Highspot ensures that everyone across the organization is working from the same narrative and delivering a consistent experience to customers and prospective customers. That alignment becomes very important as the organization scales. One of the most impressive things after the rebrand was that from the very next day, everything had changed. Everything in Highspot was Leah. I knew the marketing team had been working incredibly hard, but from day one everything was available to us. That's what tools are for. When you buy a tool, you want to make sure it makes you look good. RR: I can imagine that's a monumental task—to take every single piece of collateral, every single deck you've ever built, and overnight update it so every rep has all the content, messaging, and everything they need to hit the ground running on day one of the rebrand, day one of Leah. To the point of bringing strategy to life, you really did it. Very early on, you said you're never ready for a rebrand. And yes, it's certainly a huge task, but it does seem like you've come through it successfully. That takes me to the last question I had for you, which is: for other leaders navigating a rebrand or shifting message while trying to position themselves in a constantly changing market, what advice would you share? SL: One of the most important lessons for me is that rebrands are not simply marketing exercises. They're full organizational transformations. The success of a rebrand depends on whether the entire organization is bought in and understands the narrative, and whether they feel confident communicating what you're doing to customers. Like I said before, the success of the rebrand is really only clear when you see that it has landed with your customer base. Another key element is staying very close to your customers during the process. Understand how they're going to perceive this, and once you've launched it, pay attention to their initial reactions so you can address anything quickly. That's your most valuable insight because customers really know how you're positioning yourself in the market and what you can actually deliver. You want to make sure what you've changed feels true to who you are. Luckily, with Leah, customers responded positively to the rebrand. They felt the narrative resonated. When your organization combines strong strategic direction with customer insight, you're much more likely to build a story that's authentic and compelling. That's what you want with your brand. It needs to make sense. People need to know it wasn't just done to look good. It needs to resonate with the company and what you're offering. RR: Yeah. You absolutely need to prove that this is something worthwhile and valuable to your customer base, and that it tells the story and provides the value they're looking for. Otherwise, to your point, it winds up feeling like a vanity exercise because someone didn't like the colors or didn't feel the name was quite right. It needs to be strategic and feel strategic. Shelly, thank you so much for joining us today. It has been an absolute pleasure talking with you and learning more about the work that you're doing at Leah. To our audience, thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Win/Win Podcast. Be sure to tune in next time for more insight on how you can maximize go-to-market success with Highspot.

If your CX work keeps getting reduced to dashboards, survey scores, and “please fix this one issue,” it's time to change how you lead. We respond to a listener who's using Experience Is Everything with their team and wants the clearest path from customer experience ideas to real execution. The big theme is simple: structure creates credibility, and credibility creates the room you need to drive meaningful change. We start with the most powerful foundation you can build fast: a CX mission statement. It aligns mindset across the organization, helps you stop acting like a feedback narrator, and gives your team language they can confidently evangelize. From there, we dig into customer experience strategy, because too many organizations never actually write one down. We walk through how to define success in a way that supports organizational goals so your CX work becomes proactive, intentional, and business-led rather than reactive. Then we get practical about culture and discipline. Culture is hard to change, so we talk about scoring where you are today, choosing one area you can influence, and re-checking progress over time. We also cover the CX charter, the document that turns your foundation into coordinated efforts with the right people involved, a clear communication cadence, and shared measures of success. Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a rating and review so more CX leaders can find it.Enjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

This Q&A session was recorded at GOTO Copenhagen 2025.https://gotocph.comKen Hughes - The King of Customer ExperienceKeynote available here: https://youtu.be/tHf-BFM2CNMRESOURCEShttps://twitter.com/KenHughesIEhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/kenhughesiehttps://www.kenhughes.infoDESCRIPTIONIn this extended Q&A following his GOTO Copenhagen 2025 keynote, Ken Hughes — "The King of Customer Experience" — tackles the questions every business avoids asking honestly. He argues that employee experience always comes first: you cannot ask people to deliver extraordinary customer moments unless they themselves feel seen, empowered, and purposeful at work. On ROI, he challenges the entire premise, proposing a shift from "Return on Investment" to "Desire to Invest" — because measuring caring with a ledger is the behavior of, as he puts it, a toxic psychopath. The real unlock, he insists, is placing the user genuinely at the centre — not as a metric, but as a human being who deserves to feel like the only person in the room.The conversation turns to AI's role in making this scalable, and here Hughes lands his most forward-looking point: the era of having to choose between serving the masses and making an individual feel special is ending. AI will enable what he calls "scaled personalization" — the ability to make every customer their own blue dot simultaneously, the way a personalized Minecraft lesson teaches area and perimeter to an 8-year-old who wasn't getting it in a classroom. The session closes with a striking reminder: the brands people remember aren't the ones with the slickest products — they're the ones that made them feel genuinely seen. A nurse. A fishing magazine. Five dollars. That's the bar.Read the full abstract here:https://gotocph.com/2025/sessions/3778RECOMMENDED BOOKSKen Hughes • Taylormaking • https://amzn.to/3WOEgd9Robert Waldinger & Marc Schulz • The Good Life • https://amzn.to/4orelUSBlueskyInstagramLinkedInFacebookCHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUSJoin this channel to get early access to videos & other perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/joinLooking for a unique learning experience?Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.techSUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

It's your weekly TA & Recruitment news blast with the Scoop from TaPod. This week we cover all kinds of angles, including holding grudges at work and what it's costing you; Callam Pickering – APAC Senior Economist at Indeed joins us for an update on job numbers, the Budget and what we can all look forward to… or not; AI already gaming recruiters; Human Capital reduced to a cost line item; the real story behind Bolt firing their HR team; and much more.Thanks to Indeed for partnering with us to bring you the Scoop.

This week on Tapod, we catch up with Sue Howse – Managing Partner & Founder at The Human Collaborative. Sue is the foremost commentator in the Contingent Workforce in the APAC region. Sue shares with us what has changed and what has stayed the same in the sector. From P&C to Procurement to TA, the Contingent Workforce can be a minefield of risk and the biggest risk of all is a lack of understanding. If you have non-traditional workers in your business, from casuals to contractors to SOW workers you really need to take a listen to this episode.Thanks to Daxtra for partnering with us this month. 

Everyone's racing to be "AI-first." The problem? Customers didn't vote for it. In this episode, we unpack a practical decision framework for when AI should lead, when humans must lead, and how to avoid automating the very moments that drive loyalty (or churn). We also get into a surprising twist: why AI can sometimes sound more empathetic than people—and what that says about how most service teams are set up today. What you'll learn in this episode Why "AI-first" is usually a cost initiative pretending to be a strategy A simple way to decide human vs AI based on the emotional and situational stakes Where automation genuinely improves CX (and where it quietly wrecks trust) Why AI can come across as more patient and empathetic—and why that's a warning sign Best Quote from the Episode: "AI-first' is not a strategy. It's a cost program wearing a strategy's suit." - Colin Shaw Resources Mentioned Colin Shaw - https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinrjshaw/ Professor Ryan Hamilton - http://linkedin.com/in/ryan-hamilton-49b3321  About the Hosts: Colin Shaw is a LinkedIn 'Top Voice' with a massive 286,000 followers and 87,000 subscribers to his 'Why Customers Buy' newsletter. Shaw is named one of the world's 'Top 150 Business Influencers' by LinkedIn. His company, Beyond Philosophy LLC, has been selected four times by the Financial Times as a top management consultancy. Shaw is co-host of the top 1.5% podcast 'The Intuitive Customer'—with over 600,000 downloads—and author of eight best-sellers on customer experience. Shaw is a sought-after keynote speaker. Follow Colin on LinkedIn. Ryan Hamilton is a Professor of Marketing at Emory University's Goizueta Business School and co-author of 'The Intuitive Customer' book. An award-winning teacher and researcher in consumer psychology, he has been named one of Poets & Quants' "World's Best 40 B-School Profs Under 40." His research focuses on how brands, prices, and choice architecture influence shopper decision-making, and his findings have been published in top academic journals and covered by major media outlets like The New York Times and CNN. His work highlights how psychology can help firms better understand and serve their customers. Ryan has a new book launch in June 2025 called "The Growth Dilemma: Managing Your Brand When Different Customers Want Different Things" Harvard Business Press Follow Ryan on LinkedIn. Subscribe & Follow Apple Podcasts Spotify

Today's episode of the Punk CX podcast features a recent conversation I had with Chris Angus, VP Sales EMEA at 8x8, a leading contact center and communications software provider. Chris and I talk about why AI is now table stakes in CX, but trust is not, where organizations are falling down when it comes to establishing trust with their customers, responsible AI, why human oversight is essential to great CX, auditability, transparency and why governance and clearer guardrails will shape the next phase of AI in CX. This interview follows on from my recent interview – Using orchestrated serendipity allowed one brand to improve its conversion rate by 15% – Interview with Gregg Johnson of Invoca – and is number 587 in the series of interviews with authors and business leaders who are doing great things, providing valuable insights, helping businesses innovate and delivering great service and experience to both their customers and their employees.

Most loyalty programs are designed around rewards: points and discounts that give customers a reason to return. That design produces a specific problem. When the incentive expires or another brand matches it, the customer accepts the offer and does not return. The companies that retain customers year over year treat loyalty as a relationship, not a transaction. Most companies have not made that shift yet. In this episode of Doing CX Right℠, Stacy Sherman examines that problem with Martin Villanueva, Global Head of Personalization and Loyalty at IKEA. They explain why most loyalty budgets stay underfunded, what that costs in long-term revenue, and the specific steps leaders need to take first. You will learn how to: Position loyalty as a growth engine, not a cost center, when making the financial case to the C-suite Use customer journey mapping to align CX, support, personalization, and marketing teams around a single experience Design a value exchange that gives customers a clear reason to share their data Apply AI to personalization in a way that increases relevance, not just message volume Measure customer loyalty through repeat purchase rate, active member rate, CLTV, and whether customers are sharing more data over time as a signal that they believe the brand delivers value Final Thoughts Customer acquisition costs rise every year. A loyal customer base reduces dependence on that spending. The leaders who make that investment first hold an advantage that competitors cannot easily replicate. Have a question or thoughts to share? Leave a voice message: https://www.speakpipe.com/StacySherman Learn more at DoingCXRight.com and subscribe to the newsletter for more actionable strategies.

Many organizations are moving faster on AI than they are on strategy, alignment, and operational execution—and customers feel the difference. This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, customer experience expert, author of the USA Today bestselling book Experience Is Everything, and Experience Investigators Founder Jeannie Walters explains why AI alone will not improve customer experience. Drawing from her book Experience Is Everything, she explains how leaders can align mindset, business goals, employee empowerment, and operational discipline to create stronger customer experiences and measurable business outcomes.

As a leader, you often spend so much time on the strategies and tactics that keep your brand growing that it's difficult to keep up with what's going on in the background with the platforms and the companies behind them.That's why I'm always glad to talk with our guest today, who is both focused on the business of CX as well as the business behind CX and the SaaS platforms driving so many customer experiences. I'm excited to talk again with our Resident Expert on the CX and MarTech platform landscape. We talked right at the beginning of 2026 as a look back at last year. Now that we've had a quarter behind us in 2026, it's time to talk about how this year is shaping up and what we can expect in the months ahead.To help me discuss these topics, I'd like to welcome, Bill Staikos, Founder at Be Customer Led. About Bill Staikos Bill Staikos is a senior customer experience executive with over 20 years of leadership across financial services, consulting, and technology. He has held senior roles at American Express, Freddie Mac, JP Morgan, and BNY Mellon, where he led global initiatives to transform client and employee experiences. A former SVP at Medallia, Bill helped organizations turn insights into measurable outcomes.Recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice and one of the Top 50 Global CX Influencers, Bill is also the founder of the Be Customer-Led podcast and is now preparing to launch The Multimodal Experience. Known for his pragmatic, impact-driven approach, Bill advises leading brands, including Apple, Bank of America, Marriott, and T-Mobile, on connecting customer experience to business growth. Bill Staikos on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billstaikos/ Resources Be Customer Led: https://becustomerled.com/ The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703 Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 We're proud to be a media partner for #MAICON26 - Oct. 13-15! Learn how AI can power your marketing and business and help you grow smarter. Use code AGILE150 to save! https://aglbrnd.co/r/7fe458ced0f04658Reach your customers with Reddit. Spend $500 in ad spend, get $500 back in ad credit! Learn more: https://advertalize.com/r/491818c79fb1873fDon't miss We Make Future - the International Festival of Innovation in AI, Tech, and Digital Marketing, June 24-26 in Bologna. Learn more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/c80991afff416bb2The most influential minds in software, AI, and engineering leadership will be at WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America, September 23-25 in San Jose. Learn more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/60a7299222a7bcf1 Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AGENDA: 00:05:11 — Anthropic freezes secondary sales, requiring board approval for all transfers. 00:10:45 — Why Anthropic is buying capacity from Elon Musk. 00:15:35 — Anthropic's massive $200B revenue commit to Google. 00:18:55 — Goldman Sachs predicts a 24x surge in token consumption driven by agents. 00:31:05 — Will AI labs eat the app layer? The threat to Legal and CX verticals.  00:37:55 — SaaS public markets: HubSpot tanks 18% while Monday.com finds its footing. 00:42:40 — Growth theft: How Clay is commoditizing ZoomInfo's data business. 00:46:25 — Cerebras prices IPO at $150–$160 with a $48B market cap. 00:52:15 — Real Venture Capital: Celebrating the early bets by Foundation and Benchmark. 00:58:30 — Ramp's valuation vs. the Chapter 7 collapse of e-commerce card Parker. 01:06:20 — Success and Sacrifice: Is mental health the price of building a $20B company?  

Hey CX Nation,In this week's episode of The CXChronicles Podcast #281, we welcomed Carl Lenocker, Senior Customer Success Executive at Splunk, based in San Francisco, CA. He is also the Chief Unicorn at Rockstar Unicorn Consulting. Carl has an interesting story as he's a a top-1% Customer Success Executive ($50M ARR) who built a career by owning relationships, telling the truth early, and tying outcomes to dollars—not dashboards.He's also the author of Success Plan for Life, where he breaks down how the same principles used to protect multi-million-dollar enterprise accounts can be applied to career, wealth, love and long-term leverage.In this episode, Carl and Adrian chat through the Four CX Pillars: Team, Tools, Process & Feedback. Plus share some of the ideas that his team think through on a daily basis to build world class customer experiences.**Episode #281 Highlight Reel:**1. What it takes to be a top 1& CSM 2. Bringing CX & customer success into your future investments3. Where are things headed for CS in the next 1,000 days?Click here to learn more about Carl LenockerClick here to learn more about SplunkHuge thanks to Carl for coming on The CXChronicles Podcast and featuring his work and efforts in pushing the customer experience & contact center space into the future. For all of our Apple & Spotify podcast listener friends, make sure you are following CXC & please leave a 5 star review so we can find new members of the "CX Nation". You know what would be even better?Go tell your friends or teammates about CXC's custom content, strategic partner solutions (Hubspot, Intercom, & Freshworks) & On-Demand services & invite them to join the CX Nation, a community of 15K+ customer focused business leaders!Want to see how your customer experience compares to the world's top-performing customer focused companies? Thanks to all of you for being apart of the "CX Nation" and helping customer focused business leaders across the world make happiness a habit!Reach Out To CXC Today!Support the showContact CXChronicles TodayTweet us @cxchroniclesCheck out our Instagram @cxchroniclesClick here to checkout the CXC websiteEmail us at info@cxchronicles.com Remember To Make Happiness A Habit!!

AI-Powered, Human-Centric Customer Experiences  Shep interviews Aaron Cannon, co-founder and CEO of Outset. He talks about how AI-moderated research moves beyond traditional surveys to deliver relevant, nuanced customer feedback and customer-centric experiences.  This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more:    How is AI-moderated research interviews are transforming customer feedback?  What are the main differences between AI-moderated interviews and standard surveys?  In what ways can AI provide a deeper understanding of customer motivations and experiences?  How does "visual intelligence" add value to customer experience research?  How can AI help companies reduce survey fatigue among customers?  Top Takeaways:    AI-moderated research gathers insights from customers through interviews that feel more like a conversation than a traditional survey.   Traditional surveys usually ask participants to pick a number, an option from a multiple-choice question, or to rank something. AI-moderated research goes beyond this by digging deeper and asking follow-up questions, enabling customers to provide the full picture by explaining their choices in their own words.   Trust is very important in collecting feedback. While opt-in participation should be the norm, make sure to let your customers know that their data privacy and security are a priority when they share their feedback.   AI tools help marketing and CX teams expand their reach by making it possible to have in-depth conversations with thousands of individual customers without needing a large team. This means organizations can cover a wide range of backgrounds and opinions, including outliers, to understand their customers better.   Context makes feedback more actionable. For example, if a customer's flight is delayed, AI can include this context in conversations so that it can collect feedback that is more specific and personalized.   AI-moderated research can feel more like a two-way conversation than just checking boxes on a form. AI can even escalate issues, so human support can jump in when needed.   Plus, Shep and Aaron discuss how listening to diverse customer voices can help companies make smarter decisions and gain happier customers. Tune in!  Quote:   "When the right questions are asked, people are willing to share deeply, even with AI. Good questions elicit thoughtful, honest responses."    About:    Aaron Cannon is the co-founder and CEO of Outset, an AI-moderated research platform that helps enterprise teams at companies like Microsoft, Uber, and Google gain deeper customer insights.  Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American Express is using AI-powered personalization to help frontline teams deliver faster, more relevant support while preserving the human connection behind premium service. This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Anthony Devane, EVP and Head of Global Support Enablement and Control, Global Servicing at American Express, shares how his team is scaling AI and GenAI across servicing, travel, chat, and digital experiences while balancing personalization, trust, compliance, and customer expectations. A thoughtful conversation on how leading brands are using AI to reduce friction, strengthen customer relationships, and scale premium service across global operations.

In this exciting episode, we catch up with the insightful Eric Mystery, who returns to share his journey into AI transformation at Zapier. Eric, a longtime expert in customer education and deeply entrenched in AI's evolution, now combines these passions to bridge the gap between AI aspiration and real-world implementation for Zapier customers and internal teams.We dive deep into why mastering AI and digital tools is less about specific platforms and more about cultural adaptation and a "maker mindset." Eric emphasizes that the ability to quickly switch tools, adapt, and learn new technologies is the number one skill set in today's rapidly evolving digital landscape. He shares practical advice for navigating restricted environments, building personal solutions, and leveraging AI to supercharge customer education, moving from simply consuming content to actively creating and iterating. If you're pondering the future of customer experience and education through an AI lens, this episode offers invaluable perspectives. Support the show+++++++++++++++++Like/Subscribe/Review:If you are getting value  from the show, please follow/subscribe so that you don't miss an episode and consider leaving us a review.  Website:For more information about the show or to get in touch, visit DigitalCustomerSuccess.com. Buy Alex a Cup of Coffee:This show runs exclusively on caffeine - and lots of it. If you like what we're, consider supporting our habit by buying us a cup of coffee: https://bmc.link/dcspThank you for all of your support!The Digital Customer Success Podcast is hosted by Alex Turkovic

What's on your mind? Let CX Passport know...What your customers feel in the moment and what they tell you later are two different things. Dr. Laura Beavin-Yates has spent years measuring the gap ... and the science behind it will change how you think about experience design.What you'll learn in this episode:-Oxytocin isn't the love hormone - it's the meaning hormone, and it fires in negative experiences too.-Post-experience surveys don't measure the experience. They measure memory, filtered through whatever mood the customer is in three days later.-Brain synchronicity means a fully immersed contact center agent pulls the customer in with them.-Six moments of full oxytocin release per day predicts whether a person reports thriving - not just coping.-Biometric data can be anonymized and still tell you everything you need to know about what your customer actually felt.CHAPTERS00:00 Oxytocin and what meaningful connection actually means03:08 Negative experiences and how the brain stores them06:17 Measuring oxytocin without a needle - 20 years of research08:56 Why post-experience surveys miss the real story13:32 Practical CX applications - resorts, stadiums, contact centers16:24 Employee experience and brain synchronicity18:08 First Class Lounge23:27 Neuroscience, neuro marketing, and CX - the connective tissue27:15 Privacy, anonymization, and the ethics of biometric data31:09 The Six app and six moments for thriving33:43 Where to find Laura and ImmersionGuest LinksLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-beavin-yates/Immersion: https://www.getimmersion.com/Related EpisodeThe One With The Magic...Really!...The Orlando Magic! - Katie Miller E23: https://www.cxpassport.com/1736603/episodes/8911630Listen: https://www.cxpassport.comWatch: https://www.youtube.com/@cxpassportNewsletter: https://cxpassport.kit.com/signupI'm Rick Denton and I believe the best meals are served outside and require a passport.Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed are those of the hosts and guests and should not be taken as legal, financial, or professional advice. Always consult with a qualified attorney, financial advisor, or other professional regarding your specific situation. The opinions expressed by guests are solely theirs and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of the host(s).

We're live from the floor of eTail Toronto 2026! In the first half of our special two-part coverage, we're digging past the buzzwords to find out what is actually driving retail innovation in 2026. Host Jeremy Goldman sits down with three industry leaders to discuss everything from boardroom AI mandates to the digital rebellion of the next generation of consumers. Featured in this episode: - Dave Stevens (CTO, Groupe Dynamite): How to achieve "10x the CX" by stripping away AI noise and focusing on exposure therapy for internal teams. - Stacey DeSantis (Content Marketing Manager, Home Hardware): Solving the "Chicken Parm problem" by prioritizing authenticity and getting to the point fast for AI search. - Paul Briggs (Principal Analyst, EMARKETER): The data behind the Canadian market, from last mile delivery hurdles to the future of automated grocery replenishment. Whether you're a CTO drafting a tech strategy or a marketer fighting for authenticity, this episode is packed with real-world takeaways you can use today. Listen now and keep an ear out for Part 2 coming soon!

What's the bigger blind spot for most brands' digital experience: knowing that a customer is struggling, or understanding why and being able to help them in that exact moment? Agility requires not just identifying customer friction quickly, but having the tools to resolve it in the moment. It's about shortening the gap between insight and action to create better experiences, faster.Today, we're going to talk about a strategic evolution in digital experience management: moving beyond passively observing user behavior to actively intervening and guiding users toward success, directly within the product. We'll explore how this shift is being accelerated by strategic acquisitions and how it empowers product, marketing, and CX teams to solve problems in real time.To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Jason Wolf, President at Fullstory. About Jason Wolf Jason Wolf is an accomplished technology executive with over two decades of experience driving strategic growth and operational excellence across the technology sector. As President of Fullstory, Jason leads sales, customer success, support, professional services, partnerships, and revenue operations.Before joining Fullstory, Wolf served as Ping Identity's Chief Revenue Officer, leading an international team that cemented the company's position in intelligent identity solutions that make digital experiences secure and seamless. Preceding his time at Ping Identity, Wolf spent over 15 years at SAP, where he held several executive positions, ultimately culminating in his role as CRO, overseeing the business's spending management and network line. His career also includes valuable experiences at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and as a consultant for Ernst and Young. Jason Wolf on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-wolf-ismatsap/ Resources Fullstory: https://www.fullstory.com The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703 Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 We're proud to be a media partner for #MAICON26 - Oct. 13-15! Learn how AI can power your marketing and business and help you grow smarter. Use code AGILE150 to save! https://aglbrnd.co/r/7fe458ced0f04658Reach your customers with Reddit. Spend $500 in ad spend, get $500 back in ad credit! Learn more: https://advertalize.com/r/491818c79fb1873f Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's the bigger blind spot for most brands' digital experience: knowing that a customer is struggling, or understanding why and being able to help them in that exact moment? Agility requires not just identifying customer friction quickly, but having the tools to resolve it in the moment. It's about shortening the gap between insight and action to create better experiences, faster.Today, we're going to talk about a strategic evolution in digital experience management: moving beyond passively observing user behavior to actively intervening and guiding users toward success, directly within the product. We'll explore how this shift is being accelerated by strategic acquisitions and how it empowers product, marketing, and CX teams to solve problems in real time.To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Jason Wolf, President at Fullstory. About Jason Wolf Jason Wolf is an accomplished technology executive with over two decades of experience driving strategic growth and operational excellence across the technology sector. As President of Fullstory, Jason leads sales, customer success, support, professional services, partnerships, and revenue operations.Before joining Fullstory, Wolf served as Ping Identity's Chief Revenue Officer, leading an international team that cemented the company's position in intelligent identity solutions that make digital experiences secure and seamless. Preceding his time at Ping Identity, Wolf spent over 15 years at SAP, where he held several executive positions, ultimately culminating in his role as CRO, overseeing the business's spending management and network line. His career also includes valuable experiences at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and as a consultant for Ernst and Young. Jason Wolf on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-wolf-ismatsap/ Resources Fullstory: https://www.fullstory.com The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703 Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 We're proud to be a media partner for #MAICON26 - Oct. 13-15! Learn how AI can power your marketing and business and help you grow smarter. Use code AGILE150 to save! https://aglbrnd.co/r/7fe458ced0f04658Reach your customers with Reddit. Spend $500 in ad spend, get $500 back in ad credit! Learn more: https://advertalize.com/r/491818c79fb1873f Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company