What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned working in CX?

We all need to do a better job of thinking like customers and reflecting on our own personal brand interactions in our daily lives. Too often, we sacrifice customer-empathy and common sense at the altar of cost-containment and efficiency – creating a total disconnect between the business objectives we’re measuring and the customer experience we’re striving to deliver. Unless we’re willing to truly put the customer at the center of our experience design, it’s not customer service… it’s lip service.

What’s the No. 1 challenge facing CX teams right now? And how should they navigate it?

AI is the shiny new toy, and offers unbelievable transformative capabilities for both businesses and the customers they serve – but only if organizations can break the cycle of bolt-on, incremental technology once and for all. It’s time to tear down the frankenstack and build a new foundation.

Which is your favorite CX event to attend and why?

Google Cloud NEXT is an incredible, forward looking event that examines the impact of AI and innovation on the human experience – not just our departmentalized workflows. It’s an incredibly energizing and educational event that rips apart any notion that ‘how we’ve always done things’ is sufficient and sustainable.

What’s your big prediction for the future of CX?

AI won’t take your job. Someone using AI will. GenAI is being overestimated in the short term and totally underestimated in the (nearer than you think) long term. We’ve spoken for years about data silos between teams and the challenges of connecting data across the enterprise for predictive CX and hyper-personalization. GenAI will deliver this and much more. But the majority of CX organizations are on tech that is 2-3 generations behind the consumers they serve. As GenAI rapidly becomes the core data and orchestration engine for the enterprise, these legacy solutions will be rendered completely obsolete – along with the professionals that are failing to adopt these new tools and skills today.

How will you keep contributing to the CX community?

Change is inevitable. And we can either be advocates for change, or we can become its victims. I want to help to create champions for transformation – not just in how we execute CX – but in how we think about it. I want us all to fall in love with our customers all over again. I want us to reimagine what’s possible, and to fight for it, and for each other. I’ve found that the people who work in CX are the most passionate, caring, and resilient professionals in the business. But I’ve also seen resignation and reluctance to risk pushing too hard for the change we know is needed. We’re at a technology inflection point where change is inevitable so this is our moment. This is our opportunity to lock arms and press forward. I want to be a part of that.