Are the robots coming back for their jobs?  Science fiction has long-depicted robots as both human helpers and foils.  From Rosey on the Jetsons to Commander Data on Star Trek to the Terminator and even HAL, they can be a helper, a hero, or an anti-hero.  Charlie and Frank discuss the concept of robots and their role in our Digital Society.

But can robots be employees?  You'll hear about one company that has developed a "Digital Workforce" of call center agents that can be hired and fired on demand.  When one of us makes a mistake, you usually say, "well we're only human."  Can you say that about a robot?

Articles mentioned:

• Automation Anywhere Introduces the New Digital Worker
• The Rise of Digital Worker

Companies discussed:

• Inference Solutions

How is our perspective of productivity changed in the Digital Age?  Productivity used to be measured in "output," but in the Digital Age, should we be measuring it differently?  And where does the human fit in this new equation?

Charlie and Frank discuss these issues with Frank Wander, Founder and CEO of PeopleProductive.  The discussion focuses on the human "input" side of the productivity equation rather than the product "output" side.  If people and their input is the new measurement of productivity, how do we ensure people are as efficient as possible to launch their imagination and creativity?

Charlie and Frank examine a company called Clockwise, which is a calendaring program that automatically works with the collaborative calendars to shift meetings around based on priority and importance to clear time for focused time.

Guest:

• Frank Wander

Articles mentioned:

• Are Companies More Productive in a Pandemic?

Companies discussed:

• Clockwise

In an agile Digital economy, is it more important to be resilient or more important to have good business continuity?  Or is this a "false equivalency" where both are needed?

Charlie and Frank discuss the concept of "Adaptive BC" where Adaptive Continuity leads to resiliency by drawing on advances in Agile project management and lean process improvement.  But how much improvement is necessary?  Should we optimize or "satisfice?"

Charlie and Frank also discuss a company called iGrafx, who although have been supporting process optimization for several decades, are not locked into the past and tied to what they have always done.  The product continues to evolve, but what is most interesting is that there's a realization that it's more about how you use the tool than anything else.

Articles mentioned:

• Adaptive BC Manifesto
• 10 Principles Handout

Companies discussed:

• iGrafx

Before the pandemic, a virtual event or live streaming a conference was a convenience – almost an accommodation for those who could not be there in person. But is virtual the new reality? Has consumerization put the possibility of a conducting a live conference into the hands of everyone?

Charlie and Frank discuss this paradigm shift and the sociological and technological shifts that have made virtual the new reality. And relating an ongoing theme of the customer experience, Charlie and Frank discuss how both Snap and Apple address the social issues of the day and connected with their customers in ways that are authentic.

And finally, is it possible to put "context to context?" Companies like Decooda are assembling what they call a 'common sense' knowledgebase in which they create organization-specific context to understand the customer signals — effectively harvesting the 'tribal knowledge' that exists within a company.

Articles mentioned:

• Snap just Topped Job's Keynotes
• Apple's World Wide Developers Conference 2020
• The Future of Keynotes?

Companies discussed:

• Decooda

Is change and agility so ubiquitous that we are no longer in the Digital Age, but in the Age of Disruption? Has resiliency become the newest organizational capability?

Charlie and Frank discuss how disruption has made resiliency a key capability in today's organizations – not only the ability to recover from a change event but be better for it and make the next change event easier. Are some companies like SAS and Lucidworks providing the necessary customer intimacy tools to facilitate this resiliency requirement?

Finally, Charlie and Frank discuss the importance of resiliency in the "Transformation of Work" component of the Digital Experience Supply Chain.

Articles mentioned:

• Digital Works Progress Administration
• IGrafx new resiliency tools
• Tools you must harness to rise to today's challenges

Companies discussed:

• SAS Customer Intelligence
• Lucidworks

Last week Charlie and Frank pointed out that all companies must now be aware of social issues their customers believe in.  This means being more engaged on social media.  But how far does one go?  Is everyone a "social company?"  This week Charlie and Frank discuss how Twitter, Facebook, and Nike are each showing how their brands engage in social action.

Are we driving to more empathy for customers?  Several technology companies show how they are moving power and intelligence closer to the point of engagement.  By giving front-line workers the ability to manage and automate business processes, could power be shifting away from the company 'core' to the customer-facing edge?

Articles mentioned:

• Twitter Flags Trump's Tweets
• Hollywood Support of Black Lives Matter Movement
• Nike Embracing Controversy And Deepening Customer Relationships

Companies discussed:

• Kissflow
• Cogito

Episode 2

The customer experience used to be just about understanding your customers' needs and patterns. Now it is about the customer journey. Can that journey exist as a mere transaction between buyer and seller; or is the that journey something more? Charlie and Frank discuss how companies must also be aware of the social issues their customers believe in and be sensitive to them. The journey means having empathy – a uniquely human trait. Now, your customer is paying attention to you through the totality of their engagement with you – at all levels. Can digital technology provide the necessary help in that journey? Two companies we discuss provide engines of contextual data. Can this provide a "Self-Driving Enterprise?" This is the big message of the Digital Experience Supply Chain - continuous, customer centric transformation.

Companies discussed:

• Alation
• Aera

• How will the COVID-19 coronavirus impact the future of the workplace experience?
• While the legacy "office" may be dead could a hybrid experience emerge?
• What are the varied approaches of organizations in our next normal?

Charlie and Frank discuss this and AI companies whose products may very well revolutionize customer intimacy required in our digital economy. Can customer intimacy be accomplished will less physical or even human interaction? Find out how the Digital Experience Supply Chain holds customer intimacy as a required capability in our next normal.

Companies discussed:

• Panviva
• Lenses.io
• Behavioral Signals