This episode’s a little different — and kind of emotional. Lauren Wood, our incredible host since day one, is passing the mic to the amazing Lacey Peace. Before she signs off, Lauren reflects on the wild ride: 75+ episodes, millions of downloads, and countless insights about CX, AI, and leadership. Lacey, who’s helped produce over 35 shows and reach 45+ million listeners as part of the Mission.org team, shares what drew her to the show (hint: she’s a storytelling nerd in the best way) and what she’s excited to explore next — from small business CX wins to how AI is quietly reshaping the employee experience. It’s a thoughtful, fun, and inspiring handoff that sets the stage for a bold new chapter. Tune in to discover the incoming shifts in the show’s guests, topics, segments, and more. 

• 00:00: Passing the Mic to a New Host
• 00:42: Lessons from 75+ CX Interviews: Lauren Wood’s Farewell Insights
• 01:42: Meet Lacey Peace: New Host with 45M+ Podcast Listener Reach
• 02:41: Building Brand Trust Through Storytelling and Customer Journey Mapping
• 03:47: Why Customer Experience Strategy Belongs to Every Business Function
• 07:32: The Role of AI in Scaling B2B Customer Experience and Success Operations
• 14:54: Empowering Teams: How Leadership and Employee Experience Drive CX
• 18:46: B2B Lightning Round: Actionable CX Takeaways for Marketing, Product, and IT

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Are your teams facing growing demands? Join CX leaders transforming their AI strategy with Agentforce. Start achieving your ambitious goals. Visit salesforce.com/agentforce

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. 
Learn more at mission.org

Another Agentforce Guinea Pig has joined the show… She’s here to tell you if you think rolling out AI is as easy as flipping a switch, think again.

From early mistakes to surprising wins, Laura Meschi, Customer Experience Manager at Secret Escapes, walks us through what it actually takes to train an AI agent that can truly support customers.

We dive into why ROI isn't the best measure of AI success, how customer effort scores skyrocketed after launching Agent Force, and why CX leaders need to start simple and think long-term. Laura also pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to train an AI agent — and why you absolutely shouldn’t DIY your rollout.

If you’re a B2B leader wondering how AI agents fit into the future of customer success, this conversation will hit home.
 

Key Moments:
 

00:00: Laura Meschi’s AI Agent Rollout at Secret Escapes

02:45: Secret Escapes’ Agentforce: Lessons from a First-Mover

11:14: Surprise Wins and the Underrated Power of Human QA

16:41: How Agentforce Reshaped the CX Team (Without Cutting Headcount)

22:26: Guardrails, Limits, and Finding the Sweet Spot for AI Use Cases

26:30: Why Clean, Centralized Data Is the Real AI Superpower

27:18: Don’t DIY Your AI: The Case for Bringing in Experts

29:58: How AI Improved CES and Transformed Customer Perception

34:50: What’s Next: Future AI Strategies and Upcoming Salesforce Tools

37:21: Reimagining CX: Using AI to Build Relationships, Not Just Efficiency

40:37: Start Simple, Prioritize Data, and Train for the Long Game

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Are your teams facing growing demands? Join CX leaders transforming their AI strategy with Agentforce. Start achieving your ambitious goals. Visit salesforce.com/agentforce

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. 
Learn more at mission.org

Agentic AI isn’t coming — it’s here and already changing everything.

Irina Gutman, Global Leader of AI Professional Services at Salesforce, breaks down what agentic AI really is and why it’s a huge leap beyond predictive and generative AI. We get into why your first AI agent should be boring (and repeatable), and why building the tech is easy compared to rewiring your people, processes, and leadership models.

Irina shares why businesses need strong guardrails, real operating models, and why AI adoption without organizational readiness is a recipe for disaster. We also talk about the skills humans actually need to stay relevant, how to spot hidden risks, and why the future belongs to companies who rethink their structure — not just their tools.

Key Moments:

00:00:  Irina Gutman Explains Salesforce’s AI Agents

03:03: Predictive, Generative, and Agentic AI — What's the Difference?

05:20: How Agentic AI Thinks and Acts

08:32: Chatbots vs. AI Agents: Why It Matters

14:22: The 5 Building Blocks of an AI Agent

18:13: Organizational Readiness: New Skills, New Roles

22:26: The Right Way to Start with AI Agents

26:27: Future-Proof Your AI Strategy

29:53: Rethinking the Operating Model for AI

32:45: Upskilling is Non-Negotiable

35:14: Vendors Can Help You Be AI-Ready

36:25: Rethinking Change Management for Agentic AI

42:38: What’s Next: Multi-Agent Collaboration

48:09: Building AI Responsibly: Guardrails and Risk

51:39: Real-World AI: A Standout Customer Experience

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Are your teams facing growing demands? Join CX leaders transforming their AI strategy with Agentforce. Start achieving your ambitious goals. Visit salesforce.com/agentforce

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. 
Learn more at mission.org

Consequence scanning. Data organization. Tech translation… Oh my! 

This week, Kerry Bodine — CX consultant to name brand fortune 500 companies, founder of Bodine & Co. and co-author of Outside In — joins us to explore the seismic shifts AI is bringing to the world of CS. 

Forget what you think you know about customer service; Kerry reveals why it's all about understanding customer emotions, perceptions, and the entire customer journey. We tackle the tough questions: How do we balance innovation with ethical considerations? How do we prepare our data for the AI revolution? And how do we design experiences that are both human and AI-powered? This is a must-listen for any leader navigating the uncharted territory of AI-driven customer experience. 
 

• 00:00 Who is Kerry Bodine, Founder of Bodine & Co.?
• 03:19 The Biggest CS Mistake
• 06:22 Perception vs. Reality: Bridging the Expectation Gap
• 13:07 Consequence Scanning: Your AI Framework
• 18:00 AI Risk Assessment & Navigating Ethical Gray Areas
• 20:00 Leadership in the Age of AI
• 25:05 Data Readiness for AI Implementation
• 32:36 Human-Centered Design & Confronting Your Silos
• 37:18 Key Advice for CS Leaders 

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Are your teams facing growing demands? Join CX leaders transforming their AI strategy with Agentforce. Start achieving your ambitious goals. Visit salesforce.com/agentforce

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. 
Learn more at mission.org

In this special panel-style episode, Agentforce expert and Senior Vice President of Digital Success at Salesforce, Bernard Slowey, is interviewed by Lauren Wood and guest host Stephanie Postles. 

This is your inside look at Salesforce’s rapid deployment of its revolutionary AI agent, what this means for the digital workforce revolution, and how ANY company can create a customizable, empathetic digital employee. (With no code, just natural-language prompting.) 

Bernard shares firsthand accounts of the launch, including navigating real-time customer feedback and the crucial lessons learned about data hygiene and prompt engineering. 

He also discusses the delicate balance between AI automation and human support, emphasizing the importance of empathy training for these digital agents. Plus, they explore the challenges and opportunities for businesses of all sizes, from SMBs to enterprises, as they grapple with the evolving landscape of AI-driven customer experience, sales, and marketing.

Press play and discover how Salesforce is shaping the future of AI in service, and what contrarian views Bernard Slowey holds about the role of data in decision-making.

• 00:00 Who is Bernard Slowey, SVP of Digital Success at Salesforce?
• 04:18 The Evolution of Customer Service
• 06:28 The Power and Potential of AI Agents
• 18:06 Implementing Agentforce at Salesforce
• 22:07 Challenges and Learnings From AI Agent Deployment
• 33:29 Measuring Success and Future Prospects
• 39:58 Escalation Rate and Customer Experience
• 41:21 The Importance of Human Interaction in Support
• 42:51 Digital Success and Customer Onboarding
• 45:28 AI in Customer Success: Real-World Examples
• 47:24 Data Hygiene and Internal Content Auditing 
• 53:04 Cross-Functional Collaboration in CX
• 01:00:28 The Human-AI Partnership 
• 01:08:36 The Future of AI in Business
• 01:12:51 Customer Obsession in Practice

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Are your teams facing growing demands? Join CX leaders transforming their AI strategy with Agentforce. Start achieving your ambitious goals. Visit salesforce.com/agentforce

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. 
Learn more at mission.org

Customer success is at a crossroads. Is it a revenue engine or just post-sales support? Is it a strategic function or a catch-all for everything customer-related? 

Lauren sits down with Marybeth D’Souza, Principal at Deloitte Consulting, to tackle the identity crisis facing customer success today. With years of experience leading CS at Salesforce and now shaping its future at Deloitte, Marybeth shares groundbreaking insights from research with 35 top companies on where the best teams are investing.

They break down the five biggest trends shaping customer success in 2025, including the shift from CS as a team to CS as a mindset, the increasing reliance on AI and digital automation, and why failing to align with sales and product is holding teams back. Marybeth also reveals why B2B companies need to start thinking more like B2C, how customer expectations have changed, and what CS leaders must do to prove their impact and secure their place at the table. If you’re in customer success (or trying to define its future in your organization) this conversation is a must-listen.

• 00:00: Who is Marybeth D’Souza, Principal at Deloitte Consulting?
• 03:52: The 5 Key Trends Shaping Customer Success
• 09:25: Proving the ROI of Customer Success
• 15:04: B2B Needs to Think Like B2C
• 22:53: AI in Customer Success: Hype or Game-Changer?
• 36:00: Breaking Down Silos Between CS, Sales, and Product
• 44:00: What’s Next for Customer Success?

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Are your teams facing growing demands? Join CX leaders transforming their AI strategy with Agentforce. Start achieving your ambitious goals. Visit salesforce.com/agentforce

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. 
Learn more at mission.org

Every company claims to be “customer-obsessed”. Most are obsessed with their own internal metrics, not their customers. 

Kevan Yalowitz, Senior Managing Director at Accenture, explains why true customer obsession is rare, why AI won’t magically fix bad CX, and how scaling businesses slowly lose touch with the people they serve.

We’re talking AI growing pains, internal silos, and the corporate illusion of putting customers first. Spoiler: If your “customer obsession” doesn’t actually involve listening to customers, you’re doing it wrong.

Key Moments:
 

00:00 Who is Kevan Yalowitz, Software & Platforms Industry Lead for Accenture?

02:21 Why You Should Care About Consumer Behavior Data

04:55 Bias and Misinformation in AI

06:46 Is AI More Creative Than Humans?

08:17 AI in Customer Support and Experience

12:30 Proactive AI Solutions and Customer Retention

17:12 Connect Product and Support Teams with AI

23:56 The Influence of AI on Purchasing Decisions

24:23 The Importance of Aligned OKRs

26:18 Customer Obsession in Large Organizations Vs. Start-Ups

32:21 Implementing Agentic AI in Workflows

35:45 Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Approaches

46:32 Key Advice for CX Leaders in the Age of Agentic AI

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Are your teams facing growing demands? Join CX leaders transforming their AI strategy with Agentforce. Start achieving your ambitious goals. Visit salesforce.com/agentforce

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. 
Learn more at mission.org

You know when a company brags about its “great culture,” but the employees look dead inside? That’s because culture isn’t what leaders say it is — it’s what customers feel. 

In this episode, Mark Rampolla, founder of ZICO Coconut Water and managing partner at Ground Force Capital, tells us how culture quietly shapes every customer interaction. From Liquid Death’s branding genius to why “culture fit” hiring is a terrible idea, Mark breaks down what it really takes to build a company people actually want to engage with.

We also dive into the “need behind the need” (AKA why customers don’t buy what you’re selling but what it does for them). Mark shares how ZICO won over yoga studios by solving problems beyond hydration and why understanding where your customers make their money is the key to selling. If your culture, hiring, or customer experience feels off, this conversation holds the solution you’re looking for.
 

Key Moments:
 

00:00 Who is Mark Rampolla, founder of ZICO & managing partner at GroundForce Capital?

01:02 Building a Movement

02:13 Why Company Culture Matters

03:35 Culture in Action: Real-World Examples

08:27 Hiring a Culture Add & Customer Obsession

17:36 Assessing and Evolving Company Culture

24:42 Understanding the Need Behind the Need

25:06 Real-World Examples of Customer Empathy

26:17 Building Relationships with Yoga Studios

29:31 Marketing Strategies and ROI

31:34 Hypothesis Testing & the Opportunities in Operational Failure

38:17 Active Listening and Empathy in Business

41:24 Impressive Brand Experiences

43:18 Mark’s Key Advice for CX Leaders

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Are your teams facing growing demands? Join CX leaders transforming their AI strategy with Agentforce. Start achieving your ambitious goals. Visit salesforce.com/agentforce

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. 
Learn more at mission.org

Wildfires, floods, total loss — what happens when disaster strikes and people need help navigating the chaos?

Gavin Blair, COO of Bright Harbor and former CX leader at Lemonade, joins Lauren Wood to break down why disaster recovery is failing the empathy test — and what needs to change. 

From the California wildfires to the broken insurance system, Gavin reveals how frontline teams can rebuild trust in the moments that matter most. This conversation covers why insurance is so difficult to navigate, how Bright Harbor is reshaping disaster recovery with AI and human connection, and the simple CX strategies that can turn devastation into a structured path forward.

If you think empathy and efficiency can’t coexist in high-stakes CX, think again.
 

• 00:00: Who is Gavin Blair, COO of Bright Harbor?
• 02:17 Bright Harbor's Mission and Inception
• 04:08 Challenges in Insurance CX
• 06:18 Empathetic CX Through Disaster Recovery
• 11:08: Citizens’ Optimism & Resilience After LA Fires
• 14:51: Training Empathetic and Responsive Teams
• 23:05 Role of AI in Enhancing Empathy
• 33:51 Why Responsiveness is the Most Important Part of CX
• 41:43 Gavin’s Advice for CX Leaders Everywhere

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Are your teams facing growing demands? Join CX leaders transforming their AI strategy with Agentforce. Start achieving your ambitious goals. Visit salesforce.com/agentforce

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. 
Learn more at mission.org

You’re either building trust or breaking it — which one are you doing?

Customer experience isn’t just about service. It’s about trust. And most companies are getting it wrong.

In this episode, Lauren Wood sits down with Michael Maoz, Senior VP of Innovation Strategy at Salesforce, to reveal what really drives customer loyalty — and why most brands sabotage themselves without even realizing it.

The conversation dives into when technology enhances customer relationships versus when it erodes trust, the dangers of relying on flawed data, and why customers are willing to share 400% more information with brands they truly trust. With real-world examples and practical takeaways, this episode is a must-listen for leaders who want to transform customer experience from a transaction into a lasting relationship.

From brand-killing interactions to why AI won’t save you if your foundation is broken, this episode is a wake-up call for leaders who want to build authentic, lasting customer relationships.
 

• 00:00 Who is Michael Maoz, SVP of Innovation Strategies at Salesforce?
• 01:52 AI in Action: Opportunities and Risks
• 05:09 The Role of Clean Data in AI Success
• 06:38 Practical AI Implementations and Pitfalls
• 19:07 Building Trust with AI
• 34:05 Simplifying Communication with Stakeholders
• 34:28 IQ vs EQ in Business Decisions
• 35:13 AI in B2B and B2C Contexts
• 37:14 Automating Customer Support in Banking
• 38:56 Emotional and Complex Interactions
• 41:07 Experimentation and Adoption of AI
• 45:08 Customer Journey Hacks and Channel Preferences
• 48:58 Voice-Driven Future and AI Integration
• 50:08 Impressive Customer Service Experience
• 53:34 Advice for Customer Experience Leaders
   

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Are your teams facing growing demands? Join CX leaders transforming their AI strategy with Agentforce. Start achieving your ambitious goals. Visit salesforce.com/agentforce

Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. 
Learn more at mission.org