AI is about to make “great customer service” normal and cheap, and that should worry every leader who thinks a chatbot equals customer experience. I’m joined by Steven Van Belleghem, a global authority on customer experience and AI, to explore what happens when large language models become the portal of our lives and customers no longer visit your website, browse your journeys, or even choose your brand directly.

We get practical and provocative. Steven argues that automation can widen the gap between companies and the people they serve, because employees stop feeling real customer emotion and start managing graphs instead. We talk about why “authenticity” is overrated, why intention over perfection creates trust, and how the most memorable experiences are often carefully orchestrated rather than spontaneous.

From there we map a path out of the efficiency trap. Steven shares IKEA’s standout approach to AI and reskilling, then introduces his three layers of loyalty: transactional convenience, transformational relevance, and deep belonging. We also dig into brand commoditisation, short-term marketing dopamine, AI advertising models, and even the next frontier of customer experience through humanoid robots. If you care about customer experience strategy, employee experience, brand differentiation, and the future of work, this one will give you frameworks to test immediately.

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