Alice Milligan, Chief Customer & Digital Experience Officer for Citi’s Global Cards business, explains how Citi is making banking more seamless and simple by putting customers at the center of everything.

Listen to this episode to learn:

● How Citi is testing assumptions with customers to design next-gen digital banking experiences, fast

● Why broad ownership and accountability gets employees more invested in a customer-centric company vision

● Why it’s so important to align with passionate people inside and outside the organization

Since 1916, Keds has a built its iconic footwear brand on understanding what women want. Keds CMO Emily Culp visits the podcast to talk fashion, female empowerment, and understanding “her.”

Listen to this episode to learn:

● How a centenarian brand stays relevant and desirable in 2017

● The nuances of understanding and connecting with modern female consumers

● How to maintain a culture of fast learning and constant testing

Panera Bread president Blaine Hurst joins the podcast to talk about how America’s ninth largest restaurant chain has made a commitment to “clean food” and to innovating the restaurant experience.

Listen to this episode to learn:

● What it took for Panera to reformulate 120+ ingredients to be free of artificial additives

● Why the restaurant experience hinges on the “desire-to-friction ratio”

● How technology is an intermediary between speed and joy

Marriott, the world’s largest hotel company, has been around since the 1950s. How is this old company still an innovation leader? This week, we’re at Marriott headquarters with Jennifer Hsieh, Vice President of Insight, Strategy & Innovation at Marriott International.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-How Marriott designs a deep customer understanding into its concepts and guest experiences

-Some of the challenges and perils of human-centered innovation in a global company

-Advice for customer experience and innovation leaders about how to balance creativity, strategic thinking, and an unrelenting focus on customers

Why are so many stores closing now? Forbes contributor Richard Kestenbaum says it’s because they don't meet consumers' needs. End of discussion. On the podcast, he explains why things are changing so much, what consumers want, and what existing retailers can do about it.

Listen to this episode to learn:

• The biggest reason why stores are closing now

• Why the importance of retail stores has declined as technology has grown

• How different generations impact the evolution of the retail industry

For Wells Fargo, winning back customer trust requires becoming “more human.” What does that mean for a bank, and how is Wells Fargo doing it? Robin Beers, Head of Customer Experience Insights for Wells Fargo’s commercial banking business, joins the podcast to explain.

Listen to this episode to learn:

• Design thinking techniques used by Wells Fargo that spark imagination and creative problem-solving in employees’ minds

• How “integrated insights” can create an emotional connection to customers and introduce diverse perspectives

• Why getting the most out of customer data requires storytelling and synthesis

Technology is changing our lives, and our lives are changing technology. This week, we’re in Silicon Valley with Scott Shute, VP of Global Customer Operations at LinkedIn. He shares why the right digital experience is a constant balancing act between big data and human empathy.

Listen to this episode to learn:

• How LinkedIn manages massive amounts of customer behavior data

• How it helps developers and product managers empathize with an understand ~500M users worldwide

• Why compassion is a big part of LinkedIn’s current and future digital experience

Harvard Business School professor Len Schlesinger has been around the business block – from 30+ years of teaching, to C-level positions within organizations, to advising the world’s biggest brands. Len joins the podcast and gets candid about the truth behind customer centricity.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-How leadership and culture should drive customer centricity

-Advice for understanding customers – and why it’s not necessarily about just NPS and customer data

-Why it’s ALWAYS the “Year of the Customer”

Global investment in fintech has reached $19 billion. What role do customers play in shaping this new world of digital banking? Ruth Handcock, Chief Customer Officer of Tandem Bank, a new “challenger bank,” visits the podcast to explain.

Listen to this episode to learn:

How transparency, trust, and customized experiences are recalibrating retail banking

Why customers are gravitating towards retail banking startups that provide choice, flexibility, and positive reinforcement

Advice on how banks can partner with customers to ease their financial stress and empower successful money management

Chief Customer Officers are the latest addition to the C-suite. Jose Vergara, CCO at McKesson Medical Imaging, joins the podcast to share how he’s finding success in this newly-minted position.

Listen to this episode to learn:

How the role of the Chief Customer Officer is evolving around the changing needs of customers

Why partnering with customers to enable and nurture their own success is a competitive advantage

Advice on how to balance customer and company expectations in order to transform company culture, differentiate against competitors, and grow