This week, Principal Analyst Max Ball joins to explain the history and current state of AI in the contact center. Max highlights the immediate improvements brought on by AI and outlines areas where AI still has far to go. We also touch on the challenges faced by human agents and the confusion around terminology like "agentic" and "agents."

High-Tech firms operate in fiercely competitive and price-sensitive industries, making CX a potentially transformative differentiator — if implemented effectively. Principal Analyst Su Doyle joins us to share practical CX strategies tailored for high-tech firms, emphasizing the importance of aligning CX with business objectives, leveraging customer success programs, and adopting performance-focused approaches to drive growth and improve customer relationships.

All those reasons why customer obsession is too hard don’t matter. Customer experience wins business. VP, Principal Analyst Shar VanBoskirk explains how customer obsession is not just a goal, but a continuous practice that can lead to significant improvements in customer experience and business efficiency. She shares real world examples, challenges in measuring customer obsession, and future directions for the research. We discuss: 

How customer obsession aligns with business strategy and operations 

How mindsets need to shift for continuous practice 

How to assess a firm’s customer obsession 

Where to find insight to improve customer obsession practices 

To learn more, join Shar for her keynote and much more interactive content at CX Summit North America.

Does a CX team’s position in the organization affect its influence? Principal Analyst Judy Weader shares insights from recent survey data and qualitative research, revealing that there isn't a one-size-fits-all answer. The placement of CX teams varies widely across different companies and industries, but organizational dynamics go beyond the org chart. The burden is on the CX leader to drive influence and flex with the nonlinear nature of CX maturity. Judy offers a decision-making framework to help organizations determine the best placement for their CX functions, emphasizing the role of executive sponsorship and the necessity for CX leaders to be proactive in their roles.

You don’t just manage, you lead. Managing the details of CX – execution, measurement, strategy – is crucial, but for you to truly succeed, you must lead your people to become customer-obsessed, empowered workers who understand and care about your customer’s outcomes.

Why should CX professionals care about brand experience (BX)? Forrester VP, Principal Analysts Dipanjan Chatterjee and Thomas Husson join the podcast to discuss the challenges organizations face in delivering a total experience and shed light on how BX can help drive growth.

CX transformation requires leaders to determine the specific employee behaviors that drive customer loyalty and shape the conditions that enable them to activate the entire workforce to demonstrate customer focus. In this episode, Angelina introduces a blueprint consisting of three key steps: 1) describing current and ideal culture; 2) assessing the current culture; and 3) leading culture change.

Employee feedback is part of a virtuous cycle of improving customer experience (CX) through employee empowerment and enablement that builds customer trust. But if you’re not building your CX strategy using this loop, you’re in a reactive cycle of EX-blind customer focus instead. Breaking the cycle begins with an effective employee listening strategy, followed by accountability at the leadership level to ensure that employee voice leads to appropriate action. Forrester Principal Analyst David Brodeur-Johnson joins us to discuss.

Most CX teams are too reliant on feedback (survey) data, leading to limited insights and even misinformed action. Forrester senior analyst Rich Saunders joins us to make the case for advanced analytics. He outlines the path forward – even for those intimidated by advanced analytics.

How should CX professionals use generative AI? Forrester VP, Principal Analyst Martha Bennett joins for a follow-up discussion to chat about the evolution and current state of genAI, busting myths and addressing real-world CX applications.