The Modern Customer Podcast

For a 180-year-old Fortune 100 company, modernization requires more than adopting new technology. New York Life is rethinking how customer insight moves through the organization—and how quickly it turns into action.

On the latest episode of The Modern Customer Podcast, Regina Warga, VP of Experience and Digital Marketing at New York Life, explains how her team uses AI to turn customer insights into action without losing the human voice behind the data.

She also shares how New York Life cuts through the constant AI noise, balances synthetic and human research, and plans to bring customers, advisors, researchers, and decision-makers together in its new innovation lab, opening this September.

🎧 Listen to the full conversation.

Blake Morgan was called "The Queen of CX" by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn

For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Learn more at www.blakemichellemorgan.com

Alaska Airlines is proving that the best CX transformations make complexity disappear for customers.

As Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines moved onto one technology foundation, the goal was to replace separate bookings, tickets, apps, and support channels with a more connected journey while preserving what makes each brand distinct.

This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Charu Jain, SVP of Merchandising and Innovation at Alaska Airlines, shares how technology, operational preparation, and human care can work together to transform CX at scale. Listen to the full epside now!

Blake Morgan was called "The Queen of CX" by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn

For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Learn more at www.blakemichellemorgan.com

FedEx moves 18 million packages every day, but customers shouldn't have to feel the complexity behind any of them.

Using AI and two petabytes of daily data, FedEx can anticipate potential problems, improve delivery visibility, and give customers more control and peace of mind.

This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Neil Gibson, Senior Vice President of Global Customer Experience at FedEx, shared what it takes to deliver CX at this scale.

Listen to the full episode for an inside look at how FedEx is using AI to turn massive operational complexity into a simpler customer experience.

Subscribe to The Modern Customer Podcast for more conversations on customer experience, AI, leadership, and innovation.

Blake Morgan was called "The Queen of CX" by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn

For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Learn more at www.blakemichellemorgan.com

Virgin Atlantic is the first airline in the world to launch an app within ChatGPT. What could this mean for the future of travel?

In this episode of The Modern Customer Podcast, Blake Morgan speaks with Juha Jaervinen, Chief Customer Officer at Virgin Atlantic, about how the airline is using AI to improve travel discovery while human service continues to set the brand apart.

The conversation goes beyond technology. Jaervinen discusses the growing demand for premium leisure travel as customers seek more comfort, space, calm, and an opportunity to recharge.

Watch the full conversation to learn how Virgin Atlantic is combining AI, premium experiences, loyalty, and human service to shape the future of travel.

Blake Morgan was called "The Queen of CX" by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn

For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Learn more at www.blakemichellemorgan.com

AI readiness goes beyond testing the model.

Even strong AI can fall short when it relies on outdated information, broken workflows, or poor handoffs between AI and human agents.

This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Seth Johnson, Chief Technology Officer at Cyara, shares what companies need to validate before scaling customer-facing AI.

🎧 Listen to the full episode to learn how end-to-end testing strengthens AI readiness and helps companies scale with confidence.

This episode is sponsored by Cyara.

Blake Morgan was called "The Queen of CX" by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn

For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Learn more at www.blakemichellemorgan.com

Personalization could transform the future of retirement planning.

This week on The Modern Custome Podcast, Jessica Austin Barker, Chief Digital Officer and Client Experience Officer at TIAA, joins Blake Morgan to explore how AI could help people receive guidance that reflects their individual goals, circumstances, and changing paths to retirement.

Jessica shares why personalization remains only half solved, how AI could reduce the effort required to explore financial scenarios, and what an AI companion could offer across a customer relationship that spans decades.

Listen to learn how AI could make retirement planning more personal, accessible, and easier to understand.

Blake Morgan was called "The Queen of CX" by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn

For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Learn more at www.blakemichellemorgan.com

What if getting rid of customers quickly is actually bad for business?

That's the case Pasquale DeMaio, VP of Amazon Connect Customer, makes on this week's episode of The Modern Customer Podcast.

His point: if your AI strategy is built around deflection, you're not saving money—you're handing customers straight to your competitors.

We also dig into how deterministic and agentic AI work together, and why AI should make people's jobs better, not just shorter conversations.

This episode is sponsored by Amazon Web Services.

Click the link to learn more: https://fandf.co/4fu6tAd

#sponsored #AWS #AmazonConnect #amazonconnectcustomer #CCWVegas

Blake Morgan was called "The Queen of CX" by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn

For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Learn more at www.blakemichellemorgan.com

Watching AI automate work that once required thousands of designers, marketers, and copywriters forced Sharon Gai to rethink one fundamental question:

What creates value when AI can do more of the work?

That's one of the biggest ideas from my latest conversation with Sharon Gai, former Alibaba executive and author of How to Do More With Less.

This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Sharon explains why the companies that succeed with AI won't simply adopt better technology—they'll rethink how work gets done by focusing on people, processes, and the work only humans can do.

If you're leading customer experience, digital transformation, or AI initiatives, I think you'll find this conversation both practical and thought-provoking.

Listen to the full episode now! Get a copy of Sharon Gai's new book, How to Do More With Less: Future-Proofing Yourself in an AI-Driven Economy, for practical strategies on leading through AI-driven change.

Blake Morgan was called "The Queen of CX" by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn

For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Learn more at www.blakemichellemorgan.com

Why do some companies create products customers can't wait to buy while others struggle to gain traction—even with better technology and bigger budgets?

According to entrepreneur, author, and Harvard Fellow Rob Snyder, the answer isn't a better product. It's customer demand.

In this episode of The Modern Customer Podcast, Blake Morgan sits down with Rob to discuss the ideas behind his new book, The Power of Pull, and why understanding what customers are trying to accomplish is the foundation of business growth.

Rob shares the lessons that led him to develop the PULL Framework, a practical approach to identifying when customers are ready to buy and building products that solve problems customers can't solve with their existing options. 📘 Rob Snyder's new book, The Power of Pull, launches July 7. Pre-order your copy today: robsnyder.org/book

Blake Morgan was called "The Queen of CX" by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn

For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Learn more at www.blakemichellemorgan.com

This episode is sponsored by Salesforce.

One of the most interesting conversations I had at Salesforce Connections was about digital workers.

This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Lauren Esposito, CMO of Asymbl, shares how organizations are beginning to approach AI agents as digital workers—with defined roles, KPIs, managers, and accountability to drive meaningful business outcomes.

We explore agent-to-agent orchestration, where leaders should start with AI, the importance of trust and governance, and how Salesforce provides the foundation for secure and scalable AI adoption.

If digital workers are becoming part of the workforce, organizations will need new ways to manage, measure, and support them.

🎧 Listen to the full episode.

#SalesforcePartner #Salesforce #DigitalWorkers #AI #AgenticAI #FutureOfWork #Leadership

Blake Morgan was called "The Queen of CX" by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn

For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Learn more at www.blakemichellemorgan.com