The Modern Customer Podcast

Contact centers have long been built on fragmented systems — CRM for customer data, separate platforms for calls and messaging, and AI layered on top. But that model is starting to change. In this episode of The Modern Customer Podcast, in partnership with Salesforce, Blake Morgan speaks with Gautam Vasudev, SVP of Agentforce Contact Center at Salesforce, about the rise of the agentic contact center — and how companies are beginning to unify AI agents, customer channels, and CRM data on one platform. #ad One key idea: when AI agents and human agents share the same context, customers no longer have to repeat their problem multiple times they're transferred. The conversation explores: Why contact centers have remained fragmented How AI and human agents can work together What shared customer context means for CX leaders This episode is sponsored by Salesforce. Learn more about Agentforce Contact Center.  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 

Service economics have long depended on headcount. Scale meant higher cost, and capacity constrained performance. AI changes that. This week on The Modern Customer, Matt Price, Founder & CEO of Crescendo, explains how AI expands capacity and connects service directly to business outcomes. Instead of charging per seat or hour, Crescendo ties pricing to measurable results. When teams treat service conversations as engagement opportunities, more than half involve buying intent — and repeat visits increase. In this episode, you'll learn how organizations: • Turn service interactions into buying moments • Increase repeat engagement and loyalty • Move beyond seat-based economics • Scale service without proportional headcount growth If you're thinking about how AI fits into your customer service strategy, this episode is for you. 👉 Watch the full episode and learn more at www.crescendo.ai This episode is sponsored by Crescendo. 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 

New data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index reveals nearly a decade of stagnation, a narrowing gap between top and bottom performers, and rising loyalty. Together, these shifts point to one conclusion: customer experience is converging. In this week's episode of The Modern Customer, Forrest Morgeson, Director of Research at the American Customer Satisfaction Index, explains what this means for leaders heading into 2026. As AI accelerates and economic uncertainty persists, differentiation becomes harder to sustain and more critical to get right. If you're shaping your 2026 strategy, this conversation offers a clear, data-backed perspective on where competitive advantage is tightening — and where leaders should focus. 🎧 Listen to the full episode. Access the full ACSI report to evaluate what these trends mean for your competitive position: https://theacsi.org/news-and-resources/blog/2026/02/17/the-shrinking-distance-between-the-best-and-the-rest/ 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 

Customer conversations generate value. Yet most organizations never connect that value to action. Context gets lost across channels, and next steps never connect to downstream systems. This week on The Modern Customer, Ali Tore, RingCentral's SVP & GM of Conversational AI, shares how agentic voice AI closes that gap. He outlines why organizations must move beyond isolated automation and build systems that coordinate conversations, context, and follow-through across every touchpoint. If you want AI to drive real customer outcomes — not just efficiency — this episode is for you.  👉 Listen to the full episode on The Modern Customer and explore the RingCentral Agentic AI Trends 2026 report to go deeper. This episode is sponsored by RingCentral. 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 

As restaurants scale, preserving hospitality becomes harder to sustain. This week on The Modern Customer, Andrew Rebhun, Chief Experience Officer at CAVA, shares how the Mediterranean fast-casual brand keeps hospitality at the center while scaling to 400+ locations. The conversation breaks down how experience leadership actually works at scale—from loyalty and social listening to team training and selective use of AI—without losing human connection. Where do you see the biggest gap today: loyalty design, social listening, or team alignment? 🎧 Listen to the full episode to explore how hospitality translates into loyalty across digital, rewards, and social touchpoints. Curious to try it yourself? Visit cava.com to learn more. 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 

Great customer experience doesn't lose customers to competitors—it loses them to apathy. And it creates superfans when ownership of the experience is clear. In this episode of The Modern Customer, customer experience speaker and author Brittany Hodak explains what actually turns customers into superfans—and why tools, automation, and AI alone aren't enough. Drawing on her work with organizations like American Express, Benihana, and Keller Williams, she shows why ownership, accountability, and human judgment drive lasting loyalty. 🎧 Tune in to the full conversation to learn how great CX turns customers into superfans. 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 

Customer experience leaders face a familiar tension: do we put employees first or customers first? As organizations scale and adopt AI, that question becomes operational. In this special takeover episode of The Modern Customer Podcast, Jacob Morgan shares insights from The 8 Laws of Employee Experience, based on research with more than 100 CHROs. He explains why CX and EX operate as one system—and how leadership decisions behind the scenes shape customer outcomes. This conversation gives CX leaders a practical, systems-level lens to strengthen trust, consistency, and performance as AI raises the stakes. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, you'll hear why winning with AI doesn't start with an AI strategy. In this episode, Peter Czimback—former VP of Experience Innovation at Aramark—shares a business-first approach to transformation that begins with experience, outcomes, and human capability, with AI supporting execution underneath. The conversation explores how leaders can move beyond AI experimentation and hype by anchoring technology decisions to growth, productivity, and the experiences they want to deliver to customers and employees. If you're navigating AI investments, organizational change, or transformation at scale, listen to the full episode to learn how experience-led thinking helps leaders use AI to strengthen what already works. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

As digital products become the primary customer interface, delays in bug diagnosis and resolution now directly affect the customer experience. In this episode of The Modern Customer Podcast, Matt Rubright, Chief Customer Officer at Jam, explains how Jam fits into the bug-reporting and support workflow by capturing technical context as issues are reported. That shared context helps support and engineering diagnose problems faster, reduce handoffs, and move toward resolution with greater clarity. The conversation looks at why resolution speed and coordination have become CX priorities—and how AI is influencing the way teams work together when something breaks. This episode is sponsored by Jam. 🎧 Learn more about Jam and how teams are rethinking bug resolution: https://jam.dev/ Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

In this episode of The Modern Customer Podcast, Krista Phillips, Chief Customer and Transformation Officer at M&T Bank, explains how a Fortune 500 bank turns half a million customer signals into CX execution. The conversation explores how structure, governance, analytics, and AI help move customer insight from feedback into action—while balancing digital growth with trust and prioritizing relationships over transactions. Topics covered include: Anchoring CX in relationships, not transactions Balancing digital convenience with trust-based experiences Turning customer signals into enterprise priorities Using analytics and AI to inform decisions without replacing leadership 🎧 Listen to learn how customer insight drives execution inside a Fortune 500 bank. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Sven Gierlinger breaks down what CX leadership really looks like at scale. As SVP and Chief Experience Officer at Northwell Health, Sven leads experience across one of the largest health systems in the country—bringing hospitality principles, cultural leadership, and practical technology into healthcare. 🎧 Listen to the full episode to learn what modern healthcare CX leadership really looks like—when it's done right. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Will Heywood, Chief Customer Officer of DHL Supply Chain North America, shares how the world's largest contract logistics provider applies AI where execution actually matters—inside warehouses, delivery networks, and daily workflows. Will breaks down his first 90 days as CCO, including owning growth targets and clarifying how customer experience is created through day-to-day operational execution. He also walks through real AI use cases already in production, from agentic delivery scheduling to warehouse automation, and explains why disciplined adoption matters at scale. 🎧 Listen to the full episode and see how AI actually works at enterprise scale. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

Kidney care is one of the most complex—and overlooked—patient experiences in healthcare. In this episode of The Modern Customer Podcast, we explore how CX-aligned leadership can reduce friction and improve outcomes for people facing advanced kidney disease. Strive Health's Chief Customer Officer, Evelyn Goodfriend, shares what patient experience looks like up close, why traditional care models fall short, and how listening, alignment, and better workflow design support both patients and caregivers. We also discuss where AI meaningfully helps and where human support remains essential. A practical conversation for CX leaders and operators navigating high-stakes, high-complexity customer journeys. Don't miss this episode! Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

How is one of the largest health systems in Texas using AI to transform patient experience? This episode of The Modern Customer Podcast explores how Memorial Hermann Health System is applying AI, predictive analytics, and digital tools to redesign care for millions of patients across Houston. The conversation features Alex Greengold, Chief Consumer Experience Officer at Memorial Hermann, who brings previous CX leadership experience from AOL and DISH, where he earned multiple J.D. Power awards. Watch the full conversation to see how AI, smart design, and culture are reshaping the future of care. 🔗 Learn more about Memorial Hermann: http://www.memorialhermann.org/ 🔗 Connect with Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexgreengold/  Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

The Hershey Company is transforming faster than ever—proving how CX and AI can modernize a 130-year-old brand at scale. This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Tiffany Menyhart — Chief Customer Officer at The Hershey Company — shares how her team is reshaping customer experience across physical retail, e-commerce, and the rapidly expanding on-demand ecosystem. Hershey's results speak for themselves: ▪️ On-demand sales up 30%+ this year (and 60% growth over recent years) ▪️ 40%+ seasonal lifts with retail partners through strategic digital optimization If you're leading CX, digital, retail, or innovation strategy, this episode is a must-listen. 🎧 Listen to the full conversation and subscribe for more insights on AI, and the future of customer experience. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

AI is reshaping how companies build and scale customer relationships. In this episode of The Modern Customer podcast, learn how to use AI to strengthen customer trust, speed up execution, and prepare for voice-driven and multimodal CX. Nicholas Thorne, co-author of Me, My Customer, and AI, breaks down practical strategies for modern leaders. Nicholas is also the co-founder of Audos, and a partner at prehype, known for helping entrepreneurs build and scale new ventures. What you'll learn: • How to prioritize the customer segment that drives your next stage of growth • How AI can safeguard executive focus and free you to engage directly with customers • How to turn trust and responsiveness into long-term strategic advantage • Why voice and multimodal CX are accelerating faster than expected — and how to prepare Tune in to explore how AI can accelerate growth while deepening customer trust. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

This week on The Modern Customer podcast, Michael Gerrish, Chief Marketing and Experience Officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, shares the strategy that transformed their organization. The key? Aligning Marketing and Experience to accelerate growth. Michael outlines how the unified CMXO role is responsible for making sure the brand's promises match the actual customer experience, driving maximum ROI.  The Results:  ✅ $120 Million in annual revenue  ✅ 93% industry-leading customer retention rate Learn how they achieved this with the "Insights to Action" model, eliminating silos and leveraging AI to simplify complex healthcare needs. Listen to the full episode now! Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

This week on The Modern Customer podcast, Valarie Vest, EVP and Chief Experience Officer at Cambridge Investment Research, shares a strategic view of the transformative power of AI and its profound impact on the CXO role. As Cambridge's first CXO, Valarie highlights the crucial importance of a people-first approach amid rapid technological advancements. This episode delivers invaluable, practical strategy for leaders who are ready to navigate the complexities of AI while radically enhancing the customer experience. 👉 Learn how the CXO mandate is being redefined by AI strategy and people-first leadership. This is an episode you won't want to miss! Tune in now! Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

WM serves 20 million customers by executing a unified, purpose-driven strategy. But how does a company of this scale truly guarantee reliable service? This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Michael Watson, SVP and Chief Customer Officer at WM, explains this strategy. He details the company's unique operational model, which integrates sales, revenue, and customer experience functions under his leadership—a forward-thinking strategy that breaks down the departmental silos common in large enterprises. This powerful alignment allows WM to drive profitable growth while relentlessly championing environmental and customer responsibility, offering a crucial lesson for listeners. Learn how operational rigor and a People-First culture are the ultimate accelerators for profitable growth. Don't miss this one! Tune in now! Visit WM's website to learn more: https://www.wm.com/ Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, I'm joined by Michael Nguyen, Head of Customer Intelligence at Enterpret—the AI-powered customer intelligence platform used by leading brands like Chipotle, Notion, and Canva. We talk about how Enterpret helps companies move from fragmented feedback to real-time customer intelligence, including: ✅ Unifying every customer signal across surveys, support, and social channels into one connected system. ✅ Adding business context so insights are clear, relevant, and actionable. ✅ Turning insight into action through real-time alerts and AI-driven visibility. It's a look at how the next generation of customer intelligence is helping leaders make faster, smarter CX decisions.  👉 This episode is sponsored by Enterpret. Visit https://www.enterpret.com to learn more! Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here.