That makes real estate an especially interesting lens for the broader customer experience (CX) conversation.

For companies serving consumers through complex, high-consideration journeys, support can’t exist on the sidelines. Every search, question, handoff, and moment of friction is part of the customer experience and can either build confidence or erode it.

That’s the conversation Phoebe Schultz, Vice President of Customer Experience Operations at Zillow Group, will bring to the main stage at CRS Scottsdale, September 30–October 2, 2026, at The Phoenician.

Turning Support into Strategy

In her keynote, Turning Support into Strategy: Zillow’s Approach to Smarter Self-Service, Schultz will share how Zillow approached a challenge that will sound familiar to many CX leaders: a support ecosystem that had become fragmented over time.

Zillow Group had numerous separate help sites, four technology platforms, and 12 support silos, an infrastructure shaped in part by years of acquisitions. The systems supported customers, but the experience reflected the company’s internal structure rather than how customers moved through their journeys.

That distinction matters.

For CX leaders, fragmentation isn’t simply a technology problem. It can show up as customers repeating themselves, searching across multiple places for answers, being routed to the wrong resource, reaching a human when a simple digital answer would have solved the problem, or being pushed into self-service when what they really need is human help.

Zillow’s experience offers a compelling look at what happens when an organization starts treating support differently.

Rather than viewing consolidation as an exercise in reducing complexity, Zillow used it as an opportunity to rethink the role of support altogether: not simply as a cost center, but as a product, a source of customer insight, and a way to connect customers with the right help at the right moment.

What CX Leaders Can Learn

The lessons extend well beyond real estate. As customer expectations continue to rise, organizations across industries are asking similar questions: How much should we automate? Where does self-service genuinely improve the experience? How do we make it easier for customers to find what they need? And how do we preserve the human moments that matter?

Schultz will explore how Zillow is approaching those questions through four key ideas:

1. The org chart trap: Why support experiences can become organized around internal structures rather than customer journeys, and the strategic cost of that disconnect.
2. Help as a product: What changes when support infrastructure is designed with the same discipline and intentionality as any other customer-facing product.
3. Friction as a signal: How customer questions and support interactions can reveal problems in products, processes, and communications.
4. Human where it matters: How intelligent triage and digital self-service can help organizations scale while still making room for the human interactions that build trust and loyalty.

For CX executives, the bigger takeaway is simple: support is telling you something.

The questions customers ask, where they get stuck, and when they seek human assistance can reveal where the broader experience is working and where it isn’t. The opportunity is to listen to those signals and turn support from a reactive function into a strategic advantage.

Join your CX leadership peers at CRS Scottsdale to see Zillow’s keynote. Learn more and register for CRS Scottsdale today.

The post From Help Desk to CX Strategy: What Zillow is Rethinking About Self-Service appeared first on Execs In The Know.

Casio understands this better than most. From the calculator that transformed everyday computing to the iconic G-SHOCK watch known for durability and innovation, Casio has built its reputation by creating products people rely on. Today, that same commitment extends beyond the product itself and into every repair request, warranty interaction, and support conversation.

For Casio, customer service is not simply about resolving issues. It is about reinforcing the promise customers believed in when they chose the brand in the first place.

In a recent KIA Spotlight, Execs In The Know sat down with Mike Begala, General Manager of Service North America at Casio, to explore how the company approaches post-purchase support, balances technology with human connection, and creates experiences that strengthen customer loyalty.

The Post-Sale Experience is Where Trust is Reinforced

Casio’s service organization oversees technical support, repairs, parts, warranty programs, and customer care across North America. While operational performance matters, Begala believes success goes beyond traditional service metrics.

The real measure of a great customer interaction is whether someone leaves feeling confident in their decision to choose Casio.

“Some of the best feedback we receive is when a customer tells us they felt taken care of,” Begala shared. “If someone comes to us with a problem and leaves feeling better about the brand than when they started, we’ve done our job.”

That mindset reflects a broader shift happening across customer experience organizations. Customers are no longer evaluating brands only by the products they purchase. They are evaluating how companies respond when something goes wrong.

Combining Digital Efficiency with Human Support

Like many CX leaders today, Casio faces the challenge of delivering fast, convenient support while maintaining the personal connection customers expect.

Begala believes technology plays an important role in simplifying routine interactions and giving employees better access to information. However, technology should enhance the customer experience—not replace the empathy and expertise that make service memorable.

“The strongest teams are always looking for ways to improve customer experience and make things easier for the people around them,” he explained.

For Casio, the goal is creating a seamless experience where customers can quickly find answers when they need them while still having access to knowledgeable support when a more complex situation requires human assistance.

Leadership Starts with Empathy

A key theme throughout Begala’s conversation is the importance of people. While systems, processes, and technology are essential, he believes exceptional service starts with employees who genuinely want to help others.

“You can teach systems and processes, but it’s much harder to teach someone to care about the customer experience,” Begala said.

That focus on empathy is especially important as customer expectations continue to rise. The best service teams are not just solving problems—they are building relationships and creating moments that reinforce trust.

Learning from the CX Community

As a member of the KIA Community, Begala also highlights the value of connecting with other customer experience leaders facing similar challenges.

From evolving technology to changing customer expectations, peer conversations provide valuable opportunities to share ideas, learn from successes, and accelerate innovation.

Casio’s approach reflects a powerful CX lesson: trust is built over time, but it is strengthened in the moments when customers need a brand the most.

Read the full KIA Spotlight to learn how Casio is redefining post-sale customer experiences through empathy, innovation, and a commitment to customer trust.

The post How Casio Builds Brand Trust After the Sale appeared first on Execs In The Know.

Jyotsna Khandekar sits at the center of that work. As a Director of Product Management, she leads the customer-facing digital platforms and AI initiatives that serve millions of users, including Cisco Community and the systems that surface the right insights to the right customers at the right time. Over 17 years in technology, spanning go-to-market, partner commerce, and now customer experience, she’s built a rare, end-to-end view of how product, revenue, and customer relationships all connect.

We sat down with Jyotsna to talk about where AI is genuinely improving customer experience, what it actually takes to build trust in AI systems, and why she believes the next real competitive edge isn’t your product or your data; it’s how fast your organization can turn customer understanding into action.

Execs In The Know (EITK): AI is transforming customer experiences across industries. What opportunities excite you most, and where do you see organizations getting it wrong?

Jyotsna: What excites me most is the shift AI makes possible in customer experience — moving from reactive to proactive, predictive, and personalized. For most of our support history, we waited for a customer to hit a wall and come to us. AI lets us flip that: anticipate what a customer needs and meet them with the right help at the right moment, sometimes before they’ve even had to ask. That’s a fundamentally better experience, and we’re only at the beginning of it.

Where organizations get it wrong is in starting with technology rather than the customer. There’s a lot of pressure right now to “have an AI story,” which pushes teams to adopt AI first and then hunt for a problem to attach it to. The ones who get it right do the reverse; they start with a real customer problem and ask whether AI is genuinely the best way to solve it. The other trap is optimizing for internal efficiency at the customer’s expense, measuring success by what the company saves rather than the value the customer actually gains.

EITK: Trust has become a critical topic in the age of AI. What does “trustworthy AI” mean to you, and how should organizations build trust with customers while adopting new technologies?

Jyotsna: To me, trustworthy AI comes down to three things: visibility, governance, and safety.

Visibility means you can observe which model handled a request and what data and actions were involved, audit the decisions afterward, and explain the output with clear reasoning and sources. If you can’t see what the system did and why, you can’t trust it.

Governance means real human oversight, with clear conditions for when a person can step in and when they should.

And safety means guardrails: monitoring for abnormal behavior, setting stop conditions, and hardening against attacks. When you can account for all three, and put that visibility in the customer’s hands, the AI earns trust.

Working at Cisco shapes how I see this: trust in the AI era depends on the full stack working together — the network that carries it, the security that protects it, and the observability that lets you see what’s actually happening end-to-end. That’s how you build trust with customers, too: by showing them the system is observable, governed, and safe, not just telling them.

EITK: What’s one AI myth you’d like to debunk?

Jyotsna: One myth I’d debunk is that keeping a human in the loop is a weakness, a sign your AI isn’t good enough yet. I see it the opposite way: it’s a sign of maturity, because it means you understand the stakes. Autonomy without boundaries isn’t innovation, it’s risk.

The goal isn’t to remove people as fast as possible; it’s to know exactly where human judgment matters most and design for it.

EITK: What’s one CX metric you pay closest attention to?

Jyotsna: The one I watch closest is adoption depth — how much of what a customer already owns they’re actually using. I care about it because it’s a leading indicator, not a lagging one: a renewal tells you what has already happened, while adoption depth tells you, months ahead, whether a customer is getting value and is likely to stay. It’s also what my team directly works to move — sending customers the right insights through the right channels about what they’re using and what they’re not yet using, so we’re actively closing that gap. If someone’s using only a fraction of what they’ve invested in, that’s a signal to act now. And if they’re deeply adopted, satisfaction and renewal tend to take care of themselves.

EITK: What technology trend are people underestimating right now?

Jyotsna: This one isn’t about a specific model or chip; it’s about where competitive advantage actually comes from now.

For a long time, the moat was your product or your data. But AI has changed that: product ideas can be copied and rebuilt faster than ever, and data alone is everywhere. So in my view, the real moat now is context, and what I’d call contextual velocity. Context is how deeply you understand your users; contextual velocity is how fast that understanding flows through your organization so you can act on it and turn it into relevant experiences for customers. When anyone can copy the product, what differentiates you is the context you hold and how quickly you can put it to work. People are only starting to realize this, but it’s becoming the real differentiator.

This is the first installment of 5 Questions With, a new blog series in which we sit down with CX leaders from different brands to hear how they’re thinking about customer experience today. Keep an eye out for the next conversation.

The post 5 Questions with Cisco’s Director of Product Management appeared first on Execs In The Know.

That gap between what the data says and what customers actually feel is the defining challenge for customer experience (CX) leaders right now. And it is exactly what keynote speaker Julie Weingardt, Chief Operations Officer at Turo, is bringing to the mainstage at CRS Scottsdale.

There is a quiet crisis happening inside organizations that, by every measurable standard, appear to be doing everything right. Operational benchmarks are met, and satisfaction scores hold steady. And yet trust, the thing that actually drives repeat business and long-term loyalty, is eroding in ways the traditional dashboard was never built to detect.

Weingardt has a name for this problem: dashboard blindness. It is what happens when organizations confuse hitting their numbers with understanding their customers. When the metrics are green, but the friction is real, the disconnect does not stay invisible for long. It shows up in social feeds, in churn, and eventually, in revenue.

The Signal in the Silence

One of the most important insights Weingardt will unpack is what unrated interactions reveal. An interaction that goes unscored is not a neutral data point. It is a gap, and those gaps have consequences that quietly compound over time.

As automation becomes a larger part of the customer journey, the moments where customers disengage without providing feedback deserve far more attention than most organizations give them. The absence of a response is itself a response.

The Pressure Every CX Leader Feels Right Now

There is no avoiding the conversation about artificial intelligence (AI). The pressure to reduce costs through automation is real, it is coming from the top, and it is not going away. But Weingardt will challenge CX leaders to think carefully about what gets lost when the pendulum swings too far.

Human empathy, speed in the right context, and the ability to read nuance are not luxuries. They are operational assets with a measurable impact on customer trust. The question is not whether to adopt AI. The question is how to evaluate the trade-offs honestly, using frameworks that account for what a cost-savings analysis alone will never show you.

This is the cost-trust paradox, and navigating it well is quickly becoming one of the most important skills a CX leader can develop.

From Satisfaction to Advocacy

The session is ultimately a call to rethink the entire leadership model around customer loyalty. Satisfaction, as a goal, is reactive by nature. You wait for the interaction to happen, measure how it went, and adjust. Advocacy requires something different: a proactive, systematic approach to how organizations listen, what they measure, and how they scale the kind of experiences that build loyalty over time.

That shift is harder than it sounds, especially inside organizations that have spent years optimizing for the metrics they know how to measure. But it is the work that separates companies’ customers return to from companies customers tolerate.

Why This Conversation Matters Now

The timing could not be more relevant. As AI capabilities expand and budget pressures intensify, the temptation to optimize for efficiency at the expense of connection has never been stronger. Weingardt brings a practitioner’s perspective to a conversation the industry needs to have with honesty and urgency.

Whether you lead CX for retail, a financial institution, healthcare, or anywhere in between, the dynamics she is describing are not unique to Turo. They are the defining tensions of the moment.

Hear Weingardt’s full keynote at CRS Scottsdale. Learn more and register to attend.

The post Why Trust is a CX Metric That Matters appeared first on Execs In The Know.

A keynote speaker at Customer Response Summit (CRS) in Clearwater Beach, Florida, Edmond took the stage to discuss change, not just in shifting consumer behaviors or advancing technologies, but the kind that redefines an entire industry.

A Childhood Rooted in Change

“I want to start by telling you a little bit more about myself,” she began.

Edmond’s journey in hospitality started beside her grandmother, making hotel beds. The repetition, the attention to detail, the care taken with every tucked-in corner—these weren’t just tasks; they were lessons in pride, service, and resilience.

Change wasn’t just a professional necessity for Edmond; it has always been a way of life. She’s lived in 10 different cities in 30 years, moving between Hilton and Marriott, adapting, evolving, and learning along the way. It was never just about climbing the corporate ladder; it was about deeply understanding the guest experience, leading with empathy, and building something bigger than herself.

As she stood on that stage, she didn’t just speak about transformation. She embodied it.

A Career Built on Evolving

Edmond’s career began at the Boston Quincy Marriott Hotel, where she first learned the nuances of on-property operations. From there, she rose through the ranks, taking on corporate roles that gave her a panoramic view of hospitality, from the frontlines to the executive suite.

One of her defining moments? Leading the historic merger of SPG^® and Marriott Rewards^® into Marriott Bonvoy^®, a transformation that impacted 6,900 hotels and millions of loyalty members worldwide. This wasn’t just a branding exercise. It was a massive operational and emotional shift for travelers who had built their routines, rewards, and brand trust around these programs.

The challenge was enormous, but Edmond saw it as an opportunity to reimagine what loyalty could mean. The results spoke for themselves: a 7% increase in Elite Appreciation among top-tier guests, proving that intentional change, when done right, fosters deeper guest loyalty.

Then came the introduction of a $235M Property Management System, a transformation designed to streamline operations without sacrificing personalization. Because, as she emphasized, innovation in hospitality isn’t about replacing the human touch. It’s about enhancing it.

Leading Transformation at Marriott International

Many companies wait until an economic downturn forces their hand. Marriott doesn’t believe in waiting. Under Edmond’s leadership, Marriott’s CEC has undergone a strategic realignment, ensuring the company isn’t just reacting to change but anticipating it.

Hospitality is evolving at breakneck speed. The industry is larger, more complex, and more technology-driven than ever before. But Edmond’s philosophy is clear: The best time to reimagine the future isn’t when you’re forced to; it’s when you have the strength and stability to do so on your own terms.

The Power of Human Connection

At its core, travel is deeply personal. A weary business traveler stepping off a red-eye flight, a honeymooning couple arriving at a beachside resort, a solo adventurer checking into a boutique hotel—each guest carries a story. The question is: how does your brand become a meaningful part of it?

For Edmond, the answer lies in the power of human connection, a principle woven into Marriott’s DNA. Technology is a tool, but it’s not the solution.

It’s the warmth of a front desk associate who notices a guest’s exhaustion and offers a complimentary late checkout. It’s the housekeeping team that arranges a child’s stuffed animal just so, making a hotel room feel like home. “Being human is the ultimate competitive advantage,” she said.

This resonated deeply. In an industry often focused on efficiency, cost-cutting, and automation, Edmond reminded us that true hospitality isn’t transactional; it’s emotional.

Lessons in Leadership & Change

Edmond has learned that change isn’t something to fear; it’s something to embrace. She has led through economic downturns, the rise of digital-first travelers, and an industry-wide shift toward sustainability. “Never find yourself standing still; if you stand still, you die. Keep moving,” she explained.

She also reminded attendees of something simple yet powerful: never underestimate the power of asking for help because sometimes, that one ask can change the trajectory of your career.

It’s easy to get lost in the mechanics of hospitality, like room rates, occupancy numbers, and service recovery metrics, but Edmond brought the conversation back to what truly matters: people. As leaders in the customer experience space, our challenge is clear: We must be architects of change and relentless in our pursuit of human-centered innovation.

Because in hospitality, the best experiences aren’t just designed. They’re felt. And that’s exactly what Edmond left us with: a feeling that the future of hospitality isn’t just about where guests sleep, dine, or relax. It’s about how we make them feel.

A special thank you to Frid Edmond and the entire Marriott International team for sharing their insights and leadership with us at Customer Response Summit. Your dedication to innovation, service, and human connection continues to set the standard for the hospitality and CX industry. We appreciate your time, expertise, and the inspiration you brought to the stage!

Ready to continue the conversation? Join us at the next CRS, September 30-October 2, 2026. Connect with fellow CX leaders, hear from trailblazing brands, and explore the strategies shaping the future of customer experience. Learn more and reserve your spot.

The post Marriott International’s Frid Edmond on Leading Transformational Change in Hospitality appeared first on Execs In The Know.

Todd brings over three decades of operational leadership experience to his keynote, along with a willingness to draw on his own personal journey. His session, Mental Athlete: Leadership in a Dysregulated World, explores the connection between a leader’s mental health and their effectiveness on the job, and offers a framework for thinking about self-regulation as a professional practice.

His central premise is that self-regulation (how a leader manages their own mental and emotional state) is a meaningful and often overlooked dimension of professional performance. He draws on the analogy of an elite athlete, for whom mental conditioning is as deliberate and structured as physical training, and asks what it might look like for leaders to bring that same intentionality to their own well-being.

The post CRS Scottsdale Keynote Preview: Mental Athlete — Leadership in a Dysregulated World appeared first on Execs In The Know.

Since 2021, Execs In The Know’s Leading with Impact program has focused on raising awareness surrounding mental health. Our aim is to continue working to break past the stigma often associated with mental health issues and address these issues head-on. Our actions, no matter how big or small, can provide hope to those who are struggling. We’re working alongside organizations to help companies and individuals move down a stigma-free path, where those affected by mental health challenges can seek support without fear of judgment.

That context becomes especially visible in the day-to-day reality of work, where experience is shaped not only by what is measured, but also by what is felt beneath those measures.

Behind the Metrics

In the rhythm of a typical workday, especially in customer-focused environments, much of the attention is directed outward toward performance metrics, service levels, and the consistency of the experience being delivered. Dashboards update in real time, targets are tracked, measured, and optimized, and every interaction is an opportunity to reinforce trust, solve a problem, or strengthen a relationship.

Behind those measures, however, are individuals navigating competing priorities, constant interaction, and the expectation to remain responsive, steady, and engaged. The pace can be dynamic, at times unpredictable, and often shaped by variables outside anyone’s control. And within that pace, there is an ongoing balance between output and capacity, between responsiveness and recovery.

Mental health, in this context, is rarely a single moment or a clearly defined event. It is cumulative. It reflects how work is structured, how communication flows, and how individuals move through their day. It is influenced by the volume of interactions, the complexity of customer needs, and the degree of autonomy individuals have in managing both.

It also shows up in ways that are not always immediately visible. In the tone of a conversation, the patience within a customer interaction, and in the ability to remain present through complexity, to listen fully, and to respond with clarity. Over time, these small moments shape the overall experience for both employees and the customers they serve.

A Different Kind of Visibility for Leaders

For leaders, this creates a different kind of visibility. Not one rooted solely in outputs, but in patterns. How teams are pacing themselves across a week or a quarter. How often can they reset between periods of intensity? How consistently they are supported in maintaining both performance and well-being over time.

These patterns are not always captured in traditional reporting, yet they influence many of the outcomes organizations care most about: engagement, retention, service quality, and consistency. They also indicate how sustainable those outcomes are over longer periods.

Where Employee and Customer Experience Meet

Across many organizations, there is a growing awareness of these dynamics. Conversations around flexibility, workload, and support systems have become more integrated into how teams operate. In some cases, this includes more deliberate approaches to scheduling and staffing. In others, it shows up in how leaders communicate expectations, set priorities, and create space for focus.

Rather than existing in isolation, employee experience and customer experience are increasingly understood as interconnected parts of the same ecosystem. The conditions in which employees work (how supported they feel, how clearly they understand expectations, or how manageable their workload is) can influence how consistently they deliver for customers. The relationship is not always explicit, but it is observable.

How It Shows Up in the Work

When employees have the space to focus, recover, and feel supported in their roles, it often carries over into how they engage with each other and with customers. Interactions may feel more measured. Problem-solving can become more collaborative. Consistency, which is central to many customer experience strategies, becomes easier to sustain.

At the same time, the absence of that support can also surface in subtle ways. A slight delay in response, shorter interaction, or a missed opportunity to fully resolve a concern. These are not necessarily indicators of intent or capability, but reflections of the broader environment in which work is taking place.

Moments like May offer an opportunity to notice these connections more clearly. Not as a departure from day-to-day operations, but as a lens through which to view them. A way to reflect on how systems, expectations, and support structures are aligning with the realities of the people within them. It is a chance to observe what is working well and where there may be opportunities to adjust.

Small Shifts, Meaningful Impact

In practice, this reflection can take many forms. For some organizations, it may involve revisiting how workloads are distributed across teams or how demand peaks are managed. For others, it may include examining how communication flows, whether priorities are clear, whether feedback is timely, and whether individuals have the information they need to do their work effectively.

It may also include a closer look at how time is experienced throughout the day. The spacing between meetings, the ability to focus without interruption, or the presence of natural pauses allows individuals to reset before moving into the next task or interaction. These elements, while operational, contribute to the overall work experience. Over time, they shape how sustainable the experience feels and how consistently individuals can bring their full attention to their work.

For customer-facing teams, this is particularly relevant. The nature of the work often requires continuous engagement: listening, responding, solving, and adapting in real time. It is work that draws not only on technical knowledge, but also on emotional awareness and communication skills.

Sustaining that level of engagement over time is influenced by more than training or process. It is shaped by the environment in which the work takes place: the clarity of expectations, the availability of support, and the extent to which individuals can recharge between interactions.

An Ongoing Perspective

As organizations continue to evolve their approaches to both employee and customer experience, there is an increasing opportunity to consider these elements together. To view them not as separate initiatives, but as interconnected aspects of how value is created and sustained.

This perspective does not require a single model or a defined endpoint. Instead, it is an ongoing process of observation and adjustment. A willingness to look at how work is experienced in practice and how that experience aligns with the outcomes organizations are aiming to achieve. Within that process, awareness plays a central role.

So as May unfolds, the opportunity is not limited to acknowledgment. It is an opportunity to notice and observe how teams are operating, how individuals are engaging, and how the conditions of work are supporting, or at times challenging, the ability to sustain performance over time. It is also an opportunity to remain curious and to explore where small adjustments might create meaningful shifts. To consider how clarity, capacity, and support are experienced across different roles and teams.

Not as a one-time focus, but as part of an ongoing approach to building environments where both people and performance can be sustained. Because at the center of every interaction, every metric, and every outcome are individuals, bringing their attention, their energy, and their perspective to the work in front of them.

And in that sense, Mental Health Awareness Month serves less as a standalone initiative and more as a moment of clarity, a reminder of the conditions that support sustained performance, thoughtful engagement, and the kind of customer experiences that feel both effective and human over time.

Take Action

Since 1949, Mental Health Awareness Month has been a driving force in addressing the challenges faced by millions of Americans living with mental health conditions, and this year, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is calling on everyone to take action, raise their voice, and help change the conversation around mental health.

Whether you share your personal journey, raise awareness on social media using #MyMentalHealth, or simply show up for someone in need, every action helps break stigma and build a more supportive world. If you or someone you know is struggling, the NAMI HelpLine offers free, nationwide peer support — available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET — by calling 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), texting “HelpLine” to 62640, or visiting nami.org.

The post Mental Health Awareness Month: Building Healthier, Stronger Workplaces appeared first on Execs In The Know.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is absorbing routine interactions at an unprecedented scale. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments are being publicly tested. Frontline agents are navigating more complexity than ever before. And as customer expectations continue to rise, organizations are being forced to reckon with a more fundamental question, not just how to serve customers faster, but how to serve them better, more inclusively, and with the kind of human judgment and empathy that no technology can replicate at scale.

Our April issue of CX Insight magazine brings together research, practitioner perspectives, and real-world case studies to examine the forces reshaping CX leadership and how organizations can stay ahead of them.

The DEI Performance Gap Is Widening

The business case for inclusive customer experience has never been stronger, or more urgent. Yet a critical gap persists. CX leaders rate their own accessibility and inclusion efforts 18 points higher than consumers do. That disconnect does not resolve itself. It shows up in churn, in negative sentiment, and in the quiet erosion of loyalty over time. This article examines what closing that gap actually requires operationally, structurally, and strategically.

The Frontline is Not a Support Function

Kevin McDorman, Vice President of Customer Care at Southwest Airlines, made the case plainly at CRS Amelia Island: brands will not differentiate by how much they automate. They will differentiate by how well they equip their people for the moments automation cannot handle. The shift from rigid scripts to empowering guardrails is not a cultural preference; it is a strategic imperative. This article explores what that shift looks like in practice and why organizations that get it right will find it difficult to replicate.

Brand Spotlight: How Grubhub Maintains Service Reliability at Global Scale

Behind every seamless food delivery experience is an operational infrastructure most customers never see. In this issue’s Brand Spotlight, Tanisha Parker, Associate Director at Grubhub, pulls back the curtain on how one of the world’s most recognized food delivery platforms manages global BPO partnerships, workforce strategy, and service consistency across a vast and dynamic ecosystem of couriers, merchants, and diners. Her perspective on eliminating operational friction, without compromising customer value, is one of the most practically useful conversations on this issue.

Case Study: How Uber Is Closing the Customer Feedback Gap with AI

Traditional customer satisfaction surveys capture only a fraction of the experience. Uber decided that was not good enough. In this issue’s case study, Anindya Sundar Das, Senior Director and Head of Global Digital Experience at Uber, details how Uber’s Global Digital Experience team deployed an AI engine that infers customer satisfaction across every single support interaction. It was structured around three core metrics: Resolution, Effort, and Sentiment. The result is a real-time quality signal that enables proactive improvement at a global scale and fundamentally changes how Uber understands and responds to the experience it is delivering.

KIA Spotlight: Balancing AI and Human Connection at Carrier Enterprise

In a service environment where HVAC contractors rely on fast, accurate support to keep their businesses running, the balance between technology and human connection is not an abstract leadership question; it is an operational reality. Michael Luyster, Director of Customer Experience at Carrier Enterprise and a KIA Champion, shares how Carrier Enterprise has built a hybrid service model grounded in customer choice, operational consistency, and trust. His conviction that AI should augment human capability rather than replace it offers a model worth studying across industries.

The Growing Impact of Women in CX Leadership

CX is one of the most cross-functional, human-centered disciplines in business, and women are leading it with measurable impact. The feature on women in CX leadership examines why the pipeline still narrows too early, what structural barriers remain, and why advancing women into senior leadership roles is one of the most strategically sound decisions a CX organization can make. Contributing their perspectives to this important conversation are Lisa Oswald of Travelzoo, Maureen Barnett of Fanatics, Jessica Patel of Belk, and Dima Cichi of Microsoft: four leaders who are actively shaping what modern CX leadership looks like and what it can become.

When AI Improves Metrics but Not Outcomes

Organizations across industries are deploying AI to reduce costs and increase efficiency. By conventional measures, it appears to be working. Automation rates are rising, and handling times are falling. Containment continues to improve, yet retention remains flat. Customer experience remains inconsistent, and business outcomes remain unchanged.

Cortney Jonas Burnos, Vice President of AI & Digital at Transcom, offers a sharp diagnosis: the problem is not the technology. It is the misalignment between how customer experience is measured and where it actually creates value. As AI absorbs the most repeatable interactions, what remains for human agents is more complex, more consequential, and more emotionally demanding — and most organizations have not restructured around that reality.

The Trillion-Dollar Cost That Never Appears on the P&L

According to Qualtrics XM Institute, businesses worldwide risk losing $3.8 trillion annually due to poor customer experiences. More than half of negative interactions lead customers to reduce or stop their spending entirely. Yet this cost rarely surfaces on a standard profit and loss statement. It disappears into churn metrics, missing renewals, and referrals that were never made. This article from Procedureflow provides the framework CX leaders need to translate experience quality into financial risk and bring that conversation into the boardroom where it belongs.

The question this issue keeps returning to is this: what does it actually take to lead well in this moment?

The answer, across every article and every conversation, is the same. It begins with people. The organizations that understand this and build accordingly are the ones that will emerge from this period of disruption with something the competition will find very difficult to replicate: the trust of the people they serve.

Read and download the full April 2026 issue of CX Insight magazine.

The post Just Launched: The April Issue of CX Insight Magazine appeared first on Execs In The Know.

More specifically: Who are you when the title drops, the metrics fade, and the pressure hits? Because, as Travis reminded the room, leading people is complicated. And in a world where every conversation seems to orbit around AI, automation, and scale, the differentiator that will define the next era of customer experience isn’t just technology; it’s emotional intelligence (EQ).

And EQ, he argued, sits on a deeper foundation: identity. Who you are determines what you do. This became the heartbeat of his keynote, “The Standard Is the Strategy.”

Metrics Matter. But They Aren’t the Whole Story.

Travis began with a story from his NFL days, specifically, a moment with legendary linebacker Willie McGinest. After a tough game, Willie posed a question that stuck with him long after he left the field: “Who are you?”

Too often in CX (and in life), Travis said, we obsess about the tangible:

• NPS
• Quarterly numbers
• Service levels
• Efficiency metrics

But in leadership, you can hit the metric and miss the moment. You can meet the standard but violate the principle.

This line landed hard. Because it’s true: in the rush to deliver, leaders can unintentionally drift from the values that made them leaders in the first place.

Standards vs. Principles: The Core Distinction

Travis broke it down simply:

• Standards are what we do.
• Principles are who we are.

Standards matter. They’re measurable, operational, and necessary. But standards alone don’t create culture. Principles do. And in an industry where AI is accelerating faster than any of us expected, Travis reminded leaders of something vital: AI will scale your systems. EQ will sustain your culture. Because CX, at its core, is still about people.

EQ is the skill that helps leaders manage themselves, navigate environments, read the room, and steward their teams through uncertainty. But EQ is built on something deeper: identity. Before you can lead others, you must define who you are going to be.

The Three Principles of Principles

The centerpiece of the keynote came when Travis outlined the three rules that govern how real principles work.

External Conditions Shouldn’t Determine Your Principles

If your principles only hold when conditions are ideal, they’re not principles; they’re preferences.

Travis told stories from NFL training camp, from tough seasons, from moments when every condition felt like a good reason to justify exceptions. But that’s exactly the point: conditions expose principles; they don’t rewrite them.

He challenged leaders to examine whether pressure or convenience has ever swayed their standards, from tone to honesty to accountability.

His reminder hit home: Pressure doesn’t create character. It reveals it.

And this wasn’t just for the boardroom. He drew the line straight into the personal: marriage, parenting, and home life.

Principles Shouldn’t Be Compartmentalized

Leaders don’t get one set of principles for the office and another for home. Character doesn’t clock in and out. Travis spoke about something many leaders quietly wrestle with: the disconnect between the “stage version” of themselves and the “real version” at home. Those gaps erode trust more than any missed KPI ever could.

Authenticity, he said, isn’t about saying whatever you want. It’s about alignment. The version of you in the boardroom, at the dinner table, behind closed doors, and in moments no one sees, should be the same person. And he asked a provocative question: What if authenticity became your most important standard?

Don’t Expect from Others What You Don’t Model Yourself

This one is leadership in its purest form. You cannot expect your team to live at a level you refuse to model. From effort to attitude to integrity, Travis shared: Teams may listen to what you say, but they will replicate what you model.

He reflected on parenting, on coaching, on how often leaders get frustrated with behaviors they actively or passively teach through their example. It was a moment of self-reflection for many in the room. Before you ask, “Why won’t my team rise higher?” Ask: “Have I?”

The Danger of Success in the Wrong Direction

One of the most powerful moments came near the end: a story about scoring what he thought was a touchdown only to realize he ran toward the wrong end zone.
The metaphor was striking. Because in CX, in leadership, and in life, you can hit every target, grow revenue, improve metrics, and still be moving in the wrong direction.

The only success that matters is the kind that aligns with your principles. External success ≠ principled success.

Why This Keynote Mattered

At a conference full of strategy, innovation, AI discussions, and operational breakthroughs, Travis did something different. He grounded the week in something unmistakably human. CX leaders today sit at the intersection of exponential technology and deeply human expectations. We’re balancing automation with empathy, speed with care, efficiency with trust. AI is rewriting the rules, but it’s not rewriting our values.

Travis reminded leaders that before you can build a modern, high-performing, AI-enabled customer experience, you must anchor your identity. Because your principles, not your models, not your workflows, not your dashboards, will determine whether your culture thrives or fractures in the years ahead.

He ended where he began, returning to Willie McGinest’s question: Who are you? And is that the person you really want to be?

Because the future of CX is not just AI-powered; it is principle-powered. And as Travis said, the standard is the strategy.

Join Us at CRS Scottsdale

Experience powerful mainstage keynotes, candid leadership conversations, and practical CX insights from the leaders shaping the industry. Registration opens soon!

More Leadership Insights from the CX Community

Discover additional stories and perspectives from leaders shaping the future of customer experience.

The Discipline of Focus: Lessons from a Former NFL Quarterback

Elevating the Ride at Peloton

Personalization at Sea: How Princess Cruises Is Elevating the Guest Experience

Marriott International’s Frid Edmond on Leading Transformational Change in Hospitality

The post Travis Brown on the Power of Principles in a Changing CX World appeared first on Execs In The Know.

I didn’t.

At 16, most of us were simply trying to figure out where we fit. We weren’t thinking about executive decisions, digital transformation roadmaps, or the responsibility of leading teams through complexity. And we certainly weren’t thinking about the moments where we’d have to choose between the easy answer and the right one.

Yet leadership, at its core, often comes down to exactly that choice.

In customer experience, we talk constantly about innovation, strategy, AI, automation, and growth. But we don’t talk enough about the quality that underpins all of it:

Courage.

Not the dramatic kind of courage, but the steady, values-led kind. The kind that shows up in difficult conversations, in principled decisions, and in the willingness to take accountability when outcomes matter.

And in today’s CX landscape, that kind of leadership is more important than ever.

Courage as a Leadership Advantage

Customer experience is built on trust.

But trust externally, with customers, is always a reflection of trust internally. Teams watch what leaders do. They notice when someone stands by their values, when they invest in long-term outcomes over short-term wins, and when they create space for others to contribute and grow.

The leaders who consistently earn credibility are rarely the loudest voices in the room. They are often the ones who quietly align strategy with integrity, even when it’s uncomfortable.

That alignment builds self-respect. And self-respect builds influence.

The Next Era of CX Requires Broader Leadership Voices

We are entering a transformative moment in customer experience. AI is redefining operating models. Data is driving personalization at scale. Technology is reshaping how we think about talent, productivity, and value creation.

As the industry evolves, so must its leadership.

One of the most exciting shifts we’re seeing is more women confidently stepping into strategic roles across Technology, Finance, Digital, Growth, and Business Development, areas that are increasingly central to CX transformation.

This matters. Not because leadership should look a certain way, but because innovation thrives on perspective. When decision-making tables reflect a broader range of experience and thinking styles, outcomes improve. Strategies become more robust. Risks are evaluated more holistically and customer insight deepens.

And in a world shaped by AI and rapid digital acceleration, ensuring women feel confident and equipped to lead in these areas is both a talent priority and a business imperative.

Why Leading Voices Matters

That’s the thinking behind our Leading Voices series.

We want to spotlight the women shaping CX strategy across their organizations, many of whom started their journey in the contact centers.

Through honest storytelling, practical insight, and visible role models, we aim to create a community that supports long-term development, not just career milestones, but confidence, capability, and clarity.

Check out our latest interview with Lisa Oswald, Head of Customer Service, North America and Europe at Travelzoo. Lisa shares her journey in CX and what drives her as a leader in this space.

Building the Future, Intentionally

Customer experience will not be shaped by technology alone. It will be shaped by the people guiding how technology is applied, thoughtfully, ethically, and strategically.

If we want the next generation of CX leaders to step forward with confidence, we must make the journeys of those already doing it more visible.

That is the purpose of Leading Voices:

• To share real career paths
• To highlight strategic impact
• To encourage AI fluency and digital leadership
• To foster mentorship and advocacy
• And to ensure women across our ecosystem feel equipped to lead in the next era of CX

Because courage will always have a cost.

But when we build strong communities, clear pathways, and visible examples, that cost becomes an investment, one that pays dividends for individuals, organizations, and the industry as a whole.

I can’t wait to open the panel for Lisa Oswald, Head of Customer Service at Travelzoo, and Carolyn Truelove, VP Customer & Operations Excellence at American Airlines, as they discuss ‘Uncompromised Leadership — When Self-Respect Becomes Priceless’ – Thursday 26th Feb – 9:15 AM – 9:45 AM. Don’t miss it.

The post The Quiet Power Behind Great Leadership appeared first on Execs In The Know.