What is the Future of Customer Experience Vol. 2
During our second season of CX Chats, we conducted in-depth interviews with 19 leading industry experts to explore their insights on the future of customer experience. Here are the enlightening perspectives they shared.
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Samantha Conyers – CXO – First Retail Group
Samantha envisions CX’s future as predictive, leveraging data from various sources to forecast customer behavior and personalize experiences. She emphasizes the importance of technology in enhancing CX but cautions against over-automation. The goal is to use technology to facilitate human connections and resolve customer queries efficiently.
Watch Samantha Conyers’ entire interview
Julie Fox – Global Director of Customer Success – Cin7
In Julie’s view, the future of customer success lies in digital strategies and scaled approaches. As the role of customer success evolves, the focus will shift toward using AI, automation, and predictive analytics to create more efficient, self-service experiences for customers of all sizes. Julie sees customer success moving from the traditional one-on-one CSM model toward a more holistic, scalable approach that offers customers resources and support on their terms. By democratizing access to expertise, companies can create deeper relationships with a broader base of customers, delivering more value with fewer resources.
Watch Julie Fox’s entire interview
Sumitra Narayanan – Manager, Customer Success, Scale – Braze
Sumitra believes that while AI and automation are gaining momentum in CS, human-centric skills like discovery are becoming even more critical. She highlights that understanding customer goals and being genuinely curious is key to delivering real value. The future of CS will likely see a blend of AI-powered efficiency alongside a human-first approach to relationship building.
Watch Sumitra Narayanan’s entire interview
Jim Iyoob – Chief Customer Officer – Etech Global Services
Jim staunchly believes that the future of CX is bright with AI, but human intelligence remains irreplaceable. AI and machine learning will augment human capabilities rather than replace them.
Watch Jim Iyoob’s entire interview
Angeline Gavino – Vice President of Customer Success – Katalon
Angeline sees AI as a game-changer in customer success. The potential of AI to personalize customer engagement, empower teams with better information, and enhance predictive analytics is immense. She believes AI will augment the capabilities of CS teams, enabling them to deliver superior customer experiences and drive business growth.
Watch Angeline Gavino’s entire interview
Anika Zubair – Head of Customer Success – Griffin
Looking to the future, Anika sees customer success evolving into a more revenue-focused discipline. Traditionally seen as a support or service function, CS teams are now taking on a more proactive role in driving revenue growth. As businesses move further into SaaS and subscription models, the CS function will increasingly be recognized as a critical revenue generator.
Anika believes the future of CS lies in this shift toward revenue responsibility. CS leaders and teams must embrace their role in driving business outcomes, focusing on customer satisfaction and expansion, retention, and upsell opportunities.
Watch Anika Zubair’s entire interview
Alex Farmer – Chief Revenue Officer – Nezasa
Looking ahead, Alex sees CX’s future as more automated and customer-centric. While automation is often seen as a way to do more with less, he believes it should be approached with the customer’s needs in mind. This means removing friction and centralizing customer interactions into a single, easy-to-access platform. Additionally, he advocates for revenue-centricity within CX teams, arguing that customer success should be tied to measurable business outcomes.
Watch Alex Farmer’s entire interview
Samma Hafeez – Senior Vice President – Insight Partners
Hafeez notes that while some companies reduced their CS investments, many in Insight’s portfolio either maintained or increased their focus on CS. As Hafeez sees it, the challenge lies in overcoming the perception of CS as a departmental function rather than a holistic company strategy. She anticipates significant changes in the CS landscape in the years ahead, driven by technological advancements like generative AI, which should help reduce the administrative aspects of CS and allow more time for human interactions and personal engagement. She envisions automation and efficiencies, allowing CS leaders to have more of a focus on change management. She also hopes that implementation cycles will be drastically reduced, which will greatly impact growth.
Watch Samma Hafeez’s entire interview
Kevin McCahill – Founder – MasteryCX
Looking ahead, Kevin envisions a more proactive and education-focused approach in CS. Digital tools, like in-app educational pop-ups and targeted messaging, will play a crucial role in this proactive strategy, enhancing the customer experience even before they voice their needs.
Watch Kevin McCahill’s entire interview
Debra Squyres – Chief Customer Officer – Bonusly
Debra sees customer success becoming even more integral to business strategies, particularly in SaaS industries. The focus will likely continue to be on operational efficiency and the strategic use of technology to enhance customer interactions without diluting the human touch.
Watch Debra Squyres’ entire interview
Alex Mead – Chief Customer Service Experience Officer – Total CX
Looking ahead, Alex predicts that the future of customer experience will be driven by technology that enables effortless interactions. He envisions a world where customers can easily modify orders and receive immediate, accurate responses through advanced AI systems, setting new standards for customer engagement.
Watch Alex Mead’s entire interview
Sally Roberts – Head of Customer – Legatics
Sally envisions a future where CX teams are seen as trusted advisors, not just vendors. She stresses the importance of team expertise in product knowledge and the need for more data-driven processes to scale operations efficiently. She also underscores the necessity of establishing relationships at higher organizational levels to expand product adoption.
Watch Sally Roberts’ entire interview.
Jeremy Watkin – Director of Customer Experience and Support – NumberBarn
Jeremy believes the future of CX lies in the synergy between AI and human agents. As AI handles more routine tasks, human agents will take on more complex problem-solving roles. He envisions a future where support agents are highly skilled knowledge workers with tools that enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
Watch Jeremy Watkin’s entire interview
Caroline Quinlan – CX Design Manager – AIB
Caroline is optimistic about the future of CX, highlighting the increasing recognition of its value to businesses. She believes that advancements in AI will play a significant role in CX, enabling more efficient data analysis and deeper insights into customer behavior. Embracing AI and other technological innovations will help companies deliver more personalized and compelling customer experiences.
Watch Caroline Quinlan’s entire interview
Arjun Menon – Sr. Manager, Customer Success Management – Salesforce
The future of customer success lies in a paradigm shift from mere churn prevention to the creation of fervent brand advocates. Arjun envisions a landscape where personalized experiences, AI-driven insights, and cross-functional collaboration redefine the CS playbook, empowering organizations to deliver unparalleled value and drive sustainable growth.
Watch Arjun Menon’s entire interview
Lynn Hunsaker – Chief Customer Officer – ClearAction Continuum
Lynn sees two potential futures for CX: a tactical focus on customer service and success or a strategic approach that permeates all aspects of business operations. She advocates for the latter, encouraging CX leaders to use technology to integrate customer insights into broader business strategies.
Watch Lynn Hunsaker’s entire interview
Eddie Christian – VP, Customer Success & Customer Experience
In a thought-provoking stance, Eddie advocates for a recalibration of focus in the CX landscape. Amidst the rapid advancement of technology, he emphasizes the enduring value of human-to-human relationships in fostering customer loyalty. Eddie warns against overreliance on technology at the expense of genuine communication and rapport-building, urging companies to balance automation and personalized engagement.
Watch Eddie Christian’s entire interview
Jill Crimm
Jill envisions AI playing a transformative role in CX, simplifying integration and enhancing personalization. As companies move away from traditional marketing tactics, CX will be the cornerstone of fostering meaningful customer relationships. For Jill, the future lies in merging CX and marketing to create seamless, impactful customer interactions.
Watch Jill Crimm’s entire interview
Donna Drehmann – Director Customer Experience – Eargo
Looking ahead, Donna envisions a future where streamlined processes for both customers and employees characterize customer experience. She believes that making it easier for frontline associates to resolve issues quickly and empowering customers with self-service tools will be key to meeting the demands of increasingly impatient consumers.
Watch Donna Drehmann’s entire interview
