The CX Cast

Martin and Angelina welcome founder of Humanity at Scale and ex-Forresterite Bruce Temkin to explore the complexities of organizational culture, especially in the context of CX. Drawing on decades of research and real-world examples, the trio dives into why culture is so hard to change, what actually moves the needle, and how leaders can inspire lasting transformation.

Martin is joined by Debra Eddy, guest lecturer at University College London (UCL), to discuss how universities are preparing the next generation of CX leaders. Debra shares her journey from fast-moving consumer goods marketing to academia, and how UCL builds real-world skills and employability for students while adapting to changes brought by AI.

Martin and Angelina explore the role of change management in CX transformation. Drawing from Angelina’s latest research and Martin’s past experiences, they unpack why CX programs stall and how organizations can better embed change into their operations. The conversation covers emotional engagement, leadership, AI, and practical strategies for driving lasting change.

In 2019, former CX Cast co-hosts Sam Stern and Jenny Wise brought Jason Bradshaw, then-Chief Customer Officer at Volkswagen Group Australia, to discuss customer and employee experiences. As Angelina notes in the introduction, Jason shares a brief autobiography that highlights where his passion for service began. The interview explores the connection between exceptional employee and customer experiences, emphasizing genuinely caring for both groups is essential to achieve business returns from CX improvements.

Recurring CX Cast guest Su Doyle joins Angelina to dive into stakeholder management, discussing how to identify and prioritize stakeholders and various tools and strategies to engage them effectively. Sue shares valuable insights on creating stakeholder personas and aligning metrics to drive collaboration and success.

In this episode, Angelina and Martin dive into the evolving world of mobility, exploring how transportation systems — from EVs to mass transit — can be reimagined through a customer-centric lens. Joined by VP principal analyst Paul Miller and CX researcher Hannah Jachim, the conversation challenges traditional tech-centric narratives and emphasizes the importance of understanding real human needs in mobility design.

How can marketing work with CX to improve customer experience? This week, Angelina sits down with senior analyst Brad Haag to dive into the world of marketing measurement and analytics. Brad shares how to accurately measure the impact of marketing efforts, the evolution of marketing mix modeling, and the role of data science in modern marketing strategies.

Cecilie Kobbelgaard was tasked with driving journey orchestration at Grundfos. But the Global Customer Journey Manager recognized that the organization needed the basics first. So, she led the development of a customer journey mapping “cookbook”, turned the cookbook into skills, built a journey atlas, and standardized the approach so different business units were working the same way – just to name a few accomplishments. Featuring: Cecilie Kobbelgaard, Global Customer Journey Manager, Grundfos Show Notes: Cecilie Kobbelgaard was tasked with driving journey orchestration at Grundfos. But the Global Customer Journey Manager recognized that the organization needed the basics first. So, she led the development of a customer journey mapping “cookbook”, turned the cookbook into skills, built a journey atlas, and standardized the approach so different business units were working the same way – just to name a few accomplishments. We discuss: How to gain traction in an organization with varying maturity in journey-centricity How to measure the value of progress Where her team confronted the biggest challenges to progress Developing a standardized approach to future-state journey mapping

As customers' expectations shift due to their adoption of new technologies, organizations need to adapt. TCQ, Forrester’s Technology Change Quotient, measures the readiness of employees, teams, and organizations to adapt to technology in a way that drives productivity, creativity, and inventiveness. J. P. Gownder, VP, Principal Analyst joins us to explain how. Featuring: J. P. Gownder, VP, Principal Analyst Show Notes: As customers' expectations shift due to their adoption of new technologies, organizations need to adapt. TCQ, Forrester’s Technology Change Quotient, measures the readiness of employees, teams, and organizations to adapt to technology in a way that drives productivity, creativity, and inventiveness. J. P. Gownder, VP, Principal Analyst joins us to explain: How the pace of technological change is accelerating What TCQ is and how it informs change leadership How to balance opportunities and challenges of rapid tech advancement What CX pros should understand about tech advancement to bridge the gap between customer expectation and employee ability To learn more, see J. P.'s blog post, Introducing Forrester's Technology Change Quotient. Forrester clients can also access the report, The Forrester Technology Change Quotient (TCQ) Assessment.

Angelina Gennis and Martin Gill sit down with Joana de Quintanilha, VP and principal analyst, to explore how companies can go beyond fixing broken experiences and cocreate breakthrough value with customers. Joana highlights actionable strategies and creative techniques, as well as how to strike the balance between data-driven insights and imaginative thinking to supercharge your customer journeys.

Originally episode 283, this recording focuses on how American Express evolved their VoC program. Show Notes: Originally episode 283, this recording focuses on how American Express evolved their VoC program. Luis Angel-Lalanne, VP of Customer Voice at Amex, shares his organization’s journey from survey fundamentals to a robust feedback program that continuously engages stakeholders in CX understanding and drives action. Related content: 283: Amex Takes VoC To The Next Level - Forrester 319: The Future Of VoC - Forrester

Joana de Quintanilha and first-time CX Cast guest Richard Sheahan unpack the creation and impact of the Experience Room — an immersive, hands-on learning experience debuted at Forrester's CX Summit EMEA 2025. Created to be fast-paced, emotionally engaging, and highly collaborative, the Experience Room offered participants — working together as a bank team to improve the home-buying experience — a unique, interactive way to engage customers with four key CX tools.

We come to you live this week from Forrester’s annual CX Summit NA conference in Nashville! This year, Forrester unveiled its new Total Experience Score framework, a new measurement that connects brand and CX to deliver a more comprehensive picture of where brands stand. We spoke to some Forrester analysts at the event to discuss the research they shared and insights they gathered.

Harley Manning, longtime Forrester analyst and author of the seminal book on CX, "Outside In," takes a break from retirement to discuss the evolution of CX over the past decade. Harley dives into the foundational principles of CX, the importance of emotion in creating customer loyalty, and how CX efforts must tie into business results. Harley also shares a wealth of anecdotes that span his decades-long career as a CX thought leader.

Conny Kalcher, Group Chief Customer Officer of Zurich Insurance, discusses the transformative role of AI in customer experience with us. Conny shares insights into Zurich's journey towards becoming more customer-focused, emphasizing the importance of empathy, transparency, and reliability in AI applications. From speeding up claims processing to enhancing internal communications, discover how Zurich is leveraging AI to benefit both customers and employees. Featuring: Conny Kalcher, Group Chief Customer Officer of Zurich Insurance Show Notes: Conny Kalcher, Group Chief Customer Officer of Zurich Insurance, discusses the transformative role of AI in customer experience with us. Conny shares insights into Zurich's journey towards becoming more customer-focused, emphasizing the importance of empathy, transparency, and reliability in AI applications. From speeding up claims processing to enhancing internal communications, discover how Zurich is leveraging AI to benefit both customers and employees. We discuss: How Zurich built strong internal AI capabilities and used a "show, don't tell" approach to increase adoption Zurich's human first AI strategy and how it empowered employees How Zurich measured AI's value across multiple dimensions With: Martin Gill, VP, Research Director

We come to you live this week from Forrester’s annual CX Summit EMEA conference in London, England. This year's summit is all about the gap between brand and customer experience and between strategy and execution with a dive deep into metrics and journeys. We capture some attendee and speaker voices discussing the research shared during the event. Featuring: Multiple speakers and attendees: Hanneke Mulder (Xerox) Shawn Stanyer (Bank of Valletta) Jorissa Neutelings (ABN AMRO) Nils Schmeling (NECXT) Magdalena Suchanek (Bank Millenium) Lovette Onunuga (FIRS) Isabella Grant and Ben Cooke (UCL students) Show Notes: We come to you live this week from Forrester’s annual CX Summit EMEA conference in London, England. This year's summit is all about the gap between brand and customer experience and between strategy and execution with a dive deep into metrics and journeys. We capture some attendee and speaker voices discussing the research shared during the event. You’ll hear: About attendees' event highlights and takeaways. What's top-of-mind for CX practitioners. Learn more about Forrester’s CX events here. And check out Martin's post about the Experience Room to get an impression of the props and stations.

Frontier Communications emerged from bankruptcy in 2021. That bankrupcy was the result of a broken customer experience sitting on terribly broken and outdated systems. It's new CEO launched four priorities to refocus the organization: Build fiber, sell fiber, improve customer service, become operationally efficient. Frontier's Chief Customer Operations officer, Charlon McIntosh tells the CX transformation story, with winning examples of stakeholder collaboration and guerilla CX.

Originally episode 147, this recording kicked off a theme we've continued to cover: employee CX. Show Notes: Originally episode 147, this recording kicked off a theme we've continued to cover: employee CX. VP, Principal Analyst Maxie Schmidt and former CX Cast host Sam Stern dive into how incentivizing better CX scores encourages unintended behaviors, stepping into the shoes of employees who “game the system." The lesson: design the system carefully in the first place to encourage the right behaviors for better CX. Related content: 332: How To Set CX Metrics Goals - Forrester 147: Paying Employees For CX Is A Bad Idea (Part 1) - Forrester 148: Paying Employees For CX Is A Bad Idea (Part 2) - Forrester

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.