Podcast Summary: Marketing Operators

Episode: "AI & the Future of CX: Lean Teams, Better Workflows & New Revenue Levers – with Richpanel’s Amit RG"

Date: November 11, 2025

Hosts: Connor Rolain, Connor MacDonald, Cody Plofker
Guest: Amit RG (CEO & Founder, Richpanel)

Overview

In this episode, the Marketing Operators crew sits down with Amit RG, CEO and founder of Richpanel, to deep-dive into the evolving landscape of customer experience (CX), especially through the lens of AI-driven innovation. The team discusses how leaner CX teams, automation, and smarter workflows not only reduce costs but unlock new levers for retention and revenue generation. CX’s organizational home—whether operations or marketing—is hotly debated, and the episode is peppered with practical ideas, honest skepticism about CX’s revenue claims, and memorable stories from all four operators.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. How AI Is Revolutionizing the Modern CX Team

• Lean Team Dynamic: AI is significantly reducing the headcount required while maintaining or improving support quality.
  • "The number of people you need to run the CX team, that's gone down dramatically. People are using AI to do a lot of the backend stuff." – Amit RG [06:43]
• Automation’s Reach: AI now handles tier-one tickets and enables mass ticket categorization, surfacing customer insights to leadership seamlessly.
  • "You're now able to...read tickets in bulk, like hundreds of thousands...put them into categories and...give that insight to CEOs and CMOs." – Amit RG [07:38]

2. CX’s Org Chart Dilemma: Ops vs. Marketing

• CX Tied to Operations: Amit and Cody assert that due to the nature of most tickets (“Where’s my order?”), CX is best under Ops.
  • "It's been a lot more efficient because so many of the tickets are 'Where's my order?' There’s very little that's needed from a marketing perspective." – Cody Plofker [08:44]
• A Case for Marketing: Connor makes the case for CX as a marketing function tied to retention and upselling, seeking a tighter CX-marketing feedback loop.
  • "How are we compiling all the information? They are on the front lines...How are we making that valuable to marketing...?" – Connor MacDonald [12:15]
• Adaptability Based on Team: Amit points out that the optimal reporting structure can depend on specific team strengths and org needs.
  • “Every org operates differently. I think yours is a special case where you are taking on more and more of the ops. You're more like a COO than a CMO in my view.” – Amit RG [14:22]

3. Skepticism & Strategies: Is CX Really a Revenue Channel?

• Skepticism Around Revenue Attribution: Cody is cautious, noting that CX vendors often take excessive credit for revenue.
  • “I get hesitant with that. I think I've just never been proven the, like the actual incrementality...most CX softwares are just putting the revenue in here and saying this is how much revenue we're driving you.” – Cody Plofker [46:24]
• Maximizing True Revenue Opportunities: The team discusses successful CX-driven initiatives like shade matching at Jones Road and contextual upsells during support (like warranty claims).
  • “For you, Cody specifically, you're generating like couple of million a month using the shade matching team...Would you not say that is a CX initiative?” – Amit RG [45:13]
  • "It is. That part definitely is." – Cody Plofker [46:24]

4. Practical Ways to Unlock Revenue and Retention with CX

• Optimized Post-Purchase Touchpoints:

  • Order Tracking Pages: Turning highly trafficked transactional pages into opportunities for relevant offers and upsells.
    • “From a Klaviyo flow perspective...some of the best engaged with emails. We're driving tens of thousands of visits to these pages...I think that provides value.” – Connor MacDonald [34:34]
  • “I would love to upsell shipping protection right there just be like oh you're on a tracking page, you're worried about it. Two bucks and I guarantee you know, if something happens we’ll get it to you.” – Cody Plofker [38:28]

• Warranty and Support Interactions:

  • Using CX touchpoints such as warranty claims to offer upgrades and ancillary products.
    • “We have a lot of warranty claims...I see they have a carbon fiber wallet. I'm going to offer them 20 off our latest carbon fiber pens...” – Connor MacDonald [60:53]
    • “If we could have like an option where when I go to say that the screw came off...like, buy a new one or get a new one altogether for like 50% off...” – Amit RG [60:53]

• Social Channel Interactions:

  • Personalizing engagement by having founders reply to comments on ads and organic posts.
    • “We run a lot of founders ads...we are going to start answering some of the comments...from his own page...it gives it a lot more personal feel...” – Connor MacDonald [57:06], [58:01]

5. Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Uber’s Influence for Richpanel:

  • “I was able to dispute like a cancellation fee in literally like 15 seconds...that was the aha moment for me. And I was like, hey, why can't we create a SaaS?” – Amit RG [27:01]

• On Attribution and AI in CX Metrics:

  • “If you just go off deterministic attribution...it just doesn’t pass the average marketer sniff test...So I'm on board with this, this approach.” – Connor MacDonald [51:37]

• Tattoo Bet Saga:

  • (Joking about a cost savings bet leading to a tattoo) “If you can do that, I’ll get a tattoo.” – Cody Plofker [00:21]
  • “Sorry, Amit, but I will talk about how much I love Rich Panel, how much Amit has helped us.” – Cody Plofker [32:12]

6. Looking Ahead: AI’s Next Frontier in CX and Retention

• AI-Driven Retention Workflows:
  • Anticipation of AI not only writing messages but also determining triggers, timing, and personalized context for communication.
    • “It will not just be the text that will be automated. But even the trigger, even like when to send it based on what you purchase...” – Amit RG [66:36]
• Testing & Workflow Innovations:
  • Richpanel is piloting a returns portal that lets brands A/B test the returns journey—including flows, offers, and prompts—to increase exchanges and reduce reverse logistics costs.
    • “We are going to allow brands to do ab testing on the returns journey. And what I mean by the ab testing is you will be able to ab test the policy, the prompts, the offer for going to exchange...” – Amit RG [68:48]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [06:43] – Amit on how AI is reshaping CX teams & reporting structures
• [08:44] – Cody: CX under Ops is more efficient
• [12:15] - [14:22] – Connor & Amit debate: Should CX live in Marketing, Ops, or both?
• [29:11] – Uber’s influence on Richpanel’s approach to self-service CX
• [34:27] – [38:28] – Turning order tracking & transactional emails into revenue levers
• [45:13] – Amit: “Isn’t shade matching a CX revenue driver?”
• [51:37] – Connor & Amit: Smarter attribution for CX-generated revenue
• [57:06] – CX/social: Personalized replies from founders & its potential impact
• [60:53] – Transforming warranty claims into upsell moments
• [66:36] – Future: How AI will fully automate and optimize retention communication
• [68:48] – Amit previews Richpanel’s A/B-tested returns portal

Memorable Quotes

"The number of people you need to run the CX team, that's gone down dramatically. People are using AI to do a lot of the backend stuff."
— Amit RG [06:43]

"I get hesitant with that. I think I've just never been proven the actual incrementality... most CX softwares are just putting the revenue in here and saying this is how much revenue we're driving you."
— Cody Plofker [46:24]

"If you just go off deterministic attribution... it just doesn’t pass the average marketer sniff test. If we were calculating ROI on our CX program by influenced revenue over cost, I'd believe it."
— Connor MacDonald [51:37]

"It’s 200 bucks a month, expensive gym... They have these offers and values... as soon as you respond then it's a one to one conversation. That is a great example of the marriage between retention and CX."
— Connor MacDonald [63:12]

Takeaways

• AI is dramatically slimming down CX teams and empowering new workflow possibilities.
• CX can act as both cost center and revenue lever, but how it’s measured and where it’s housed (ops vs. marketing) is fluid—and must be tailored to company org and goals.
• Many CX touchpoints—tracking pages, warranty support, social replies—are underutilized opportunities for revenue and retention, but require coordination between CX, marketing, and ecom.
• Attribution remains a challenge; new AI-driven approaches could make CX’s revenue impact clearer and more defensible.
• Richpanel is soon launching an AI-driven returns portal for A/B testing returns flow, with the aim of turning more returns into exchanges and revenue.
• Next-generation retention will blur the lines between marketing, support, and even retail, powered and personalized by AI at scale.

For listeners: If you’re looking to modernize your CX, drive new revenue, or just survive Q4 with your sanity intact, this episode is a must-listen for practical strategies and candid operator insight.