Podcast Summary: The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®

Episode 792: Replay: Increasing speed to insights with Sid Banerjee, Medallia
Release Date: January 2, 2026
Guest: Sid Banerjee, Chief Strategy Officer, Medallia
Host: Greg Kihlström

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the fast-evolving landscape of customer experience (CX), focusing on how artificial intelligence is transforming the way CX teams access and act upon insights. Sid Banerjee, Medallia’s Chief Strategy Officer, joins Greg Kihlström to discuss the shift from dashboard-centric, reactive reporting to proactive, AI-driven insight and action. Together, they explore what it means to move into a “post-dashboard era,” the new roles and skills CX professionals will need, and how leading organizations can keep ahead in a disruptive environment.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The "Post-Dashboard Era" in CX (03:18–06:38)

• Traditional CX reporting has centered on aggregating data and displaying it via dashboards, where humans interpret the information and then act.
• AI is shifting this model toward conversational, assistant-style interfaces, where users ask questions and receive direct answers or recommendations—from their “CX assistant.”
  • Quote:

    “There's a world where if you can take this information that lives in CX programs and in CX dashboards, upload them to a system that is a true assistant... Very quickly, if I'm a store manager, I'm not going to look at a dashboard to figure out how I'm doing. I'm going to ask my CX assistant: what do I need to focus on today?"
    — Sid Banerjee (05:14)

• The future envisions AI assistants not just reporting on data but potentially taking direct action themselves as their “agency” and confidence grows.

2. Evolution of the CX Leader's Role (07:18–10:23)

• Initially, humans will focus on "last mile decision making": validating AI’s insights and recommendations.
• As AI capabilities grow, human oversight remains critical for:
  • Verifying actions before implementation
  • Continually updating AI with new, real-world knowledge ("tuning and evolving capabilities")
  • Handling crises, communicating strategy, and injecting human empathy
  • Quote:

    “Our job is still to make sure that the AI is learning and evolving... We’re going to have to learn new skills about how to teach our AIs. Just like we’ve learned how to be good parents or how to manage and mentor our employees, we’re going to have to have that same job now for AI.”
    — Sid Banerjee (08:36)

3. Rethinking Measurement and Success Metrics (10:30–13:20)

• AI can infer customer intentions (like Net Promoter Score) without explicit surveys.
• Future measurements might focus more on actual outcomes (growth, loyalty, lifetime value) rather than proxies like NPS.
  • Quote:

    “In a world where the AI can infer your likelihood to recommend and can infer the drivers... do you really need to ask the question? Should you just go straight to the things you should fix?”
    — Sid Banerjee (11:09)

• New models will be required as AI mediates more customer interactions, potentially reducing direct human-to-human contact.

4. Industry-Wide CX Decline Despite Innovation (14:56–16:39)

• Even with a sharp focus and investment in CX, major indices report a third year of decline.
• Disruptive change often causes misaligned expectations and temporary declines before improvement.
  • “Change creates misalignment of expectations… there’s always another mole coming up that you need to whack. And our job is not to basically continuously focus, solve all these problems until they're gone, because they’re never gone.”
    — Sid Banerjee (15:40)
• Importance lies in continual improvement, not perfection.

5. Becoming AI Trainers and Actioning Platforms (17:18–19:22)

• CX professionals will become “AI trainers”—teaching AI to classify, prioritize, and act on various customer experiences.
• Training includes:
  • Identifying which experiences require escalation, automation, or direct resolution
  • Ensuring AI recognizes and adheres to brand standards and values
  • Reducing "hallucination" by supplying ample and current data

6. Team Structure in the Age of AI (19:22–21:26)

• The future of CX teams will be “man-machine” or cyborg-like: human professionals paired with and augmented by AI.
  • Quote:

    “It’s going to be more of a cyborg model, right, where we each learn how to use AI to the best of our ability... But I do know that we all have to embrace AI. I think that’s something we can’t afford not to do in our profession at CX.”
    — Sid Banerjee (20:38)

• Adoption is not about replacing teams, but leveraging AI to handle repetitive or busywork and freeing humans for higher-level decision making.

7. The Need for Speed: AI Adoption and Market Leadership (21:26–23:01)

• Early AI adoption separates industry leaders from laggards, just like other technological shifts in history (Netflix vs. Blockbuster; Google vs. Yahoo).
• Companies slow to embrace AI risk falling behind.
  • “Good examples are Netflix versus Blockbuster... Google versus Yahoo... companies that are just trying to squeeze margin and kind of optimize the costs, they're not going to succeed if they don't use AI to be accelerants for evolution.”
    — Sid Banerjee (22:31)

8. Practical Advice: Where and How to Start with AI in CX (23:17–26:08)

• Examine core roles: customer-facing, analyst, channel management. Inject AI where it can improve efficiency and insight.
• Begin with small, motivated teams—don’t force reluctant members.
• Continually educate, evangelize, and amplify what works.
• Partner with experienced solution providers for best practices.

Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• On the future of CX teams:
  “We all have to embrace AI. I think that’s something we can’t afford not to do in our profession at CX.”
  — Sid Banerjee (20:57)

• On managing and mentoring AI:
  “Just like we’ve learned how to be good parents or how to manage and mentor our employees, we're going to have to have that same job now for AI.”
  — Sid Banerjee (08:51)

• On rethinking NPS and metrics:
  “There’s a scenario where you may not be needing to survey your customers.”
  — Sid Banerjee (11:27)

• On continuous CX improvement:
  “There’s always a new product being introduced, there’s always a new technology disruptor kind of changing the way we do our business... So the key is just continuously focus on improving. Sometimes you’ll do better, sometimes you’ll do worse, but that doesn’t mean that you stop.”
  — Sid Banerjee (16:12)

Timeline of Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment / Topic | |-----------|------------------| | 02:10 | Sid’s background & Medallia’s focus on CX innovation | | 03:18 | Defining the “post-dashboard era”; evolution from dashboards to AI assistants | | 07:18 | Changing role of CX leaders: from analyst to decision-maker, trainer, and overseer | | 10:30 | Rethinking CX metrics: the future beyond NPS and surveys | | 14:56 | Are CX improvements reflected in broad industry data? | | 17:18 | Feeding and training AI: what it takes for effective insights and action | | 19:22 | The future structure of CX teams: AI as “interns” and collaborative partners | | 21:26 | Speed to AI adoption and winning the race: historical analogies | | 23:42 | How to start with AI: practicalities and change management | | 26:22 | Sid’s personal strategies for staying agile and upskilling |

Final Thoughts & Host’s Wrap-Up

Sid emphasizes the continuous need for education, experimentation, and community engagement to stay agile and ahead. The future of CX is one where humans and AI collaborate to deliver ever-faster and more relevant insights and actions, with CX professionals guiding, tuning, and overseeing this new breed of digital team member.

“I think it’s just important to kind of immerse yourself in stuff you like and care about so you can stay fresh.”
— Sid Banerjee (26:56)

For further reading, links, or to learn more about Sid Banerjee and Medallia, visit the show notes or theagilebrand.com.