
Hosted by Blake Morgan · EN

American Express is using AI-powered personalization to help frontline teams deliver faster, more relevant support while preserving the human connection behind premium service. This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Anthony Devane, EVP and Head of Global Support Enablement and Control, Global Servicing at American Express, shares how his team is scaling AI and GenAI across servicing, travel, chat, and digital experiences while balancing personalization, trust, compliance, and customer expectations. A thoughtful conversation on how leading brands are using AI to reduce friction, strengthen customer relationships, and scale premium service across global operations. 🎧 Listen to the full episode! Blake Morgan was called "The Queen of CX" by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Learn more at www.blakemichellemorgan.com

Retail is moving toward more automation, and for customers, the experience is increasingly defined by how those systems perform. At Trader Joe's, the experience is shaped differently. It builds loyalty through in-store interaction and human connection. This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Mark Gardiner, author of Build a Brand Like Trader Joe's, shares insights from his experience working inside the company and what it reveals about delivering customer experience through people. 🎧 Watch the full episode to see where human interaction still creates value and how it can drive customer loyalty. Grab a copy of Mark Gardiner's book, Build a Brand Like Trader Joe's Blake Morgan was called "The Queen of CX" by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Learn more at www.blakemichellemorgan.com

In this episode of The Modern Customer Podcast, David Kinzelman, Chief Customer Officer at United Airlines—the world's largest airline, known for its extensive international network, operational scale, and continued investment in digital innovation and customer experience—shares how the company scales CX through operations. At United, CX isn't a layer on top of the business—it's built into how the system runs. From putting the customer at the center of operational metrics to continuously eliminating friction across the journey, decisions are made with customer impact in mind. David shares how United: 👉 Measures performance through a customer lens—not just efficiency 👉 Uses tools like Agent on Demand to scale support during disruptions 👉 Enables real-time access to options and information 👉 Leverages AI and digital tools to improve speed, clarity, and responsiveness 👉 Delivers more personalized experiences through connectivity and data But even with all the technology, one thing remains constant: 👉 It's the people—how they respond and deliver in the moment—that define the experience. If you're leading CX, operations, or digital transformation, this episode breaks down what it actually takes to deliver consistent, high-quality experiences at scale. 🔗 Learn more: United Airlines: https://www.united.com/ David Kinzelman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kinzelman/ Blake Morgan was called "The Queen of CX" by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Learn more at www.blakemichellemorgan.com

At CVS Health, AI is helping teams better understand and engage consumers—through stronger data and analytics. In this episode of The Modern Customer Podcast, Josh Weiner, Senior Vice President of Consumer Engagement & Analytics at CVS Health, breaks down what it actually takes to make AI work in healthcare. From predicting customer intent in the contact center to enabling more personalized and connected care, this conversation explores how AI is being applied in real-world environments. The key takeaway: AI creates value when it's applied across the full customer journey—not just as a point solution. Listen to the full episode to learn how leading organizations are using AI, data, and analytics to improve customer experience in healthcare. Connect with Josh Weiner: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshweiner2/ Learn more about CVS Health: https://www.cvshealth.com Blake Morgan was called "The Queen of CX" by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Learn more at www.blakemichellemorgan.com

AI can handle millions of customer conversations—but only when the right data, workflows, and systems are in place. Most companies underestimate what it actually takes to make that work. In this episode, Nalin Gupta, Founder & CEO, Cignara breaks down why AI in customer support isn't plug-and-play—and what's required to make it accurate and reliable at scale. We get into the foundation behind it: how organizations structure data, define workflows, and use continuous feedback to improve performance over time. If you're thinking about AI in customer support, this is a more grounded look at what actually works in enterprise environments. 🎧 Listen to the full episode now! Learn more about Cignara at https://cignara.com/ Blake Morgan was called "The Queen of CX" by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Learn more at www.blakemichellemorgan.com

It may have the word "medical" in the title, but by all accounts, The American Medical Association is actually a media company seeing the fruits of its digital transformation. In the last 18 months, association membership has grown by more than three times, thanks largely to a new digital approach. The AMA helps physicians in their quest to improve patient care. A large part of that is creating quality content from medical experts, including white papers and other documents. But that content is ineffective if it isn't meaningful to members or easily accessible. Digital transformation is a business buzzword, but it can be scary to people. Instead, Todd Unger, chief experience officer and SVP physician engagement at the AMA, likes to start with the business of basics, such as identifying the audience, the company's growth goals and what digital platforms will help the brand perform on a bigger scale. The digital solutions for one group might not be what another group needs. In order to be effective, companies must segment their audience and tailor their approach for reaching out to certain types of people. Unger came to the medical world with a background in e-commerce and horse racing. His fresh perspective helped him see areas that could easily be improved. One of the best ways to build momentum for a digital transformation is to start with the low-hanging fruit. For the AMA, it was as simple as adding a button to its homepage that people could click to join the organization. Those simple changes can make a big difference to the overall experience, but it often takes someone with fresh eyes to find those simple solutions. Unger's best advice is to start small, move fast and get quick wins. Digital transformation can be scary and overwhelming, but quick wins from low-hanging fruit can provide positive momentum. Success can also show people who are hesitant about the need for a digital transformation just how powerful digital tools can be. With that fresh perspective comes the need for a cohesive team. Unger says many companies have problems with digital transformations because the responsibility of digital marketing is split across multiple departments, which takes away accountability and makes it hard to get results. Within a few months of starting the digital transformation, the AMA brought its digital marketing teams together to one cohesive unit and immediately saw faster progress. Unger's team tests everything to drive growth. Even something as simple as an email template needs to be tested repeatedly to prove that it can effectively meet customers' needs. Testing helps digital teams move to making fact-based decisions instead of relying on their opinions. In the end, digital transformation comes down to trust. Are you communicating and connecting with customers in a clear way that builds trust? Digital solutions can drive growth and create meaningful relationships with customers. As Unger says, there's never been a more exciting time to be in marketing. And it all starts with digital.