The Modern Customer Podcast

Peter Zimbach, a senior technology and transformation executive and former VP of Experience Innovation at Aramark, shares insights on integrating AI into business without a standalone strategy. He promotes a focus on human experience and measurable outcomes rather than just tech hype. Zimbach discusses the importance of storytelling and partnerships in driving growth and highlights early AI implementations at Aramark. He emphasizes a learning mindset, encouraging companies to adapt boldly while enhancing employee productivity with AI, ensuring technology amplifies rather than replaces human value.

Matt Rubright, Chief Customer Officer at Jam.dev, shares his extensive background in customer service. He delves into how AI is transforming customer support and enhancing collaboration between support and engineering teams. Matt explains how Jam captures important technical context to speed up bug diagnosis, ultimately improving the customer experience. He highlights the need for proactive support and real-time insights to tackle elusive bugs while advocating for a customer-centric approach within organizations.

Krista Phillips, Chief Customer and Transformation Officer at M&T Bank, boasts over 30 years in financial services, focusing on customer-centric growth. She discusses transforming half a million customer signals into actionable insights. Key topics include anchoring customer experience in relationships, balancing digital ease with trust, and leveraging analytics and AI to enhance decision-making. Krista highlights the importance of personalized service in a digital world and shares how M&T anticipates customer needs through feedback.

This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Sven Gierlinger breaks down what CX leadership really looks like at scale. As SVP and Chief Experience Officer at Northwell Health, Sven leads experience across one of the largest health systems in the country—bringing hospitality principles, cultural leadership, and practical technology into healthcare. 🎧 Listen to the full episode to learn what modern healthcare CX leadership really looks like—when it's done right. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here.

This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Will Heywood, Chief Customer Officer of DHL Supply Chain North America, shares how the world's largest contract logistics provider applies AI where execution actually matters—inside warehouses, delivery networks, and daily workflows. Will breaks down his first 90 days as CCO, including owning growth targets and clarifying how customer experience is created through day-to-day operational execution. He also walks through real AI use cases already in production, from agentic delivery scheduling to warehouse automation, and explains why disciplined adoption matters at scale. 🎧 Listen to the full episode and see how AI actually works at enterprise scale. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here.

Kidney care is one of the most complex—and overlooked—patient experiences in healthcare. In this episode of The Modern Customer Podcast, we explore how CX-aligned leadership can reduce friction and improve outcomes for people facing advanced kidney disease. Strive Health's Chief Customer Officer, Evelyn Goodfriend, shares what patient experience looks like up close, why traditional care models fall short, and how listening, alignment, and better workflow design support both patients and caregivers. We also discuss where AI meaningfully helps and where human support remains essential. A practical conversation for CX leaders and operators navigating high-stakes, high-complexity customer journeys. Don't miss this episode! Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here.

How is one of the largest health systems in Texas using AI to transform patient experience? This episode of The Modern Customer Podcast explores how Memorial Hermann Health System is applying AI, predictive analytics, and digital tools to redesign care for millions of patients across Houston. The conversation features Alex Greengold, Chief Consumer Experience Officer at Memorial Hermann, who brings previous CX leadership experience from AOL and DISH, where he earned multiple J.D. Power awards. Watch the full conversation to see how AI, smart design, and culture are reshaping the future of care. 🔗 Learn more about Memorial Hermann: http://www.memorialhermann.org/ 🔗 Connect with Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexgreengold/ Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here.

Tiffany Menyhart, Chief Customer Officer at The Hershey Company, brings 30 years of CPG expertise to the discussion. She dives into how Hershey is integrating AI and modernizing customer experience across retail, e-commerce, and on-demand platforms. Tiffany shares impressive statistics, like a 30% surge in on-demand sales and 40% increases in seasonal retail performance. She also discusses innovations like augmented reality merchandising tools and a focus on nurturing strong cultural dynamics and psychological safety within her teams.

Nicholas Thorne, an entrepreneur and co-author of 'Me, My Customer, and AI,' discusses how AI is revolutionizing customer relationships. He emphasizes finding founder-customer fit to foster authentic connections and warns against using AI to create distance between leaders and customers. Nicholas introduces the concept of 'relationship capital,' where trust leads to strategic advantages. He also predicts the rapid advancement of voice and multimodal customer experiences, urging leaders to leverage AI as a collaborative partner rather than an oracle.

This week on The Modern Customer podcast, Michael Gerrish, Chief Marketing and Experience Officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, shares the strategy that transformed their organization. The key? Aligning Marketing and Experience to accelerate growth. Michael outlines how the unified CMXO role is responsible for making sure the brand's promises match the actual customer experience, driving maximum ROI. The Results: ✅ $120 Million in annual revenue ✅ 93% industry-leading customer retention rate Learn how they achieved this with the "Insights to Action" model, eliminating silos and leveraging AI to simplify complex healthcare needs. Listen to the full episode now! Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here.