Influencing Agents: Redefining CX in an AI-Native World

Designing for Better Experiences: Simplifying Airline Customer Service at Scale

In this episode of Simply CX, host Nicole McKinley sits down with Neil Iversen, Vice President of Professional Services at TTEC Digital, to unpack a real-world airline contact center transformation that reduced average handle time by 30% while dramatically improving agent and traveler experiences. Together, they explore how AI, journey design, and early agent involvement came together to turn one of travel’s most stressful moments into a more human, efficient experience.    You'll walk away with:  • How AI-powered context and summarization can radically reduce agent effort and customer frustration   • Why customer agent experience design is the fastest path to better customer experience outcomes   • Practical lessons on change management, adoption, and building CX and AI together—not separately     Whether you're a CX pro, team leader, or brand builder, this episode will inspire you to see customer experience through a more human—and more powerful—lens.  Mentioned in this Episode  • Neil Iversen, Vice President of Professional Services, TTEC Digital   • Microsoft Dynamics Customer Service   • Power Platform, Dataverse, and Copilot capabilities   • Journey mapping and experience design for contact centers   • AI-driven routing, summarization, and agent guidance    🎧 Produced by Larj Media  📩 For more CX insights, follow Nicole on LinkedIn  If you have questions or comments about CX email us: SimplyCX@microsoft.com [SimplyCX@microsoft.com]    Additional Resources  Guest: Neil Iversen  Role: VP of Professional Services, TTEC Digital  Expertise: AI-enabled CX transformation, contact centers, enterprise service design

Driving Brand Growth: A Modern CX Playbook

In this episode, Nicole sits down with Mark Chamberlain, Global Managing Director of Customer Experience at Kantar, to challenge conventional thinking about CX metrics. Together, they explore why long‑term memory—not momentary satisfaction—is the real driver of customer choice, brand growth, and competitive advantage.    You'll walk away with:  • A new way to think about CX as the business of shaping long-term memory  • Why frictionless experiences matter—but rarely differentiate  • How the MDX (Meaningfully Different Experience) framework connects CX to real business growth    Whether you're a CX pro, team leader, or brand builder, this episode will inspire you to see customer experience through a more human—and more powerful—lens.  Mentioned in this Episode    • Net Promoter Score (NPS)  • Meaningfully Different Experience (MDX) framework  • Octopus Energy as a CX‑led growth example  https://link.cohostpodcasting.com/01806067-d268-480c-8efa-7cea4ea73848?d=enJor4dtb&v=8526 [https://link.cohostpodcasting.com/01806067-d268-480c-8efa-7cea4ea73848?d=enJor4dtb&v=8526]  • Virgin Atlantic’s signature experience moments  • Apple’s unboxing experience    🎧 Produced by Larj Media  📩 For more CX insights, follow Nicole on LinkedIn    If you have questions or comments about CX email us: SimplyCX@microsoft.com [SimplyCX@microsoft.com]    Additional Resources  Mark Chamberlain is the Global Managing Director of Customer Experience at Kantar, where he helps organizations connect customer experience, brand strength, and commercial growth through evidence based measurement frameworks.

Agentic AI in Action: Rethinking Sales, Scale and Customer Experience

In this episode of Simply CX, Nicole McKinley sits down with Allison West Hughes, Corporate Vice President of Global Small and Medium Business at Microsoft, to unpack how Microsoft became its own “customer zero” by deploying an autonomous AI sales agent—Agent Riley. Together, they explore what it takes to balance scale, trust, privacy, and human-centered design while transforming the Small and Medium Business customer experience with agentic AI.    You'll walk away with:  • How Microsoft used AI to solve a real CX and scale challenge in its SMB business  • Practical lessons on testing, iterating, and governing agentic AI responsibly  • Why SMB customers are embracing AI-led experiences faster than larger enterprises    Whether you're a CX pro, team leader, or brand builder, this episode will inspire you to see customer experience through a more human—and more powerful—lens.  Mentioned in this Episode    • The concept of “Customer Zero” at Microsoft  • Agent Riley (Autonomous Sales Agent)  * Agentic AI and the Frontier Firm mindset  * • Data integrity, privacy, and legal considerations in AI deployment  * • SMB adoption trends of AI and Copilot agents    🎧 Produced by Larj Media  📩 For more CX insights, follow Nicole on Linkedin  If you have questions or comments about CX email us: SimplyCX@microsoft.com [SimplyCX@microsoft.com]    Additional Resources  Guest: Allison West Hughes  Corporate Vice President, Global SMB, Microsoft  Leader of one of Microsoft’s fastest-growing and most complex global organizations serving millions of small and medium businesses

Influencing Agents: Redefining CX in an AI-Native World

In this episode, Nicole talks with Jim McDonnell, Microsoft’s Global Lead for Customer Advocacy, about how AI-native developers, students, and small businesses are reshaping customer expectations. Jim shares why AI agents are now part of the customer ecosystem, how to eliminate friction for developers, and what he’s learned about experience design from running multiple restaurants.  You'll walk away with: * Why AI agents are becoming key influencers in customer decision-making * How to build loyalty in an AI world * Practical ways leaders can identify high-impact, low-risk AI starting points Whether you're a CX pro, team leader, or brand builder, this episode will inspire you to see customer experience through a more human—and more powerful—lens.  Mentioned in this Episode  • Copilot Researcher  • AI agent ecosystems and developer forums  • Early-stage developer platform decision-making  • Microsoft Hackathon multi-agent orchestration  • Restaurant guest experience “know me” principles  Produced by Larj Media For more CX insights, follow Nicole on Linkedin If you have questions or comments about CX email us: SimplyCX@microsoft.com [SimplyCX@microsoft.com]  Additional Resources  Guest: Jim McDonnell — Global Customer Advocacy Lead, Microsoft  Focus Areas: Digital natives, education, SMB, corporate segments; developer experiences; AI adoption strategies

The Big CX Takeaways: Season One Reflections

The first season of Simply CX was full of insights from creating emotional loyalty and building organizational culture to AI-driven innovation and omnichannel experiences. In this episode, Nicole shares the themes and stories that shaped the season—and the conversations that stood out.     You'll walk away with:  • Why culture is the foundation for CX innovation  • How aligning on metrics creates accountability and impact  • The role of AI and creativity in scaling personalized experiences    Whether you're a CX pro, team leader, or brand builder, this episode will inspire you to see customer experience through a more human—and more powerful—lens.    Mentioned in this Episode  • Emotional loyalty   • Metric alignment at e& UAE  • AI-powered oncology breakthroughs and inclusion in education        🎧 Produced by Larj Media  📩 For more CX insights, follow Nicole on LinkedIn  If you have questions or comments about CX email us: SimplyCX@microsoft.com [SimplyCX@microsoft.com]    Additional Resources  • Connect with Nicole McKinley on https://www.linkedin.com [https://www.linkedin.com/]  • Learn more about Larj Media at https://larjmedia.com [https://larjmedia.com/]