Back to the Middle: AI Agents and the Re-Intermediation of Customer Experience

Channels Are Delivery Mechanisms. Journeys Are the Product.

Most organisations have a channel strategy. Very few have a journey strategy. And that gap — invisible from the inside, painfully obvious from the outside — is quietly undermining customer experience in banking, telecoms, retail, and beyond. In this episode of The CX Algorithm, Dr Eslam Afifi sits down with Oleksandr (Sasha) Zablotskyi, Head of Digital Channels at Openbank (Santander), to challenge one of the most deeply embedded assumptions in CX design: that channels are the right unit of measurement, investment, and organisational structure. Sasha's argument is direct. Customers have never thought in channels. They think in tasks, in needs, in moments. The channel is a delivery mechanism — invisible when it works, painful when it doesn't. The journey is the product. And until organisations restructure around that idea — not just in strategy decks, but in their org charts, their metrics, and their AI roadmaps — the gap between intent and experience will persist. In this episode, we explore: * Why customers have never thought in channels — and why organisations still do * How the org chart is the real obstacle to journey-centric experience * Why channel metrics are necessary but not sufficient — and what journey metrics actually look like in practice * How cross-functional squads change not just how teams work, but what questions they ask * Why AI is accelerating the death of channels — and the risk of automating fragmentation instead of solving it * What leaders should stop designing immediately, and what they should start Whether you lead CX, product, digital, or customer strategy — this episode will challenge how you think about the systems your organisation has built, and who they were actually built for. About the Guest Oleksandr (Sasha) Zablotskyi is a digital experience and transformation leader with deep expertise across e-commerce, telecommunications, and financial services. Currently serving as Head of Digital Channels at Openbank — Santander's digital-first banking platform and the largest European digital bank by deposit volume — Sasha leads the evolution of customer journeys across operations in Spain, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, the US, and Mexico. His career spans the full arc of digital transformation: from building omnichannel commerce at Eldorado in Ukraine, to launching the country's first eSIM solution at lifecell (including a cross-company one-minute activation flow in partnership with Monobank), to shaping digital channel strategy at one of Europe's most ambitious digital banks. He holds an Executive MBA from IE Business School in Madrid. Passionate about simplifying complexity, Sasha designs digital experiences around customer outcomes rather than organisational structures — and believes the future of banking is a single intelligent interface where the channel becomes invisible and the journey becomes everything. Connect with Sasha on LinkedIn — link in the comments. About the Host Dr Eslam Afifi is a customer experience and data leader whose work sits at the intersection of human behaviour, technology, and decision-making. He currently serves as CX, Data & Insights Senior Manager at Acenda (MLC Life Insurance) and holds a PhD in Human-Centered Design & AI and an Executive MBA from IE University. Eslam created The CX Algorithm to explore how customer-centricity actually works in practice — not in theory. Through conversations with leaders from different contexts and industries, the podcast unpacks the choices, trade-offs, and design decisions that quietly shape customer experience over time. Every episode is built around a single, sharp idea. Because great CX is designed, not declared. Enjoyed this episode? If this conversation made you think differently about how your organisation is structured, measured, or designed — that is exactly what The CX Algorithm is here to do. Follow The CX Algorithm — and join the conversation.

Everything Is an Optimisation Problem — Including Your CX Strategy

Everything Is an Optimisation Problem — Including Your CX StrategyWith Mohamed Soliman, Regional VP at Energy Exemplar What if the same algorithm running thousand-node energy grids is the one quietly running every customer experience strategy too — whether we name it that way or not? In this episode, Dr. Eslam Afifi sits down with Mohamed Soliman — the strategist behind Energy Exemplar's scale-up from $300K to over $10M in ARR and its A$1.6B acquisition — to strip optimisation down to its first principles and show why it belongs at the centre of how every CX leader thinks. Mohamed has spent two decades modelling some of the most complex decision systems in industry — from the digital infrastructure underpinning the GCC's regional grid, to advising sovereign funds, regulators, and policymakers across 28+ countries. In this conversation, he translates that experience into language CX leaders can act on Monday morning. What you'll take away from this episode: · Why optimisation is not a technical concept — it's a universal decision system every leader is already running, just not deliberately · The three foundation layers of trust — data, methodology, governance — that have to be verified before you trust any number a model gives you · Why AI hallucinations sound more confident than the truth, and what that means for CX teams deploying AI into customer journeys · The shift from consumer to prosumer — and why your customers are no longer just on the receiving end of experience, but active producers of value back into your business · How to stop choosing between resilience and efficiency in CX, and start treating the trade-off as the optimisation problem it actually is · The one principle that should anchor every CX strategy — start from the vision, not the data Whether you lead CX, design customer journeys, build AI-enabled experiences, or sit at the strategy table watching the same trade-offs come up week after week, this episode gives you a sharper lens for thinking about the problem and a cleaner framework for solving it. About the guest Mohamed Soliman is the Regional Vice President at Energy Exemplar, one of the world's leading platforms for energy market modelling and optimisation. With a foundation in electrical and digital control engineering from Cairo University, an MBA, and a DBA, Mohamed has spent two decades operating at the intersection of strategic vision and commercial reality — scaling regional businesses, leading the GCCIA Interconnection Program that built the digital backbone of the GCC's regional grid, and driving a 12x revenue transformation at Siemens. Across 28+ countries, he has built a reputation as a trusted advisor to sovereign funds, regulators, and policymakers — known for unlocking deals where strategic insight has to meet commercial realism. About the host Dr. Eslam Afifi is the host of The CX Algorithm — a podcast for leaders who want to move beyond CX hype and treat customer experience as a deliberately designed system of people, process, technology, and data. Eslam is the CX, Data & Insights Senior Manager at Acenda (MLC Life) and Executive Director at World Journeys, with a PhD in Human-Centered Design & AI and an EMBA from IE University. Across his career, he has led CX transformation programs grounded in structured thinking, customer co-design, and the kind of clarity that turns complexity into action. The CX Algorithm brings that same clarity to every episode — built around a single landing idea, with no filler, no hype, and no surface-level CX thinking. Subscribe to The CX Algorithm for conversations that take customer experience seriously — as a system, a strategy, and a craft. 🎧 New episodes released regularly. Follow on Spotify so you don't miss the next one.

The three pillars of unbeatable CX ease, authenticity, and trust

Episode Description What does it actually take to build customer relationships that last — not just satisfy, but genuinely endure? In this episode, Dr Eslam Afifi sits down with Kate Calling, founder of World Journeys, a bespoke luxury travel agency that has thrived for over 20 years through the internet boom, the rise of online booking platforms, and now the emergence of agentic AI. Kate unpacks the three principles that have been the backbone of World Journeys since day one: ease of doing business, authenticity, and trust. But as the conversation unfolds, it becomes clear these are not three separate ideas — they are a chain reaction. Get the first one right, and the others follow naturally. Skip one, and the whole thing collapses. The episode covers how World Journeys manages complex multi-destination itineraries for high-end clients, how they handle crises when things go wrong on the other side of the world, what luxury actually means when you strip away the brand names, and why the most powerful signal of customer trust is a client who sends you a single sentence — and nothing more. Whether you work in travel, financial services, government, or any service-driven industry, this conversation will change how you think about customer engagement, human connection, and the role of AI in the future of CX. What you will learn: * Why ease of doing business is the foundation — not a nice-to-have * How authentic expertise converts curious customers into loyal ones * What deep trust actually looks like in practice — and the three stages to get there * How World Journeys manages consistency across complex global itineraries * Why staying small was a deliberate and powerful strategic choice * How to think about AI as a support layer — not a replacement for human connection About the Guest Kate Couling is a co-founding director of World Journeys and has worked in the travel industry since her early twenties. Her career began the way the best ones often do — travelling the world on a budget, arriving into cities late at night with nothing pre-arranged, navigating bureaucracy and language barriers, and proving she could figure it out on her own. That formative experience is the foundation of everything World Journeys does today. Kate and her fellow directors built the agency on a simple but powerful mission: to design journeys they would undertake themselves. Every itinerary is crafted from personal knowledge and direct experience — not brochures, not third-party reviews. The team has worked in the industry for over 30 years and continues to travel regularly, because at World Journeys, staying current is not optional — it is the job. You can reach Kate and the World Journeys team at kate@worldjourneys.co.nz [kate@worldjourneys.co.nz] About the Host Dr Eslam Afifi is a customer experience strategist, executive advisor, and the host of The CX Algorithm — a podcast dedicated to exploring the intersection of human behaviour, technology, and exceptional customer experience design. With a career spanning CX leadership, executive consulting, and academic research, Eslam brings a rare combination of strategic rigour and real-world practicality to every conversation. His guests range from founders and operators to technologists and researchers — all united by a commitment to understanding what truly drives customer loyalty in a rapidly changing world. Beyond the podcast, Eslam serves as an executive director at World Journeys, giving him a unique insider perspective on what world-class service design looks like when it is built from the ground up — not retrofitted onto a broken system. The CX Algorithm is for CX leaders, service designers, founders, and anyone who believes that the quality of human connection is still the most powerful differentiator in business. Follow Dr Eslam on LinkedIn for weekly reflections, episode releases, and CX insights drawn from conversations just like this one.

Beyond the AI Hype: The Human-Centred Blueprint for Modern CX Leadership

AI is moving faster than most decision cycles — and leadership has never been more complex. In this episode of The CX Algorithm Podcast, Dr. Eslam Afifi is joined by Ana Herranz, executive & HR coach and co-founder of Game Changers for People and Talent, to unpack what leadership needs to become in the AI era: not more technical… but more human. Ana introduces a practical “inner algorithm” for modern leadership built on three elements: 1) The Mind (clarity & innovation) Under pressure, leaders default to convergent thinking (safe answers, repeat what worked before). Ana explains why innovation requires shifting to divergent thinking — creating cognitive space, asking “what are all the possible answers?”, and modelling learning over perfection. 2) The Body (presence & regulation) Leadership is a physical act. Stress shows up in tone, posture, breath, speed, and patience — often before words do. Ana shares why healthy habits matter, how simple rituals (like breathing and grounding) help shift from survival mode to leadership mode, and why asking for feedback is critical because body language can reveal what you don’t notice. 3) The Soul (purpose & authenticity) Purpose isn’t a single discovery moment — it’s built through action and attention. Ana shares a simple journal exercise: track daily activities and rate each by energy and engagement to identify patterns, find “flow” moments, and adjust your role (sometimes by delegating the energy-drainers rather than changing companies). They also discuss a key practical challenge: your first three months in a new executive role. Ana explains why leaders must read the organization’s business cycle (growth vs mature vs restructuring), adapt their approach, and secure quick wins/pilots to earn buy-in. Finally, they connect it all back to AI: how AI can create space for better thinking, why leaders must rethink team skills and structure (including working alongside AI agents), and why the real differentiator going forward is the human behind the leader.👤 About the Guest Ana Herranz is an executive and HR coach with over 15 years of experience working across academia and industry. She has delivered more than 3,000 one-on-one coaching sessions with executives worldwide and facilitated over 400 workshops for large organisations. Ana is the co-founder of Game Changers for People and Talent, where she supports leaders and organisations in building human-centred, future-ready leadership. 🎙 About the Host Dr. Eslam Afifi is a CX and Data leader with over 15 years of international experience across Australia, Europe, and the GCC. As the creator of The CX Algorithm Podcast, he explores how the right balance between people, data, technology, and human insight creates exceptional customer experiences and sustainable business growth.

Back to the Middle: AI Agents and the Re-Intermediation of Customer Experience

In this episode of The CX Algorithm Podcast, Dr Eslam Afifi is joined by David Carro Estrade Head of Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) at Samsung Electronics Iberia to explore a quiet but profound shift in customer experience: the return of intermediaries. For years, organisations worked to remove friction and get closer to customers. Today, AI agents are re-entering the middle — shaping decisions, filtering choices, and redefining how customer journeys are experienced. Together, Eslam and David unpack what this re-intermediation means for customer experience, emotional connection, advertising, trust, and leadership. David Carro is Head of Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) at Samsung Electronics Iberia, where he leads online sales across Spain and Portugal. He joined Samsung to accelerate its D2C strategy, with a strong focus on operational excellence, customer experience, and data-driven growth. Previously, David held senior leadership roles at Vodafone, where he led the Digital Business unit across eCommerce, Customer Care, and Omnichannel strategy. His career spans more than 20 years across global organisations and is marked by large-scale digital transformation and continuous improvement initiatives centred on customer value. David is also a recognised voice in artificial intelligence applied to marketing and customer experience, and a founding member of the AI Forum Spain. He regularly speaks and teaches on AI, digital transformation, and the future of customer experience. Hosted by Dr Eslam Afifi — a CX, data, and AI leader with deep experience across financial services, public sector, and consulting — The CX Algorithm Podcast explores how people, data, technology, and design come together to shape meaningful customer experiences in an increasingly intelligent world. This episode is a must-listen for leaders navigating AI and CX who want to understand not just what’s changing — but how to stay relevant when intelligence becomes the interface and the customer journey is no longer direct.