The Infrastructure of Trust: Spirit Airlines’ AI Journey with CIO Sapana Patel

Conversation Design Isn't Dead—It's More Important Than Ever with Rebecca Evanhoe

In this episode of The Dialogue Architects, host Lauren Goerz sits down with Rebecca Evanhoe, Product Manager at Slang AI, to explore what it takes to build enterprise voice AI that works in the real world. As organizations race to adopt generative AI, many are questioning whether traditional conversation design practices still matter. Rebecca argues the opposite. While new terms like prompt engineering and context engineering have emerged, the core principles of conversation design remain essential: understanding user goals, mapping conversation pathways, designing effective question flows, and building systems that reliably help people accomplish tasks. Rebecca shares how Slang AI approaches voice automation for restaurants, handling millions of customer interactions each month. She explains why the company combines deterministic systems with carefully selected language models, using a hybrid architecture that balances reliability, speed, cost, and user experience. The discussion explores how teams can determine when generative AI is appropriate, when traditional workflows are still the better choice, and how rigorous evaluation helps prevent hallucinations and maintain trust. Lauren and Rebecca also dive into modern AI evaluation strategies, including transcript reviews, funnel analysis, automated labeling, human scoring, and experimentation frameworks that help teams understand what users are actually experiencing. They discuss the unique challenges of voice AI, including speech recognition errors, latency, multilingual experiences, and the future of fully generative speech-to-speech interactions. Whether you're a conversation designer, product manager, AI engineer, or enterprise leader, this episode offers practical lessons for building conversational AI systems that users can trust—and businesses can confidently deploy at scale.   HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL HEAR * Why conversation design fundamentals still matter in the age of LLMs * How Slang AI handles millions of restaurant phone calls each month * The difference between deterministic and generative AI systems * When LLMs outperform traditional conversational workflows—and when they don't * Why evaluation is becoming the most important discipline in AI development * How transcript reviews uncover issues metrics often miss * The role of Braintrust, human evaluators, and automated scoring systems * Voice-specific challenges like ASR accuracy, latency, and interruption handling * The future of multilingual and speech-to-speech AI experiences * How conversational AI creates valuable operational insights for businesses TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Introduction to The Dialogue Architects (00:39) Meet Rebecca Evanhoe of Slang AI (01:30) A Day in Product Management & Voice AI (02:25) Why Conversation Design Still Matters (03:29) Why LLM Evaluation Is Critical (05:38) Is Conversation Design Dead? (06:19) Prompt Engineering vs Conversation Design (07:07) What Conversation Designers Actually Do (10:01) User Advocacy, Research & Design Workshops (12:22) Hybrid AI vs Fully Generative Systems (16:31) When Deterministic Systems Beat LLMs (19:31) AI Costs, Latency & Model Selection (21:07) How Slang AI Evaluates LLM Performance (25:41) Transcript Reviews That Improve AI (26:34) Finding Root Causes Through Metrics (27:54) CSAT vs Sentiment: What Matters More? (31:07) Choosing the Right North Star Metrics (31:59) The Biggest Challenges in Voice AI Design (36:23) Multilingual AI & The Future Product Roadmap (40:31) Turning Customer Calls Into Business Insights (43:12) How AI Is Changing Human Communication (46:46) Rebecca Evanhoe's Advice for Conversation Designers (47:51) Closing Thoughts & Where to Connect ABOUT THE GUEST Rebecca Evanhoe is a Product Manager at Slang AI and a longtime conversation design practitioner. After building her career designing conversational experiences, she transitioned into product management to help scale AI-powered voice systems for enterprise customers. At Slang AI, Rebecca helps shape the strategy behind voice assistants that handle millions of restaurant calls every month, combining conversation design expertise with rigorous evaluation methodologies to build reliable, trustworthy AI experiences.     LINKS & RESOURCES Lauren Goerz on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-goerz/] Rebecca Evanhoe on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-evanhoe/] Learn more about Slang AI [https://www.slang.ai/] Learn more about Rasa Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

From Reports to Responses: AI in Pharma Marketing

In this episode of The Dialogue Architects, host Lauren Goerz sits down with Eugenia Zeibig, Strategy & Innovation Lead — Marketing AI & Commercial Analytics at Pfizer, to explore how AI is reshaping decision-making in pharma marketing. The conversation focuses on what it takes to bring AI into the daily workflow of pharma marketers — combining visual insights with natural-language dialogue to move from weeks of stitched-together analysis to faster, more informed strategic decisions. Lauren and Eugenia discuss the challenge of designing AI systems that marketers can actually trust, why quality matters more than quantity when delivering recommendations, and how AI behavior needs to adapt across different therapeutic categories in pharma. The episode also explores: * Balancing "push" insights with "pull" conversational querying * Teaching AI to "speak marketing" * The difference between high-impact strategic decisions and rapid campaign optimization loops * Measuring AI adoption inside a marketing organization * The future of orchestration across copilots, foundation models, and enterprise AI tools A practical conversation for enterprise AI leaders, marketers, product teams, and conversational AI practitioners interested in how natural language interfaces are reshaping data analysis and strategic decision-making in regulated industries. Views shared by Eugenia Zeibig are her own and do not reflect Pfizer corporate guidance. Guest Bio Eugenia Zeibig is the Strategy & Innovation Lead — Marketing AI & Commercial Analytics at Pfizer. With nearly two decades of experience connecting analytics to commercial outcomes across healthcare and retail, Eugenia leads initiatives focused on building AI-forward, data-driven solutions that empower enterprise marketing teams with conversational AI, strategic insights, and faster decision-making workflows. Key Topics Discussed * Approaching AI design for pharma marketing teams * Why analysis speed matters in pharma marketing * Combining visual insights with natural-language dialogue * Designing AI systems marketers can trust * Why "quality over quantity" matters in AI recommendations * Why AI behavior differs across therapeutic categories * Strategic decision loops vs rapid campaign optimization * How to measure AI adoption inside a marketing organization * Empowering marketers through conversational analytics * The future of orchestration across enterprise AI systems Episode Timestamps (00:00) Welcome and guest introduction  (01:01) Eugenia Zeibig's role at Pfizer  (02:50) Understanding pharma marketing audiences  (04:55) The marketer workflow before AI  (08:00) Designing AI for pharma marketers  (10:24) Balancing push and pull interactions  (13:07) Building trust through quality  (15:23) Big-loop vs small-loop decision-making  (18:46) Scaling AI across brands and therapeutic areas  (22:59) Measuring adoption inside a marketing organization  (27:07) Natural-language dialogue for marketers  (29:24) Empowering marketers and data science teams  (31:22) The future of AI tools and orchestration  (33:51) Closing thoughts and farewell Links & Resources * Eugenia Zeibig — LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ezeibig/?skipRedirect=true] * Lauren Goerz — LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-goerz/] * Learn more about trustworthy conversational AI at Rasa: rasa.com [http://rasa.com/] About The Dialogue Architects The Dialogue Architects is a podcast from Rasa, hosted by Lauren Goerz, exploring the craft and strategy behind designing conversational AI in the enterprise. Each episode brings together technologists, designers, and product leaders to unpack how dialogue is built, scaled, and governed in real-world systems. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Infrastructure of Trust: Spirit Airlines’ AI Journey with CIO Sapana Patel

On this episode of The Dialogue Architects, host Lauren Goerz speaks with Sapana Patel, Chief Information Officer at Spirit Airlines, about designing, scaling, and governing human‑machine conversations with strong data foundations. Patel shares how her approach to technology leadership is driven by curiosity, creativity, and team reliability, likening technologists to artists shaping experiences through thoughtful design. She breaks down Spirit’s four AI layers—from enabling developers with Copilot and embedding AI helpers, to building in‑house conversational agents and predictive analytics—all with human verification at the core. The conversation also explores how Spirit serves anonymous airline customers while keeping experiences secure, how metrics like solution ratio, revenue impact, uptime, stability, and security define success, and how her team uses an event‑driven services platform to deliver consistent data across customer touchpoints. Patel closes with leadership insights on how to balance innovation with operational excellence, build trust across technical and business teams, and lead people through change in a fast‑evolving AI landscape. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN: * How Spirit Airlines builds reliable data foundations and event‑based common services for conversational AI at scale. * The four layers of AI adoption guiding developer enablement, agent design, and analytics. * How to design conversations for anonymous, transient airline customers while maintaining trust. * Which metrics Spirit uses to measure conversational ROI and ongoing platform stability. * What leadership principles drive stable, secure, and human‑centered innovation. TIMESTAMPS 00:00  Welcome and Guest Intro 00:58  Career Arc and Innovation 03:24  Four Layers of AI 08:53  AI ROI and Adoption 11:54  Anonymous Customers Challenge 13:39  Measuring Conversational Success 17:02  A/B Testing and Personalization 20:01  Conversation Insights and Payments 21:45  Common Services Platform 25:31  Leading Teams Through Change 29:03  Security and Infrastructure Priorities 30:11  Closing Thoughts and Thanks GUEST BIO Sapana Patel has served as Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Spirit Airlines since January 2026. She previously held the role of Senior Vice President, Solutions Architecture, where she led technology teams in close partnership with the business to transform Spirit’s technology stack. Since joining Spirit in 2012, Patel has held several transformational leadership roles, including Senior Director of Solutions Delivery. Prior to Spirit, she held technology leadership positions at the University of Miami, Interval International, and Cargill, spanning more than 20 years. Patel began her aviation career with Northwest Airlines and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering and a Master’s degree in Aviation from Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University. About The Dialogue Architects The Dialogue Architects is a podcast from Rasa, hosted by Lauren Goerz, exploring the craft and strategy behind designing conversational AI in the enterprise. Each episode brings together product leaders, designers, and engineers to unpack how dialogue is built, scaled, and governed in real‑world systems. Links & Resources * Spirit Airlines [https://www.spirit.com/] * Rasa [https://rasa.com/] – Build and scale adaptive AI assistants * Follow The Dialogue Architects for more episodes on conversational AI strategy and design * Connect with Lauren Goerz [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-goerz/] and Sapana Patel [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sapana-patel-374a402/] on LinkedIn Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

REPLAY: Linguistic Exploration & The Future of Conversational AI with Alan Nichol

This episode is a REPLAY of episode 1 featuring Rasa Founder Alan Nichol. Enjoy! We'll be back next week with new content. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Measuring Conversational Quality: Sentiment, LTV, and the Future of Customer Support with Etie Hertz

Customer conversations hold an enormous amount of signal—but most enterprises aren’t measuring that signal with the depth or nuance it deserves. In this episode of The Dialogue Architects, Lauren Goerz sits down with Etie Hertz, GM of Conversation Intelligence at ContentSquare, to explore how the acquisition of Loris is bringing together digital experience analytics and next‑generation conversational intelligence to transform customer support, retention, and lifetime value (LTV). Etie shares how Loris evolved from a real‑time agent assist tool into a full conversational quality and insights platform used by both CX leaders and AI teams. She explains why traditional CSAT is insufficient—low-response, biased, and missing data—and how more sophisticated scoring systems can capture the full emotional arc of a conversation. Lauren and Etie dive into Loris’s granular sentiment scale (-2 to +2) and their Conversational Quality (CQ) metric, which evaluates tone, empathy, friction, contact drivers, escalation patterns, and even churn prediction. They discuss what makes conversations work—mirroring tone, acknowledging emotion, reducing repetition—and where they fail. The conversation also explores: • Voice vs. digital trends in support • Personalization through behavioral + conversation data • The role of cultural nuance in AI and human responses • Where friction hides in refunds and policy conversations • How widespread AI agents may reshape human interaction A practical, insightful episode for anyone building or governing conversational systems in CX, operations, or AI. ABOUT THE GUEST: ETIE HERTZ Etie Hertz is the GM of Conversation Intelligence at ContentSquare, where she leads the integration of Loris’s conversational insights platform with ContentSquare’s global digital experience analytics. With a background spanning product strategy, AI‑driven optimization, and enterprise CX, Etie focuses on extracting actionable signal from conversations—helping organizations understand sentiment, reduce friction, and directly impact customer lifetime value (LTV). Her work sits at the intersection of behavioral analytics, conversational design, and responsible AI. EPISODE TIMESTAMPS  (00:00) Meet Etie Hertz (01:05) What ContentSquare Does (02:26) Why Loris Was Built (03:23) From Agent Assist to Insights Platform (03:56) Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) Explained (04:54) Measuring Conversation Quality (07:49) Sentiment Scoring and CQ Metric (09:41) Beyond CSAT: Why It Falls Short (10:50) Root Causes, Attribution & Privacy (13:13) Human Empathy Lessons from Data (15:14) Humans vs. Bots: Tone Matters (20:22) Teaching Empathy Techniques (21:33) Refund Friction & Sensitive Scenarios (22:15) When Chats Go Wrong (24:14) Fixing Repeat Requests (25:16) Voice vs. Digital Channel Shifts (27:15) AI Agents Calling Support Centers (27:48) Personalization Through Support Data (30:05) Behavioral Signals Explained (32:05) Conversational Commerce & Search (34:31) Optimizing Customer Journeys (35:45) Cultural & Linguistic Nuance (37:51) What Conversations Reveal About Brands (39:51) Closing Thanks LINKS & RESOURCES * Etie Hertz – LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/etiehertz/] * Lauren Goerz - LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-goerz/] * ContentSquare [https://www.linkedin.com/company/contentsquare/] * Loris AI (now part of ContentSquare) Conversation / sentiment + support performance * Contentsquare's 2026 Digital Experience Benchmark [https://contentsquare.com/guides/digital-experience-benchmark/] * 57% of customer inquiries are resolved when humans and AI work together, vs. 29% with bot-only support * Despite many conversations starting negatively, especially in email (64%), interactions that successfully improve sentiment resolve more than twice as often (67% vs. 28%), highlighting the opportunity to actively turn experiences around. AI + shopping behavior / consumer adoption * Contentsquare's 2026 Digital Experience Benchmark [https://contentsquare.com/guides/digital-experience-benchmark/] * Contentsquare's Consumer Survey [https://contentsquare.com/press/ai-is-reshaping-online-shopping/] * Learn more about enterprise‑grade conversational AI at Rasa: rasa.com ABOUT THE DIALOGUE ARCHITECTS The Dialogue Architects is a podcast from Rasa, hosted by Lauren Goerz, exploring the craft and strategy behind designing conversational AI in the enterprise. Each episode brings together product leaders, designers, and engineers to unpack how dialogue is built, scaled, and governed in real‑world systems.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.