Bringing Joy to Wine Lovers: Inside a Family Winery’s CX Transformation

Bringing Joy to Wine Lovers: Inside a Family Winery’s CX Transformation

In this episode of Simply CX, Nicole McKinley sits down with Corinne Martinez, owner and partner of Berryessa Gap Vineyards, to explore how a family-owned winery transformed both customer and employee experience through intentional CX leadership and smart use of technology. From vineyards to tasting rooms to Teams Voice and chatbots, Corinne shares practical lessons on communication, change management, and delivering joy at every touchpoint.    You'll walk away with:  • How small, practical technology changes can dramatically improve customer and employee experience  • Why communication breakdowns are often the root cause of CX failures—and how to fix them  • Real-world lessons on applying change management in a small, people-driven business  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  * Microsoft Teams Voice and Auto Attendant  * Chatbots for customer self-service  * Change management best practices  * Wine club and tasting room experiences  * Vertically integrated winemaking (from rootstock to bottle)  🎧 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: Corinne Martinez  Role: Partner & Chief Operating Officer  Company: Berryessa Gap Vineyards  Focus Areas: Customer experience, winery operations, technology-enabled CX

What’s Real Still Matters: Digital Twins, AI, and the Future of Trust

In this episode of Simply CX, Nicole McKinley sits down with Jess Loren, Founder and CEO of Global Objects, to explore how photoreal digital twins are transforming industries from media and entertainment to energy, education, and cultural preservation. Together, they unpack why accuracy, trust, and emotional connection are becoming essential pillars of customer experience in an AI-driven world.  You'll walk away with:  • Why photoreal digital twins unlock both emotional impact and operational efficiency  • How accuracy and trust are becoming core components of modern customer experience  • Real-world examples of cost savings, sustainability, and collaboration through immersive technology  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  • Global Objects and photoreal digital twins  • Virtual production and cloud-based collaboration  • Azure cloud infrastructure  • Gaussian splat technology, LiDAR, and photogrammetry  • Cultural preservation, studios, and immersive media 🎧 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  Jess Loren, Founder & CEO of Global Objects — a company creating physically accurate, photoreal digital twins of real-world environments and objects for studios, enterprises, and emerging immersive experiences.

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