The CX Algorithm: Customer Experience, Data and AI

Dr Eslam Afifi
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Fortnightly

The CX Algorithm is a customer experience podcast about how people, data and AI create experiences that earn trust, customer loyalty and growth. Each episode, Dr Eslam Afifi talks with a global leader about CX strategy, the customer journey, AI in customer experience, voice of the customer and CX leadership: real problems, real decisions, and what works beyond the hype. Host Dr Eslam Afifi holds a PhD in AI-driven CX strategy (Monash University), an Executive MBA (IE Business School) and three Australian CX Awards. Episode notes, transcripts and guests: https://www.thecxalgorithm.com

Episodes

  1. 17 Oct

    Is Your Business Growing, or Is the Market Doing the Work? | Growth Strategy and Customer Retention

    What if your best growth year was never really yours - just the market doing the work? In this episode of The CX Algorithm, Dr Eslam Afifi sits down with Jonathan Rabiei (Senior Global Marketing & Strategy Manager, Cabot Corporation) to pull apart one of the most comfortable illusions in business: that a rising market is proof you are good at growth. When demand outstrips supply, growth hides everything - weak pricing, a clogged innovation pipeline, thinning customer intimacy, and a business that looks like it is winning while it quietly stops earning. When the tide goes out, the same organisation is left staring at the experience it was always shipping. Drawing on more than 18 years across specialty and battery materials, Jonathan reframes growth not as a sales target but as a whole-company system - the way R&D, operations, supply chain, commercial and finance together create, deliver and capture value. You will hear the five blind spots a booming market hides, the four questions that separate real growth from a tailwind, and how Jonathan turned a "flat", written-off polymer segment into a core business in three years. He explains why retention is engineered far upstream - not defended with discounts at the exit - using a Suez Canal supply shock that became genuine customer stickiness, and why efficiency, done with focus, is simply growth by another name. If you work in customer experience, growth, marketing, strategy, product, B2B or industrial markets, this episode gives you a practical way to find growth when the market stops handing it over. In this episode, you will learn: - Why a rising market hides organisational weakness, and what stagnation exposes - Who really owns growth in a company (and why it is not the sales team) - The five blind spots: operations, customers, innovation, environment and economics - Four questions that separate genuine growth from a market tailwind - Where growth comes from when acquisition and expansion are exhausted - How to turn a "flat", mature segment into a core business - Retention as an engineered, upstream discipline, not an exit-time discount - Why efficiency plus focus becomes a growth lever in a down market ABOUT THE GUEST Jonathan Rabiei is Senior Global Marketing & Strategy Manager at Cabot Corporation, where he leads strategy, the innovation pipeline, market intelligence and market communication in the fast-growing battery materials market. Over more than 18 years in specialty materials he has moved from sales and business development into global growth leadership - as a segment leader, strategic marketing lead, innovation leader, strategic lead on a major capital investment, and director of strategic business development, including both the technical and commercial sides of mergers and acquisitions due diligence. He believes growth is owned by no single function, but by how an entire company creates, delivers and captures value. He holds an MSc in Chemical Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology and an Executive MBA from IE Business School. ABOUT THE SHOW The CX Algorithm, hosted by Dr Eslam Afifi, explores how people, data, technology and design combine into customer experiences that actually work - moving past the hype to the engineering underneath. ABOUT THE HOST Dr Eslam Afifi is a customer experience, data and insights leader with 15+ years across financial services, government and travel in Australia, Europe and the Gulf. He holds a PhD from Monash University on developing customer experience and marketing strategies using AI and machine learning, an Executive MBA from IE Business School, and three Australian CX Awards. He created The CX Algorithm to explore how people, data and technology combine into customer experiences that actually work. Full episode notes, transcript and chapters: thecxalgorithm.com

  2. 2 Oct

    Before You Think, the Room Has Already Spoken | Servicescape and the Psychology of Space in Customer Experience

    What if the most overlooked part of customer experience isn't digital at all — but the physical room your service happens in? In this episode of The CX Algorithm, Dr Eslam Afifi and design researcher Dr Jacqueline Baker (Head of Research, COX Architecture) unpack the servicescape: the idea that space, light, sound and layout are part of the service itself, shaping how customers and staff behave before anyone forms a conscious thought. Servicescape is a decades-old concept from service research, yet most CX, service design and customer journey work still treats the environment as a backdrop. This conversation puts it back at the centre — bridging architecture, environmental psychology and neuroscience to show how the built environment drives behaviour, emotion and commercial outcomes. You'll hear how our nervous system appraises a space in seconds, how designers tune the "dials" of ambient and spatial conditions on purpose, and why the room shapes employee experience as much as the customer's. Jacqueline shares the airport study linking natural light, greenery and quiet zones to longer dwell time and higher spend — achieved by improving wellbeing, not exploiting it — and draws a sharp ethical line between enhancing an experience and manipulating it. If you work in customer experience, service design, CX strategy, retail, healthcare, hospitality or the built environment, this episode gives you a new, measurable variable to design with: the room. In this episode, you'll learn: What "servicescape" means and why CX keeps ignoring itHow your nervous system reacts to a space before conscious thoughtThe levers of environmental design — light, sound, temperature, layout, sightlines, signageHow space shapes staff behaviour, not just customers'How to measure experience with eye-tracking, EEG, sentiment and choice modellingThe airport case study that tied good design to dwell time and revenueWhere enhancement ends and manipulation begins — the ethics of designed spaceHow to make the business case to a CFO for environment and experienceABOUT THE GUEST Dr Jacqueline Baker is a design researcher at COX Architecture, where she leads the research team. Drawing on multidisciplinary training in architecture, environmental psychology and marketing, her work bridges design, psychology and neuroscience to create places, spaces and precincts that promote human flourishing. Her career spans consulting, research, teaching and design across architecture and engineering practices and universities in Australia and the United Kingdom. She speaks, writes and collaborates with researchers, architects and specialists locally and abroad to address the complex challenges facing society and our cities. ABOUT THE SHOW The CX Algorithm, hosted by Dr Eslam Afifi, explores how people, data, technology and design combine into customer experiences that actually work — moving past the hype to the engineering underneath. ABOUT THE HOST Dr Eslam Afifi is a customer experience, data and insights leader with 15+ years across financial services, government and travel in Australia, Europe and the Gulf. He holds a PhD from Monash University on developing customer experience and marketing strategies using AI and machine learning, an Executive MBA from IE Business School, and three Australian CX Awards. He created The CX Algorithm to explore how people, data and technology combine into customer experiences that actually work. Full episode notes, transcript and chapters: thecxalgorithm.com

  3. 4 Aug

    You Don't Remember Your Last Payment | Invisible CX and Payment Experience Design

    Think about your last payment. The screen, the colours, how it felt. Chances are you remember almost nothing — and that's exactly the point. In this episode of The CX Algorithm, we unpack the art of invisible customer experience design: how the best payment experiences succeed by disappearing, and why trust — not speed — is the real product. Host Dr Eslam Afifi sits down with Alexei Krasnov, a customer experience and product design leader in payments across Asia Pacific, for a practitioner's look at designing what people never consciously notice — engineering trust, calibrating friction, and building experiences for a customer who is increasingly not even in the room, because an AI agent is transacting on their behalf. In this conversation: Why "frictionless" is a myth — and when friction is actually good designHow to research behaviour people can't put into words: trust what users do, not what they sayWhy the payment is table stakes — and where the real value lives beyond the tapDesigning for your customer's customer in a B2B2C worldWhat Asia Pacific's fragmented, leapfrogging markets teach every CX leaderAgentic commerce and AI payments: consent, control, and "did I do that — or did my agent?"Whether you work in customer experience, product design, UX, fintech, payments, or financial services — or you're just curious how the invisible systems around you are built — this episode will change how you see every tap, swipe, and checkout. --------------------------------------------------------- Guest — Alexei Krasnov Alexei Krasnov is Director of Product Experience Design at Mastercard, leading CX and design innovation for payments across Asia Pacific. His work shapes the invisible systems billions of people use every day without noticing. With over two decades across the US, Europe and Asia Pacific, he specialises in one of CX's hardest problems: designing for what people are never meant to think about. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akrasnov/ ------------------------------------------------------- Host — Dr Eslam Afifi Dr Eslam Afifi is a customer experience, data and insights leader with 15+ years across financial services, government and travel in Australia, Europe and the Gulf. He holds a PhD from Monash University on developing customer experience and marketing strategies using AI and machine learning, an Executive MBA from IE Business School, and three Australian CX Awards. He created The CX Algorithm to explore how people, data and technology combine into customer experiences that actually work. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eslam-afifi/ Full episode notes, transcript and chapters: thecxalgorithm.com

  4. 18 May

    Channels Are Delivery Mechanisms. Journeys Are the Product. | Customer Journey Strategy

    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 doHow the org chart is the real obstacle to journey-centric experienceWhy channel metrics are necessary but not sufficient — and what journey metrics actually look like in practiceHow cross-functional squads change not just how teams work, but what questions they askWhy AI is accelerating the death of channels — and the risk of automating fragmentation instead of solving itWhat leaders should stop designing immediately, and what they should startWhether 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, data and insights leader with 15+ years across financial services, government and travel in Australia, Europe and the Gulf. He holds a PhD from Monash University on developing customer experience and marketing strategies using AI and machine learning, an Executive MBA from IE Business School, and three Australian CX Awards. He created The CX Algorithm to explore how people, data and technology combine into customer experiences that actually work. 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. Full episode notes, transcript and chapters: thecxalgorithm.com

  5. 4 May

    Everything Is an Optimisation Problem | CX Strategy, Data and AI

    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 a customer experience, data and insights leader with 15+ years across financial services, government and travel in Australia, Europe and the Gulf. He holds a PhD from Monash University on developing customer experience and marketing strategies using AI and machine learning, an Executive MBA from IE Business School, and three Australian CX Awards. He created The CX Algorithm to explore how people, data and technology combine into customer experiences that actually work. 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. Full episode notes, transcript and chapters: thecxalgorithm.com

  6. 6 Apr

    The Three Pillars of Unbeatable CX: Ease, Authenticity and Trust | Customer Loyalty

    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 Couling, 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-haveHow authentic expertise converts curious customers into loyal onesWhat deep trust actually looks like in practice — and the three stages to get thereHow World Journeys manages consistency across complex global itinerariesWhy staying small was a deliberate and powerful strategic choiceHow to think about AI as a support layer — not a replacement for human connectionAbout 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 About the Host Dr Eslam Afifi is a customer experience, data and insights leader with 15+ years across financial services, government and travel in Australia, Europe and the Gulf. He holds a PhD from Monash University on developing customer experience and marketing strategies using AI and machine learning, an Executive MBA from IE Business School, and three Australian CX Awards. He created The CX Algorithm to explore how people, data and technology combine into customer experiences that actually work. 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 regular reflections, episode releases, and CX insights drawn from conversations just like this one. Full episode notes, transcript and chapters: thecxalgorithm.com

  7. 16 Feb

    Beyond the AI Hype: The Human-Centred Blueprint for 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 customer experience, data and insights leader with 15+ years across financial services, government and travel in Australia, Europe and the Gulf. He holds a PhD from Monash University on developing customer experience and marketing strategies using AI and machine learning, an Executive MBA from IE Business School, and three Australian CX Awards. He created The CX Algorithm to explore how people, data and technology combine into customer experiences that actually work. Full episode notes, transcript and chapters: thecxalgorithm.com

  8. 2 Feb

    Back to the Middle: AI Agents and the Future 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. Dr Eslam Afifi is a customer experience, data and insights leader with 15+ years across financial services, government and travel in Australia, Europe and the Gulf. He holds a PhD from Monash University on developing customer experience and marketing strategies using AI and machine learning, an Executive MBA from IE Business School, and three Australian CX Awards. He created The CX Algorithm to explore how people, data and technology combine into customer experiences that actually work. 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. Full episode notes, transcript and chapters: thecxalgorithm.com

  9. 12 Jan

    Beyond the Hype: AI in Customer Experience, and Why Augmentation Beats Automation

    AI is everywhere — but real value remains elusive. In this episode of The CX Algorithm Podcast, Dr Eslam Afifi is joined by Kiron Ravindran, Professor and Department Chair of Information Systems and Technology at IE Business School, to cut through the noise and examine what’s actually working — and what isn’t — in today’s AI-driven organisations. Together, they explore why so many AI initiatives struggle to deliver ROI, despite unprecedented investment and capability. The conversation unpacks the growing gap between AI output and human understanding, the rise of “attention-span AI,” and how polished machine-generated answers can create an illusion of expertise rather than better decision-making. A key focus of the episode is the shift from automation to AI augmentation — why the most successful organisations are using AI to enhance human judgment rather than replace it. Kiron shares insights on where AI creates genuine productivity gains, where it consistently fails, and why IT productivity hasn’t improved at the pace many leaders expected. The discussion also looks ahead to the next wave of AI — from intelligent agents to context-aware systems — and what leaders must rethink to design work that is more focused, human-centred, and outcome-driven. This episode is for leaders and practitioners looking to move beyond AI hype — and design technology that truly creates value. About the guest Dr Kiron Ravindran has over 15 years of teaching and research experience and currently serves as Chair of the Information Systems and Technology area at IE Business School. He holds a PhD from the University of California, Irvine, a Postgraduate Diploma in Management (International Business), and a Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering. His research focuses on the economics of information systems, with published work across IT outsourcing, cloud computing, robotics, blockchain startups, and organisational networks. Originally from India, Kiron has lived and worked across the Middle East, North America, and Europe. 🔗 Connect with Kiron Ravindran on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kironravindran/ About the host Dr Eslam Afifi is a customer experience, data and insights leader with 15+ years across financial services, government and travel in Australia, Europe and the Gulf. He holds a PhD from Monash University on developing customer experience and marketing strategies using AI and machine learning, an Executive MBA from IE Business School, and three Australian CX Awards. He created The CX Algorithm to explore how people, data and technology combine into customer experiences that actually work. Full episode notes, transcript and chapters: thecxalgorithm.com

  • 9 Episodes

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5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

The CX Algorithm is a customer experience podcast about how people, data and AI create experiences that earn trust, customer loyalty and growth. Each episode, Dr Eslam Afifi talks with a global leader about CX strategy, the customer journey, AI in customer experience, voice of the customer and CX leadership: real problems, real decisions, and what works beyond the hype. Host Dr Eslam Afifi holds a PhD in AI-driven CX strategy (Monash University), an Executive MBA (IE Business School) and three Australian CX Awards. Episode notes, transcripts and guests: https://www.thecxalgorithm.com

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