The Customer Wins

Richard Walker

This is The Customer Wins podcast where business leaders discuss their secrets and techniques for helping their customers succeed and in turn grow their company.

  1. 3 DAYS AGO

    [Emerging Tech] How AI Copilots Are Transforming Wealth Management With Jagdeesh Prakasam

    Jagdeesh Prakasam is the Founder and CEO of Qdeck, an AI-powered fintech platform that helps financial advisors automate workflows, analyze data, and deliver personalized client insights. He leads the company's vision and operations, building technology that modernizes how wealth managers serve clients and make investment decisions. Jagdeesh has a background in quantitative finance and previously served as CEO and Co-Chief Investment Officer at a hedge fund before launching Qdeck. Through Qdeck, he focuses on combining AI with financial expertise to improve client communication, efficiency, and outcomes in wealth management. In this episode… Financial advisors are overwhelmed by fragmented tools, manual workflows, and rising client expectations for fast, personalized communication. Many struggle to keep up with client inquiries, leading to poor engagement and even lost business. With client retention increasingly tied to responsiveness and experience, how can advisors scale communication and deliver better outcomes without adding more complexity? Jagdeesh Prakasam, an expert in AI-driven financial technology and workflow automation, explains how advisors can shift from traditional software models to outcome-focused solutions. He emphasizes layering intelligent systems on top of existing tools rather than replacing them, enabling faster adoption and less disruption. Jagdeesh highlights the use of AI agents to handle routine client inquiries, reduce email volume, and provide real-time, personalized responses. By implementing clear guardrails, audit trails, and human checkpoints, advisors can safely automate workflows while improving efficiency, accuracy, and client satisfaction. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker interviews Jagdeesh Prakasam, Founder and CEO of Qdeck, about using AI to transform wealth management workflows and client experience. Jagdeesh discusses outcome-based pricing models, reducing client churn through better communication, and building trust with AI guardrails and transparency.

    39 min
  2. 11 MAY

    [Emerging Tech] How To Transform Enterprise Data Into Insights With Suvrat Bansal

    Suvrat Bansal is the Founder and CEO of Clarista, a platform that connects fragmented enterprise data and delivers real-time, AI-powered insights for faster decision-making. He is a seasoned data leader with over 25 years of experience transforming data into business growth across global financial institutions. Before founding Clarista, Suvrat held senior roles, including Chief Data Officer at UBS, as well as leadership positions at Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley. He is known for building scalable data strategies and pioneering approaches that simplify complex data environments into actionable intelligence. In this episode… Organizations struggle to make sense of fragmented data spread across multiple systems, slowing decision-making and increasing operational costs. Traditional approaches rely on copying and restructuring data, which creates inefficiencies and risks around accuracy and security. With the rapid rise of AI, many leaders are left wondering, how can they unlock real-time insights without adding more complexity? Suvrat Bansal, a data and AI expert with decades of experience in global financial institutions, explains that the key is to rethink how data is accessed and used rather than how it is stored. He emphasizes a data-first mindset, where organizations connect and process data in real time instead of duplicating it across systems. Suvrat highlights the value of simplifying data access through business-friendly structures, automating workflows with AI, and aligning innovation with enterprise constraints like security and compliance. He also advises leaders to focus on outcomes and user experience, while gradually introducing change at a pace organizations can realistically adopt. In this episode of The Customer Wins podcast, Richard Walker interviews Suvrat Bansal, Founder and CEO of Clarista, about transforming enterprise data with AI. Suvrat discusses real-time data processing, eliminating data duplication, and balancing innovation with compliance.

    40 min
  3. 4 MAY

    Building Brand and Culture for Customer Success With Liz Fritz

    Liz Fritz is the Co-Founder of F2 Strategy, a leading wealthtech consulting firm that helps wealth and asset management companies make better technology and business decisions. She is a seasoned marketing executive with nearly two decades of experience in the financial services industry, including leadership roles at prominent firms such as Wells Fargo, US Bank, and BNP Paribas. Liz specializes in brand strategy, marketing, and culture development, helping organizations translate strategy into growth and enterprise value. She is also a frequent industry speaker and advocate for advancing women in the wealthtech space. In this episode… Many firms struggle to balance technology adoption with maintaining strong human relationships and a clear brand identity. As tools evolve rapidly, especially with AI, businesses risk implementing technology for its own sake rather than enhancing customer experience and trust. How can organizations use technology strategically while staying authentic and customer-focused? Liz Fritz, a marketing executive and wealth management expert, explains that success starts with clarity of purpose and a deep understanding of the customer. She emphasizes defining a core mission to guide decisions, focusing on a specific target audience, and building an authentic brand that reflects both internal culture and external experience. Liz highlights that technology should streamline operations and free teams to build relationships, while consistent thought leadership, content, and credibility signals help businesses stand out — especially in an AI-driven search environment. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker interviews Liz Fritz, Co-Founder of F2 Strategy, about building authentic brands and leveraging technology for growth. Liz discusses defining a clear purpose, aligning culture with brand, and using AI-driven marketing. She also shares insights on niche targeting, thought leadership, and creating trust-driven customer experiences.

    37 min
  4. 27 APR

    [Perspective Series] Revolutionizing Rural Healthcare Access With Dr. Kara Hartl

    Dr. Kara Hartl is the Founder and CEO of Troy Medical and Creator of the Rural Health Hub, which uses a hybrid telehealth model to connect rural communities with high-quality medical specialists and keep care local. She is a Harvard-educated physician and entrepreneur dedicated to improving access to care in underserved areas. After building a multi-specialty medical center in Alaska, Dr. Hartl saw firsthand the challenges rural patients face and set out to solve them. Today, she leads innovative efforts to expand specialty care, integrate technology, and improve health outcomes for millions of rural patients. In this episode… Millions of people living in rural communities face significantly worse health outcomes simply due to a lack of access to specialized care. Long travel distances, limited providers, and delayed treatment create a system where preventable conditions become life-threatening. As medical knowledge advances rapidly, how can high-quality care be delivered to underserved populations in a timely and sustainable manner? Dr. Kara Hartl, a physician and healthcare innovator specializing in rural care delivery, shares a model for bridging this gap by integrating telehealth with local clinical infrastructure. She explains how bringing remote specialists into existing rural clinics improves patient access while keeping care within the community. Dr. Hartl highlights the importance of aligning incentives across hospitals, providers, and payers to create a mutually beneficial ecosystem. She also emphasizes leveraging AI to support diagnosis and decision-making, enabling frontline providers to deliver higher-quality care without needing to master every specialty. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker interviews Dr. Kara Hartl, Founder and CEO of Troy Medical, about transforming access to rural healthcare. Dr. Hartl discusses building a scalable healthcare marketplace, aligning financial incentives across stakeholders, and leveraging AI to enhance clinical decision-making.

    36 min
  5. 20 APR

    Powering Seamless Customer Experiences With Shawn Bowen

    Shawn Bowen is the CTO of Quik!, a company specializing in enterprise forms processing solutions that empower financial advisors and businesses to digitize workflows and automate complex form submissions. He brings over two decades of experience building high-performance software systems and leading engineering teams. Before joining Quik!, Shawn held leadership roles, including VP of Software Development and CTO at other technology organizations, where he developed advanced data and analytics platforms. At Quik!, he focuses on improving reliability, scalability, and customer experience through API-driven architecture, automation, and AI innovation. In this episode… Modern businesses rely heavily on complex software systems, yet even small disruptions can halt operations and frustrate customers. Maintaining reliability while continuously improving and scaling technology is a constant challenge. How can companies innovate rapidly without breaking the systems their customers depend on? Shawn Bowen, a seasoned technology leader and software architect, explains that the key lies in building strong feedback loops and resilient processes. He emphasizes conducting root-cause analysis after failures, implementing CI/CD pipelines with safeguards like contract and playbook testing, and deeply understanding how customers actually use products. Shawn also highlights AI's role as a force multiplier — helping teams improve code quality, accelerate development, and reduce errors — while stressing the importance of treating AI as a tool that still requires human oversight and context. In this episode of The Customer Wins podcast, Richard Walker interviews Shawn Bowen, CTO of Quik!, about improving customer experience through reliable software and AI innovation. Shawn discusses incident response culture, API consistency, and proactive testing. He also explores AI-driven development, developer productivity, and balancing innovation with stability.

    37 min
  6. 14 APR

    [Emerging Tech] The Future of Financial Advice Automation With Eden Ovadia

    Eden Ovadia is the Co-Founder and CEO of FINNY, an AI-powered platform helping financial advisors identify prospects, automate outreach, and grow their client base more efficiently. She leads the company's mission to solve the organic growth challenge in wealth management through data, machine learning, and automation. Eden has a background in software engineering and machine learning, and previously worked at Boston Consulting Group, focusing on financial institutions and private equity. In this episode… Financial advisors often struggle to grow their businesses efficiently, relying on outdated methods like referrals, manual prospecting, and fragmented data systems. This makes it difficult to consistently find high-quality clients and build meaningful relationships at scale. With increasing competition and rising expectations, how can advisors modernize their approach to growth and client engagement? Eden Ovadia, an expert in AI, data, and financial services, explains that solving this challenge starts with leveraging large-scale data and automation to identify high-potential prospects. She highlights the importance of combining public and proprietary data sources, continuously updating client insights, and using AI to surface timely opportunities. Eden also emphasizes automating repetitive tasks like outreach and follow-ups, while preserving human connection for relationship-building. Additionally, she encourages teams to adopt AI tools internally, break complex workflows into smaller tasks, and rethink growth strategies with a data-driven mindset. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker interviews Eden Ovadia, Co-Founder and CEO of FINNY, about using AI to transform client acquisition and growth. Eden also discusses agentic workflows, the future of user interfaces, and how AI enables leaner teams.

    37 min
  7. 30 MAR

    Scaling Client Success and Capacity With Dr. Jon Randall

    Dr. Jon Randall is the Founder of XFA Coach, a coaching and consulting firm that helps financial advisors scale their practices and achieve extraordinary growth and profitability. He has been coaching and consulting top-performing advisors since 2004 and is recognized for helping firms overcome growth plateaus. Earlier in his career, he spent nearly two decades as a successful financial advisor, gaining firsthand insight into the challenges that advisors face. Dr. Randall is also a published author and holds a doctorate in performance psychology, which informs his approach to leadership and business growth. In this episode… Many financial advisors want to grow faster, attract better clients, and deliver a stronger client experience, but they often encounter hidden capacity limits. When teams are stretched too thin, growth stalls, service quality declines, and the wrong clients can consume excessive time. How can advisory firms scale without sacrificing the experience that drives referrals and long-term success? Dr. Jon Randall, a coach and consultant to financial advisors, explains that the first step involves identifying the real business constraint instead of chasing growth tactics too early. He recommends improving capacity before adding more clients, using segmentation to match service levels to client value, tracking revenue per client to spot unprofitable relationships, and narrowing into specific niches that make referrals and delivery easier. Dr. Randall also emphasizes consistent communication, thoughtful follow-up, and leveraging technology and AI to streamline admin work so advisors can focus more on meaningful client conversations. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker interviews Dr. Jon Randall, Founder of XFA Coach, about scaling advisory firms through better capacity management and client experience. Dr. Randall also discusses niching down for stronger referrals, using CRM systems to create thoughtful client touches, and how AI can increase efficiency without replacing human relationships.

    35 min
  8. 23 MAR

    [Emerging Tech] Turning Online Reviews Into Growth With George Swetlitz

    George Swetlitz is the Co-Founder and CEO of RightResponse AI, a reputation management platform that helps location-based businesses win more customers by improving their visibility and credibility through strategic responses to online reviews. He previously served as CEO of Alpaca Audiology, a private equity-backed healthcare business that grew to over 200 locations nationwide. Earlier in his career, George worked at McKinsey & Company and held leadership roles at Sara Lee before advising CEOs and private equity firms on operational strategy and profitability improvement. He currently focuses on helping businesses turn customer feedback into actionable insights that drive growth and better customer experiences. In this episode… Online reviews can quietly undermine marketing spend, customer acquisition, and local search visibility, especially for businesses with multiple locations. When responses are generic or missing, strong operations may still lose prospects to competitors with better reputations. How can businesses turn reviews from a reactive chore into a real growth strategy? George Swetlitz, an expert in AI-driven reputation management for location-based businesses, discusses practical ways to fix the problem. He emphasizes treating reviews as public marketing assets — encouraging positive feedback, responding in ways that highlight differentiators, learning from negative reviews, and using AI with guardrails to generate varied, accurate responses. George also highlights the value of combining response automation with human review for lower ratings, leveraging voice-of-customer analysis to spot patterns, and making review generation easier through text, email, and QR codes. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker interviews George Swetlitz, Co-Founder and CEO of RightResponse AI, about using AI and customer reviews to drive growth. George also discusses why reputation affects conversion rates, how to keep AI responses accurate without sounding robotic, and what he learned as a non-technical founder building an AI-first business.

    36 min

About

This is The Customer Wins podcast where business leaders discuss their secrets and techniques for helping their customers succeed and in turn grow their company.

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