The folly of customer rabbit holes

Marketing and customer management is full of rabbit holes. Those who burrow ever deeper into them, nose down and backside up, miss the full picture. The Ghent Altarpiece is a 12-panel, 15th-century masterpiece by Jan and Hubert van Eyck. Painted in 1432, it’s regarded as one of the most important artworks in history – and …

AI and the new productivity frontier – Why customer Intent is the ultimate differentiator

In early March, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed something unexpected. After years of stagnation, Australia’s productivity is finally ticking up again. The surprising part isn’t the increase. It’s what’s driving it. Productivity or “gross domestic product per hour worked” was up one per cent over the year to December. Why was this …

Closing the experience gap – highlights from Qualtrics Experience Live Sydney

At this week’s Qualtrics Experience Live event in Sydney, the conversation focused on the impact and potential of AI in terms of Voice-of-Customer (VoC) and customer feedback analysis. Despite recent negative sentiment in the VoC market—highlighted by Medallia’s financial challenges and Qualtrics’ own recent funding hurdles—the event presented an optimistic future for the sector, centred …

Why empathy is the missing metric in AI‑driven customer experience

Australia has a customer service problem, and while AI is helping, it’s only part of the solution. Over the past few years, we’ve seen organisations invest heavily in technology to improve the customer experience. In many ways, it’s working, AI is helping resolve issues faster, reducing wait times and easing pressure on customer service teams. …

How Uniting NSW.ACT is ensuring the voice of the people it serves shapes its future

Transforming customer experience in a large-scale not-for-profit takes both empathy and operational precision, especially when services support people at moments of vulnerability. At Uniting NSW.ACT, that transformation is being accelerated by embedding service design capability and three practical shifts: Uniting NSW.ACT is one of Australia’s largest and most prominent not-for-profit community service organisations. With a …

The 2026 Customer 360 Symposium – Discussing CX leaders’ priorities

Last week, the vineyards of the Hunter Valley served as the backdrop for the 13th annual Customer 360 Symposium. Bringing together over 150 of the region’s most influential CX and customer insights leaders. If you missed the morning mists and the deep-dive sessions, here is the essential roundup of what shaped the conversations this year. …

Retail CX – Anticipate, don’t just react

Today, a single bad experience can undo a hard-won customer relationship. Customers move quickly, compare constantly, and switch brands with less hesitation than ever. Yet many customer experience strategies are still built around delayed reactions. Friction is identified only after it has already cost conversion or trust, whether through abandoned carts, negative reviews, or spikes …

The accelerated customer journey – How AI is compressing time

Artificial intelligence hasn’t just improved the customer journey. It has compressed it, fragmented it, and partially handed control to algorithms. Yet while investment surges, results lag. MIT research found that 95% of generative AI pilots have failed to deliver measurable P&L impact. At the same time, Zendesk reports that 83% of consumers believe customer experience …

Trust and security – Why identity is the new currency of CX

In the digital economy, customer experience has evolved from a competitive differentiator into a strategic imperative. Boardrooms no longer debate whether CX matters, but how every investment – from product design to cybersecurity – reshapes the customer journey. CX is no longer just a differentiator but the foundation of long-term success. That foundation, however, is …