Q&A with Blake Morgan: Putting customer experience before AI

AI has the potential to make customer experiences faster, more connected, and easier to manage at scale. But technology alone does not make an experience better. The real test is whether it removes friction, helps employees serve customers more effectively, and makes people feel understood.

We spoke with Blake Morgan, customer experience expert, keynote speaker, author, and host of The Modern Customer Podcast, about where brands often get AI wrong, the moments that still need a human touch, and why customer care should be treated as a growth driver, not a cost center.

From turning customer feedback into action to making sure automation never leaves someone feeling trapped, Blake’s perspective is a practical reminder for CX leaders: start with the experience customers need, then decide where AI can genuinely help.

Here’s what Blake had to say:

1. What’s the biggest misconception brands have about AI and customer experience right now?

No one is excited to interact with your AI. They just want their life to be easier and better, and it’s the brand’s role to figure out how to help the customer achieve that. The biggest misconception is that simply adding AI will create a better customer experience. AI only adds value when it solves a real customer problem, removes friction, or helps employees deliver better service. The experience has to come first. I will always believe EX should be the driver, not the AI strategy.

2. What’s one part of the customer experience you would never fully automate?

AI can never have a “smile in its voice.” I would never fully automate emotionally sensitive or high-stakes interactions. When customers are frustrated or vulnerable, they need empathy, judgment, and someone willing to take ownership. Every automated experience should offer a clear path to a human.

3. What’s one task you think every CX team should be using AI for today?

Every CX team should use AI to turn customer feedback into action. It can quickly identify patterns across support conversations, surveys, reviews, and social media, helping teams understand and address customer friction. That will help the “say-do” ratio which is everything!

4. How can brands create AI-powered customer experiences that still feel human, and what are the biggest signs they’ve lost that human touch?

Use AI to give employees better context, reduce repetitive work, and make the experience easier for customers. You’ve lost the human touch when customers feel processed instead of understood, have to repeat themselves, or become trapped in automation. The minute the AI gets in the way, get rid of it.

5. What CX metric do you think deserves more attention from business leaders?

Business leaders should look more closely at the relationship between employee engagement and customer satisfaction. Employees cannot consistently deliver a great experience if they lack the information, tools, or authority to help. Today it feels like customer-facing employees don’t always seem happy to be with the customer. Retail and hospitality experiences can feel lackluster. In contrast when our employee facing staff genuinely feel happy, the customer benefits.

6. Where do you see the biggest gap between what customers expect and what brands are currently delivering?

Customers expect brands to recognize them, understand their history, and make it easy to get things done. Too many companies still operate in silos, forcing customers to repeat themselves as they move between channels and departments.

7. What’s the biggest opportunity for brands to turn customer care into a growth driver?

Brands need to stop treating customer care only as a cost center. It’s almost 2027 how are we still having this debate? Good customer service is marketing! Care teams uncover unmet needs, recurring problems, product opportunities, and reasons customers might leave. Acting on those insights can improve retention and drive growth.

8. Which brand do you think is setting the standard for customer experience right now, and why?

I love Sephora because it uses technology to make life easier for customers and employees. I’m a customer and I’ve been loyal to Sephora for many, many years. They’ve not just sold me a lot of makeup, they’ve taught me how to apply it. I have known some of their employees for many years.  They know me by name!

Sephora employees have access to customer context and AI-supported recommendations, allowing technology to strengthen rather than replace the human interaction.

9. What will the role of a customer care agent look like three years from now?

So much changes so fast! Agents will spend less time searching for information and handling repetitive tasks. They will focus more on complex problems, judgment, and relationship-building, while AI provides context and recommends next steps. In an ideal world employees are spending more time finding ways to add value to customers’ lives.

10. If you could give CX leaders one piece of advice for navigating the next era of customer experience, what would it be?

Find the one thing customers hate most about doing business with you and fix it. You do not need to transform everything at once; meaningful CX improvement is often a game of inches. Use AI where it can make customers’ and employees’ lives genuinely easier.