What happens when leading-edge academic research meets real-world customer dynamics? In this episode, OCX Cognition CEO Richard Owen welcomes Chris Forman, Professor of Strategy, Innovation, and Technology at Cornell’s Dyson School, to discuss how technology adoption, data integration, and organizational readiness shape B2B outcomes. Together, they clarify the critical differences between collecting data and using it—and why even sophisticated firms often struggle to translate tech investments i...
Jul 14, 2025•37 min
In this episode of CX Iconoclast , OCX Cognition CEO Richard Owen sits down with Murli Buluswar, Head of Analytics at Citi’s U.S. Personal Bank, to explore how AI is reshaping customer insight and experience at enterprise scale. Murli shares his journey from early interest in behavioral science and analytics to leading cutting-edge initiatives that bring such innovation to life. From sharing intelligence across teams to improving operational risk detection and enabling hyper-personalization, he ...
Jun 30, 2025•35 min
In this episode of CX Iconoclast , Richard Owen sits down with Dean Eckles, MIT professor and former Facebook data scientist, to explore the real-world dynamics of misinformation—and what actually works to stop it. Eckles shares insights from his landmark research showing that correcting false content on social media doesn’t always reduce misinformation. In fact, it can sometimes make things worse, prompting users to double down and share even more toxic content. But there’s good news: features ...
Jun 23, 2025•36 min
In this CX Iconoclast episode, Richard Owen speaks with Bruce Temkin, a pioneering figure in customer experience, about his new initiative: Humanity at Scale . Temkin explains that despite decades of progress in CX and EX, many leaders still perceive a trade-off between focusing on people and achieving business results. His goal is to eliminate this false dichotomy by helping leaders understand that truly human-centric organizations—those that embrace how people naturally think, feel, and behave...
Jun 09, 2025•38 min
If you have never heard of the Department of Disruptive Capabilities, this is the place to be! In this episode, OCX Cognition CEO Richard Owen sits down with MIT Senior Lecturer and renowned efficiency expert Steve Spear to explore what makes the world’s most innovative organizations tick. Drawing on his experience with Toyota, the U.S. Navy, and Fortune 500 leaders, Steve unpacks the mechanics of high-velocity learning—why relentless experimentation, rapid problem-solving, and dynamic adaptatio...
May 27, 2025•40 min
In this episode of CX Iconoclast, Richard Owen sits down with Professor Moira Clark, Director of the Henley Centre for Customer Management at Henley Business School. Moira brings sharp insight from two decades of research into what drives customer loyalty, profitability, and organizational performance. Together, they discuss the evolving role of AI in customer experience—from hyper-personalization to smarter service automation—and challenge businesses to move from short-term tactics to bold, str...
May 12, 2025•42 min
In this episode, Richard Owen is joined by Felipe Bayón, newly-appointed CEO of GeoPark and former CEO of Ecopetrol, as well as Mauricio Duarte, a leading CX strategist in Latin America, to explore the evolving role of customer experience in the region. Felipe shares firsthand insights into navigating uncertainty, resilience, and digital transformation in Latin America’s complex business landscape. Mauricio highlights how companies are accelerating their shift toward customer-centric strategies,...
Apr 28, 2025•35 min
Richard Owen hosts a conversation on the future of the telecommunications industry with Marc Anné, Chair of the World Communication Awards judging panel, and Harry Baldock, Editor of Total Telecom. The discussion covers key industry trends, including the rise of 5G, the growing dominance of hyperscalers, and the challenge of telcos transforming into technology companies. They address the persistent revenue struggles of telecom operators despite increasing data consumption, the role of AI in netw...
Apr 14, 2025•41 min
In this podcast, Richard Owen and Brian Curry tackle the provocative question, “Is NPS dead?” While acknowledging the clickbait nature of the question, they argue that the traditional Net Promoter Score (NPS) program has become outdated—not because the metric itself is useless, but because the way companies implement it has failed to evolve. Surveys, once the backbone of customer experience (CX) programs, are increasingly unreliable due to response bias and their inability to provide real-time, ...
Mar 24, 2025•28 min
OCX Cognition founder Richard Owen hosts Simon Lyons in this latest conversion. Simon has had a long and varied career working in marketing, brand management, and strategic development across a variety of industries, including power generation, drinks, and even the Scottish Football Association. Richard and Simon discuss the challenges and opportunities in modern marketing, particularly as organizations shift from strategic principles to a heavy reliance on digital execution. Simon suggests that...
Mar 10, 2025•34 min
In the second podcast of this two-part series, Mauricio Duarte and Richard Owen go deeper into the transformative role of AI in customer experience (CX). Richard highlights AI as a generational shift, resembling the advent of the internet in its ability to transform our work, and discusses its potential to revolutionize CX measurement and personalization. He emphasizes that while AI can enhance contact center operations and hyper-personalize digital experiences, it must be used thoughtfully to a...
Feb 24, 2025•36 min
In this first of a series of two podcasts, Mauricio Duarte, CEO of Opinat, interviews Richard Owen, CEO of OCX Cognition, about the evolution of customer experience (CX) and the future of AI as a way of improving customer retention and growth. Richard shares his own CX journey, starting at Dell Computer, where he recognized customer experience as a key differentiator. He later joined Satmetrix as CEO, where he and his team were top contributors to worldwide adoption of the Net Promoter Score (NP...
Feb 24, 2025•24 min
In this episode, Richard Owen speaks with Joe Pine and Dr. Louis-Etienne Dubois about Starbucks’ journey of rediscovering its core identity as a "third place" — a welcoming environment between work and home. They explore how Starbucks' focus on retail efficiency and loss of employee-customer connection led to its decline, while highlighting the brand’s unique strengths that competitors haven’t been able to replicate. With the new CEO aiming to return to the company’s roots, there’s optimism for ...
Feb 10, 2025•37 min
2024 was a great year for the CX Iconoclast, thanks to the amazing guests we were able to host. It may be no surprise to you that one of the topics that came up repeatedly was the value of long term customer relationships. Long term CLV and customer retention are now vital metrics in B2B success, focusing on relationship management beyond the immediate sale. What makes long-term customer relationships so crucial in the B2B space? In this highlight from the CX Iconoclast podcast series, Richard O...
Dec 26, 2024•7 min
2024 was a great year for the CX Iconoclast, thanks to the amazing guests we had. One of the topics that came up was the nature of technology-driven CX enhancements. As you might imagine, technology, especially automation and AI driven support tools, has enabled companies to offer streamlined, consistent, and highly proactive customer experience. In this 'Best of' episode of The CX Iconoclast, Richard Owen highlights great insights from two leading voices in customer experience innovation: Joe P...
Dec 26, 2024•5 min
2024 was a great year for the CX iconoclast due to the amazing guests we had. In this recap, we look at the topic of operational resilience and flexibility, especially in supply chains. Discover how leading experts Chris Gopal and Kevin O'Meara are reshaping supply chain strategies to prioritize resilience and flexibility in response to today's complex challenges. From balancing risk and agility to leveraging supply chains as competitive assets, this 'best of' episode highlights the transformati...
Dec 26, 2024•6 min
In this 7-minute highlight reel, Richard Owen, CEO of OCX Cognition, explores how AI and predictive analytics are transforming B2B customer experience by providing actionable insights, improving operational efficiency, and personalizing customer engagement. Featured Guests: Chris Bishop (Conga) : Shares how predictive analytics moves businesses from reactive problem-solving to proactive growth. Sean Albertson (Call center expert and author of 4ROCKS) : Discusses leveraging AI to preemptively ide...
Dec 26, 2024•8 min
In this special 8-minute episode, Richard Owen, CEO of OCX Cognition, shares highlights from 2024's CX Iconoclast podcast series, showcasing how top companies are embracing customer-centric transformation to drive retention and loyalty. Featured Guests: Simon Paris (Finastra): Explores how open finance shifts focus from products to personalized customer journeys. Chris Bishop (Conga): Explains how embedding customer success into every role drives growth and celebrates customer-focused achievemen...
Dec 26, 2024•8 min
Richard Owen and Amir Hartman explore the challenges companies face in adopting AI, particularly the high failure rates of AI projects. Owen compares the current AI landscape to previous technological waves, where early excitement led companies to invest in sandbox projects with little return. These projects are often ill-conceived or difficult to scale, resulting in wasted resources. Hartman agrees and points out that while most companies are investing in AI to "keep the lights on," few are foc...
Nov 04, 2024•37 min
Richard Owen and Jean-Christophe Barland discussed the complexities facing the pharmaceutical industry, particularly in relation to healthcare delivery and the aging population. Barland emphasized the diversity among physicians in terms of their engagement with new technologies and their competence, which can lead to varying patient outcomes. A more data-driven, scientific approach could help address these inconsistencies. Internally, pharmaceutical companies must ensure a strong corporate cultu...
Oct 21, 2024•37 min
In the latest CX Iconoclast conversation, Michel Claassens and Richard Owen dive into AkzoNobel's journey of digital transformation, demonstrating how a traditional paint company is innovating and continuing to grow in a rapidly changing landscape. Claassens shares insights on how AkzoNobel strategically targets specific business units to harness digital initiatives, driving both revenue growth and cost efficiency. One fascinating takeaway is the discovery that hybrid customers—those who engage ...
Oct 07, 2024•33 min
In this episode of the CX Iconoclast podcast, host Richard sits down with Bob Cooper, a leading expert in AI and business strategy, to explore the true impact of AI across various industries. Bob and Richard note the contrast between the highly visible, consumer-facing AI applications, such as robo taxis and smart devices, and the less glamorous but profoundly impactful uses of AI in engineering, product development, and back-office automation. Bob shares real-world examples from industries like...
Sep 23, 2024•35 min
In this episode of the CX Iconoclast Podcast, Richard Owen hosts Joe Pine, thought leader, academic, and author of The Experience Economy and several other influential books including Mass Customization , Authenticity , and Infinite Possibility . The conversation with Joe Pine covers the evolution of The Experience Economy over the past 25 years, the impact of digital technology, the shift in consumer preferences, and the role of AI in creating transformative experiences. It also explores the ch...
Sep 09, 2024•35 min
In this episode, Richard Owen speaks with Eric Tagliere, Chief Technology Officer at Humana, about the challenges and opportunities present in the healthcare industry. They emphasize the importance of a customer-focused approach and the convergence of technology and consumer expectations, highlighting the potential for significant progress in the industry over the next five to ten years. Additionally, they explore the influence of external companies like Amazon on shaping consumer expectations i...
Jul 22, 2024•38 min
In this episode, Richard Owen sits down with Don Peppers, a global authority on marketing and business competition, to discuss the intricacies of customer behavior, customer-centric companies, and the evolving landscape of customer experience (CX). Don, renowned in the world of CRM for co-authoring the landmark book "The One to One Future," shares his invaluable insights on the challenges and opportunities facing CX professionals today. Here are some of the main points they discussed: The challe...
Jul 08, 2024•36 min
This new edition of the CX Iconoclast podcast is a timely panel discussion on the evolution of language understanding. Richard Owen hosts three panelists: Brian Curry, Co-founder and Head of Engineering Customers at OCX Cognition; Maurice FitzGerald, Head of Content at OCX Cognition; and special guest Alyona Medelyan, CEO and co-founder of Thematic. Alyona, originally from Ukraine, holds a PhD in Artificial Intelligence, making her even more highly qualified to discuss this quickly evolving area...
Jun 24, 2024•33 min
In this episode hosted by Richard Owen, Stanford professor Erik Brynjolfsson, an economist and a contributing author to the recent HAI report on the current state of AI on the planet, discusses the impact of AI on productivity. He highlights the rapid technological advances in AI and the significant productivity gains observed in various sectors. Erik emphasizes the importance of focusing on proven use cases and creating business value rather than getting distracted by the hype around AI. Erik a...
Jun 03, 2024•36 min
Join Richard Owen's discussion with Simon Paris, the visionary CEO of Finastra, a leading force in global enterprise software solutions tailored for the financial sector. Here’s a summary of their engaging conversation: Empowering Banking Evolution Finastra, a powerhouse in enterprise software, caters primarily to banks and related entities worldwide. With a robust suite covering lending, payments, treasury, capital markets, and retail and digital banking, they serve clients across 130+ countrie...
May 20, 2024•31 min
In this episode of the CX Iconoclast, Richard Owen hosts Kevin O’Meara, a supply chain expert and head of business transformation at Shaw Industries. After discussing Kevin’s transition from military to commercial life, the conversation moves to supply chain logistics, where Kevin underscores its evolution from a cost-cutting focus to a competitive weapon for companies. He attributes this shift to technological advancements in inventory management and transportation management post-2000, spurred...
May 06, 2024•34 min
In this episode of the CX Iconoclast Podcast, host Richard Owen welcomes guest Chris Gopal, a renowned global supply chain expert. Chris shares his insights on the challenges faced by companies in managing their supply chains and how AI and analytics can enhance predictability and mitigate risk. Chris Gopal’s extensive experience in supply chain management includes leading the corporate transformation of Dell’s manufacturing logistics in the 1990s and holding key positions at Ernst & Young C...
Apr 22, 2024•37 min
