CX and AI Transformation at The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company is transforming faster than ever—proving how CX and AI can modernize a 130-year-old brand at scale. This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Tiffany Menyhart — Chief Customer Officer at The Hershey Company — shares how her team is reshaping customer experience across physical retail, e-commerce, and the rapidly expanding on-demand ecosystem. Hershey's results speak for themselves: ▪️ On-demand sales up 30%+ this year (and 60% growth over recent years) ▪️ 40%+ seasonal lifts with retail partners through strategic digital optimization If you're leading CX, digital, retail, or innovation strategy, this episode is a must-listen. 🎧 Listen to the full conversation and subscribe for more insights on AI, and the future of customer experience. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

AI is reshaping how companies build and scale customer relationships. In this episode of The Modern Customer podcast, learn how to use AI to strengthen customer trust, speed up execution, and prepare for voice-driven and multimodal CX. Nicholas Thorne, co-author of Me, My Customer, and AI, breaks down practical strategies for modern leaders. Nicholas is also the co-founder of Audos, and a partner at prehype, known for helping entrepreneurs build and scale new ventures. What you'll learn: • How to prioritize the customer segment that drives your next stage of growth • How AI can safeguard executive focus and free you to engage directly with customers • How to turn trust and responsiveness into long-term strategic advantage • Why voice and multimodal CX are accelerating faster than expected — and how to prepare Tune in to explore how AI can accelerate growth while deepening customer trust. Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

This week on The Modern Customer podcast, Michael Gerrish, Chief Marketing and Experience Officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, shares the strategy that transformed their organization. The key? Aligning Marketing and Experience to accelerate growth. Michael outlines how the unified CMXO role is responsible for making sure the brand's promises match the actual customer experience, driving maximum ROI.  The Results:  ✅ $120 Million in annual revenue  ✅ 93% industry-leading customer retention rate Learn how they achieved this with the "Insights to Action" model, eliminating silos and leveraging AI to simplify complex healthcare needs. Listen to the full episode now! Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

This week on The Modern Customer podcast, Valarie Vest, EVP and Chief Experience Officer at Cambridge Investment Research, shares a strategic view of the transformative power of AI and its profound impact on the CXO role. As Cambridge's first CXO, Valarie highlights the crucial importance of a people-first approach amid rapid technological advancements. This episode delivers invaluable, practical strategy for leaders who are ready to navigate the complexities of AI while radically enhancing the customer experience. 👉 Learn how the CXO mandate is being redefined by AI strategy and people-first leadership. This is an episode you won't want to miss! Tune in now! Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

WM serves 20 million customers by executing a unified, purpose-driven strategy. But how does a company of this scale truly guarantee reliable service? This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Michael Watson, SVP and Chief Customer Officer at WM, explains this strategy. He details the company's unique operational model, which integrates sales, revenue, and customer experience functions under his leadership—a forward-thinking strategy that breaks down the departmental silos common in large enterprises. This powerful alignment allows WM to drive profitable growth while relentlessly championing environmental and customer responsibility, offering a crucial lesson for listeners. Learn how operational rigor and a People-First culture are the ultimate accelerators for profitable growth. Don't miss this one! Tune in now! Visit WM's website to learn more: https://www.wm.com/ Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, I'm joined by Michael Nguyen, Head of Customer Intelligence at Enterpret—the AI-powered customer intelligence platform used by leading brands like Chipotle, Notion, and Canva. We talk about how Enterpret helps companies move from fragmented feedback to real-time customer intelligence, including: ✅ Unifying every customer signal across surveys, support, and social channels into one connected system. ✅ Adding business context so insights are clear, relevant, and actionable. ✅ Turning insight into action through real-time alerts and AI-driven visibility. It's a look at how the next generation of customer intelligence is helping leaders make faster, smarter CX decisions.  👉 This episode is sponsored by Enterpret. Visit https://www.enterpret.com to learn more! Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

Forty percent of policyholders have no interaction with their insurer each year. Instead of seeing a compliance gap, Zurich's Chief Customer Officer, Conny Kalcher, saw a massive growth opportunity. This week on The Modern Customer podcast, Conny reveals the high-impact strategic framework she applied, leveraging decades of success at The Lego Group to transform Zurich Insurance. Her strategy, "Beyond Protection," is converting the global insurer into a proactive, human-centric partner. Learn how Conny gained C-suite alignment by proving leaders must "speak finance," linking CX outcomes directly to measurable KPIs on the balance sheet. Tune in now! Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

Prologis owns 1.3 billion square feet of real estate, handling nearly 3% of the global economy. How do you lead B2B customer experience at that scale and secure your position in the future economy? This week on The Modern Customer, Scott Marshall, Chief Customer Officer at Prologis, shares how he drove the service model transformation surrounding industrial real estate (moving beyond "four walls and a roof") to build a strategic partnership with the global supply chain. Episode Highlights: ▶️ The CX Transformation: The strategic shift from property maintenance to the "REX Manager" (real estate CX) role, prioritizing customer success and service recovery. ▶️ The 80% Rule: Scott's leadership hack: why he deliberately over-indexes 70-80% of his time on customer-facing initiatives. ▶️ Future-Proofing with AI: Using machine learning to predict customer sentiment and plan for 2027 and beyond. ▶️ Managing Crises: How to calm the storm during a "poly-crisis" (geopolitical issues, disasters, etc.) by maintaining exceptional responsiveness. Learn how to integrate CX, AI, and strategic operations into a single engine for scalable growth. Tune in now!  Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. 

Too many companies see AI only as a cost-cutting shortcut, rolling out rushed AI deployments that frustrate customers. But the real opportunity lies in everyday AI: using it to handle what humans don't do well, so people can focus on what they do best—building authentic customer relationships. This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Henrik Werdelin, founder of BARK, Prehype, Audos, and co-author of Me, My Customer, and AI, shares how everyday AI can transform CX. Highlights from the podcast: ➡️ AI Beyond Efficiency — Instead of just automating tasks, AI expands human capability and frees teams to focus on authentic customer connections. ➡️ Listening at Scale — AI makes it possible to instantly analyze thousands of customer comments, delivering insights that go far deeper than NPS scores. ➡️ Strengthening Relationship Capital — With AI, brands can build customer loyalty through three layers: depth (feeling seen), density (community), and durability (long-term trust). ➡️ Empowering Everyday Entrepreneurs — AI lowers barriers to entry, enabling more people to create businesses that solve real customer problems and build lasting relationships. 🎧 Listen to the full conversation with Henrik on The Modern Customer Podcast—and explore these ideas further by picking up a copy of his book Me, My Customer, and AI.   Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here.   

Great luxury brands compete on more than quality — they win on the experiences customers remember most. This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Gaelle Devins, Chief Customer Officer at Breitling, shared how the Swiss watchmaker sustains loyalty by pairing world-class craftsmanship with emotional connection — and what leaders in any industry can take from it.  Key takeaways from the episode:  ✅ Emotional connection turns purchases into loyalty.  ✅ Flow Leadership aligns People, Purpose, and Performance to fuel growth.  ✅ Consistency across customer touchpoints builds trust. Tune in and discover how emotional connection can be your strongest business strategy. Get a copy of Gaelle's new book Flow Leadership, which introduces a framework built on People, Purpose, and Performance.   Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today's Customer. Follow Blake Morgan on LinkedIn For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here.