The CX Cast
The CX Cast
Forrester
Research-based guidance on how to manage customer experience (CX) at any organization — an imperative that Forrester has been researching for over 20 years. Each week, Forrester analysts discuss key findings from their latest research on CX; analyze relevant topics in the news; or chat with CX professionals about how they’ve overcome prevalent challenges managing CX in their organizations.
458: How Employee Experience Powers Total Experience Growth
Customer growth comes from two sources: strengthening relationships with existing customers and attracting new ones. Forrester's Total Experience (TX) framework was designed to measure both. Now it takes the next step. Host Angelina Gennis welcomes James McQuivey, VP, Research Director at Forrester, to discuss the next generation of Total Experience and the introduction of EX impact, a new measure that reveals how employee experience influences customer experience (CX) and brand experience (BX). James explains why employee experience is not simply another score to add to the model. Instead, it acts as a force that can accelerate or hinder growth ambitions. Using examples from retail brands such as Costco, Trader Joe's, and Aldi, Angelina and James explore how employee empowerment, enablement, and inspiration shape customer outcomes and long-term business performance. They discuss: Why Total Experience focuses on customers and non-customers as the two sources of growth How employee experience can amplify or constrain CX and brand performance What Forrester's new EX impact measure reveals about organizational momentum Why some companies achieve strong CX despite weaker employee experience, and the risks that creates How leaders can use connected customer, brand, and employee data to make smarter investment decisions
Jul 31
25 min
Hands On: Building Interactive Experiences
Most CX leaders know stakeholder alignment is hard. Strategy workshops stall. Teams focus on blockers. Momentum fades before transformation begins. In this episode, Angelina Gennis and Martin Gill share lessons from a season of CX forums and immersive experiences. From stakeholder management workshops to AI-powered game shows and full-scale transformation simulations, they explore how interactive learning helps people build skills, collaborate across functions, and experience change before it happens. We cover: Why simple, hands-on activities create stronger engagement and learning How gamification helps teams move past organizational barriers Ways to use AI and audience participation to make CX education more effective What immersive simulations teach leaders about CX strategy, governance, and stakeholder management How CX teams can create their own CX Week or CX Day using game-based learning Angelina shares examples from Forrester CX Forums, including a stakeholder management workshop, a live "hype or happening" AI game show, and a transformation simulation that challenged participants to build growth-focused CX strategies under pressure. The discussion also explores interactive learning, CX transformation, stakeholder management, AI in CX, and organizational culture change.
Jul 23
29 min
456: Why You Need A Journey Decision System
Most organizations have journey maps, dashboards, and customer insight. Many struggle to turn them into meaningful decisions. In this CX Cast episode, learn how to bridge the gap.
Jul 15
29 min
455: Closing the Digital Experience Gap: From Channels to Customer Moments
Great CX starts outside-in. If customers aren’t using what you built, the problem isn’t them. Host Martin Gill speaks with Tom Mouhsian, Principal Analyst at Forrester, about why, even after years of investment, digital experiences still fail. The issue isn’t channels or technology. It’s a persistent gap between how customers want to get things done and how organizations force them to do it. Tom introduces the Digital Moments Map and Digital Connections Tracker—two frameworks that reframe CX around customer goals, interaction modes, and real-world behavior. We discuss: Why thinking in channels is outdated and what to replace it with The four “moment types” that define all digital behaviour (control, consumption, communication, commerce) How interaction modes (voice, chat, GUI, XR) shape effort and adoption How to identify the gap between current usage and customer preference What device, channel, and platform complexity means for CX design Tom shares real-world examples to show how even “successful” digital transformation can increase cost and friction when misaligned with customer needs.
Jul 9
29 min
454: Make CX Strategy Stick With Interactive Learning
Most CX strategies fail to land. Not because the ideas are wrong, but because teams don't internalize the decisions behind them. Host Martin Gill speaks with Joana de Quintanilha, VP and Principal Analyst, about how immersive, gamified experiences turn CX strategy into action. Drawing on real examples like escape‑room style simulations to auction‑driven prioritization, Joana explains how leading organizations drive alignment, confidence, and better decisions at scale. We discuss: Why immersive experiences outperform traditional workshops for CX strategy rollout The five design principles: experiential, purposeful, participatory, repeatable, measurable How to use gamification to improve decision quality—not just engagement How to design for impact, including memory, behavior change, and stakeholder alignment Practical formats: journey labs, customer carousels, simulations, and executive decision rooms Joana shares lessons from real deployments, including how to stage experiences, measure outcomes, and avoid common pitfalls. If CX leaders want strategy to stick, teams need to learn by doing, not just listening.
Jul 2
26 min
453: Build The Experience AI Can’t At CX Summit EMEA
CX Summit EMEA brought CX, digital and marketing leaders together to challenge them to build the experience AI can't. We focused on earning trust, aligning teams, and turning experience strategy into something that actually operates at scale. We added an employee lens to our Total Experience framework to draw a clearer line between employee experience (EX), brand perception, and customer outcomes, and we leant into trust, empathy and the human foundations of AI. We sent producer Hannah out onto the conference floor with a microphone to find out what the attendees thought. Featuring multiple attendees: Mickael Subileau & Nicolo Broccati, Jungheinrich Service & Parts Adam Kaye, Sonata Software James O'Connor, AmplifyXM Krishneel Naidu, Infineon Technologies Richard Prochazka, TheyDo Tina Lilje, Xenadi GmBH Adelita Artero, Netigate Deutschland
Jun 18
26 min
452: Practitioner Stories: Redesigning The B2B Enterprise For CX Led Growth At Expereo
Enterprise CX transformation rarely starts with journey maps or dashboards. It starts with fixing real problems fast. In this episode of CX Cast, Angelina Gennis and Martin Gill speak with Amory Somers‑Vine, Customer Experience Director at Expereo, about leading customer‑centric change during a major B2B business model shift—from wholesale network services to enterprise partnerships. Amory shares how Expereo: Prioritised CX improvements based on live customer issues, not theory Built a customer health model from frontline insight before formal metrics Used behaviour‑led culture change to win hearts, not just compliance Linked customer experience (CX) directly to employee experience (EX) and growth Scaled trust and partnership in a highly technical, high‑risk B2B environment This conversation is a practical playbook for CX leaders operating in complex B2B services, infrastructure, or technology‑heavy environments navigating transformation under pressure. Amory Somers‑Vine is Customer Experience Director at Expereo, a managed network service provider supporting global enterprises. She leads CX strategy, culture, and customer health across the organisation.
Jun 11
30 min
451: Embrace The AI Innovation Lifecycle
AI makes it easy to generate ideas. The hard part is deciding which ones deserve investment. In this episode of CX Cast, Forrester Principal Analyst Manuel Geitz joins Angelina and Martin to unpack how AI is fundamentally reshaping the innovation lifecycle from ideation to commercialization. Manuel explains why AI’s real advantage isn’t speed or scale, but decision quality. As innovation becomes continuous and data‑orchestrated, leaders must shift focus from producing more ideas to killing the wrong ones faster. We talk about: Why AI turns innovation into an always‑on system, not a stage‑gate process How better questions matter more than better models Where CX skills like experimentation and hypothesis testing already give teams an edge The limits of AI‑driven innovation — and where human judgement still wins How to avoid innovation fatigue for customers This conversation explains how to reframe AI in CX innovation as a discipline, not a shortcut, and makes the case for CX leaders as essential partners in deciding what actually creates customer value.
Jun 5
32 min
450: Why Playing Games Makes Your CX Strategy Stick
In this episode, hear how hosts Angelina Gennis and Martin Gill use Forrester's research to design immersive, game‑based experiences for our CX Forums that move leaders from theory to action.
May 28
27 min
449: How AI Shifts Design Work To The Left
AI isn't killing design — but it is reshaping workflows, roles, and expectations. Principal Analyst Gina Bhawalkar joins the CX Cast to discuss her findings from interviews with design leaders.
May 22
29 min
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