Author: Qaalfa Dibeehi

Qaalfa Dibeehi is a Customer-Led Transformation Strategist, published author, and keynote speaker. Board Member of the Customer Institute. Founder of Human2outcome. Former VP at Forrester Research. Speaking and consulting across Europe, North America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. More at qaalfa.com

The Importance of Influence for CX Leaders

CX Leaders often have a leadership challenge.   They are asked to make widespread impact on an organisation noticeable by its customers in a way that drives increased short term ROI and lifetime value.  However,  most often they do not given the authority to match the accountability.  As a result, influence is the main mechanism for CX leaders to get thigs done across the organisation. Without influence, CX leaders are left to work in their silo or create tools (and collateral [...]
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AI can help innovation in financial services

There's an elephant in the bank's vault, and it's not asking for a loan! It's our rather 'quaint' approach to innovation - or lack thereof. In the Financial Services Industry (FSI), genuine foresight and creativity are exceedingly rare. Misusing Generative AI can exacerbate this. As it is becoming increasingly clear, the abuse of AI without the proper skills is turning a powerful tool into a catalyst for groupthink and echo chambers, rather than an engine for innovative thinking. Developing an [...]
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Business Mic Podcast w/ Qaalfa Dibeehi: CX, sustainability and technology

As part of the Business Mic podcast, Daudi Mugabi spoke with Qaalfa Dibeehi, former Dean of the Majid Al Futtaim Leadership Institute and member of the Board of Directors the  Customer Institute and current Partner at Human2outcome, which was recently recognized as the "Educational Services Company of the Year" by Entrepreneur Middle East. Qaalfa emphasized the significance of technology in enhancing customer experiences while cautioning against its potential misinterpretation within an organization as a substitute for the role of customer experience rather than [...]
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Leader as coach

"Leadership is about being lonely". This is what a CEO once told me. Unlike less individualistic cultures like Asia, this Wagnerian ideology of the leader alone at the helm of an organization is so entrenched in the Western command-and-control corporate culture. A leader should reflect this in their mindset showing endurance and self determination in tough circumstances. Leaders often practice individual sports, and this is usually standing out in their resumes. Head hunters and HR recruiters take duly note of [...]
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Customer Institute: a CX organisation that gives back

The Customer Institute is a not-for-profit, global organization whose mission is to be the go-to source for B2B, B2C, and public-sector organizations to excel through customer centricity. The Customer Institute searches, develops, and promotes best practices to prove the value of customer centricity to help organizations expedite corporate growth. Its leadership includes some of the best thought leaders, consultants, practitioners, innovators, and scholars in the global CX space today. Through its certification and assessment programs, the Customer Institute enables and recognizes excellence in customer centricity. [...]
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Innovation should start from the customer (case in point)

We owe it to Marvin Bower (former longtime Managing Director of McKinsey & Co.).  Things seemed to change in management consulting (McKinsey in particular) after his leadership.  Strategic consultancies stopped hiring seasoned executives with long-lasting careers in different industries, and started sourcing talents among the best graduates from STEM universities and MBAs. In the early Nineties, these bright talents played a significant role in advising the first mobile network operators in establishing their GMS franchise. GSM services were targeting mobile [...]
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Treasure customer time

This principle is at the core of any sustainable experience. This applies to all industries from transportation to financial services to retail or government for that matter. Regardless of whether you are serving an end customer or an employee, their time matters more than their money. Treasuring customer time is a way to start with the customer and work backwards. You can’t design any meaningful, sustainable experience if you don’t factor time in. And this is much more than letting [...]
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GITEX 2023 Dubai – last day thoughts

It's the last day of GITEX here in Dubai, one of the largest tech trade shows in the world. Of course, it's humongous and too much to take in at one go. You get exposed to a lot, some not so interesting, some pushing the envelope a bit too far. All of the big players are here. I was particularly interested in Genesys and there cloud CX capability which is taking over the contact center world and Zoom, it's not just online meetings. [...]
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Forget the carrot and the stick. Think onion

In the last few years, new organizational models emerged to cope with a business environment that has become increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Geopolitical seismic shifts, technology, regulatory, and new customer and employee behaviour and expectations are the main theme of change. Led by some of the big techs like Amazon and Netflix, this change has spread to other industries like FSI. A bank like DBS in Singapore is globally leading the pack, proving the even in an error-prevention industry [...]
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AI and CX transformation and leadership in Africa (CEM Africa Conference)

A meaty panel discussion on how AI will/ should impact CX in Africa.  This is worth a listen if you are interested in hearing an African orientation on CX and AI. The panel discussion is with: Anton De Wet, Chief Client Officer, Nedbank Qaalfa Dibeehi, Partner, Human2outcome Simon Broadbent, SVP, NICE EMEA Helen Bywater-Smith, Head of CX Service Design, Ipsos Alex Wörz, CEO, Mr D Sam Tayan, Managing Director of Middle East & Africa, Zoom Moderator: Dennis Wakabayashi See it [...]
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