Qaalfa Dibeehi was the featured speaker at CX Day hosted by the Human Resource and Services Administration (HRSA) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), in collaboration with Kaizen Consulting. The session brought together HRSA's ministerial and executive leadership to explore how beneficiary/ citizen experience can drive measurable impact across public service delivery. His keynote focused on “Finding ROI in CX for Government Services”, a theme that is front and center in KSA's mega projects. Together with Kaizen Consulting (KSA), [...]

In a moment rich with symbolism and strategic clarity, Royal Shariyf of Human2outcme joined Ambassadors from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—alongside the U.S. Ambassador to Mali—for a pivotal dialogue hosted by the Constituency for Africa (CFA) in Washington, D.C. The gathering, held at the Nixon Peabody Law Offices in Washington D.C. marked a significant milestone in the emergence of the Confederation of Sahel States (CES), a bold regional alliance committed to self-determination, security, and economic integration. The tone was unapologetically [...]

Had a nice fireside chat on "Storytelling as a CX superpower" with Priyadarshinee Awatramani, Head of CX at Standard Chartered Bank at the recent CX Evolve UAE 2025 sponsored by Khaleej Times. Here are the key take-aways: Storytelling is a Leadership Tool: Storytelling isn’t just a communication technique, it’s a leadership behavior. Priya said: “Storytelling is not fluff, it’s how we shape meaning inside organizations.” Leaders who share stories create emotional connection, clarity of purpose, and cultural alignment across teams and [...]

Still reflecting on the energy, insight, and collaboration at the ITWeb CX Summit 2025 in Johannesburg a couple of weeks ago. Qaalfa Dibeehi delivered the opening keynote and led a Day 2 workshop on AI, empathy, and persona-based CX design—especially for SMEs and resource-constrained environments. Some conferences focus more on vendors. This one focused on people who had something to say representing large corporates and consultants openly sharing an interesting perspective to learn from. The conversations were bold, human, and [...]

“The programming language of the future is human.” says NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang (World Government Summit 2024) This isn’t just a soundbite—it’s a seismic shift. The tech divide is no longer about who can code, but who can communicate, contextualize, and connect. AI has democratized access to computational power, but it’s domain expertise, emotional intelligence, and diverse perspective that now drive real progress. We’re entering an era where the ability to translate complexity into clarity, and data into decisions, is [...]

Qaalfa Dibeehi had the privilege of joining a great team of CX professionals in the 2025 CX World Games (CXWG), a friendly competition where customer experience thinking is used to solve real problems faced by charities. Founded by Christopher Brooks in 2020, the CXWG transforms expertise into impact in a socially impactful way. This year, CXWG focused on three powerful causes 1) Business Beats Cancer Edinburgh, 2) Sol En Los Andes in Colombia, and 3) the Agandi Foundation in Uganda. [...]

High-value customers are the backbone of business success, but how do you identify them and ensure their needs drive your CX priorities? It was an insightful CXPA Middle East webinar exploring: ✅ How to define and identify high-value customers ✅ Key principles for selecting the right CX metrics ✅ Strategies for building a compelling business case for CX initiatives 📊 There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to CX metrics, but aligning them with business goals and crafting a strong narrative can make [...]

Towards a Customer-Centric Culture – ACE Program for Leaders” by PwC! Hala Almuways, CX and Strategy Delivery - insight Lead at BSF (KSA) says "A heartfelt thank you to Jihane Tehini for her exceptional facilitation. And to the incredible peers I had the pleasure of learning with: thank you for the open dialogue, shared experiences, and inspiring leadership. You made the journey even more valuable...  This experience was more than a workshop — it was a deep dive into what [...]

Our 'Behavioral Economics for CX Practitioners' training program has been certified by the Customer Institute's review board and is now authorized to award CCCX Certifications. The dedication of Human2outcome to excellence shines through in this comprehensive training program as it seamlessly combines theory, practical exercises, and real-world best practices.

Customer experience transformation hinges not just on new processes, but on a fundamental reset of organizational mindset. Yet in times of turbulence—be it mergers, political unrest, or economic shifts—employee engagement is often the first casualty. Training and onboarding should be energizers for belief and belonging, but when disengagement sets in, they risk becoming empty rituals. This session tackles the chicken-and-egg dilemma: how do you ignite an engaged CX mindset when disengagement already clouds the system? And can training truly transform [...]

The Power of Perspective: How Diversity Shapes Customer Experience Customer Experience (CX) is more than just a buzzword—it's a strategic approach that can make or break a brand. When done right, CX helps businesses not only meet but exceed customer expectations, fostering loyalty and trust. But there's a crucial element that many companies overlook: Diversity of perspective. In the race to build the better CX, diversity—whether in terms of background, experience, or thought—plays a central role in shaping experiences that [...]

In an era where exceptional customer experience (CX) defines success, demtus, a leader in human capital consultancy, and H2O, an innovator in customer experience transformation, are joining forces to empower organizations to unlock their full potential. This transformative partnership combines demtus’s expertise in driving workforce performance with H2O’s practical applied customer experience strategies. Together, the two companies aim to revolutionize how organizations connect employee experience (EX) with customer outcomes, fostering cultures that are both people-centered and results-driven. For over a [...]

Qaalfa Dibeehi will serve as the Chair of the Contact Centre Summit EMEA 2025! 🎤✨ With an impressive background in customer and employee experience, business transformation, and leadership, Qaalfa brings a wealth of expertise to the summit. As the founder of Human2Outcome and a Director at the Customer Institute, he has shaped CX strategies across industries worldwide. His experience spans major global brands, and his insights have been featured in leading publications and media. As organisers of the conference, we [...]

Breakthroughs often lie in subtle differences. This is how fundamental innovation sparks from a change in perspective. Many e-commerce companies failed because they focused on selling rather than ensuring customers could easily buy. Amazon changed the game by putting the customer at the center, designing an experience that removed friction and empowered users to make purchases effortlessly. A similar shift is playing out in search. Perplexity for instance, is moving from a traditional search engine model to an answer engine, [...]

Two super smart (originally) working-class chaps from Manchester made hundreds of millions (Sterling!) yesterday. 💷 🏆 I was one lucky customer who secured tickets to the Oasis Comeback Tour 2025. The experience was stressful. On my social media half the world away, I saw the ticketing sites struggling to keep up with 15 years’ worth of pent-up demand, there were tens of millions trying to access tickets at the same time in a gas panic! 🤯 I heard horror stories [...]

The 4th edition of the CX Evolve Summit 2024 sponsored by Khaleej Times took place August 29.  It's more important than ever for organizations to map out and create a wow experience throughout the customer journey with their brand. With rising competition and a rapidly evolving global landscape, trust between consumers and brands is more sacred than ever. According to a recent Salesforce survey, 94% of consumers believe that a positive experience is 3s necessary as the actual product or [...]

Human2outcome has established a strategic partnership with CX KSA aimed at driving knowledge and excellence in Customer Experience in Saudi Arabia. CX KSA:  emerged after identifying a gap in the Saudi market: a need for genuine customer centricity intertwined with an understanding of the Kingdom’s rich cultural backdrop. Their expertise lies in elevating customer experiences deeply aligned with Saudi Arabia’s unique needs and cultural essence. Their core principle is “Care” for - the market, customers and the vision of Saudi [...]

Welcome to “Suite Success: The CX Leadership Series,” where I unlock executive insights on customer experience practices and practitioners from the outside-in talking with leaders who are not CX practitioners by profession (eg, finance, marketing, operations, legal, etc).  These senior executives wield profound influence over how their organization prioritizes and implements customer-centric strategies.  They share their unique perspective, dissect the intricacies of CX from their functional point of view so that hopefully we can be better allies and influencers in [...]

On LinkedIn there  was recently a host of  characterizations about toxic personas that should never be part of any leadership team — and yet they actually are. Such bad corporate citizens nurture the groupthink of these compact social formations that lead an organization. We also know that fighting groupthink is existential for any organization. Paolo states that in his career, even with the couple of very most toxic people he has had the misfortune to work with, he always tried to act [...]

A customer called and requested to return a product. The customer explained to Sue, the agent she was speaking with, that she needed to return a product that her husband ordered. He died a couple of days before receiving the package… As you can only imagine, the woman was struggling to speak and her emotions were at the surface. What do you think was the first thing the agent said? Offer their condolences? No! Sue immediately asked the customer, “…do [...]

Does it happen to you that you go to the supermarket and feel attracted to a promotional test sample stand where they promote a brand of cheese, wine, or cookies? And then when you taste the free sample that they give you, there’s an inner urge in you to buy that product. Not because the product is so good and different from all the other wines, cheese, and cookies that you normally buy, but because you feel a little urged [...]

A couple of weeks ago one of my neighbors bought a brand new car - Kia Stinger. As is customary with guys I congratulated him on the new acquisition and exchanged a few words about the car. It was a very brief conversation as we were just coming home with the two kids. What was interesting was, that from all the things he could have bragged about, he mostly spoke about that it was a limited edition car. “Only 1000 [...]

Starbucks closed its Odyssey beta platform— a pioneering NFT-based rewards program, on March 31, 2024.  Odyssey was launched as an innovative extension of the traditional Starbucks Rewards in to the dynamic Web3 space. It promised unique experiences and rewards, such as NFT stamps and exclusive tours, emphasizing deeper engagement and community building.  However, its conclusion and the transition of its marketplace to Nifty Gateway (a leading curated marketplace for NFTs), invites us to ask what’s the balance between technological innovation [...]

CX professionals and sustainability experts should work together to improve the focus on Scope 3 emissions of their products and services. Scope 3 emissions are the result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by the business, but that the business indirectly affects in its value chain. But Scope 3 emissions are a contested domain too, as their exclusion from the SEC’s new rule about carbon disclosure of listed companies clearly shows. Many players are reluctant to include Scope [...]

Think about the times you’ve been “of two minds” about something, whether it was about having a cake for dessert when you said to yourself that you’ll go on a diet or your gut was telling you not to trust that sales agent but the offer seemed of really good value? In all these cases our two minds are in conflict. People have been talking about the two minds influencing their thoughts and behavior since at least the days of [...]

How does a business ensure that its people  are happy and willing to make that sacrifice for the greater good of the business?  It helps and perhaps is even necessary that they all share a common purpose. John Kotter and James Heskett, “Corporate Culture and Performance“, found that companies operating with a shared sense of purpose increased job growth by 700%, revenues by 400% and stock prices by 1200%. Bartlett and Ghostal outlined the basic philosophical shift that guides the [...]

People hate losing much more than they like to win and like to keep to what they already have. Learn how to use these. Imagine that you are a sales agent selling home insulation. You can talk to people about the benefits of insulation and that they can save 50 cents a day by insulating their home or you can frame your message in terms of losses and tell them they are losing 50 cents a day every day that [...]

Human2outcome (H2O) has been recognised as the "Educational Services Company of the Year" by Entrepreneur Magazine Middle East!  See it here. Why This Matters: This award is a testament to our unique approach in transforming mindsets, behaviors and journeys, essential for successful corporate transformation. Our philosophy at H2O is straightforward yet impactful: ·       Enlighten, Engage, Educate, Excite: We focus on enlightening leaders and employees, engaging them to actively push the transformation journey. ·       From Compliance to Belief: We help organizations move beyond [...]

Human2outcome now has 3 authorized Independent Advisors of NPSx℠, by Bain & Company: Jihane Tehini, Kuldeep Chouhan and Qaalfa Dibeehi.  They are also now official Bain Certified CX and NPS Practitioners (CCX). NPSx℠ has world-class tools, technologies, and training bringing together the best of Bain's customer-first thinking, packaged in a simple and accessible way. These tools help you and your CX team manage change, prove the value of you CX efforts and keep your employees engaged and well-trained. NPSx℠ by [...]

Are we experiencing sustainability as a revolution?  In his book “Revolutions: a very short introduction”, Jack Goldstone points out that revolutions arise from a combination of structural and transient factors. Structural causes represent enduring, overarching trends that gradually weaken established social institutions and relationships over the long term. In contrast, transient causes involve specific events or actions by individuals or groups, which serve as catalysts, exposing the effects of these long-term trends and often sparking revolutionary opposition to mobilize for [...]

In the famous intro to the 1960s TV show, Twilight Zone, Rod Serling says “You are about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop—The Twilight Zone."   We have entered the twilight zone via the possibilities of AI.  Deepfakes make it next to impossible for our sometimes naïve sense of reality to comprehend.  Will we all become more cynical or disbelieving or will [...]

Sustainability encompasses both institutional responsibilities and personal choices, intertwining to shape a more eco-conscious society. The importance of individual actions in driving broader societal change cannot be overstated. This principle is evident in various aspects of our lives, including the fashion industry, which serves as a powerful lens through which to examine the interplay between personal agency and collective sustainability efforts. Fashion and Personal Agency: A Reflection of Values The clothes we choose to wear are more than mere garments; [...]

As a freshman at university, one of my favorite classes was microeconomics. To this date, I remember learning about the price elasticity of demand. The basic premise is that if you decrease the price you increase the demand and vice versa. It makes perfect logical sense and it works … sometimes. Then, some 15 years ago, I delved into the fascinating world of Behavior Economics and Behavioral Science principles. Once, I was explaining some of those principles at the company [...]

The concept of firing a customer for the right reasons is not new.  Fred Reichheld, Bain fellow and  creator of the Net Promoter System, suggested that firing customers would be the big CX idea of 2015.   Companies have little trouble firing customers who engage in criminal activity against the company.  However, the waters become murky when the offending behaviour is the mistreatment of employees.  The concept is no longer foreign but not yet a common part of strategic thinking at [...]

Digital Transformation has taught me an important lesson for approaching the new challenge at the intersection of digital and net-zero. A critical aspect of navigating any transformation involves making strategic decisions about your organization's direction. What's your move? Do you stick with your core business, branch out into new territories, or go big and transform your entire business ecosystem? This isn't just about making a choice; it's about understanding your risk and shaping your future. The path you choose is [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

"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 [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Like it or not, we are all now living in the world of AI. Generative AI and its related machine learning capabilities are here to stay. Contact centers are already applying the power of AI to transform how they deliver customer experiences via data driven CX that enables seamless, personalized, and often predictive levels of service. However, reaping the benefits of AI for CX is not just about the business and their customers. Agents also stand to benefit from AI [...]

When I joined a bank in Dubai in 2018, I actually thought to get a Smart for my commute. Many colleagues frowned in disappointment, suggesting instead I bought a car that reflected my (little) status in the bank’s leadership. They were right: my peers had Porsches, Mercedes, or full-size desert friendly SUVs like Mitsubishi’s Pajero. A Smart would not fit. Hence, I ended up with a Volvo to confuse the voyeuristic Dubai crowd not used to such a piece of [...]

Have you ever experienced a moment that shook you to your core and made you question the meaning of life? I certainly have. In 2008, while driving my children home, I suddenly felt heart palpitations, chest pains, and struggled to breathe. For a few terrifying moments, I believed my life was coming to an end. The fear intensified because I didn't want my children to witness such a traumatic event. As it turned out, it was a bout of hyperventilation [...]

Life is too short for bad ideas.  But why do we hang onto them? If you work in the innovation space you have two main problems. First, how do you generate new ideas with the requisite variety that will allow innovation to surface? Or to put it differently, how do you diverge from your usual way of thinking that repackages the same ideas all over again across different domains? Second, how do you decide an idea doesn’t deserve any further [...]

Empathy plays a crucial role in establishing deep and meaningful connections with others. This is true for both your personal and business life. It is therefore no wonder that in leadership programs, the development of this skill is being emphasized and even seen as fundamental for effective leadership. Around empathy a common mistake is often being made: some people think empathy has only to do with emotions, and has nothing to do with logic. That is not true! To understand [...]

Too often we try and achieve happiness thinking that it is the key to everything in life. But this isn’t what we should be striving towards. Happiness can be transient and quickly upturned when something we perceive as negative occurs in our lives. There are things we think we want in life, but when we actually get them, we’re not always satisfied. What I’m inviting you to search for and reach instead is a state of ALIVENESS. The opposite of [...]

Zhecho Dobrev of Human2outcome will be talking with Frans Leenaars, CMO,  TUI (the about the Science and Heart of Customer Connections. Tui has long worked on improving their CX to achieve a  high level of emotional engagement with their customers. So this should prove an interesting exchange of ideas between the C-level practitioner and the deep dive expert.  It seems certain there will be some good learning in this one. This webinar is part of the Stampix series hosted by [...]

Qaalfa Dibeehi talks about AI, influence, and empathy in CX at CEM Africa 2023 in Cape Town. (short video)

Our global tentacles in CX... we are judging the German CX standard at the DACH Customer Excellence Awards & Summit  which will take place on October 13, 2023 in Wiesbaden. Companies present their initiatives in a congress-like setting in Wiesbaden the the DACH region's leading CX professionals network. Feiern Sie mit uns Ihre Kundenerlebnisinitiativen. Der einzige Event von CX-Experten, mit CX-Experten für CX-Experten & CX-Anwender.  der DACH Customer Excellence Awards & Summit findet am 13. Oktober 2023 in Wiesbaden. Nehmen [...]

What is a CX culture, what does it mean to be truly customer-centric? How do you usually recognize frontlines? Join Jihane Srour - Tehini (Thu, Sept 28 @6pm GST) for an insightful discussion full of practical tips on how to celebrate CX champions through powerful, memorable CX stories that boost employee experience and impact the overall CX culture. As a relentless advocate of the voice of front-liners, Jihane will share simple effective strategies that can boost employee experience and bring customer [...]

If you are in #Dubai on Sept. 23, join Qaalfa Dibeehi and Céline Schillinger for a stimulating in-person conversation around #leadership...   and un-leadership, of course! Qaalfa is a Partner with Human2Outcome, a firm dedicated to leadership transformation. He is a former Dean of the Customer Experience Leadership Institute at Majid Al Futtaim.  He is also on the Board of Directors of the Customer Institute. Celine is a leadership guru who has practiced what she preaches - she has un-led an [...]

We are active globally...   The interview is in English. See below   Le persone non dicono quello che pensano, non sanno quello che pensano e soprattutto non fanno quello che dicono: punto. Si parte da qui, con questo libro di Zhecho Dobrev, e ci si tuffa nel grande omissis delle strategie (di marketing, di CRM, di CXM... chi più ne ha più ne metta): cosa provano i clienti? Con una prosa semplice e interessante, con tanta ricerca scientifica a supporto e [...]

During the past decades, I've repeatedly seen businesses that deteriorate, while management is enjoying a nice view on slides of their super satisfaction scores! Want an example?, I'm sure you'll find one or two, in your memory; brands that you recently stopped doing business with, or decreased your spend at, even if you looked satisfied, before you suddenly disappear! Customer satisfaction, at least in the way business measure it, isn't highly correlated to business continuity, anymore.. The key missing piece [...]

Are your ways of working outdated? We regularly measure and monitor performance of individuals and teams through scorecards and dashboards. At the end of a project, the team schedules a debrief, or in agile, a retrospective meeting. The team usually asks questions like, what worked, what didn’t work and what can be done differently next time. Looking into the organization’s ways of working is important not just as project milestones are accomplished. It’s an activity that should be done periodically [...]

Horrible bosses' power tactic: Place the webcam so low from their faces to seem like a large shadow haunting the employees. Sadly, I witnessed this in the past. And I had to live with that boss breathing down our necks and making employees feel like nothing. It’s not to me to say whether he transformed the company culture from grade A to grade D with manipulation and authoritative tactics, inciting fear in the employees. But not all bosses are like [...]

It takes a lot to build trust. In preparation for my birthday, my husband searched for hotels and other places we could consider for our family’s celebration. He carefully read through their websites and checked online forums for reviews of other customers. He wanted to make sure that we spend our time and money wisely. On the other hand, I was doing my own research about getting a puppy. I carefully looked through the profile of owners/breeders, asked questions and [...]

Many of us are happy to see the back of 2022. But are you ready to deal with the scars that the aftermath of the pandemic, the disrupted logistic lines, the ongoing war, and the cost of living crisis have left on customers? Are you ready to face the challenges of 2023 and the transition to a more data and AI-led way of doing business? There is a difference between working IN the business and ON the business. So is [...]

As an innovation expert, I once had a conversation with a Human Resources professional about the typical profile considered for innovation roles in his organization. Amazon has established a unique approach to identifying top innovation talent through its 'bar raiser', which removes bias from the hiring process and screens candidates with strong hard skills against the psychological traits of a 'builder'. This is because: ’Amazonians are builders’. However, what caught my attention was when the HR professional stated that only [...]

Hands up, if you think relationships are essential in business? A forest of hands go up in the air every time this question is asked. But exactly how important are relationships when you compare them to product quality, price, ease of use, customer service, digital self-service capabilities, and so on? I conducted a several-month-long research project with data collected from some 18,537 customers of 24 large organizations from 9 different industry sectors. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling [...]

Being a leader is hard. More than a decade ago, at a very young age, I became a manager. I was used to getting great results as an individual contributor, by myself, through my own good work. So when I became a manager it was a major struggle for me, a Type A employee, to have to depend on others for my results. Why can’t I get them to do the work and deliver results? Thanks to mentors, training, books, [...]

Many grand old companies are facing growing uncertainty because of changing demand and new technology. Some felt that this can be solved by becoming more efficient in the way they deliver and reducing the risk of not meeting delivery targets in time and quality. That explains why agile has turned into a popular way of running projects, and many incumbents are trying to transfer this approach from IT projects to ongoing business activities (e.g. product development, process re-design). A smaller [...]

“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” Deming Since its beginnings in the 1950s, artificial intelligence has been a favourite matter of scientific discipline literature. Yet today, AI has entered the region of fact: several studies underline that intelligent machines will change the way we work, we move and even how wars are fought. Innovators and scientists around the world believe that now is the time to ensure that AI can override humanity. And even if sufficient [...]

AI tries to be something completely different from what we have experienced until today. Larry Page, the CEO of Alphabet, the mother company of Google, said some weeks ago that “Artificial intelligence will be the ultimate version of Google. The ultimate search engine that will understand everything on the web. It will understand exactly what you want, and it will give you the right thing. We’re nowhere near doing that now. However, we can get incrementally closer to that, and [...]

One of the most important eras where personalisation is about to be redefined is fashion. There’s been a significant move and effort from companies like Amazon to understand how fashion is developed in the world,” Kavita Bala, a professor at Cornell said. Yet Amazon appears to be pushing that algorithmic approach even further. For example, Amazon analysts situated in Israel created machine learning that, by breaking down only a couple of labels connected to pictures, can find whether a specific [...]