DCX Links | April 20, 2025
Real CX Work Happens Before the Click
Welcome to the DCX weekly roundup of customer experience insights!
What do Netflix, Gillette Stadium, Verizon, and your frontline employee have in common?
They’re all proof that the best customer experiences start way before the customer ever shows up.
This week’s stories spotlight a shared idea: CX isn’t about reacting—it’s about setting the stage.
From smarter search to strategic design, AI-augmented support to data-driven decisions, the most impactful leaders are shifting left—tackling the root, not just the ripple.
Whether it’s finding the right problem to solve, guiding fans from driveway to seat, or helping agents sell more (without selling out), this week is about proactive design, inside and out.
Let’s dig in.
Happy reading—and stay curious, DCXers!
-Mark
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This week’s must-read links:
Data Isn’t Just A Department—It’s How Your Company Should Think
Verizon’s AI Sidekick Is Crushing It
Why Problem-Finders Will Run the Future
Netflix Wants to Read Your Mind—With AI
Gillette Stadium’s New MVP? AI.
Great CX Starts Behind the Scenes
Data Isn’t Just A Department—It’s How Your Company Should Think
Joel Shapiro is a professor in the Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences Department at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, where he teaches MBA and executive programs on analytics, AI, and data leadership and leads Kellogg’s Analytical Consulting Lab.
In this MIT Sloan webinar, Joel Shapiro (professor at Kellogg School of Management) breaks down what makes data leadership actually work. He makes it relatable, funny, and full of insights you can run with.
1. Stop thinking “data”—start thinking “evidence”
Joel’s big message? Don’t treat data like it answers anything by itself. Data’s just info. But when you treat it like evidence, it forces you to ask better questions: What problem are we solving? What opportunity are we chasing? That’s when data becomes useful.
2. The “calls reduce churn” trap
One of Joel’s examples? A team thought calling customers reduced churn—because the people they reached didn’t churn. But that’s not evidence. It’s a guess dressed up as a chart. Good data leaders know how to challenge these assumptions (without killing team morale).
3. The Seven Horcruxes of Data Leadership
Yes, he actually used a Harry Potter reference. Joel says great data leadership has seven parts:
Up-to-date tech
Clear experimentation chops
A curious and accountable culture
Business integration (not siloed)
Trust in the data
Great communication
Smart incentives
4. ROI or GTFO
If you want budget, show results. Joel shares a story about a $16M investment that brought in $104M. Huge win—until trust fell apart. People didn’t buy the model, and it fizzled. Point is: ROI’s great, but only if people believe it.
5. Training is good. Incentives are better.
You can train teams all you want. But if they’re not motivated to use data, nothing sticks. Joel pushes for clear carrots (and yes, maybe some sticks). Just hoping people act on data? Not a strategy.
6. Don’t make it too smart to trust
Ever had a model so good no one believed it? Happens all the time. Joel says start with an explainable version people get. Once they trust the data, you can graduate to more advanced stuff.
7. The human side of data leadership
In the end, it’s not about tech—it’s about people. The best data leaders know how to build trust, tell a good story, and create a culture where people actually want to use the insights.
Why CX folks should care
You already sit on a goldmine of insights. But if people don’t trust, use, or act on them, what’s the point? Joel’s playbook is tailor-made for anyone trying to turn customer data into business movement.
Try this: Pick one customer problem. Frame it. Test it. Show ROI. Make your insight so useful that ignoring it feels like a mistake.
Verizon’s AI Sidekick Is Crushing It
Kenrick Cai at Reuters reports that Verizon has quietly pulled off something big: using Google’s Gemini AI to help customer service reps—and it’s already driving a 40% spike in sales.
Why it matters: While most companies are still in trial mode with generative AI, Verizon’s gone all in—and it’s working. This isn’t about replacing humans. It’s about making them better.
The assist, not the replacement
Verizon built an AI assistant with Google Cloud that helps 28,000 customer service reps answer questions faster—and upsell smarter.
Instead of cutting headcount like others (looking at you, Klarna), Verizon is reskilling agents in real time from support to sales.
40% more sales? That’ll play
Since launching in July 2024 and scaling in January, the AI tool has helped Verizon’s service team drive nearly 40% more sales.
The AI taps into 15,000+ internal docs to surface the right info at the right time, right on the rep’s screen.
Built for scale, built to stay
Google Cloud won the deal over others thanks to its ability to deploy across tens of thousands of users.
For Google, it’s a high-profile example that AI can actually move revenue—not just headlines.
What Your Contact Center Should Steal From Verizon This is your sign: GenAI doesn’t have to be a science project. When done right, it turns support into revenue—and gives your team superpowers instead of pink slips. If you lead a contact center or service team, it’s time to get serious about AI as a force multiplier.
🔗 Learn more→ Reuters
Why Problem-Finders Will Run the Future
Ed Orozco, writing in UX Collective, makes a bold but refreshing case: in a world where coding is getting automated and features are flying fast, the most valuable tech skill is shifting to something simpler and more human—knowing what problems to solve.
Why it matters: Customer experience starts way before anyone interacts with your product. It begins with strategic thinking—figuring out what matters to users and aligning your team to go solve it.
Design isn’t decoration—it’s direction
Orozco explains how designers often get stuck in a reactive loop: “make this pretty” or “mock up this idea.”
But design’s real power is upstream: identifying and framing valuable problems before a single feature gets built.
Think of design less like frosting and more like the blueprint.
Bad ideas cost more than bad code
Ever built a feature no one uses? Or created a flow that locks people out (like SMS 2FA for globetrotting users)?
Orozco shows how poor problem framing leads to expensive fixes and frustrated customers.
Strategic UX research > Feature factory
Want to find high-value problems? Talk to people. 2-3 user interviews a week could change everything.
Strategic UX research digs into unmet needs. Tactical research evaluates existing stuff. Don’t confuse the two.
Framing is your superpower
Use simple tools—Who, What, Why, Where—to define the problem space.
Getting everyone on the same page about what you’re solving (and what you’re not) saves time, money, and morale.
PMs vs Designers? Skip the turf war
In startups, roles are fluid. In big orgs, strategy often belongs to PMs.
If you're a designer boxed into the tactical corner, consider stepping into product or pushing for an IC strategy role.
What This Means for Designers and CX Leaders Great experiences don’t just happen—they’re designed from the very first question. Whether you’re a PM, designer, or CX leader, your real value lies in helping your team figure out what matters most—and building from there.
🔗 Learn more → Source
Netflix Wants to Read Your Mind—With AI
Nadeem Sarwar from Digital Trends dives into Netflix’s latest AI-powered experiment: a smarter, chattier search experience that actually gets what you’re in the mood to watch.
Why it matters: Search on Netflix has been… rough. Repetitive suggestions. No real filters. And don’t get us started on endless scrolling. But now, AI might finally crack the code on discovery.
Less typing, more watching
Netflix is testing an OpenAI-powered search tool that responds to natural language. Instead of typing "thrillers," you could say "show me something gripping with a plot twist"—and it’ll understand.
You’ll even be able to search by mood. Think: "funny but not too dumb," or "something cozy to watch while it rains."
What’s new, what’s leaving
Users might finally get better answers to common questions like "What’s new this week?" or "What’s about to leave the platform?"
The AI tool is already in beta in Australia and New Zealand, with a U.S. rollout on the horizon.
The tech behind the couch
Netflix has been tracking clicks, browsing, and how long you spend watching something to surface better suggestions.
But this AI model flips the dynamic—it lets you lead the search, rather than just relying on Netflix’s recommendation engine.
Why Better Search = Better Experience Customer search isn’t just a feature—it’s part of the experience. When people can tell you exactly what they want in their own words (and you actually get it right)? That’s CX gold. If you’re building digital experiences, don’t sleep on the power of better search.
🔗 More→ Digital Trends
Gillette Stadium’s New MVP? AI.
Gillette Stadium is giving its fan experience a full-blown digital makeover—complete with AI facial recognition, real-time wayfinding, and ultra-fast Wi-Fi—just in time for the 2026 World Cup.
Why it matters: This isn’t just about sports. It’s about redefining what a world-class customer experience looks like in the real world. From parking to popcorn, the entire fan journey is being reimagined.
From couch to kickoff
Gillette is rolling out tech that guides fans from their home to the perfect parking spot, straight to the best chicken tenders, and finally—right to their seats.
AI facial recognition at gates (totally opt-in) is designed to cut down lines and improve security, all while making entry feel frictionless.
World Cup-ready CX
Hosting seven World Cup games means game-day experience needs to be Super Bowl level—on repeat.
That’s why Gillette’s investing in superior network bandwidth, fan activation zones in parking lots, and expanded digital wallet functionality.
It’s about more than sports
The Kraft Group wants every visitor—whether a Patriots fan, a Swiftie, or a soccer die-hard—to walk out saying: “That was a great experience.”
The goal? Make the fan journey so seamless and satisfying that people keep coming back, no matter the event.
CX takeaway for you If you’re in charge of digital CX, steal this mindset: Your ‘stadium’—whatever it is—should guide, delight, and empower your customers every step of the way. From first touchpoint to final interaction, experience is everything.
Great CX Starts Behind the Scenes
Sam Stern, host of the CX Patterns podcast, chats with Nora Osman about something we don’t talk about enough: how treating your employees shows up in the way customers are treated.
Why this hits home: Great CX doesn’t just come from slick systems or catchy branding—it comes from real people. And if those people feel burned out or brushed off? That shows up, fast.
It starts on the inside
Sam calls it like it is: Your team is the face of your experience. If they’re struggling, so is your CX.
If folks don’t have the tools, training, or support to do their jobs well, the whole thing crumbles.
Plus, unhappy employees don’t stick around. That means more hiring, more costs, and more inconsistency.
"Everybody matters or nobody matters"
That line from TV detective Harry Bosch sticks. Sam uses it to remind us that if we ignore our people, we’re not serious about our customers either.
He even points to Amazon’s slipping CX scores as a sign that you can’t fake your way past a bad employee experience.
Real talk from Nora Osman
Recognition is underrated. Nora says just noticing people and showing appreciation goes a long way.
Assume people want to do a good job—because they usually do.
Start by seeing what they’re doing well. That makes conversations about growth way easier.
How to Rethink Your EX Before You Fix Your CX Treat your employee experience like a customer journey. Where are the pain points? What can you smooth out? Celebrate wins. Say thank you more often. When employees feel seen, they’re way more likely to make your customers feel that way too.
🔗 Linkedin Newsletter→ Source
🔗 More from Sam→ CX Patterns Podcast
Thank you!
I hope you found value in this week’s links. See you next Sunday at 8:15 am ET!
If this edition sparked ideas, share it with a colleague or team member. Let’s grow the DCX community together!
👋 Please Reach Out
I created this newsletter to help customer-obsessed pros like you deliver exceptional experiences and tackle challenges head-on. But honestly? The best part is connecting with awesome, like-minded people—just like you! 😊
Here’s how you can get involved:
Got feedback? Tell me what’s working, what’s not, or what you’d love to see next.
Stuck on something? Hit me up whether it’s a CX challenge, strategy question, or team issue—I’m here to help.
Just want to say hi? Seriously, don’t be shy. I’d love to connect, share ideas, or even swap success stories.
Your input keeps this newsletter fresh and valuable. Let’s start a conversation—email me, DM me, or comment anytime. I can’t wait to hear from you!
— Mark
www.marklevy.co
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