In this episode of The Experience Edge, Jochem van der Veer sits down with Bill Staikos, a globally recognized CX leader with more than two decades of experience driving customer and employee experience transformation in financial services, consulting, and tech. Bill shares his candid perspective on the state of CX today, including why the function has struggled to mature, what it takes for leaders to earn a true seat at the executive table, and why journeys remain critical to connecting silos.
Together, Jochem and Bill dive into the challenges of aligning CX to business strategy, the role of AI in enabling both orchestration and context, and why defining value is the non-negotiable first step for any experience program. Bill also gives a preview of his upcoming podcast The Multimodal Experience, where he explores how emerging technologies will reshape how we interact with brands and organizations. This episode is a masterclass in cutting through jargon and redefining what it means to create business impact through customer experience.
Guest Bio
Bill Staikos is a senior customer experience executive with over 20 years of leadership across financial services, consulting, and technology. He has held senior roles at American Express, Freddie Mac, JP Morgan, and BNY Mellon, where he led global initiatives to transform client and employee experiences. A former SVP at Medallia, Bill helped organizations turn insights into measurable outcomes.
Recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice and one of the Top 50 Global CX Influencers, Bill is also the founder of the Be Customer-Led podcast and is now preparing to launch The Multimodal Experience. Known for his pragmatic, impact-driven approach, Bill advises leading brands—including Apple, Bank of America, Marriott, and T-Mobile—on connecting customer experience to business growth.
Takeaways
- The customer’s core needs haven’t changed: at the heart of every business, customers simply want to achieve their goals.
- CX has become overly synonymous with surveys, leaving vast amounts of uncollected insights untapped.
- Many CX teams lack execution capacity, limiting their ability to drive business outcomes.
- Defining value—for both the customer and the business—is the essential first step for CX leaders.
- CX is not just reporting; it must directly connect customer metrics to core business metrics.
- Teams must evolve beyond VOC experts to include data science, finance, and technology skill sets.
- The best way to get leadership attention is to demonstrate tangible impact (e.g., churn reduction, revenue growth).
- Journeys are essential tools to connect silos and create a shared context across teams.
- AI can enable orchestration at both the customer level and the enterprise level.
- Change leadership and change management are equally critical to successful adoption of new capabilities.
- CX leaders must frame their work in business language (growth, risk, operating leverage) to resonate at the C-suite.
- The future of CX is multimodal, blending AI, XR, wearables, and new interfaces into everyday customer and employee experiences.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Bill Staikos
02:34 What hasn’t changed in CX over two decades
05:24 CX’s survey problem and its consequences
08:13 Should CX be its own department?
10:59 Defining value in customer experience
13:47 Skill, will, and talent gaps in CX teams
19:23 Examples of CX creating business impact
25:21 Why journeys are vital for connecting silos
36:25 The role of AI in context and orchestration
43:57 Where organizations should start with AI and CX
46:11 Should CX leaders engage in the CIO’s AI agenda?
49:59 Launching The Multimodal Experience podcast
52:31 Closing reflections and future directions
LinkedIn
Bill Staikos: LinkedIn Profile
Jochem van der Veer: LinkedIn Profile
The Experience Edge