Neil Hoyne, Chief strategist at Google and author of 'Converted', joins Pini Yakuel, Founder and CEO, to dissect how organizations often prioritize optimization over customer needs. They highlight that behavioral rigidity, not technology, hampers innovation. The duo advocates for adaptable, outcome-driven teams that foster customer connections. They explore how small shifts in team structures can lead to significant improvements in customer experience and suggest that AI should amplify, not replace, genuine human strategy.
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insights INSIGHT
Turn Up Exploration In Turbulent Times
The exploration vs. exploitation trade-off must shift toward more exploration in uncertain times.
GenAI and change demand more curiosity and cross-disciplinary flexibility from teams.
insights INSIGHT
Specialization Becomes Identity Risk
Over-specialization locks organizations into identities tied to existing tools and channels.
That identity makes it hard for teams to pivot when customer demand shifts.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Catalog Attribution Distorted Strategy
A retailer attributed all purchases to catalogs and kept sending them frequently as a result.
The catalog team's size and identity blocked digital adaptation despite changing customer behavior.
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Organizations love to optimize—but often forget what, or who, they’re optimizing for. When teams are built around internal structures rather than customer outcomes, even the best strategies become slow to adapt.
Author and data analyst Neil Hoyne and Pini Yakuel explore how behavioral rigidity, not technical limitations, holds most companies back. Drawing from principles in Neil Hoyne’s book, Converted, they argue for a shift toward systems that favor adaptability, exploration, and proximity to the customer. Because in a world shaped by AI, the real competitive edge is not just speed—it’s staying meaningfully connected to the people you serve.
Key Takeaways
When roles become identities, organizations lose flexibility. Over-specialization makes it harder for teams to respond to evolving customer needs.
Behavioral defaults—not tech—often slow teams down. Loyalty to familiar workflows or team structures can block innovation, even when tools are available.
AI works best when aligned with real customer strategy. It’s not a shortcut or a strategy in itself—it’s a multiplier for what actually matters.
Customer-centricity requires outcome-driven teams. Structuring around internal functions, rather than external impact, leads to misaligned incentives.
Small shifts in ownership create big changes in experience. Empowering teams to work across silos—even partially—brings them closer to the customer, and closer to results.
Key Quotes
[00:13:50] “Marketing teams don’t just bake bread—they are bread. It’s not just what they do; it’s who they’ve become. So when the shift happens—when the customer wants cupcakes instead—they miss it entirely. Because they weren’t watching the customer. They were defending the bread.” – Neil Hoyne
[00:21:13] “If your strategy is ‘use AI better than the competition,’ you don’t have a strategy.” – Neil Hoyne
[00:25:46] “Accelerate what already works. Tactics are multipliers, not miracles.” – Pini
[00:46:47] “Positionless isn’t binary. Can you let a team own 10% of something, start to finish?” – Pini Yakuel
[00:51:39] “We’ve gone too far into specialization. It’s time to bring back the craftsman.” – Neil Hoyne
Future Commerce 
