The CX Iconoclast

If you’re exhausted by traditional approaches to CX, impatient with the stunning lack of progress in the field, and done re-hashing the “best practices” that don’t change anything, you’ve found your podcast. Here’s what we know: Companies gain competitive advantage through exceptional customer experience, and customer insights are the best decision-making tool there is. But traditional CX approaches have run their course and it’s time for the next revolution in CX. Tune in every two weeks as Richard Owen, co-founder of OCX Cognition, hosts conversations and interviews with business leaders, academics, and thinkers whose ideas can guide the CX profession to think in new ways about what success looks like. Most of them aren’t CX professionals, but all of them have something to teach us about CX. We’ll take a clear-eyed look at the problems that have hampered the discipline and explore the compelling ideas behind a re-engineering CX for a modern world. Come disgruntled, leave inspired.

The CX Iconoclast is a business podcast hosted by OCX Cognition, with 61 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

OCX Cognition hosts The CX Iconoclast, a business show with 61 episodes published.

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  The CX Iconoclast

  Rewiring CX: Bill Staikos on Human-Centered AI and the Future of Experience Leadership

  Nov 3, 202536 minS0

  <p>In this episode of <b>The CX Iconoclast</b>, Richard Owen hosts Bill Staikos, a CX and EX leader with more than 20 years of experience helping organizations move beyond dashboards and into delivering tangible business outcomes. Drawing on his unique perspective from both the vendor and buyer sides of the industry, Bill discusses why too many companies are still stuck in outdated models of customer experience - focused on surveys and metrics - rather than designing solutions with customers at the center. The conversation covers the pitfalls of “product-led growth” thinking, the impact of AI on both customer experience and...

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  The CX Iconoclast

  Designing Better Endings: Joe MacLeod on the Overlooked Side of Customer Experience

  Oct 20, 202529 minS0

  <p>In this episode of The CX Iconoclast, Richard Owen sits down with Joe MacLeod – author, speaker, and self-proclaimed “Head of Endineering” – to explore one of the most overlooked parts of customer experience: the ending. Drawing on insights from his books and decades of experience, Joe explains why most companies obsess over creating desire and delivering products, yet neglect the final stage of the customer journey. From cable companies using aggressive tactics to retain customers to gyms making it difficult to cancel, he reveals how poorly designed endings damage brands, waste resources, and miss opportunities to strengthen relationships. Joe argues that by...

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  The CX Iconoclast

  From Cost-Cutting to Customer Growth: A Smarter AI Strategy – with McKinsey partner Tey Bannerman

  Oct 6, 202533 minS0

  <p>In this episode of the CX Iconoclast podcast, Richard Owen speaks with Tey Bannerman, a McKinsey partner focused on deploying AI in large enterprises to improve customer retention and growth. Bannerman emphasizes that AI should solve real human and business problems rather than just serve as a technological novelty. He critiques the reflexive use of AI for cost-cutting and job elimination, urging companies to instead prioritize long-term value creation and enhanced customer experience. He shares a compelling case study of a B2B payments company that shifted from cost-cutting to a customer-centric strategy using predictive analytics to reduce churn...

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  The CX Iconoclast

  The KPI Revolution: Turning Data into Decisions Using AI - With Michael Schrage of MIT

  Jul 28, 202546 minS0

  <p>What if your KPIs could talk back—and guide your business forward? In this episode, Richard Owen and Brian Curry of OCX Cognition, and MIT’s Michael Schrage explore how AI is transforming not just customer experience metrics, but the very nature of leadership and organizational capability. They suggest why so many companies stick with legacy KPIs despite major shifts in tech, and how conversational AI and “chat-modified” metrics are helping innovative leaders turn passive data into proactive guidance. Schrage introduces the revolutionary idea of building digital twins of your KPIs—giving organizations a GPS for where they are and where...

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  The CX Iconoclast

  What 25 Years of Tech Research Tells Us About the Future of AI - With Cornell's Chris Forman

  Jul 14, 202537 minS0

  <p>What happens when leading-edge academic research meets real-world customer dynamics? In this episode, OCX Cognition CEO Richard Owen welcomes Chris Forman, Professor of Strategy, Innovation, and Technology at Cornell’s Dyson School, to discuss how technology adoption, data integration, and organizational readiness shape B2B outcomes. Together, they clarify the critical differences between collecting data and using it—and why even sophisticated firms often struggle to translate tech investments into competitive advantage.</p><p>From early-stage AI to platform lock-in, from Salesforce implementation challenges to the dynamics of central versus local decision-making, Chris brings the data-backed clarity of academic insi...

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