Podcast Spotlight: Verint CMO Anna Convery on The Secret to Customer Loyalty

In a recent episode of The Agile Brand podcast, Verint Chief Marketing Officer, Anna Convery, shared valuable insights from the State of Customer Experience 2025 report.

Anna dives into the evolving expectations of today’s customers and how brands can leverage AI without losing the human touch.

Read on for insights from her conversation with Greg Kihlstrom that should be invaluable for every CX leader.

Bridging the Expectation Gap in Customer Experience

The State of Customer Experience 2025 reveals that nearly half of consumers (46%) believe brands fail to meet their service expectations. This expectation gap is driven by more empowered consumers who now compare every experience across industries.

As Anna explains, “The customer today knows what they want to achieve, and they’re comparing each company’s experience with any other company they interact with.

It used to be that your experience with a bank was compared to other banks—but that’s no longer the case.

We now compare all interactions with each other. We want it done quickly. We want brands to know who we are, remember us, and treat us as individuals—not as a series of disconnected transactions.”

Companies need to balance this rising demand with the need to reduce support costs. At the center of that tension is the modern customer, who expects speed, consistency, and personalization across any channel they choose.

AI can help companies tackle this challenge, by handling customer interactions without human intervention, and automating manual workflows to help agents work more efficiently.

Loyalty Is Fragile—and Speed Is Everything

Customer loyalty has become alarmingly brittle. According to the report, 78% of consumers will switch to a competitor after a single poor experience. For CX leaders, that statistic must influence everything from budgeting to technology choices.

“Our tolerance level has dropped quite significantly,” says Anna. “Many years ago, we might have said, ‘It’s a blip, I’ll give it another shot.’ But now it’s easier to leave, and we’ve made it easier—through marketing and technology—for customers to switch.”

To retain customers, companies need to focus not just on improving the experience but on fixing what’s broken in real time. “We have to think about customer experience every day,” she adds.

“How can we deliver what’s expected, use technology to better the experience, and remediate—not after the interaction, but in the interaction?”

This is where tools such as the Knowledge Automation Bot and Coaching Bot come into play. The Knowledge Automation Bot can provide agents with the right information, at the right time, enabling them to resolve customer issues faster.

Meanwhile, the Coaching Bot can offer real-time guidance, helping agents navigate complex situations and deliver more personalized, effective service.

Together, these bots empower agents to meet rising customer expectations while maintaining speed and accuracy—key to preventing customer churn and building lasting loyalty.

Why Speed Now Outweighs Empathy

The report found that consumers ranked getting information quickly as the most critical aspect of a good customer experience—outweighing empathy 4 to 1. While empathy still matters, speed is now the decisive factor.

Anna believes automation is key. “Technology actually delivers the speed, accuracy, and traceability we want—and it can do that without a human being ever coming into the interaction.”

She explains that even when agents are involved, technology can still accelerate the experience by automating manual workflows on behalf of agents.

Take the Interaction Wrap Up Bot for example. It uses generative AI to summarize interactions between customers and agents, dramatically reducing after-call work.

This increases agent capacity by allowing your employees to focus on customer interactions rather than administrative tasks.

The Strategic Balance Between Bots and Humans

While digital experiences are preferred by many, human connection still matters—especially when things go wrong. Nearly half of customers still want the option to speak with a human.

“Some transactions feel better with a human,” Anna says. “It might be the complexity, the demographic, or even my Irish accent—but sometimes the bot doesn’t pick it up right.

When a bot hands off to an agent, data persistence is critical. Who is this person? What have they tried to do so far? That context must travel with the customer.”

And it’s not just good for the customer.

“Agents don’t want to do mundane, repetitive tasks. That’s what technology is for. Give agents purposeful work, let them use empathy and creativity—and you get engaged employees and better customer experiences.”

Choosing the Right AI Vendor Is Critical to Success

With 86% of consumers acknowledging that AI can improve their experience, it’s vital for businesses to select a provider with a track record of delivering outcomes.

“AI is fascinating—18 months ago, there was more doubt, but adoption is accelerating. The problem is many tools are built in isolation without understanding CX workflows,” says Anna.

“At Verint, we build bots with experience, automation, and workflow in mind. It’s not about cool tech—it has to work. Done right, we see more efficient, higher-quality interactions and lower costs.”

Avoiding frustration starts with implementing AI that’s proven to deliver stronger, faster, measurable outcomes—rather than experimenting with pilots that ultimately fail to generate a return on investment.

Omnichannel Isn’t Optional

With 73% of customers now preferring digital channels over phone support, delivering a consistent experience across touchpoints is essential.

“Often we build channel silos,” says Anna. “What we need is a persistent brand experience across all channels. Chat should feel the same as a phone call or a web interaction. That requires integrated data—persisted across platforms—so we can see what worked, what didn’t, and iterate fast. That’s true end-to-end orchestration.”

Customer Experience Is a Revenue Driver

Great customer experience isn’t just a feel-good goal—it’s a business imperative. The report shows that 86% of delighted customers will purchase again, and 81% will recommend the brand.

“Companies delivering excellent CX attract, retain, and grow customers,” says Anna. “They monitor cost to serve, optimize operational efficiency, and tie NPS scores to real profitability. But the challenge is to never sit still. Keep improving. Stay aligned with what customers want.”

Final Thoughts

The expectation gap in customer experience isn’t going away but it can be closed.

As today’s consumers demand faster, more seamless, and more personalized interactions, CX leaders have an opportunity to rethink how they deploy people, processes, and technology.

The key is real-time responsiveness, smart use of AI, and designing every touchpoint with the customer at the center.

“We can’t afford to treat customer experience as a project or a department,” says Anna. “It has to be a mindset—part of your DNA. That’s how you earn loyalty, keep it, and turn it into growth.”

If you found this discussion valuable, be sure to check out more episodes of The Agile Brand podcast with Greg Kihlström to hear from other leaders shaping the CX landscape.