When Code and Theory’s chief creative officer Craig Elimeliah announced, “It’s not a technology gap. It’s a leadership gap. Like, let’s just get that straight,” the room sat up. Speaking alongside Leanne Fremar, chief brand officer at JPMorgan Chase, he underlined the fact that the barriers to AI-powered CX aren’t technical: they’re cultural and organizational.
The session, built around new WSJ Intelligence and Code and Theory research, showed that while nearly every company is investing in AI, very few are using it to improve customer experience. Elimeliah didn’t hide his frustration. Companies, he argued, are “obsessed with efficiency, with automation, with optimization,” but in doing so, they’re missing AI’s “creative potential for building stronger emotional intelligence into their systems.” He reminded the audience that “People are emotional beings.”
Fremar agreed and pointed out why CX lags. “It’s easier to measure efficiency internally than it is to measure transformation,” she said, noting that leaders default to internal metrics rather than customer outcomes. And that tunnel vision is dangerous: “If you’re looking only at efficiency and neglecting CX,” you’re going to be losing out to others with more CX focus. She underscored the competitive risk with a line borrowed from Bezos: “Your margin is my opportunity.”
Advertisement
Both speakers argued for a mindset overhaul. Fragmented systems, isolated teams and outdated behaviors are the real culprits preventing seamless customer journeys. Fremar stressed the need to “break down those silos, you know, connecting the data, building platforms… that’s really the human hurdle that we have to clear.”
Elimeliah closed with a challenge to every executive in the room: “Stop building from the inside out, start from the customer and work backwards,” urging leaders to “use AI as an amplifier for imagination, rather than replacing it.”
Watch the full video now on The Drum TV.