Automate problems, not just symptoms - Interview with Nick Clark of BCG

Automate problems, not just symptoms - Interview with Nick Clark of BCG

Author: Adrian Swinscoe | Customer Experience Strategy Expert January 15, 2026 Duration: 57:55

Today’s episode of the Punk CX podcast is with Nick Clark, a Partner & Director in the Service & Support Operations practice at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), as well as the author of the Service Matters! newsletter, which is a weekly newsletter about customer service, that he writes in a personal capacity. Nick joins me today to talk about why success with AI in customer service is much less about technical capability and much more about strategy, that brands need to go beyond the obvious with AI, whether (or not) we are in the midst of an AI bubble and, given that he is deeply immersed in this space, what sort of trends/things he is expecting to see/emerge in the coming 12 months. We finish off with Nick’s best advice, his Punk CX brand and his very own good news story.

This interview follows on from my recent interview – Describing yourself as ‘AI-first’ is a mistake – Interview with Chris Morrissey of Zoom – and is number 569 in the series of interviews with authors and business leaders who are doing great things, providing valuable insights, helping businesses innovate and delivering great service and experience to both their customers and their employees.


There’s a lot of noise around customer experience, but Punk CX: Customer Experience Insights with Adrian Swinscoe cuts through it with conversations that feel more like a strategic workshop than a standard interview. Host Adrian Swinscoe, a customer experience strategy expert, brings a distinctively pragmatic and often contrarian perspective to each discussion. He sits down with a wide range of industry leaders, from entrepreneurs to seasoned executives, to unpack what it really takes to build an organization that people genuinely want to engage with. You’ll hear them delve into the interconnected mechanics of customer service, customer engagement, and the often-overlooked driver of it all: employee experience and engagement. The dialogue naturally explores how technology, from AI to broader digital transformation, can be leveraged practically rather than just hyped, and what it means to build adaptable, responsive organizations with high-performing teams at their core. This podcast moves beyond theory, focusing on the actionable insights and sometimes uncomfortable truths that define modern customer and business strategy. Each episode is designed to give you a tangible takeaway, whether you’re refining your own approach or challenging the status quo within your company.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Punk CX: Customer Experience Insights with Adrian Swinscoe
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More Than A Motto - Interview with Justin Robbins of Metric Sherpa [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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