The unstructured data revolution in CRM - Interview with David Roberts of SugarCRM

The unstructured data revolution in CRM - Interview with David Roberts of SugarCRM

Author: Adrian Swinscoe | Customer Experience Strategy Expert April 2, 2026 Duration: 31:28

Today’s episode of the Punk CX podcast features a recent chat I had with David Roberts, President and CEO of SugarCRM, the sales CRM platform focused on B2B growth. We talk about why sellers/salespeople don’t get any value from CRM systems, whether the advent of AI makes things better, whether organisations are taking a tool-first, problem-second approach, what they should be doing instead, and the role of contextual intelligence, amongst other things.

This interview follows on from my recent interview – Closing the experience gap – Interview with Qualtrics executives from X4 – and is number 580 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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