Lesson #1 Revisited: Is AI Making Us More Customer-Centric?

Discover how AI is reshaping customer-centricity in 2025. Learn why listening, acting, and maintaining the human connection remain vital in the age of advanced technology. Balance AI's power with empathy to create lasting customer relationships.

Sean McDade, PhD

Sean McDade, PhD

Founder & CEO, PeopleMetrics

Back in 2018, I wrote Listen or Die to help businesses understand one fundamental truth: if you don’t listen to your customers, you won’t survive.

There are so many examples of this - Bed Bath & Beyond, Sears, Blockbuster, Kodak, Radio Shack. And the list goes on.

Lesson #1 in Listen or Die laid the foundation: customer centricity isn’t a buzzword or a marketing slogan—it’s a commitment to action. It’s about creating a culture where every decision is made with the customer at the center. Without that, the idea of being “customer-focused” is just empty talk.

Fast forward to 2025, and the way we approach customer centricity has evolved dramatically.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has entered the scene, giving us tools to listen better, act faster, and predict what customers need before they even tell us. But here’s the thing: while AI has enhanced how we execute customer centricity, the core of Lesson #1 hasn’t changed. Customer centricity is still about listening and acting—because no tool, no matter how advanced, can replace the cultural commitment required to use these insights to make life better for the customer.

Let’s revisit Lesson #1 with fresh eyes, exploring how AI is reshaping customer listening and action, and why human connection remains irreplaceable.

How AI Enhances Customer Listening and Action Taking

In 2018, customer listening was often limited to surveys and manual analysis. We relied on focused efforts at specific touchpoints, and while effective, it wasn’t scalable. Today, AI has made it possible to listen and act on feedback across every channel—emails, chats, reviews, and even voice interactions—in ways that were unimaginable back then.

Take H&M, for example. They’ve invested heavily in AI to analyze customer feedback across multiple channels. When reviews highlighted recurring issues with inconsistent sizing, H&M used AI to flag those products, update size guides, and improve descriptions. This proactive response not only reduced returns but also rebuilt customer trust. That’s listening and acting at scale—something AI has made faster and smarter.

This is where AI excels: it turns mountains of unstructured feedback into actionable insights that companies can use to create better customer experiences.

Why the Human Touch Still Matters

Here’s the thing: AI can listen, analyze, and even predict, but it can’t build relationships. It doesn’t understand nuance, emotion, or the trust that comes from personal interaction. In high-touch environments like B2B, this matters even more.

AI might flag areas of concern based on client feedback, but it’s the account manager who sits down with the client, listens to their challenges, and offers tailored solutions. That human connection is what deepens trust and strengthens partnerships. AI supports the process, but people make it meaningful.

As Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has said, AI can make customer service faster and smarter, but it’s the human touch that delivers empathy and creativity—the elements that truly differentiate a business.

The Bottom Line

Lesson #1 still stands: customer centricity isn’t optional—it’s the foundation of any successful business.

AI has changed how we listen and act, giving us powerful tools to collect insights, predict needs, and respond in real time. But AI is a tool, not the solution.

Customer centricity still starts with a culture of customer listening, a commitment to taking action on customer feedback, and people who are empowered to do so.

The companies that win today are the ones that balance AI’s speed and scale with the irreplaceable value of human connection.

So, ask yourself: Is your organization truly listening to its customers? Are you acting on what you hear? And just as importantly, are you empowering your people to build the relationships that AI can’t?

Next time, we’ll dive into Lesson #2. Stay tuned as we continue exploring how AI is reshaping the way we listen and act on customer feedback.

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