254: The CX-AI Connection…..Redefining Customer Journeys with Smart Tech with Eric Karofsky

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In this episode of Navigating the Customer Experience, we’re joined by Eric Karofsky, an award-winning expert in customer experience (CX), user experience (UX), and employee engagement, and the founder of VectorHX, a human experience agency. Eric shares his professional journey—from decades in agency and consultancy work with major brands like Michelin and Royal Caribbean, to leading UX at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and now building his own company focused on creating seamless customer interactions across digital and physical touchpoints.

Eric discusses how AI is rapidly reshaping the customer experience landscape, emphasizing that it’s a powerful tool—not a solution on its own. He shares both the promise and the current limitations of AI, particularly in customer support scenarios, likening poorly designed chatbots to frustrating call center loops from the 1980s.

A major theme in the episode is understanding customer behavior through cultural, situational, and demographic lenses. Eric cautions against forcing users into preferred communication channels and instead advises companies to map the ideal journey for different personas and optimize each channel for a frictionless experience.

He offers a powerful case study from the pharmaceutical industry, where AI is being used to transform labor-intensive literature reviews—cutting timelines from six months to potentially two weeks. This not only boosts business efficiency but also accelerates drug development, delivering life-saving treatments to patients faster.

Eric also touches on:

• AI leadership and how it should drive business strategy by identifying areas for efficiency and innovation.
• Tools he can't live without, like Claude AI and Notion, which he uses to manage his business and ideas.
• His excitement about no-code tools like Bolt.new and Lovable, which allow rapid prototyping of full-stack apps without technical skills.
• The enduring value of classic books like Getting to Yes and The Design of Everyday Things, which shaped his thinking around negotiation and customer-centric design.
• The importance of motivation and resilience, fueled by the exciting pace of innovation and meaningful human connections with clients and team members.

He closes with a favorite quote by Benjamin Franklin:

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."
A reminder of the value of active learning and mentorship in building strong, collaborative teams.

You’ll leave this episode with fresh insights on CX, AI strategy, and how to build human-centered experiences in a rapidly evolving digital world.

🔗 Connect with Eric Karofsky:
🌐 Website: www.vectorhx.com
🔗 LinkedIn: Eric Karofsky