Deflection Is Dead: Why Customer Engagement Is the New Goal

What if getting rid of customers quickly is actually bad for business? That's the case @Pasquale DeMaio, VP of Amazon Connect Customer, makes on this week's episode of The Modern Customer Podcast. His point: if your AI strategy is built around deflection, you're not saving money — you're handing customers straight to your competitors. We also dig into how deterministic and agentic AI work together, and why AI should make people's jobs better, not just shorter conversations. This episode is sponsored by Amazon Web Services. Click the link to learn more: https://fandf.co/4fu6tAd #sponsored #AWS #AmazonConnect #amazonconnectcustomer #CCWVegas BOOKMARKS: 00:00 Introduction 01:39 Why AI Is Finally Making Customer Experiences Feel Natural 02:48 Moving AI from Pilots to Production 04:21 Agentic AI vs. Deterministic AI 05:21 AI's Biggest Opportunity in Customer Service 07:04 "Deflection Is Dead": Why Engagement Matters More 07:49 The Future of AI in Customer Experience -- Blake Morgan was called “The Queen of CX” by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Her new book is called The 8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules for Building A Business Around Today’s Customer. For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. https://blakemorgan.substack.com/ Visit her website here: https://blakemichellemorgan.com/