Robert Napoli

Agile Tech Advisors

As a seasoned professional with a rich background in technology leadership, I founded Agile Tech Advisors to guide startups through the complexities of growth while maintaining their unique edge. Our mission is tailored for startups, service providers, finance, healthcare, and professional services organizations seeking smart, strategic tech management in today's dynamic business environment.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗲 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿:

✪ 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: We ensure your technology scales with your business, supporting smooth and efficient growth.
✪ 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: We focus on keeping your operations secure and seamless, enhancing customer and team satisfaction.
✪ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗨𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲: Our goal is to maintain your systems' reliability, reducing downtime risks.
✪ 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: We stay ahead of trends, advising on strategic decisions that propel your business forward.

Agile Tech Advisors prioritizes tangible outcomes and value, optimizing processes, discovering opportunities, and mitigating risks. Our approach is built on understanding your unique needs and delivering customized, effective strategies.

𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁:

✪ 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: We tailor our services to meet the specific demands of startups, finance, healthcare, and professional sectors.
✪ 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Protecting your business from cyber threats is paramount.
✪ 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀: Our foundation is trust and partnership, aiming to maximize your value to your investors

Choosing Agile Tech Advisors means partnering with experts who understand your journey. We're dedicated to leveraging technology to foster growth, innovation, and a competitive advantage while ensuring your operations are efficient and secure.

Founder & CEO

Octal 7 Corporation

Board Member

Franklin Pierce University

Giving back to my profession is important to me, and teaching is one way I can help shape and mentor the next generation of technology leaders. As an Instructor, I teach Information Technology and Health Informatics courses in FPU's MBA, MS and BS Programs. This requires me to stay on top of changes in my industry, as my students look to me to be a relevant subject matter expert. Although I teach them, they force me to evolve and look at issues from a different perspective, which helps me grow as a leader.

Adjunct Professor

Forbes Technology Council

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only organization comprised of elite CIOs, CTOs and technology executives, hand-selected by the Council's selection committee. As a member, I contribute to Forbes on the topics related to Technology, Digital Innovation, Cybersecurity, Business Strategy, and more.

Offical Member

National Non-Profit Healthcare Organization

As CIO, I led the planning, management, support, and security of my organization's technology and information systems. I developed the organization's technology strategy and business goals collaboratively with our executive team. I then created the roadmap to meet those objectives, allowing the organization to grow in its mission of providing high-quality, affordable healthcare.

Upon joining the organization, I identified and anticipated end-user and patient complaints about our technology and processes. Subsequently, I led a refresh of the organization’s entire infrastructure and end-user computing environments. This effort achieved a gold-standard level of operational and cybersecurity excellence, and we successfully deployed telehealth, population health, and BYOD solutions across our six-state service area. 

To ensure project success, I implemented governance and standards and advocated using advanced data to drive business decisions and outcomes. As part of this effort, we collectively created a Business Intelligence program and introduced automation, dashboards, and predictive analytics to the organization.

As a customer-focused organization, we researched and developed a patient engagement initiative with enhanced communication capabilities and an interactive online module that automated our processes. These efforts reduced patient wait times, increased time-of-service payment collections, and improved patient and staff satisfaction.

Recognized by Computerworld as a Premier 100 Technology Leader, I also helped lead the deployment of the organization’s first mobile health app which won CIO Magazine’s “CIO 100” Award, acknowledging companies that have distinguished themselves through the innovative use of technology.

Chief Information Officer / EVP Information Services 

Lightspeed

Assessed and evaluated emerging tech companies, focusing on their viability, security, and potential market appeal.

Startup Advisor

Lawrence + Memorial Hospital

Lawrence + Memorial is a not-for-profit integrated healthcare system serving southeastern Connecticut and Westerly, Rhode Island. L+M is licensed for a combined 405 beds and provides patient care to medical, surgical, pediatric, rehab, psychiatric, and obstetrical patients. L+M's staff consists of over 3,500 professional, technical, and support personnel.

As Director of Information Technology, I led the strategic planning, management, and support of the organization's technology infrastructure and its sophisticated information systems.

Director of Information Technology

St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital

St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital is a not-for-profit healthcare system serving New York's lower Hudson Valley. St. Luke's Cornwall is licensed for a combined 393 beds and provides patient care to medical, surgical, pediatric, rehab, and psychiatric patients. With a staff of over 1,500, the hospital is one of the largest employers in the region. 

As the Manager of Information Technology, I held CIO accountability and led the organization’s strategic vision as it pertained to technology and information systems. Other responsibilities included managing and overseeing the tactical and daily operational responsibilities of the department including full oversight of the capital and operating budgets, staff development, HIPAA compliance, IT governance, process improvement, risk management and vendor relations. Served as the organization's IT Security Officer.

Manager of Information Technology (CIO accountability)

Fluxis Technology Consulting

Founded in 1992, Fluxis Tech was a pioneering application developer, notably introducing one of the healthcare industry's first medical transcription and dictation systems. This early innovation set the stage for our expansion into a comprehensive provider of advanced information technology solutions, including network design and consulting, cutting-edge communications services and products, dynamic Internet/Intranet development, robust network management and support, and tailored application development.

As the CEO of a funded startup, the critical question is: 

How do you grow your infrastructure to keep up with your fast expansion without losing sight of what really matters, like standing out and innovating?

In today's fast-paced, tech-driven market, there are key areas on which you must focus:

𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝗲: Scalability is about making sure your tech can grow with you, handling increased traffic and data while keeping everything running smoothly

𝗦𝗺𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Fast and reliable tech is key to keeping everything running like clockwork, ensuring your customers are happy and your team is on point

𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗢𝗻: Keeping your systems running all the time is essential, making sure your business can keep going without interruptions, avoiding any loss of sales or damage to your reputation due to tech issues

As a fractional CIO, I keep my finger on the pulse of the industry. Here are four trends you need to be aware of:

➀ 𝗡𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀: Knowing the investment scene helps us make wise tech choices that pay off.

➁ 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗔𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: Strong tech support is necessary for a team as more people work remotely.

➂ 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: Embracing the latest tech, like AI and cloud services, can make a big difference in flexibility and keeping things running.

➃ 𝗥𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗱 𝗖𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Keeping up with the latest ways to protect your business and customer data is non-negotiable.

Having worked with many funded startups, I’m guessing that you’re:

🚫 Feeling unsure if your tech can handle your business getting bigger, afraid it might slow down or stop working when you need it most.

🚫 Having anxiety that your tech may not deliver the expected level of performance, which could make customers unhappy and mess up your day-to-day operations.

🚫 Concerned about tech breaks and downtime stopping your business in its tracks, which could mean losing money and not hitting investment targets.

🚫 Worried about cybersecurity threats and the chance of a security issue that shakes your customers' trust in you and damages your business's good name.

As your fractional CIO, I am here to help steer through these tech challenges. We’ll create and maintain a robust IT infrastructure that meets current needs and prepares for future growth, ensuring your business’s success without compromising performance, security, or scalability.

I founded Agile Tech Advisors to provide businesses with the guidance and expertise they need to navigate the challenges and capitalize on the opportunities presented by technology. My extensive experience in IT leadership and consulting has shown me that companies need a strategic and proactive approach to technology management to thrive.

Agile Tech Advisors takes a value-driven approach to technology management, delivering tangible benefits and measurable outcomes that directly impact the bottom line. Our deep technical expertise and proactive approach enable us to facilitate innovation, streamline processes, and uncover growth opportunities while addressing potential cybersecurity and compliance risks.

Central to our approach is building meaningful relationships based on trust, integrity, and a deep understanding of your business. We do not believe in “technology for technology’s sake.” Your technology roadmap must align with the business and have clearly defined and agreed-upon goals. We take the time to understand your unique needs and offer customized solutions that maximize the effectiveness of your technology strategy and set the foundation for long-term success.

When you work with Agile Tech Advisors, you can expect measurable improvements in your business operations. Our results-driven approach, technical expertise, risk mitigation strategies, and commitment to building genuine relationships enable us to deliver maximum value from your technology investments.

Ilenia Vidili

Many companies seek out Ilenia because they are facing various challenges, such as loss of relevance due to the commoditization of products, low customer satisfaction scores, and difficulty in engaging and retaining customers.

However, here's what you really need to know about her: Ilenia has worked with numerous brands to help them sharpen their customer focus, streamline processes, and find practical ways to put their customers at the center of their operations – resulting in customer loyalty and greater profitability.

When your time, effort, and energy as a business are focused on serving customers better, making them feel important, and caring for them beyond selling them products and services you create a strong foundation of lasting relationships. This is not about big investments but it's the very basis of being in business: listening to customer needs and expectations and fulfilling them.

Get in touch

www.ileniavidili.com

Customer Centricity Advisor & Trainer | Professional Keynote Speaker | Author

Journey to Centricity is a timely roadmap for leaders to transform
outdated business practices into truly customer-centric
companies of the future.
.

• Improve customer focus
• Embed a customer-centric culture
• Contribute to a sustainable business world

Grab your copy here https://www.ileniavidili.com/the-book/

Author of Journey to Centricity

LinkedIn

Ilenia created two courses that are available on LinkedIn Learning. She shares practical strategies and real-world examples, propelling businesses to long-term customer loyalty, stronger competitive advantage, and sustainable business growth.

Course Instructor

Harvard Business Review

As a member of the Advisory Council, a research community of over 10,000 selected professionals and executives from global businesses, Ilenia provides insights to help shape the content of HBR and add her perspective on management and leadership.

The council also facilitates an ongoing dialogue on critical business issues, which helps HBR stay at the forefront of thought leadership and critical thinking.

Member of the Advisory Council

L3P Investment Fund

I worked as part of the core team in the L3P investment fund, a Cambridge-based technology fund with a broad range of start-up and middle-market investments. Over my four years with the fund, I supported the stakeholders and shareholders in new business opportunities, growth strategies, and business goals. 
Together with my team, I managed the launch of companies from scratch and supported established ones by developing marketing strategies and designing customer experiences.

Marketing Manager & Customer Experience Manager

Bayer CropScience

Developed and implemented marketing strategies and plans, focusing on the UK& Ireland market. Managed marketing strategies for division responsible for offering crop protection products.

Marketing Executive

Led marketing efforts for this £800 million semiconductor and software designer supplying over 250 companies.

NEC IT Solutions, Cambridge United Kingdom

Implemented marketing strategies for this $43 billion, Tokyo Stock Exchange listed, communication and technology leader offering IT and facial recognition solutions to businesses and governments.

Most businesses believe they are customer-centric. They aren’t.

They operate in silos, focusing on internal targets, processes, and short-term gains rather than truly serving customers. This disconnect creates friction, erodes trust, and leads to lost revenue. In a world where switching brands is easier than ever, this is a business killer. Customers don’t care about your internal structure, they care about seamless, effortless, and meaningful interactions.

Ilenia works with companies that refuse to settle for ‘good enough’ and want to turn customer experience into a business disruption strategy. Whether through redefined business models or innovative customer interactions, she helps organisations challenge outdated thinking and set new standards for excellence.

Through boardroom advisory, keynote speeches, and masterclasses, Ilenia helps them to:

→ Identify opportunities for disruptive customer experiences 
→ Align business objectives with customer needs
→ Simplify processes to improve customer experiences without compromising efficiency
→ Implement tools and methodologies to embed customer-centric thinking at every level
→ Prioritise customers in every decision

With over 15 years of experience, Ilenia inspired leaders at global brands in numerous industries like Coca-Cola, ING Bank, Aegon, and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to drive customer-centric transformations. Her insights have shaped thousands of professionals through LinkedIn Learning courses, guest lectures, masterclasses, and professional keynotes around the world.

She is also the author of Journey to Centricity: A Customer-Centric Framework for the Era of Stakeholder Capitalism, a blueprint for businesses ready to align their organisation with their customers and stakeholders.


Visit www.ileniaVidili.com

___


Born in Sardinia, Italy, Ilenia lived and worked across Spain, Southeast Asia, and the UK, where she built her corporate career before building her own company. Her mission is to see a future where businesses embrace a higher purpose, create meaningful value, and contribute positively to society.

I’m sitting on a plane, on my way to New York. Next to me, there’s a dad and his little boy, maybe three years old. It’s probably his first time flying.

For the first twenty minutes of the flight, the boy asked at least a hundred “Why” questions. 

“Dad, why are the wings so big?” 
“Dad, why do the clouds look like cotton?”
“Wooooooooooow, dad, we’re flying!” 

And then, with a huge grin on his face, he said: 

“Dad, this is the best day of my life.”


His eyes are glowing with pure joy. 
He can hardly sit still, scanning everything around him: the people, the seats, the buttons, the sky. 

Every small thing amazes him. 

His dad patiently answers every question.


After a while, the father tries to make him sleep. He pulls his blanket over him and whispered, “Shhh… people are sleeping. Be quiet. You need to be a good boy.” 


But the boy can't stay still. He pushes the blanket away..
His joy is louder than the engines, and his excitement is stronger than the silence. 


As I watch him, I start to feel the thrill, his fascination with every sound, every movement, every small detail around him, and thought: 


→ when did we put to sleep all of those emotions and that kind of wonder?

→ When did we lose the curiosity that once made us look at everything with amazement?

→ When did we stop asking questions, stop feeling awe, stop calling random Mondays “the best day of my life”?


Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we started trading curiosity for control, replaced wonder with worry and became too focused on the destination to notice the beauty of the journey.


▪︎ Maybe it’s time to be cute, little rebels again and push the blanket away. 
▪︎ Maybe it’s time to bring back that three-year-old inside us.
▪︎ Maybe it’s time to see our days with the same wide eyes.

✓ To marvel again.
✓ To ask again.
✓ To feel again.


The world hasn’t become less magical.

We’ve just stopped noticing, and stopped looking at it through the eyes of a three-year-old…

eyes that see wonder in everything, that find magic in clouds, and that still believe every day could be the best day of their life.



I got emotional watching that little boy, and I hope, in some small way, you do too 🤍

Ilenia

In 1905, teddy bears were banned because people feared girls would stop wanting dolls and society would fall apart.

Back then, girls were only meant to become mothers, so they were given dolls to nurture their maternal instincts. 

However, bears were seen as wild toys, not little “practice babies”, so adults panicked, schools banned them and reachers denounced them.


But girls played with them anyway and nothing collapsed.


Women studied, worked, shaped economies, and families stayed very much alive.


‌
→ The danger was never the bear. 
→ The danger was the mindset.


Change always sounds dangerous when you’re clinging to the past. 

The real fear shouldn’t be the new, but the mindset of “we’ve always done it this way”.


‌
➖I see this in organisations all the time: the old culture that refuses to let go.

➖This is the biggest barrier to innovation, to change, to betterment..



Meanwhile, smaller, agile, customer-closer companies move ahead, disrupt industries and rewrite rules.


‌
🔴 Stop banning teddy bears.. You can’t reinvent tomorrow with yesterday’s mindset.



#innovation #distuption #cx #customerexperience

I spend my year travelling across countries. I stand on big stages. I visit some of the most striking headquarters in the world.


Yet nothing beats nature.

Just me, the countryside, and a basket for mushroom hunting.. 

My mind slows down, the noise of the world steps aside and this is still my favourite place to be.

🍄🌳🍄‍🟫

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Had a wonderful time at the HEROIC Public Speaking two days course in Lambertville NJ.

One of the most transformative moments of my year so far.

As a professional keynote speaker, my goal has never been to simply deliver a talk. 

✔️ It’s to create an experience that moves people, makes them think differently, and leaves something lasting behind.


I went to HEROIC to refine that craft, to become not just a better speaker, but a better thought leader, performer, and a guide for those I stand in front of.


In just two days, I learned more than I could have imagined, from story structure, to stage presence, to the emotional precision that turns words into genuine connection.


- These two days reminded me that great speaking is not only about good content and performing well on stage but also about serving my audience.


- It’s about guiding them through an emotional and intellectual journey that changes how they see the world.


I left humbled, inspired, and more committed than ever to my work and passion: creating keynotes, workshops, and advisory sessions that aren’t just listened to, but felt.


The team at HEROIC Public Speaking are E.X.T.R.A.O.R.D.I.N.A.R.Y.


Every interaction, every exercise, every insight was world-class. You don’t just attend their training, you live it deeply..



Thank you so much to all the wonderful people I met along the way, your energy, kindness, and stories made the experience even more special.




#publicspeaking

In my recent mini speaking tour around Europe, speaking to companies about customer centricity, I received a wave of sharp, practical questions. Many of them came up repeatedly..


In this newsletter, I’m sharing the six most frequently asked questions: 

1. Finding the “Yes”: How can we make it practical for teams to say yes to customers?

2. Are there “bad” customers, and how should we handle them?

3. Why is inconsistency such a big issue in customer experience, and how do we fix it?

4. How do we operationalise empathy without harming the bottom line?

5. What’s the first step in becoming a truly customer-centric organisation?

6. What can senior leaders do to build a customer-focused culture?


Over the next few weeks, I’ll be digging deeper into each one to help you apply these lessons inside your organisation.



What’s the one question you’d like me to explore in more depth?


#cx #customerexperience #speakingtour

Click here to subscribe for bold insights that challenge conventional thinking, reshape businesses, and transform industries. In my recent mini speaki

Open article: The 6 Most Asked Questions from My European Speaking Tour by Ilenia Vidili • 7 min read

The 6 Most Asked Questions from My European Speaking Tour

Companies shape our days more than we realise. A single interaction can lift you or drain you...

• On a recent trip to Poland, one of the cabin crew behaved like royalty, and people felt like unwelcome guests.


• My suitcase then disappeared during a layover in Germany, and I had a gala dinner two hours later in Warsaw. I was furious and the evening was gone before it began.


•  At the airport desk the staff processed my lost-baggage claim with no emotion. There were no apologies, no smile, and no reassurance. I felt like a task to complete, not a person with a problem.


Then things shifted on my way to the hotel. Just slightly, but enough to breathe again.


•  My Uber driver noticed my mood and asked for my favourite music, so he played Ludovico Einaudi. I loved the gesture. We shared a gentle conversation, and my shoulders finally relaxed.


Finally arrived at Hotel Bristol in Warsaw..


•  They listened to my lost-suitcase drama, placed a generous toiletries kit and warm pyjamas in my room, and phoned to check if I was alright. They made me feel safe, seen, and taken care of.


And well…the rest is history.


Half day and only four experiences later, my emotions rose and crashed like waves.


Customer experience is how people feel when we touch their day.

A single employee can darken someone’s mood, and another can restore it.


So the real purpose of customer experience is:

▶︎ Do we intend to make someone’s day heavier or brighter?

⁃ Let’s start from there.




Photo: Somewhere between Germany and Poland, moments before discovering my suitcase had stayed behind to enjoy a solo holiday without me.


#cx #customerexperience #customerrelations

Many companies say they want to be closer to their customers, yet they trim the very things that help people serve them well.

⁃ They cut roles and expect the same care.
⁃ They limit training and expect sharper judgement.
⁃ They slow investment and expect smoother journeys.


Then leaders ask why customer experiences doesn’t work...

It makes me smile a little because the answer sits right in front of them. 

You cannot expect people to create thoughtful experiences in an environment where teams feel stretched thin.


• I’ve met brilliant frontline staff who want to offer care but lack the time and tools.

• I’ve met managers who carry the weight of three roles and still try to keep customers happy.

• I’ve met teams who want to fix recurring customer problems but don’t know where to start from as they lack the necessary training.



These moments stay with me because they show the gap between what people want to do and what they can do.


Here are three steps you can take to see if their customer experience budget needs attention:

1. Ask teams where customers struggle and where they feel blocked.

2. Check the hidden cost of delay and look at how many hours teams spend fixing the same issues.

3. Check if your goals for customer care match the resources you give to the people who deliver it.



If we keep cutting the very things that make service work, we should not be surprised when customers feel the cracks.



▶︎ Where have you experienced the most damaging budget cut that affected customer experiences in your organisation?



#cx #customerexperience #customerrelations

For the past ten years I have been inside companies running workshops, coaching executives, and helping teams shift towards customer centricity.

After hundreds of rooms and thousands of conversations, one truth keeps repeating itself.

▶︎ Customer experience is never just about customers. It is always about leadership and culture.


Here is what I keep noticing:

1. Customers often feel what employees feel.
 
 ↳ The internal atmosphere becomes the external experience. When teams feel respected, customers tend to feel respected. When employees are unsupported, customers sense it.

2. Leadership behaviour shapes how teams behave with customers.

 ↳ People copy what leaders do, not what leaders say. Teams rarely offer kindness, patience, and empathy if those qualities are absent at the top.

3. Culture often influences customer outcomes faster than strategy.

 ↳ Culture lives in everyday behaviour and it shows up immediately in the next decision, the next message, the next moment of pressure. If the culture is not there, the strategy lives in documents.

4. Customer centricity grows when everyone shares ownership.

 ↳ When teams stop thinking in narrow roles and start acting as one system, customers finally experience a company that feels coherent rather than fragmented.


✶ Customer experience is a mirror. It reflects whatever the culture and its leadership shows.


What else would you add?



#cx #customerexperience #customerrelations

This senior marketing manager who knew all the right tactics… failed spectacularly when she took her first customer-experience role…

That was me.


I thought years of experience with brand campaigns and digital strategies had prepared me.

- Metrics? Yes
- Market knowledge? Yes
- Customer-centric mindset? Maybe


But stepping into a role where customers were supposed to be at the centre was a brutal wake-up call.


The problem wasn’t my marketing skills. 
The problem was thinking marketing skills were enough.


Here’s what a marketing background doesn’t prepare you for in customer-centric leadership:

1. Customers don’t care about your products. 

Marketer love telling them how great their products are, but what they really care about is how their problems get solved. Features mean little without context in their lives.


2. Campaigns don’t build loyalty.

We can spend months crafting the perfect message, but if the service fails or the experience is clunky, customers leave. Loyalty is built in consistent functional and emotional interactions.


3. Data without empathy is useless.

Marketers analyse clicks, funnels, and conversions, but numbers don’t reveal the frustration of waiting on hold or the delight of being treated with care. Without empathy, data leads to blind spots.


✦ Customer-centricity is about high EQ (empathy) and high AQ (adaptability)


If you’re stepping into a customer-centric role, here’s my advice:

✕ Don’t start with technology.
✕ Don’t even start with strategy decks.

✓ Start with people and create alignment across leadership and employees
✓ Learn and teach others to see the world through the customer’s eyes


Because the best strategy, the boldest campaigns, and the smartest tools collapse the moment a company forgets who pays the bills: the customer.



What’s been your toughest lesson in building customer-centricity?



#cx 
#customerexperience 
#customerrelations

In 2008, during a tour with his band Sons of Maxwell, musician Dave Carroll saw United Airlines baggage handlers mishandle his guitar, and when he arrived, it was badly damaged.

Dave filed a complaint, but for nine long months:

→ he was passed from person to person,

→ he was told the incident fell outside the “acceptable window” for compensation,

→ and ultimately he was offered nothing meaningful.


Very frustrated Dave decided to write a song called “United Breaks Guitars”, posted the video on YouTube, and watched the world listen.


In just four days, the video hit 1.7 million views.

Soon after, United’s share price dropped by around 10%, wiping roughly $180 million in market value..

which, incidentally, would have bought Dave Carroll more than 51,000 replacement guitars.


Did the song have a very real and very negative effect on United’s brand? 

Absolutely.


That’s what happens when a company claims to be customer-focused but ignores the very people it serves: 

▪︎ Real financial damage

▪︎ Loss of trust and credibility.

▪︎ Public backlash amplified by social media and viral storytelling.

▪︎ The story becomes the company’s story, and often not in the way the company wants.


You can spend millions building a brand and a reputation, and lose it all with one story that shows you don’t care enough about your customers..


▶︎ We’ve all been there, ignored by customer service. 

▶︎ What would you do to make them listen?



Link to the song video in comments



#cx #customerexperience #customerservice

Thrilled to be joining the Contact Centre & Customer Services Summit 2026 in London on 6 May to deliver a workshop close to my heart:

► "Designing the Customer Service Department of the Future"


Contact centres have long been seen as reactive cost centres, yet they have the potential to become strategic growth engines shaping loyalty, influencing decisions, and delivering long-term growth.


In this hands-on session, participants will:


🔹 Reimagine the true role of customer service in driving business growth

🔹 Explore how people, processes, and technology can work together to build trust and retention

🔹 Leave with a practical framework to redesign their department for greater impact


Looking forward to an inspiring day with leaders who believe that customer service isn’t a back-office function but it’s the heart of the brand.


Will I see you there?



#customerservice #cx #customerexperience #FEContactCentreSummit

I could not have dreamed of a better testimonial. My heart did a tiny cartwheel when I read that the experience of working with me was excellent.


My whole job is to help companies strengthen their relationship with their customers by delivering better customer experiences. 

So when a client says that the way I work reflects what I speak about, teach and consult on, it feels meaningful.

It matters a lot that my clients’ journey with me follows the same principles I encourage companies to adopt, and, frankly, that is how it should be.


“I had the pleasure of working with Ilenia Vidili and the experience was excellent. Beyond the quality of her speech, Ilenia impressed me with the consistency between what she shares and what she applies, from the first interaction to the final delivery. It is rare to meet someone who brings customer experience to life in such an authentic way. A truly outstanding professional.”



Thank you, Christian Caldato, Research Director and Customer Expert at Quintegia.



Working with you and your team was a joy and an honour 💛


#cx #customerexperience #publicspeaking

Testimonial from Christian Caldaro, Research Director at Quintegia. He says he had the pleasure of working with Ilenia Vidili at ADD25 in Verona. He describes the experience as excellent and praises the consistency between what she shares and what she applies from preparation to delivery. He adds that it is rare to see customer experience brought to life with such authenticity and calls her a true professional.

Them: We’re good, we have 95% retention rate

Me: Great! Do you know why they stay?

Them: Yes, our switching costs are high”

That is the moment my stomach drops…


Customers stay for many reasons: 

→ Some stay because contracts trap them.
→ Some stay because switching feels annoying.
→ Some stay because they have low expectations.


NONE of that signals real customer loyalty…


Loyalty lives in a different place:


✶ It survives small mistakes.
✶ It grows when the relationship feels fair and human.
✶ It appears when they recommend you without thinking.
✶ It shows up in customers who could leave but choose you over again


The danger of retention is that it looks healthy right until the moment it collapses.


Instead of focussing on retention alone, focus on:

1. treating customers as individuals and show you understand them and care.

2. consistency and reliability over time. Good service once helps but great service repeatedly builds trust.

3. giving opportunities for engagement: ask for feedback, respond to it, offer communities or ways to interact.

4. solving painful friction points but also surprise and delight them

5. understanding and fulfilling customer needs across the spectrum: functional and emotional needs


If your retention looks strong but your loyalty is weak, you are sitting on silent churn.

It will hit the moment a better option appears.


▶︎ I would love to hear your view. what signals true loyalty in your world?



#cx #customerexperience #customerrelations

I often test different companies, services, and price tiers to understand how customer experience shifts across segments.

This time, I dared myself to fly economy on a seven hour Lufthansa flight.

Brave, I know.

A few months earlier, I had already gone through a nightmare trying to book that very flight. I filed several complaints but never heard back from them.


During the flight, things got worse..

▪︎ The entertainment screen did not work.

▪︎ I asked to change seat but the flight was fully booked so not possible.

▪︎ I then asked if I could at least have access to the internet.

▪︎ but, I was told that I had to pay for it since it was managed by another provider.

▪︎ Unfair, but fine, I pay.

▪︎ Except it did not work either. The payment page crashed every time.



Many justify all this by saying, “Well, it is economy, what did you expect?”


Well, I expected, exactly what was promised to me. I was not expecting champagne, oysters, or limousine treatment, I was expecting exactly what they claim to provide.


Lufthansa lists inflight: 

- entertainment for all,

- internet available for two hours or the full duration,

- customer service when needed, and a lot more



So here are two important points:

1. low paying customers are still customers with expectations shaped by what the company promises to deliver, and

2. paying premium does not always guarantee excellence either. I have had broken experiences in high end services too.


I am very curious to know your view on this:

▶︎ Would you ever feel it is acceptable to receive a poor customer experience simply because you did not pay for a premium service?



PS: Customer centricity is a core element of the Lufthansa group strategy. I don't think is working very well...


Image credit: Lufthansa website

#cx #customerexperience #customerrelations

Your next customer isn’t a person. It’s a machine! This is real, growing and the next disruption...

By 2030 machine customers will be involved in $30 trillion worth of purchases (Gartner)


What are machine customers?

■ These are AI agents, smart devices or autonomous systems that buy things on behalf of people or organisations. 

■  They purchase because they are instructed by an individual based on the parameters that are given

■ They’re designed for efficiency, logic, data and speed. 

◆ In B2C: your flight and hotel purchased by a machine customer based on the parameters you gave

◆ In B2B: a procurement bot that scans supplier performance, compliance certificates and cost-data, then shortlists the vendor that fits best.



These machine customers are changing: 
- how buying happens, 
- how selling happens and 
- how marketing happens.



What are the implications for companies?

→ If your product or service can’t be found, vetted and selected by a machine customer, you risk being invisible.

→ Sales teams may no longer win purely through relationships and face-to-face persuasion. The machine may already have shortlisted you or ruled you out before your pitch.

→ Marketing becomes less about emotion and stories and more about machine-readable facts: clear data, integration readiness, reliability, compliance.

→ B2B vendors will face shorter cycles, more automated vetting and stricter “machine audits” before human sign-off.



5 steps to get ready for machine customers: 

1. Structure your data
Make pricing, performance, and compliance clear and machine-readable.

2. Strengthen connections
Offer APIs and smooth integrations so AI agents can plug in without effort.

3. Prove reliability
Minimise errors and keep clean visible records that machines can verify instantly.

4. Speak to both humans and machines
Give humans empathy, and give machines clear data, instructions and logic.

5. Experiment now
Test small automations and self-service flows and learn what works fast.



This disruption has already begun. 

The question is no longer whether machine customers will change how people buy… but whether your company will still be visible and ready when they do.



▶︎ Are you interested to know more about this topic? Let me know in the comments below and I will share more content. 



Ps: I am thinking about creating an online course about it. Interested? 




#cx #customerexperience #ai #artificialintelligence

I keep seeing companies hire people who think like them, act like them, and see customers through the same narrow lens.

That's very safe, predictable and comfortable.

But comfort does not build loyal customers. It breeds blind spots.


The most customer centric brands borrow brilliance from everywhere:


• Tech teaches speed.
• Retail teaches listening.
• Hospitality teaches warmth.
• Healthcare teaches responsibility.



When you mix those worlds, you stop improving in small steps and start creating experiences customers actually notice.


Customer centric innovation dies when organisations recycle the same ideas, same meetings, same questions, same assumptions.


Meanwhile, a competitor you have never heard of studies:

→ how Netflix builds habit,
→ how Toyota removes friction,
→ how small cafés remember customers names.
→ they leap ahead while others defend yesterday.


The smartest companies I work with invite diversity of thought and people.

They challenge their own rules, they bring in people who see the world completely upside down..


If you want customers to stay, surprise them.

Borrow from unfamiliar places, and learn from industries nothing like yours.


▶︎ What practice from a completely different sector have you seen transforming the customer experience?



#cx #customerexperience #customerrelations #innovation

Ilenia Vidili keynote speaker on customer experience 

My last engagement of the year will take me to Zagreb, Croatia, where I will run a workshop on customer journey mapping at the Booking Manager Summit 2026.


📅 When: December 10th - 12th, 2025

🎯 Who: Professionals in the charter industry

🎤 What: Mastering the Customer Journey & Building Long-Term Client Loyalty



In this session, we’ll dive into:

→ Mapping and optimising every stage of the charter journey

→ Identifying key touchpoints to craft seamless, unforgettable experiences

→ Understanding client expectations to deliver standout, personalised service

→ Creating onboard experiences that don’t just meet expectations but exceed them



If you are planning in attending the summit, come and say hi. If you cannot make it but you are in or around Zagreb, let me know. I would love to grab a coffee.



#cx #customerexperience #customerrelations #customerjourneymapping

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