Resident Expert: Bill Staikos on the CX landscape in 2026

The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®: Expert Mode Marketing Technology, AI, & CX

The Agile Brand

Business, Marketing

4.9 • 113 Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2026

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As a leader, you often spend so much time on the strategies and tactics that keep your brand growing that it’s difficult to keep up with what’s going on in the background with the platforms and the companies behind them. That’s why I’m always glad to talk with our guest today, who is both focused on the business of CX as well as the business behind CX and the SaaS platforms driving so many customer experiences. I’m excited to talk again with our Resident Expert on the CX and MarTech platform landscape. We talked right at the beginning of 2026 as a look back at last year. Now that we’ve had a quarter behind us in 2026, it’s time to talk about how this year is shaping up and what we can expect in the months ahead. To help me discuss these topics, I'd like to welcome, Bill Staikos, Founder at Be Customer Led. About Bill Staikos Bill Staikos is a senior customer experience executive with over 20 years of leadership across financial services, consulting, and technology. He has held senior roles at American Express, Freddie Mac, JP Morgan, and BNY Mellon, where he led global initiatives to transform client and employee experiences. A former SVP at Medallia, Bill helped organizations turn insights into measurable outcomes. Recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice and one of the Top 50 Global CX Influencers, Bill is also the founder of the Be Customer-Led podcast and is now preparing to launch The Multimodal Experience. Known for his pragmatic, impact-driven approach, Bill advises leading brands, including Apple, Bank of America, Marriott, and T-Mobile, on connecting customer experience to business growth. Bill Staikos on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billstaikos/ Resources Be Customer Led: https://becustomerled.com/ The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703 Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 We’re proud to be a media partner for #MAICON26 - Oct. 13-15! Learn how AI can power your marketing and business and help you grow smarter. Use code AGILE150 to save! https://aglbrnd.co/r/7fe458ced0f04658 Reach your customers with Reddit. Spend $500 in ad spend, get $500 back in ad credit! Learn more: https://advertalize.com/r/491818c79fb1873f Don't miss We Make Future - the International Festival of Innovation in AI, Tech, and Digital Marketing, June 24-26 in Bologna. Learn more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/c80991afff416bb2 The most influential minds in software, AI, and engineering leadership will be at WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America, September 23-25 in San Jose. Learn more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/60a7299222a7bcf1 Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

Transcript

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0:00.0	As a leader, you often spend so much time on the strategies and tactics that keep your brand growing
0:05.0	that it's difficult to keep up with what's going on in the background, with the platforms and the companies behind them.
0:10.0	That's why I'm always glad to talk with our guests today, who is both focused on the business of CX as well as the business behind CX,
0:17.0	and the SaaS platforms driving so many customer experiences. I'm excited to talk again with our resident expert on the CX and Martec platform landscape.
0:25.6	We talked right at the beginning of 2026 as a look back at last year.
0:29.6	Now that we've had a quarter behind us in 2026,
0:32.6	it's time to talk about how this year is shaping up and what we can expect in the months ahead.
0:41.0	Welcome to Season 8 of the Agile Brand Podcast.
0:44.0	This season, we're going all in on expert mode MARTEC, AI, and customer experience,
0:48.7	talking with the people and platforms behind the brands you know and love.
0:52.2	Again, I'm your host, Greg Kilstrom, and I help Fortune 1000 companies make sense of
0:57.0	Martec, AI, and marketing ops.
0:58.0	Hit subscribe or follow to make sure you always get the latest episodes and leave us a rating so others can find us as well.
1:05.0	And make sure you check out our sponsor Tech Systems, an industry leader in full-stack technology services, talent services,
1:12.1	and real-world adoption. For more information, go to TechSystems.com. Now let's dive in.
1:17.6	Tell me, discuss this topic. I'd like to welcome Bill Stacos, founder at B Customer Lead. Bill,
1:25.6	welcome back to the show.
1:26.6	It's awesome to be back.
1:28.6	A lot has been going on since we last talk. So I think we're going to have a pretty meaty conversation here today. Yeah, yeah, I know. It's crazy to think, you know, it's only, it's been a matter of weeks, I guess, you know, a couple months. But, you know, it's been a matter of weeks since we last chatted. and yeah, lots to talk through.
1:46.0	For those that didn't catch our last conversation, couple months, but, you know, it's been a matter of weeks since we last chatted. And yeah, lots to
1:44.2	talk through. For those that didn't catch our last conversation, why don't you give a little
1:49.5	background on yourself in your role at be customer led? Sure. So after spending 25 years as an
	...

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