Episode Description

What does it actually take to build customer relationships that last — not just satisfy, but genuinely endure? In this episode, Dr Eslam Afifi sits down with Kate Calling, founder of World Journeys, a bespoke luxury travel agency that has thrived for over 20 years through the internet boom, the rise of online booking platforms, and now the emergence of agentic AI.

Kate unpacks the three principles that have been the backbone of World Journeys since day one: ease of doing business, authenticity, and trust. But as the conversation unfolds, it becomes clear these are not three separate ideas — they are a chain reaction. Get the first one right, and the others follow naturally. Skip one, and the whole thing collapses.

The episode covers how World Journeys manages complex multi-destination itineraries for high-end clients, how they handle crises when things go wrong on the other side of the world, what luxury actually means when you strip away the brand names, and why the most powerful signal of customer trust is a client who sends you a single sentence — and nothing more.

Whether you work in travel, financial services, government, or any service-driven industry, this conversation will change how you think about customer engagement, human connection, and the role of AI in the future of CX.

What you will learn:

• Why ease of doing business is the foundation — not a nice-to-have
• How authentic expertise converts curious customers into loyal ones
• What deep trust actually looks like in practice — and the three stages to get there
• How World Journeys manages consistency across complex global itineraries
• Why staying small was a deliberate and powerful strategic choice
• How to think about AI as a support layer — not a replacement for human connection

About the Guest

Kate Couling is a co-founding director of World Journeys and has worked in the travel industry since her early twenties. Her career began the way the best ones often do — travelling the world on a budget, arriving into cities late at night with nothing pre-arranged, navigating bureaucracy and language barriers, and proving she could figure it out on her own.

That formative experience is the foundation of everything World Journeys does today. Kate and her fellow directors built the agency on a simple but powerful mission: to design journeys they would undertake themselves. Every itinerary is crafted from personal knowledge and direct experience — not brochures, not third-party reviews. The team has worked in the industry for over 30 years and continues to travel regularly, because at World Journeys, staying current is not optional — it is the job.

You can reach Kate and the World Journeys team at kate@worldjourneys.co.nz

About the Host

Dr Eslam Afifi is a customer experience strategist, executive advisor, and the host of The CX Algorithm — a podcast dedicated to exploring the intersection of human behaviour, technology, and exceptional customer experience design.

With a career spanning CX leadership, executive consulting, and academic research, Eslam brings a rare combination of strategic rigour and real-world practicality to every conversation. His guests range from founders and operators to technologists and researchers — all united by a commitment to understanding what truly drives customer loyalty in a rapidly changing world.

Beyond the podcast, Eslam serves as an executive director at World Journeys, giving him a unique insider perspective on what world-class service design looks like when it is built from the ground up — not retrofitted onto a broken system.

The CX Algorithm is for CX leaders, service designers, founders, and anyone who believes that the quality of human connection is still the most powerful differentiator in business.

Follow Dr Eslam on LinkedIn for weekly reflections, episode releases, and CX insights drawn from conversations just like this one.

AI is moving faster than most decision cycles — and leadership has never been more complex. In this episode of The CX Algorithm Podcast, Dr. Eslam Afifi is joined by Ana Herranz, executive & HR coach and co-founder of Game Changers for People and Talent, to unpack what leadership needs to become in the AI era: not more technical… but more human.

Ana introduces a practical “inner algorithm” for modern leadership built on three elements:

1) The Mind (clarity & innovation)
Under pressure, leaders default to convergent thinking (safe answers, repeat what worked before). Ana explains why innovation requires shifting to divergent thinking — creating cognitive space, asking “what are all the possible answers?”, and modelling learning over perfection.

2) The Body (presence & regulation)
Leadership is a physical act. Stress shows up in tone, posture, breath, speed, and patience — often before words do. Ana shares why healthy habits matter, how simple rituals (like breathing and grounding) help shift from survival mode to leadership mode, and why asking for feedback is critical because body language can reveal what you don’t notice.

3) The Soul (purpose & authenticity)
Purpose isn’t a single discovery moment — it’s built through action and attention. Ana shares a simple journal exercise: track daily activities and rate each by energy and engagement to identify patterns, find “flow” moments, and adjust your role (sometimes by delegating the energy-drainers rather than changing companies).

They also discuss a key practical challenge: your first three months in a new executive role. Ana explains why leaders must read the organization’s business cycle (growth vs mature vs restructuring), adapt their approach, and secure quick wins/pilots to earn buy-in.

Finally, they connect it all back to AI: how AI can create space for better thinking, why leaders must rethink team skills and structure (including working alongside AI agents), and why the real differentiator going forward is the human behind the leader.👤 About the Guest

Ana Herranz is an executive and HR coach with over 15 years of experience working across academia and industry. She has delivered more than 3,000 one-on-one coaching sessions with executives worldwide and facilitated over 400 workshops for large organisations. Ana is the co-founder of Game Changers for People and Talent, where she supports leaders and organisations in building human-centred, future-ready leadership.

🎙 About the Host

Dr. Eslam Afifi is a CX and Data leader with over 15 years of international experience across Australia, Europe, and the GCC. As the creator of The CX Algorithm Podcast, he explores how the right balance between people, data, technology, and human insight creates exceptional customer experiences and sustainable business growth.

In this episode of The CX Algorithm Podcast, Dr Eslam Afifi is joined by David Carro Estrade Head of Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) at Samsung Electronics Iberia to explore a quiet but profound shift in customer experience: the return of intermediaries.

For years, organisations worked to remove friction and get closer to customers. Today, AI agents are re-entering the middle — shaping decisions, filtering choices, and redefining how customer journeys are experienced. Together, Eslam and David unpack what this re-intermediation means for customer experience, emotional connection, advertising, trust, and leadership.

David Carro is Head of Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) at Samsung Electronics Iberia, where he leads online sales across Spain and Portugal. He joined Samsung to accelerate its D2C strategy, with a strong focus on operational excellence, customer experience, and data-driven growth.

Previously, David held senior leadership roles at Vodafone, where he led the Digital Business unit across eCommerce, Customer Care, and Omnichannel strategy. His career spans more than 20 years across global organisations and is marked by large-scale digital transformation and continuous improvement initiatives centred on customer value.

David is also a recognised voice in artificial intelligence applied to marketing and customer experience, and a founding member of the AI Forum Spain. He regularly speaks and teaches on AI, digital transformation, and the future of customer experience.

Hosted by Dr Eslam Afifi — a CX, data, and AI leader with deep experience across financial services, public sector, and consulting — The CX Algorithm Podcast explores how people, data, technology, and design come together to shape meaningful customer experiences in an increasingly intelligent world.

This episode is a must-listen for leaders navigating AI and CX who want to understand not just what’s changing — but how to stay relevant when intelligence becomes the interface and the customer journey is no longer direct.

AI is everywhere — but real value remains elusive.

In this episode of The CX Algorithm Podcast, Dr Eslam Afifi is joined by Kiron Ravindran, Professor and Department Chair of Information Systems and Technology at IE Business School, to cut through the noise and examine what’s actually working — and what isn’t — in today’s AI-driven organisations.

Together, they explore why so many AI initiatives struggle to deliver ROI, despite unprecedented investment and capability. The conversation unpacks the growing gap between AI output and human understanding, the rise of “attention-span AI,” and how polished machine-generated answers can create an illusion of expertise rather than better decision-making.

A key focus of the episode is the shift from automation to AI augmentation — why the most successful organisations are using AI to enhance human judgment rather than replace it. Kiron shares insights on where AI creates genuine productivity gains, where it consistently fails, and why IT productivity hasn’t improved at the pace many leaders expected.

The discussion also looks ahead to the next wave of AI — from intelligent agents to context-aware systems — and what leaders must rethink to design work that is more focused, human-centred, and outcome-driven.

This episode is for leaders and practitioners looking to move beyond AI hype — and design technology that truly creates value.

About the guest

Dr Kiron Ravindran has over 15 years of teaching and research experience and currently serves as Chair of the Information Systems and Technology area at IE Business School. He holds a PhD from the University of California, Irvine, a Postgraduate Diploma in Management (International Business), and a Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering. His research focuses on the economics of information systems, with published work across IT outsourcing, cloud computing, robotics, blockchain startups, and organisational networks. Originally from India, Kiron has lived and worked across the Middle East, North America, and Europe.

🔗 Connect with Kiron Ravindran on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kironravindran/