Silke Robeller, Director of Global Customer Care at Rainforest Alliance, explains why customer service is a company’s business card. She demonstrates how a 95 percent satisfaction rate indicates a significant impact on growth. Silke shares tactics to overcome the label of being a cost center. She maps practical steps for proactive cross-functional influence.

“Your support is the business card of your company, and if it’s better than your competitor, this pays directly into the customer satisfaction and the loyalty of this customer to your brand.” - Silke Robeller.

This episode examines how CX redefines value within the business. Silke shares evidence that shifts cost center perceptions, explains how CSAT signals revenue impact, and shows why involving customer care early in launches improves outcomes across sales, product, and operations.

Jaakko Jutila, Vice President of Customer Support at Basware, explains how support teams escape the cost-center trap. He details how CSAT improvements are linked to retention, providing a defensible business case. He outlines a seamless journey architecture across sales, services, support, and success. He shares a pragmatic approach to AI that starts internally and scales on solid processes.

“When the leadership and executive suite sees that there is some correlation between support, satisfaction, and retention, that is one way to help raise the awareness and for them to start considering support not only as a cost center, but actually as an engine for growth.” – Jaakko Jutila

This episode explores how support escapes the cost center label, ties CSAT to renewals, and aligns teams on shared KPIs. Jaakko demonstrates how to initiate AI within operations, strengthen data foundations, and establish R&D partnerships that reduce case volumes while enhancing customer outcomes. Executives get a clear path to quantify impact and win buy-in.

Mazen Moustafa, Director of Customer Service at Reliance Health, Egypt, shares two decades of cross-market customer operations and customer experience leadership. He introduces Then AI Happens, outlining practical AI use cases and workflows. Mazen also spotlights his security-awareness game Mission I.H.I., teaching youth to protect personal data. He closes with a personal note on travel and lifelong learning.

“To change the contact center perspective from being just a support function to a growth driver, traditional metrics are not enough. You need to connect and build your own KPIs in a way that directly relates to revenue generation or cost savings with actual numbers. Not intuition, not aspiration, but actual figures.” – Mazen Moustafa

Mazen highlights how contact centers become growth drivers by tying KPIs to revenue and cost outcomes, not just efficiency. He recommends mapped processes, unified data, and a living knowledge base before scaling AI. He also emphasizes empowerment and strategic planning that earns executive trust and investment.