Katie DeFeo is the Vice President and Chief Experience Officer of SunWest Federal Credit Union, a community-focused financial institution offering banking services such as loans, savings, and digital banking solutions. She leads efforts to enhance member experience by blending digital innovation with genuine human connection and clear communication. Katie champions authentic branding and customer-centric strategies to help SunWest stand out in a competitive financial landscape. Her leadership also drives the credit union's digital transformation initiatives, which aim to deliver personalized and efficient services to members.

Many financial institutions pride themselves on strong service and long-standing member relationships. But in today's digital, fast-moving world, good service is no longer a differentiator. When technology, culture, and processes lag behind member expectations, friction builds and growth stalls. How can organizations evolve without losing the human connection that made them successful in the first place?

Katie DeFeo, a financial services executive specializing in member experience, culture transformation, and digital innovation, explains that real change starts internally. She emphasizes that culture must come before strategy, aligning every employee's role to a clear purpose and member impact. Katie advocates for regularly ripping apart processes to uncover friction, mapping the full customer journey, and fixing breakdowns before they cost revenue. She also shares how humanizing AI, owning mistakes publicly, and inviting direct member feedback can rebuild trust and drive smarter innovation. By blending transparency, accountability, and intentional leadership, she shows how organizations can modernize without sacrificing authenticity.

In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker interviews Katie DeFeo, Vice President and Chief Experience Officer of SunWest Federal Credit Union, about transforming member experience through culture and innovation. Katie discusses humanizing AI with transparency, eliminating friction in lending processes, and building purpose-driven teams that fuel sustainable growth.

Bill Cates is the Founder of Referral Coach International, a company that helps professionals grow their business by generating referrals and personal introductions through proven relationship marketing systems. He is a bestselling author of several books on referrals and business growth, including Get More Referrals Now and Radical Relevance. Bill has spent over 25 years helping thousands of financial professionals and business owners move from incremental to exponential growth by improving client engagement and communication. He also hosts the Top Advisor Podcast and founded The Cates Academy for Relationship Marketing.

Many professionals struggle to grow through referrals without feeling awkward, pushy, or inauthentic. At the same time, deeply held money beliefs — often shaped by fear or scarcity — can quietly sabotage both personal finances and client relationships. How can leaders overcome these hidden barriers to build trust, growth, and lasting wealth?

Bill Cates, a referral expert, bestselling author, and coach to financial advisors, explains that referrals still dominate how people choose advisors — but only when handled with empathy and intention. He emphasizes shifting from asking to creating natural introductions, planting referral seeds through service, and aligning growth strategies with how clients want to connect. Bill also highlights the importance of understanding money mindsets, recognizing the emotional stories behind financial decisions, and transforming fear-driven behaviors into confident actions through education and awareness.

In this episode of The Customer Wins podcast, Richard Walker interviews Bill Cates, Founder of Referral Coach International, about growth through referrals, money mindset, and client trust. Bill discusses why introductions outperform leads, how scarcity thinking affects advisors, and how storytelling can reshape beliefs about money.

Chirag Gandhi is the Co-founder and CEO of Mili, an AI-powered platform that automates administrative workflows for financial advisors, helping them save time and focus on client relationships. Under his leadership, Mili has raised funding and expanded its enterprise AI platform in the wealth management space. Chirag previously worked in venture capital and growth equity, where he helped raise and manage significant investment funds, gaining deep experience in financial services. Before founding Mili, he held roles in investment firms and served as an angel investor supporting early-stage startups.

Financial advisors are overwhelmed by administrative work, fragmented systems, and rising expectations to adopt AI — without compromising compliance or client trust. Many teams experiment with AI tools, only to find they don't fit real workflows or create new risks. How can firms use AI to save time and scale impact without losing control?

Chirag Gandhi, a fintech entrepreneur and AI systems expert, explains how advisory firms can apply AI in practical, compliant ways by focusing on workflow-specific automation. He emphasizes starting with meetings as a data source, using real-time note structuring, and integrating deeply with existing systems rather than layering generic tools. Chirag also shares why safe design choices, human-in-the-loop oversight, and clarity on build-versus-buy decisions are critical to making AI actually work in regulated environments.

In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker interviews Chirag Gandhi, Co-founder and CEO of Mili, about applying agentic AI in financial services. Chirag discusses designing compliant AI systems, deciding when to build versus buy AI tools, and how agents can automate tasks while preserving human relationships.