Unlocking the Future of Customer Experience: A Conversation with Matias Quintanilla

In a recent episode of The Voice of Customer Experience, host Gerry Brown sat down with Matias Quintanilla, Head of Customer Monitoring at Virgin Media o2, to discuss the future of customer experience, the role of artificial intelligence (AI), and how businesses can evolve through collaboration, not just internally, but across industries.

Breaking Down Industry Silos for Collective Innovation

Right from the outset, Matias highlighted a critical challenge many businesses face today: the presence of silos. Whether within individual organisations or across entire industries, these silos can stifle growth, creativity, and ultimately, the customer experience. Matias's perspective is clear: true innovation in customer experience can only happen when companies start working together.

While competition drives excellence, there’s tremendous value in sharing best practices to tackle common customer pain points. Matias elaborated on how businesses, even those competing in the same space, can find ways to collaborate without losing their competitive edge. By sharing insights, companies can foster a culture of collective growth, improve efficiency, and better serve customers—who are, after all, facing the same set of challenges regardless of who they’re buying from.

“We need to start seeing collaboration not as a threat to competition, but as an opportunity to lift the industry as a whole,” Matias emphasised during the conversation. This shift in mindset, he explained, allows organisations to focus on what truly differentiates them, while still benefiting from broader industry improvements.

The Role of AI in Transforming Customer Experience

The conversation naturally moved to the transformative power of AI in customer service. According to Matias, AI is not just a buzzword—it’s a tool that can help businesses scale personalisation, streamline operations, and enhance decision-making processes. However, he was quick to point out that AI should not replace the human touch.

“AI is incredibly powerful, but it’s not about replacing people—it’s about augmenting them,” Matias said. He spoke passionately about how AI, when used correctly, can help teams focus on higher-level strategic work by taking over repetitive, manual tasks. This shift allows customer service representatives to become more focused on building meaningful relationships and providing creative, tailored solutions.

Matias also touched on the importance of keeping humans at the centre of AI transformations, explaining that organisations should focus on upskilling employees to work alongside technology, not against it. This not only helps people feel empowered but also drives a culture of continuous learning and innovation within teams.

Creating a Culture of Learning and Resilience

A standout moment in the podcast was when Matias shared his thoughts on creating a culture of learning, where failure is seen as a part of growth rather than a setback. In an age where customer demands are evolving faster than ever, teams need to be agile, adaptable, and, most importantly, resilient.

“We have to remove the stigma around failure,” Matias asserted. He explained that in order to innovate and push boundaries, teams need the freedom to experiment—and sometimes fail. The real value, according to Matias, lies in how organisations learn from these failures and use them to drive future success.

This approach is particularly relevant in today’s fast-paced digital world. As businesses undergo digital transformation and integrate AI-driven solutions, there are bound to be bumps along the way. But Matias’s philosophy encourages leaders to create environments where teams feel safe to experiment, iterate, and grow—because that's how true progress is made.

Final Thoughts: A Collaborative, AI-Driven Future

As the podcast drew to a close, it was clear that Matias’s vision for the future of customer experience is one that balances technology with human empathy, and competition with collaboration. In his view, businesses that focus on sharing knowledge, empowering employees, and using AI as an enabler rather than a replacement will be the ones that thrive in the coming years.

For Matias, the ultimate goal is clear: a customer experience that is as seamless, personalised, and meaningful as possible. And in achieving that, it’s not about working in silos or fearing technology, but rather about embracing change and building an ecosystem where companies, employees, and customers all win.