From CRMC: Phaedon's Jaclyn Wands on humanizing loyalty in an AI-driven world

From CRMC: Phaedon's Jaclyn Wands on humanizing loyalty in an AI-driven world

From The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström® | What CMOs Need to Know About Marketing Technology, AI & CX by The Agile Brand

June 10, 2026 · 21 min · Season 8 · Episode 872

About this episode

Jaclyn Wands discusses the balance between AI and human elements in customer loyalty programs.

As brands invest billions in AI to personalize the customer experience, are they inadvertently creating a more transactional, less human relationship with their most valuable customers? Agility requires not just the rapid adoption of AI-based solutions, but the wisdom to know when and how to apply them to enhance—without replacing—the human element of the customer relationship. Today, we're going to talk about: - The growing disconnect between what AI-powered loyalty programs deliver and what discerning consumers actually value. - Practical strategies for using AI to understand non-transactional signals and create more meaningful customer interactions. - How to evolve measurement beyond simple engagement metrics to quantify the strength of genuine brand affinity. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Jaclyn Wands, VP of Product & AI at Phaedon. About Jaclyn Wands Jaclyn Wands is an AI Practicalist and VP of Product & AI at Phaedon, a loyalty enterprise SaaS and strategic services company. A product leader at the intersection of human-centered AI and customer experience, Jaclyn brings technical fluency in machine learning, NLP, and data operations to a…

People in this episode

Host: Greg Kihlström

Guest: Jaclyn Wands

Topics covered

  • AI in customer experience
  • humanizing loyalty
  • customer relationships
  • AI-powered loyalty programs
  • brand affinity measurement

Keywords

  • AI
  • customer experience
  • loyalty programs
  • human-centered AI
  • brand affinity

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Phaedon

More episodes of The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström® | What CMOs Need to Know About Marketing Technology, AI & CX

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström® | What CMOs Need to Know About Marketing Technology, AI & CX podcast page.