Tell us about yourself, your background and what it is you currently do.
I am originally from Bosnia & Hercegovina, but I have been based in Dubai for over five years. I hold a master’s degree in business and have more than a decade of experience working in IT companies with a strong focus in Customer Success. Throughout my career, I have supported and consulted businesses across various industries, helping them understand and utilize products, navigate market regulations and enhance the experience they deliver to their customers.
Customer Experience is something I am genuinely passionate about. I’ve completed CX certifications and I am proud to be serving for the second consecutive year as a judge at the Gulf Customer Experience Awards. I am driven by the opportunity to help organizations build meaningful long-term relationships with their customers. And of course, I am deeply interested in AI – especially its growing impact on CX.
In my personal life, I am a mother to a beautiful boy and a wife to my best friend. I enjoy traveling, sports and continuous learning – anything that helps me grow, stay curious and experience the world more fully.
Why are you so passionate about customer experience?
I love customer experience because it directly connects to results and it makes everyone happier. Happy customers lead to strong retention, positive word-of-mouth and better brand reputation. I enjoy listening to customers, understanding what they need and turning their feedback into meaningful improvements. It’s about making people feel valued and supported. But, improving customer journeys doesn’t just help individuals, it drives overall success of business. It’s really a win-win for both businesses and customers.
As one of the judges at the Gulf Customer Experience Awards, what are the current trends in the Gulf?
AI is a major focus across the GCC. A recent private analysis indicated combined AI investments in 2025, in the GCC, could be around $100 billion.
We’re seeing a clear shift towards AI-powered and hybrid customer service models where automation handles routine tasks while human teams focus on empathy and complex problem-solving.
Another key trend is hyper-personalization supported by an omni-channel experience. Today’s customers have elevated expectations. They want to be spoken to on their preferred channel, language and time.
None of this is possible without strong data foundations, which is why we see many businesses in the region using data intelligence to anticipate customer needs instead of just reacting to them.
In the world’s most progressive markets, such as Dubai, we are seeing rapid expansion of digital-first industries. This growth is raising customer expectations across every sector. As a result, the push toward digital maturity is compelling companies to elevate their CX standards at speed. Together, these shifts are reshaping security, compliance, and regulatory frameworks—driving transformation across the region at every level.
What is the biggest opportunity most organizations miss in regard to CX?
Delivering strong CX has to be a goal of the whole organization, there has to be true cross-functional alignment and clarity. CX issues rarely originate in the customer facing teams, they come from product decisions, operational gaps, unclear processes and disconnect of promise and delivery. The real opportunity is to build an end-to-end, cross-functional CX culture where everyone understands their impact on customer journeys and where leadership champions customer-centric decisions.
And the biggest challenges organizations face?
I believe the biggest challenge is to break down internal silos of people and data. Data tends to sit in isolated systems. This way insights are not known across teams, but also, any utilisation of data is limited. For example, smart automations/AI are impossible or feel disrupted in silos. The key to successful AI is good data.
Another challenge is scaling personalization without losing the human touch. We’ve seen many organizations take automation too far, resulting in customers switching providers—because no one wants to feel like they’re talking to a wall.
Lastly, I would say measuring the right things. Running an occasional NPS/CSAT without really connecting retention and lifetime value to CX metrics doesn’t get you the outcomes you want.
Do you have a strategy you can share for how organizations can put their customers first?
A good strategy for putting customers first starts with aligning the entire organization around the customer journey, not just the customer facing teams. Some guidelines would be:
To build a unified view of customers. Make sure your data is integrated across touchpoints so every team understands the history, needs, pain points and desires. Also, creating cross-functional ownership of customer journeys with assigned responsibilities can help break down silos. It also ensures everyone is working on a consistent experience.
Show customers how their feedback is changing things. Announce updates made based on customer feedback to build trust and encourage feedback. Silent customers are worse than loud customers for businesses – silent customers are those who will leave but tell everyone about their bad experiences.
Something that needs also to be addressed is empowerment of customer facing teams. Allowing a Customer Support team member to refund a 20 USD purchase without lengthy processes or a Salesperson to allow a 30 days trial instead of 14 days can make a huge difference in customer experience. Frontline teams must be empowered but also included in strategic meetings.
Also, C-level executives should test their own processes at least once a year and experience Customer Journeys. You must trial your own onboarding, billing, operations/complaint management and legal processes to truly understand what your customers are experiencing.
Last, make sure to connect CX to measurable business goals. Keeping metrics like revenue, retention or lifetime value connected to CX, makes CX a priority to everyone. Clear ROI is important.
Moving to Customer Success specifically, why should organizations put more focus on existing customers?
This is simple but unfortunately very overseen. Retaining and growing existing customers delivers higher ROI than constantly acquiring new ones. Acquiring a new customer costs anywhere from 5 to 25 times more than retaining an existing. Loyal customers also spend more, provide more valuable feedback on products and advocate more. Speaking of this region specifically, recommendations carry a lot of weight, and this leads to organic growth.
What impact will AI have on Customer Success over the next decade and how will Customer Success evolve?
Customer Success is, compared to Sales and other established functions, still a relatively young discipline. As a result, the role lacks global alignment and its definition and expectations vary widely. Even within the same industry, you’ll find very different job descriptions. In some organisations CSM is primarily a technical expert, in others a revenue-focused role.
Over the next decade, I believe we will see much clearer consensus on what Customer Success truly is and how it should operate. AI is already playing a role in Customer Success by helping us manage schedules, summarize meetings and automate certain tasks, like QBR deck creation. But there is so much more that can be done. I am excited about the rise of intelligent Customer Success assistants, collecting relevant news about your customers and highlight expansion opportunities, as well as streamline the flow of insights to CS. Over time, automations will significantly reduce the time spent preparing materials, freeing CS to focus on higher-level strategy and customer impact.
We will also see advanced sentiment analysis predicting churn signals through analysis of product usage patterns, calls and emails. Teams will understand why an account is at risk even before the customer feels it.
Ultimately, AI will elevate Customer Success into a more strategic and revenue-centric role for sure. It will replace tasks, not humans. And in doing so, it will empower Customer Success to excel at the parts of the job that require human judgement, empathy and partnership skills.
What is your current focus?
My current focus is on elevating the customer experience while continuing to grow as a strategic Customer Success leader. I’m deeply invested in understanding customer needs at a holistic level and partnering with teams to ensure customers realize meaningful, long-term value from the products they use. I’m also increasingly focused on mentoring others, driving alignment across stakeholders, and contributing to broader strategy beyond my individual accounts.
On a personal level, I prioritize maintaining a healthy balance as a mom to a young child, which has sharpened my ability to lead with intention, manage priorities effectively, and stay organized and adaptable – skills that directly enhance my effectiveness in a fast-paced, customer-centric environment.
What is next for you?
I’m passionate about elevating customer experience standards across the Middle East and am motivated by opportunities to contribute at a regional and strategic level. I’m particularly interested in projects that drive meaningful impact, whether through improving customer outcomes, influencing best practices, or supporting cross-functional initiatives.
On a personal and professional growth level, I’m working toward mastering Arabic to build deeper, more authentic connections with customers and colleagues. I’m also committed to supporting women-empowerment initiatives that help women grow and advance in their careers.
Where can readers connect with you?
Readers can connect with me on LinkedIn, my profile is https://www.linkedin.com/in/azra-kocanovic-15122198/
