Today’s episode of the Punk CX podcast is with Sophie Cheng, the Senior Vice President of Product Marketing at Sinch, the global CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service) provider. Sophie joins me today to talk about why most brands build chatbots backwards, why success hinges on journey-led design, not tech-first thinking, how to design real conversational experiences and key pitfalls to avoid with AI assistants.
This interview follows on from my recent interview – The value of hyperpersonalization and the state of CX – Interview with Greg Kihlström of The Agile Brand – and is number 553 in the series of interviews with authors and business leaders who are doing great things, providing valuable insights, helping businesses innovate and delivering great service and experience to both their customers and their employees.
Here are the highlights of my chat with Sophie:
- The Chatbot Paradox: Sinch’s research reveals chatbots rank low in customer satisfaction, yet are crucial for digital customer experience, posing a significant challenge for businesses.
- Customer Preferences Drive Channel Choice: Customers demand choice in communication channels and expect businesses to meet them on their terms, making a holistic strategy vital.
- AI’s Rapid Advancement: The growth and sophistication of Large Language Models (LLMs) are leading to much smarter and more autonomous AI agents, with expected increases in satisfaction.
- Generational Divide in AI Adoption: While millennials and Gen Z are increasingly willing to use chatbots for speed and ease (22% overall willingness, 71% for Gen Z), older generations remain skeptical (only 20% of boomers).
- Situational Trust: Willingness to interact with chatbots is highly situational; users are more comfortable with simple tasks like rescheduling appointments than sharing sensitive personal data.
- “Building Chatbots Backwards”: Many brands prioritize a tech-first approach to chatbot development, leading to poor customer experiences that don’t reflect real conversational needs.
- Customer-First Design is Key: Successful chatbots require understanding the customer’s problems and journey, integrating conversation history, and recognizing customer sentiment to know when to escalate to a human.
- The Business-Consumer Disconnect: A significant gap exists between businesses’ belief in integrated communications (two-thirds think they are) and consumers’ frustration with irrelevant messages.
- The Risk of Bad Experiences: With increased consumer choice, one negative experience can cause customers to switch brands, highlighting the critical need to build trust.
- Creative AI Applications: Brands like Intermarché are using AI in innovative ways, such as a recipe-generating bot linked to shopping carts, to enhance engagement and customer experience.
- Functional AI Successes: Financial institutions like Belfius have successfully used chatbots to streamline complex processes, such as insurance claims, leading to increased completion rates and improved customer satisfaction.
- AI for Transformation, Not Just Adoption: While 97% of companies plan to use AI in CX by 2025 (up from 63%), true transformation comes from intelligently integrating AI, automation, and orchestration around the individual customer.
- Sinch recently released their 2025 State of Customer Communications report, based on surveys of 2,800 consumers and 1,600 business leaders across various industries, and reveals new trends around AI in the tech stack.
- Key insights include:
- 97% of businesses use/plan to use AI, but struggle with accuracy (39%) and customer trust (34%)
- 46% of organizations cite data privacy and security as top concerns
- 32% are also worried about regulatory compliance
- Tech companies specifically cite security as #1 challenge (54%)
- 63% of businesses plan to adopt AI voice assistants in 2025 (the highest of all emerging channels)
- Video chat follows at 48%
- 35% of companies will include “more AI solutions” in their 2025 communication strategy
- Key insights include:
About Sophie
Sophie Cheng is the Senior Vice President of Product Marketing at Sinch, the global CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service) market leader that is pioneering the way the world communicates through its Customer Communications Cloud.
With over 15 years of international marketing experience, Sophie has held strategic roles at some of the world’s leading B2C and B2B brands across Europe, Asia, and North America, collaborating with Product, Marketing, Growth, and M&A leaders in managing complex portfolio assignments.
At Sinch, Sophie is responsible for company’s global product marketing, partner marketing, and analyst relations team. She leads efforts to enhance customer experience across multiple channels to include mobile messaging, voice, and email. By driving these efforts, Sophie plays a vital role in advancing Sinch’s mission to revolutionize communication and set new standards in the industry. Her leadership ensures that Sinch’s innovative solutions are effectively marketed and recognized by partners and analysts worldwide.
Prior to joining Sinch, she was the VP of Global Product and Customer Marketing at ZoomInfo and led Product Marketing at Chorus.ai. Her diverse background and international experience make her a true global citizen, having worked in EMEA, APAC (Singapore,) and the U.S.
Sophie holds a Master of Arts in Marketing, Services and Communication Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration both from the University of St. Gallen. She also received a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Management from Singapore University and is a member of the CMO Alliance.
Check out Sinch, their new research, Say Hi to them on X (Twitter) @WeAreSinch and feel free to connect with Sophie on LinkedIn here.