“You have to start with how you want someone to feel, what you want them to think and remember, and what you want them to do. This requires what I call a Mindshift—where you shed your executive self and become the consumer in that moment.”
This is how Brian Solis, author and head of Global Innovation at ServiceNow, a cloud-based platform and solutions company, describes the modern communication challenge. In a compelling discussion on the Reimagining Communications podcast with host Matt Swain, Head of Communications Insights and Experience at Broadridge, Solis explains why organizations need to rethink their approach to customer interactions.
Changing Expectations in a Digital Era
“We have to recognize that the world is constantly changing,” Solis notes. “Customer behaviors are shifting, their expectations are evolving, and their use of technology is transforming. However, one thing remains constant: they want to feel valued and have the best possible experience in the context of their moment.”
This transformation is happening against the backdrop of rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. With 2025 predicted to be the year of AI-driven enterprises, executives are increasingly focused on leveraging AI to drive efficiency, reduce costs, and spur growth.
Yet, there is a fundamental challenge. “Executives don’t know what they don’t know,” says Solis. “Generative AI is new to everyone. Its mass consumerization is unlocking doors that haven’t been opened before—sometimes, doors that weren’t even visible before.”
Finding Magic in the Mundane
Matt Swain asks Solis how businesses can transform routine communications—such as statements, bills, confirmations, and regulatory notices—into meaningful customer experiences.
Solis argues that even the most transactional communications can have an impact. “Everyday communications don’t have to be dull. They can be human, relatable, and engaging,” he insists.
According to Solis, customer experience is defined by emotion. “Customers remember only two types of moments: those that are incredible and those that are terrible. Everything else is forgettable,” he explains. “If a company’s communication is purely transactional, customers will have no emotional connection to it—which is not a good place to be.”
His approach flips the traditional mindset. “I always start with how I want someone to feel and then work backward. Even small things—like the subject line of an email, the first words in a message, the imagery, the colors—can create magic in the mundane.”
Video Transcript
Brian Solis: And so this proactive form of communications is like life itself. The more proactive you are with communicating, especially bad news, the more ready you are to apologize or to use apologetic language ahead of something that's bad, the more often that people are willing to accept or forgive. And that is the important crux of what customer experience is about.
The Mindshift: Leading with Empathy and Innovation
Solis’s latest book, Mindshift, challenges leaders to embrace adaptation, trendspotting, and innovation.
“Mindshift is about opening yourself up to new possibilities,” Solis explains. “When you shed your executive mindset and put yourself in the consumer’s shoes, you align with trends more naturally. AI, technology, and automation should be used to create meaningful customer outcomes.”
He also warns against using AI simply for iteration. “For AI to thrive, it needs data. But for data to be useful, it can’t be siloed. The challenge is that organizations often try to apply AI without rethinking their operational structure. Simply putting everything in the cloud isn’t enough—you need to reimagine your business for an AI-first world.”
Solis believes that this mindset shift doesn’t have to come from the CEO. “Leadership can come from anywhere. It could be an executive, a manager, or even someone passionate about making a difference. The key is recognizing opportunities, understanding what matters, and storytelling in a way that makes people care and take action.”
Video Transcript
Brian Solis: But what it's telling you to do is reimagine your business for an AI first world, which will put intelligence at the beginning of things, which will then help you make better decisions now and for the long-term. And essentially, help you as a leader, make decisions that are better for your stakeholders, better for your customers, better for your markets, that you're actually leading the way forward because you've looked forward, you've made sense of it, you decided what's going to be in the best interests of everybody, and you're going to move forward with those decisions. Rather than, okay, this happened. That mindset shift and hence the name “Mindshift” is a powerful opportunity for leaders to come from anywhere.
The Future of AI and Customer Experience
Looking ahead, Solis envisions a future where AI will not just automate processes but unlock entirely new possibilities.
“We’re going to automate workflows, improve efficiency, and scale operations. But beyond that, AI will help us augment human work, create new revenue streams, and explore business opportunities we never considered before,” he says. “Companies that embrace both efficiency and innovation will see exponential growth.”
He concludes with a powerful reminder: “The gap between those who only automate and those who innovate will define the future of business. The companies that do both will be the true leaders of tomorrow.”
Click here to listen to the full episode, “Navigating Change with a Mindshift Mindset.”