What happens when companies become so obsessed with efficiency that they forget about the people they're actually serving? In this episode of Client Giants, Jeff Jackel and Jay O’Brien sit down with Natalie Beckerman, Chief Business Officer at Ichor, international speaker, customer experience strategist, and author of When Did You Stop Caring? Natalie spent 30 years driving operational efficiency, improving productivity, and saving organizations more than $100 million in costs. But eventually, she started asking a different question: What are we actually sacrificing in the name of efficiency? The conversation explores how companies can become so focused on automation, AI, cost reduction, and process optimization that they unintentionally create more friction for both customers and employees. Natalie explains why she believes efficiency should never remove humanity, and why companies need to test new technology and processes from both the employee and customer perspective. They also dive into: - Why COVID accelerated the move toward automation and digital-first customer service - Whether AI is actually improving customer experiences - How companies create unnecessary customer friction - Why businesses often design processes from the inside out - The hidden cost of poor customer experience - Why employee experience and customer experience are connected - How AI could actually improve customer service when implemented correctly - The difference between making something easier for your company and making it easier for the customer - Why companies need to measure the cost of trust, loyalty, churn, complaints, and reputation - The surprising story of a $500 suitcase and a company that cared more about its process than the customer - Why sometimes the answer to a customer shouldn't be "that's our process", it should be "how do we solve this?" Natalie also shares the thinking behind her book, When Did You Stop Caring? The Call to Reignite Humanity in a World Obsessed with Efficiency, which became a number-one international bestseller within 24 hours of release. If you're building a service business, leading a customer experience team, implementing AI, or trying to scale without losing the human element, this conversation is worth watching.