- In recent years, Customer Service has evolved significantly, moving from a support function to a strategic driver of customer relationships. How has this function evolved at OCTO, and what do customers expect today?
Customer Service has undergone a profound transformation. It is no longer simply a function that resolves problems, but a strategic pillar in building long-term customer relationships. This principle now underpins modern service models, where every interaction contributes to strengthening trust, satisfaction and customer loyalty.
At OCTO, this approach is a core element of our service model. Customer Care is not an ancillary activity but an integral part of the service itself: it is where the value promised to customers is actually delivered and where the customer experience comes to life. Every interaction becomes an opportunity to demonstrate service quality, strengthen relationships and create long-term value.
The companies that succeed in building lasting customer relationships are those that transform every interaction into an opportunity to create value. This requires the ability to personalize the relationship. At OCTO, this is made possible by the wealth of connected mobility data, which enables us to provide increasingly proactive, personalized and digitally integrated support.
Today, our goal is to support our business customers—including insurance companies, rental and leasing providers, and public administrations—throughout their journey towards digital mobility by delivering increasingly proactive and personalized services that help them drive innovation for the consumer markets they serve.
Customer expectations have also changed dramatically, driven by increasingly digital and connected experiences that are redefining communication through faster, more integrated and omnichannel interactions tailored to different use cases.
Customers expect fast, simple and consistent responses across every channel, but above all they want to feel recognized and understood. The quality of the customer experience and hyper-personalization have become key factors in both customer acquisition and retention. This is why we continuously invest in evolving our processes and improving the way we build relationships with people.
- Artificial Intelligence and automation are transforming the way companies interact with customers. What opportunities do you see for Customer Service, and which aspects will continue to rely on the value of people?
Artificial Intelligence represents an extraordinary opportunity to improve both the customer experience and the work of our people. The MIT has often emphasized that the true value of AI lies not in replacing people but in augmenting their capabilities—a vision I fully share.
Today, AI is reshaping Customer Service across three key dimensions: operational efficiency, customer experience and the evolution of the customer service role. Generative AI technologies can automate ticket classification and routing, generate responses and conversation summaries, analyze customer sentiment in real time, and support the creation and maintenance of knowledge bases. This enables organizations to handle simple, repetitive requests more quickly while providing agents with contextual and relevant information whenever they need it.
In this scenario, AI agents can effectively manage first-level support, escalating more complex or sensitive cases to human experts. For many customers, speed and efficiency represent the greatest value of the service; in other situations, however, what truly makes the difference is human interaction.
When customers face critical situations—such as a road accident or a particularly complex issue—uniquely human capabilities become essential: listening, understanding context, exercising judgment, making balanced decisions and inspiring trust. Empathy, accountability and emotional intelligence are qualities that technology can support, but never replace.
For this reason, I believe the future of Customer Service lies in an increasingly intelligent collaboration between people and technology. AI will take over lower-value, repetitive activities, while customer service professionals will increasingly evolve into consultants, focusing on more complex interactions and building meaningful customer relationships.
At the same time, the skills required will also evolve. Alongside empathy, communication and critical thinking, analytical capabilities, adaptability and a solid understanding of AI technologies will become increasingly important. I see this transformation as a tremendous opportunity for professional growth across our teams.
- In a sector such as connected mobility, where technology and customer support are becoming increasingly integrated, what do you believe truly makes the difference in the customer experience?
I believe the real differentiator is the ability to turn technology into a seamless and frictionless experience. Complexity should remain behind the scenes. Customers should simply experience a service that is reliable, intuitive and capable of responding to their needs at the right moment.
Mobility is a fundamental need in today’s society. Connected mobility provides extraordinary data-driven tools that help us better understand what is happening and enable us to act proactively. However, real value is created when these tools are used to simplify people’s lives, anticipate their needs, solve problems quickly and deliver truly personalized support.
Ultimately, technology creates opportunities, but it is how we use it in service of our customers that determines the quality of the experience.
- On a more personal note, throughout your professional journey, what experience or lesson has had the greatest influence on the way you lead a team and take care of customers?
The most important lesson I have learned is that the quality of the service we provide to customers depends first and foremost on the quality of the working environment we create for our people.
Listening to customers through our Voice of the Customer program and observing how relationships evolve over time through continuous improvement has made us fully aware of the value of communication and has given us a tangible way to measure the quality perceived by our customers. This has been a significant growth experience for the team—not only professionally, but also in the way we view the impact of our work.
Over the years, I have learned that leading a team means listening, building trust, empowering people and creating the conditions for everyone to express their full potential while making them active participants in the journey. Technical skills are essential, but they make a real difference only when combined with a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement and shared objectives.
I strive to apply this approach every day: listening to my team with the same attention we dedicate to our customers, using data to make better decisions without losing sight of the value of human relationships, and treating every piece of feedback as an opportunity to grow.
I firmly believe that when people work with motivation, autonomy and a clear understanding of the value they bring, the positive impact naturally extends to the customer experience and, ultimately, to business performance.
Another lesson that has profoundly influenced my leadership style comes from Adam Grant’s book Give and Take. His idea that people tend to approach relationships as givers, takers or matchers made me reflect on the kind of leader I aspire to be.
I have learned that the most effective leaders are not those who always put themselves first, but those who create value for others in a thoughtful and sustainable way. Being a giver does not mean being naïve or always saying yes. It means helping people grow, sharing knowledge, creating opportunities and building relationships based on trust, while maintaining clear boundaries so that generosity does not become a weakness.
Ultimately, I believe that leadership is about standing alongside people and enabling them to perform at their very best. When that happens, the benefits naturally extend to customers and, ultimately, to the organization as a whole.