🎙️Unf*cking Your CX, Episode #39: Deploying Agents Without Destroying Trust: CX Advice From a D2C CEO
Zack Hamilton
I Engineer GTM Velocity. 2x 7x Growth. Creator of the Experience Performance System™ | SaaS Advisor | CXO-Turned-Operator | Host, Unf*cking Your CX
Featuring Ryan Bailis | Founder & CEO of Raicom
Most companies deploy agents the same way they launch VoC dashboards:
👉 With no strategy
👉 No root cause clarity
👉 And no one asking what the hell the actual business goal is
Ryan Bailis isn’t one of those people.
He’s the co-founder of a wildly lean, bootstrapped, and profitable D2C brand built from just $200 and he joined me on the podcast this week to talk about deploying Agentic AI the right way.
Not the VC-funded, throw-money-at-the-problem way. Not the “let’s hope containment rate goes up” way. Not the fear-based, job-replacing, dashboard-spamming way.
But the operator way.
The way where customer experience is the actual driver of profitability not an afterthought or a department downstream of tech.
Let’s get into it.
Most Brands Are About to F*ck This Up
Ryan's take was clear:
“Agents are just a tool. If your mindset is broken, the tech won’t save you.”
And that’s where most CX teams are blowing it right now.
CEOs are saying:
“Just get us some AI agents.” “We need to reduce headcount.” “Make the bots smarter.”
But no one’s asking:
The truth? Deploying Agentic AI without a strategy won’t just waste your budget, it will break trust with your customers and your team.
Ryan’s 3 Player Tips for Agentic CX That Works
Player Tip 1: Start Small and Iterate
“We turned it on for 3 minutes. Solved a few tickets. Then turned it off.”
That’s how Ryan’s team started... literally minutes at a time. Not weeks. Not “big bang go-live.” Not flashy demos for the board.
Just a few reps to see how the system behaved.
Then they fixed what broke. Improved the next round. Deployed for 30 minutes. Then an hour. Then 24/7.
Why it works: It builds confidence internally. Shows real-world proof. Limits risk. And most importantly, it forces intentional learning.
Player Tip 2: Communicate With Your Team... Often and Honestly
Ryan didn’t just install agents and tell his team, “adapt or else.” He pulled them in from day one:
“We’ve trained for new platforms and tools before. This is just another one.”
Why it works: When people understand the why, they buy in. When they’re included in the how, they own it. And when trust is high, resistance drops.
Player Tip 3: Get Started—But Don’t Forget the Root Problem
“If you’re solving 10x more tickets but not fixing the cause, you’re scaling dysfunction.”
This is where most brands will burn out. They’ll brag about response time dropping from 6 minutes to 6 seconds… but they’ll ignore that their ticket volume doubled and customers are still pissed.
Ryan warned: if you don’t have a system to monitor root causes, you’ll start mistaking speed for success.
Why it works: AI should help you learn faster, not ignore the truth faster. Containment ≠ Conversion. Resolution ≠ Retention.
Final Word
Ryan said something that stuck with me:
“Randomness creates chaos. Trust gets destroyed. And AI doesn’t fix that, it accelerates it.”
You want to win? Build trust. Deploy with intent. Measure what matters. And stop trying to automate your way out of a sh*tty experience.
Let’s unf*ck it together.
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I Help Business Owners Keep More of the Hard-Earned Money They Make by Improving Cash Flow and Maximizing Profits | Business Coach
5dLove this, especially the quote: "If you’re solving 10x more tickets but not fixing the cause, you’re scaling dysfunction." Cant tell you how many times I've worked an projects where the client company wants to implement a new ERP system without first improving or streamlining their processes. All they are doing is automating the flaws and making their employees more efficient at failing.
Humanising Customer Experience | CX Strategy & Insight | Emotional Intelligence | Board Advisor | Author of The Year of AI & Customer Centricity
5dLove this, Zack Hamilton points Ryan Bailis makes are very impactful and need to be heard by many organisations who want to employ AI to replace PEOPLE rather than empower them. Secondly, identifying the #RootCause to stop peeing off your customers is most important otherwise doesn't matter how well you manage complaints .. if they keep repeating then your customers WILL leave.
I Engineer GTM Velocity. 2x 7x Growth. Creator of the Experience Performance System™ | SaaS Advisor | CXO-Turned-Operator | Host, Unf*cking Your CX
6dIt was a brilliant conversation with Ryan Bailis! Thanks for joining me in the Hot Seat and bringing the 🔥
Tune in to the conversation between Ryan and Zack Hamilton: YouTube -> https://youtu.be/s4Ekpx0dHJs?si=ETIKqCrcn99ZdF27 Spotify -> https://open.spotify.com/episode/0juBjzUpZ9cOByWMY6g6B7?si=QKmArO7vQ_KwlPJz6LkPWw Apple Podcasts -> https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unf-cking-your-cx-episode-39-deploying-agents-without/id1800795811?i=1000720818323