Behind the Mic with Dr. Kartina Sury, Senior Fellow at Center for Indonesian Policy Studies: Redefining Customer Experience Through Data, Innovation & Collaboration

Dr. Kartina Sury is a professional and scholar of marketing strategies with more than 25 years of experience in the banking and finance industry out of which she has spent her last 6 years in fintech-based company. She is the advisory board member of the Financial Planning Standard Boards (FPSB) Indonesia, a Senior Fellow of a leading think tank organisation in Indonesia, Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS), and also the Asia Regional Leader for Customer Experience Professional (CXPA Asia) as well as the technical advisor for early stage fintech/tech start-ups. Dr Kartina also has her Qualified Financial Coach (QFC) certification, which focuses on exploring the Psychology of Financial Planning. Her area of research interest and expertise includes Digital Economy, Financial Literacy & Inclusion, Business Transformation, CX & Digital Innovation, and Strategic Business & Marketing. Some of her notable policy research are the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Financial Literacy & Inclusion, Cyber Security, Fintech, and MSME in the Digital Landscape & Access to Finance.

Discover the perspectives Dr. Kartina shared with us on shaping meaningful Customer Experiences in today’s digital era.

Q1. What motivated you to pursue a career in customer experience, and what key steps did you take to enter this field?

I was a Marketing professional during the ‘what is now called’ as the traditional era until the period when social networking platforms emerged. I followed the development of Marketing discussion through the well-known literature, “The Experience Economy “ and “The Experiential Marketing”. But what triggered me to deep dive into customer experience was vast growth of digital and social media development which had served as the game changer. I realised the conversation would no longer be about “me” in the context of brand/company and Marketing but it would be more to “us”. It was no longer about selling and one-way direction but it was about engaging your customers and delivering top notch services. Key steps to enter customer experience, for me this was through my academic journey as I took customer experience as the core of my dissertation and at the same time I was also fortunate to head the Marketing division of which Customer Experience and Digital were part of it.

Q2. What are some of the most significant challenges you have faced in improving customer experience from a product management perspective, and how did you overcome them?

Significant challenges were first, to align customer demand and corporate priorities/objectives and second, there was no single source of truth as data was managed across different functions. Above all, it took some steps for organisations to elevate the transformation journey to ensure cross-functional alignment and continuous improvement through data management and analytics.

Q3. What role does customer feedback play in your product development process and how do you gather and incorporate it effectively?

During the initial start of customer experience, customer feedback through various channels: voice of customers at call centre, walk-in surveys, customer research, market assessment through qualitative approach. I believe, these days, there are a range of tools, AI-driven platforms that support organisations to collect customer feedback across touchpoints. Customer feedback is the map for organisations to identify and prioritise which strategic initiatives provide impacts to businesses and customer expectations.

Q4. What strategies have you found most effective in delivering exceptional customer experiences through your products and services?

At organisations level, the most fundamental factor is cross-functional alignment across departments to ensure everyone in the organisation shares the same common goals and business impact matrix. Also, organisation should shift the mindset in ensuring customer-focused organisation is not a jargon but it is well implemented alongside corporate values.

Q5. Can you describe a specific instance where data analytics helped you identify customer pain points and drive product enhancements?

It was when the data showcased the gap of the product under development with what customers have and the needs they actually voiced. Further, it was when data generated from Voice of customers and Customers Feedback captured things to be improved in brand-customer interactions during the post purchase. These all provided both a new product development process and customer journey valuable insights.

Q6. How do you collaborate with cross-functional teams, such as engineering, design, and marketing to ensure seamless customer experiences?

When we are working on either projects or day-to-day business, it is crucial for everyone in the organisation to share the same view, objectives as bound by the corporate KPIs. Therefore, first when running a customer journey or designing a seamless customer experience, proactive and transparent communication were the must to do list so that other relevant departments could understand the thinking process, the importance of consumer feedback/research. The next step was to gather with other departments to run the brainstorm so everyone involved would agree on the key areas to focus on and improve, this included a general agreement of the task list and service level in such instances to deliver a seamless customer experience. Another important item is to regularly review the progress and decide if there are any changes in the prioritisation or improvement and build consistent communication with everyone involved so everyone can stay alert of the results, progress and changes.

Q7. How do you balance the need for innovation with the necessity of maintaining user-friendliness in your products?

The most primary item in innovation is to ensure it delivers the most valuable, unique CX to the customers. Innovation doesn’t sound solid if stakeholders find it ineffective. Innovation is also meaningless if it doesn’t drive impact to business results and CX metrics. So to balance, customer-focused should be taken into practices throughout the innovation journey.

Q8. What best practices have you implemented to ensure consistency and transparency across all customer touchpoints?

Best practices stem from a solid cross-functional across departments. There would be no consistency and transparency at every customer touchpoint if every department is working in silo. Alongside with data and research, organisations are able to enhance its single source of truth and implement CX standards across functions. Through this, business transformation is also finding the track.

Q9. How do you stay updated with the latest trends and developments in customer experience and product management?

Nothing fancy, continuous learning works well. With that, being a scholar, I continuously review the latest research development in CX research, and in the business context, I follow the latest case studies as well as digital and technology development. Most importantly, I stay connected with fellow CX professionals through CX communications, both in and out of the country. Also, I love to share through various media as while sharing you are able to gain new insights from others.

Conclusion

Dr. Kartina Sury’s journey highlights how customer experience is not just a function but a mindset—anchored in cross-functional alignment, data-driven decision-making, and continuous learning. Her perspective reinforces the importance of transforming “customer-focused” from a corporate slogan into a lived practice that delivers real value for both businesses and customers. As we look ahead to the Conversational AI & Customer Experience Summit, her insights serve as a powerful reminder that innovation, collaboration, and transparency remain at the heart of building meaningful and lasting customer relationships.

“Thank you for tuning in to this edition of Behind the Mic where Dr. Kartina Sury’s insights remind us that true customer experience excellence is driven by alignment, data, and a genuine customer-first mindset.”