KEY BISCAYNE, FL — Speed has become one of the biggest priorities in customer service. Businesses are answering questions faster, processing transactions more quickly, and introducing new technologies designed to reduce costs and improve efficiency. However, hospitality entrepreneur Javier Burillo Azcárraga claims those improvements have created an unintended consequence: the removal of human judgment that customers value most.
"Technology should remove routine work, not remove the people who know how to make good decisions," Burillo Azcárraga said. "Customers don't remember the fastest interaction. They remember whether someone took ownership of the problem and made them feel like it mattered."
His comments come as businesses continue expanding their use of artificial intelligence, self-service tools, and automated customer support. While these technologies can improve routine interactions, Burillo Azcarraga believes companies should ask a different question before adopting them: Does this make the customer experience better? Or does it simply make the process faster?
The distinction matters. According to a FICO report, 88% of customers say the experience is just as important as its products or services. For Burillo Azcarraga, that statistic reflects a growing challenge for businesses across nearly every industry. Companies have become highly skilled at measuring response times and operational efficiency, but far fewer measure whether customers actually feel heard, respected, or understood.
Throughout his career leading luxury hospitality businesses, Burillo Azcarraga found that memorable customer experiences rarely depended on expensive amenities or elaborate service standards. More often, they were created by employees who had the authority to solve problems, make thoughtful decisions, and respond to situations that no script could anticipate.
"Every customer is a little different," he said. "The best employees aren't successful because they memorize procedures. They're successful because they know when to use good judgment. That's something every business should protect."
Burillo Azcárraga believes one of the biggest risks businesses face is confusing standardization with quality. Standardized processes create consistency, but they should not eliminate flexibility. When employees lose the ability to make reasonable decisions, customer service becomes predictable in the wrong way. Problems take longer to resolve, unique situations receive generic answers, and customers leave feeling like they interacted with a system, not a business.
He also cautions against evaluating new technology solely by its impact on efficiency. Instead, he encourages leaders to ask whether it gives employees more time to solve meaningful problems, strengthens customer relationships, and improves trust over the long term. Technology should enhance the work people do, not reduce every interaction to a transaction.
"The businesses that earn loyalty are usually the ones where employees still have permission to think," Burillo Azcarraga said. "Customers appreciate efficiency, but they remember businesses that show good judgment when it matters most."
As companies continue investing in automation and artificial intelligence, Burillo Azcarraga hopes more business leaders will recognize that technology and personal service are not competing priorities. When used thoughtfully, automation can remove repetitive work while allowing employees to focus on the moments that have the greatest impact on customer relationships.
"The goal shouldn't be replacing people," he added. "The goal should be giving people more opportunities to do the work that only people can do."
