app01 Fri, 28 Aug 2026 04:38:46 +0000 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) CX without the BS - Episodes Tagged with “Trade Show” https://cswithoutthebs.fireside.fm/tags/trade%20show Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:00:00 -0400 Most CX podcasts are built for Fortune 500 buyers with seven-figure budgets and dedicated transformation teams... This one isn't. CX Without the BS is for the technology advisors, IT leaders, and business owners working in the trenches of SMB and mid-market companies - the "forgotten 5000" who get pitched enterprise solutions they can't afford and ignored by vendors who don't think they're worth the support call. Host Brian Nichols brings real practitioner perspective from the unified communications and contact center space. No guru theater. No vendor hype. No recycled LinkedIn thought leadership dressed up as expertise. Just the actual conversations advisors and buyers need to be having... about why CX deployments fail, where vendors quietly cut corners, which product categories are oversold, and what questions you should be asking before you sign a three-year contract. Each episode pulls from real customer scenarios, market situations, and the framework laid out in Brian's book, The CX Compass. Some episodes are solo deep dives. Others bring in practitioners, advisors, and operators who can break down the mechanics of what actually works - and what's quietly broken behind the demo. If you're tired of buzzword bingo and ready for the version of CX nobody's willing to say out loud... you're in the right place. Subscribe, share it with an advisor or buyer who needs it, and let's cut through the noise together. en-us episodic Honest takes on customer experience and UCaaS for the SMB and mid-market buyers enterprise vendors forgot... hosted by Brian Nichols. Brian Nichols Most CX podcasts are built for Fortune 500 buyers with seven-figure budgets and dedicated transformation teams... This one isn't. CX Without the BS is for the technology advisors, IT leaders, and business owners working in the trenches of SMB and mid-market companies - the "forgotten 5000" who get pitched enterprise solutions they can't afford and ignored by vendors who don't think they're worth the support call. Host Brian Nichols brings real practitioner perspective from the unified communications and contact center space. No guru theater. No vendor hype. No recycled LinkedIn thought leadership dressed up as expertise. Just the actual conversations advisors and buyers need to be having... about why CX deployments fail, where vendors quietly cut corners, which product categories are oversold, and what questions you should be asking before you sign a three-year contract. Each episode pulls from real customer scenarios, market situations, and the framework laid out in Brian's book, The CX Compass. Some episodes are solo deep dives. Others bring in practitioners, advisors, and operators who can break down the mechanics of what actually works - and what's quietly broken behind the demo. If you're tired of buzzword bingo and ready for the version of CX nobody's willing to say out loud... you're in the right place. Subscribe, share it with an advisor or buyer who needs it, and let's cut through the noise together. yes CX podcast, customer experience, UCaaS, CCaaS, contact center, unified communications, technology advisors, channel partners, TSD, SMB technology, mid-market IT, vendor evaluation, CX strategy, customer service technology, Brian Nichols, CX Compass, business communications, cloud communications, customer engagement, sales enablement, B2B technology buying, IT decision makers, Telarus, agent experience, omnichannel Brian Nichols brian@briannicholsconsulting.com Is AI Actually Going to Replace You? | Telarus Partner Summit 2026 REVIEW https://cswithoutthebs.fireside.fm/ai-going-to-replace-you-telarus-partner-summit-2026-review e0b753fb-b76e-40d1-b147-41b6c1b55dad Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:00:00 -0400 Brian Nichols full Brian Nichols 18:33 no <p>Is AI actually going to replace you? I walked the Telarus Partner Summit floor in Grapevine, Texas with one question - what BS is being sold as gospel to technology advisors right now? And the answer was on full display.</p> <p>Because there are two kinds of advisors emerging in this channel... the AI-empowered advisor and the AI advisor. One of them wins. The other becomes indistinguishable from the tool they're hiding behind - and their customers can tell.</p> <p>I also tried an AI voice clone on my own podcast once. Snowed in, no equipment, figured I'd let the machine do it. It went exactly how you'd think... and it taught me where the line is for every advisor using these tools.</p> <p>Plus - why TSD events like the Telarus Partner Summit are quietly replacing the big Vegas trade shows, what 1,000-plus advisors under one roof actually gets you, and the "AI everything" narrative some vendors STILL won't let go of. Klarna walked it back. Microsoft walked it back. Your vendor should too.</p> <p>If you're a tech advisor, a tech buyer, or anyone who's been told AI is the easy button... this one's for you. Subscribe so you don't miss the next callout.</p> <p>CONNECT:<br> Work with me on UCaaS: <a href="mailto:bnichols@level365.com" rel="nofollow noopener">bnichols@level365.com</a><br> Subscribe: <a href="https://youtube.com/@CXwithouttheBS" rel="nofollow noopener">https://youtube.com/@CXwithouttheBS</a><br> Listen on the go: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cx-without-the-bs/id1747979147" rel="nofollow noopener">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cx-without-the-bs/id1747979147</a> </p> telarus partner summit, technology advisor, tech advisor, AI in sales, AI tools, customer experience, CX, UCaaS, unified communications, CCaaS, contact center, TSD, technology service distributor, channel partners, tech channel, B2B technology, AI voice clone, AI hype, trade show, Level365, business communications, AI agents, sales strategy Is AI actually going to replace you? I walked the Telarus Partner Summit floor in Grapevine, Texas with one question - what BS is being sold as gospel to technology advisors right now? And the answer was on full display.

Because there are two kinds of advisors emerging in this channel... the AI-empowered advisor and the AI advisor. One of them wins. The other becomes indistinguishable from the tool they're hiding behind - and their customers can tell.

I also tried an AI voice clone on my own podcast once. Snowed in, no equipment, figured I'd let the machine do it. It went exactly how you'd think... and it taught me where the line is for every advisor using these tools.

Plus - why TSD events like the Telarus Partner Summit are quietly replacing the big Vegas trade shows, what 1,000-plus advisors under one roof actually gets you, and the "AI everything" narrative some vendors STILL won't let go of. Klarna walked it back. Microsoft walked it back. Your vendor should too.

If you're a tech advisor, a tech buyer, or anyone who's been told AI is the easy button... this one's for you. Subscribe so you don't miss the next callout.

CONNECT:
Work with me on UCaaS: bnichols@level365.com
Subscribe: https://youtube.com/@CXwithouttheBS
Listen on the go: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cx-without-the-bs/id1747979147

]]> Is AI actually going to replace you? I walked the Telarus Partner Summit floor in Grapevine, Texas with one question - what BS is being sold as gospel to technology advisors right now? And the answer was on full display.

Because there are two kinds of advisors emerging in this channel... the AI-empowered advisor and the AI advisor. One of them wins. The other becomes indistinguishable from the tool they're hiding behind - and their customers can tell.

I also tried an AI voice clone on my own podcast once. Snowed in, no equipment, figured I'd let the machine do it. It went exactly how you'd think... and it taught me where the line is for every advisor using these tools.

Plus - why TSD events like the Telarus Partner Summit are quietly replacing the big Vegas trade shows, what 1,000-plus advisors under one roof actually gets you, and the "AI everything" narrative some vendors STILL won't let go of. Klarna walked it back. Microsoft walked it back. Your vendor should too.

If you're a tech advisor, a tech buyer, or anyone who's been told AI is the easy button... this one's for you. Subscribe so you don't miss the next callout.

CONNECT:
Work with me on UCaaS: bnichols@level365.com
Subscribe: https://youtube.com/@CXwithouttheBS
Listen on the go: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cx-without-the-bs/id1747979147

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