From Call Centres to AI: Lessons in Digital Transformation

I recently caught up with Josh Wilkins — not the easiest task these days, now that he’s in a global strategy and transformation role at CCEP.

Josh and I first crossed paths back in 2017, when the brief on the table was deceptively simple: take something called the CokeCustomerHub (essentially a call centre in Peterborough) and turn it into a proper online portal for customers.

What came out of that collaboration was MyCCEP — the UK’s first iteration of CCEP’s digital customer platform.

What We Learned from… Southwark Council

A lot of the early thinking behind MyCCEP wasn’t borrowed from the usual “big name” players in digital service.

One unlikely standout? Southwark Council.

I’ll admit, I almost didn’t bring it to the table — it wasn’t exactly flashy or glamorous. But it worked. It was easy to navigate, genuinely helpful, and free of the usual digital faff.

That became our benchmark: useful, fast, no-nonsense.

We also made sure the platform wasn’t just customer-facing. We built in tools to support sales teams and route-to-market operations so that the system earned its keep across the business.

Fast Forward to Today: It’s All About AI

These days, when Josh and I talk transformation, the conversation inevitably turns to AI.

One key takeaway from our recent chat:
Agencies need to be transparent about how they’re using AI — and honest about how they’re pricing it.

If AI is doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes, clients have every right to ask: Why am I still being billed like someone’s sweating over this manually?

The reality is this:

• Sometimes AI should mean paying less (or nothing) for tasks you once paid for.

• Other times, it’s about delivering more, faster, and better — but you still need human creative brains to shape, polish, and steer the work.

Either way, the only sustainable path forward is an open conversation.

That’s how trust gets built — and how transformation really takes hold.

Final Thought

If you’re looking to evolve your customer experience, sales tools, or internal platforms — and want some fresh thinking on where AI fits in — give us a shout. We’re always up for a conversation.