Channels Are Delivery Mechanisms. Journeys Are the Product.

Most organisations have a channel strategy. Very few have a journey strategy. And that gap — invisible from the inside, painfully obvious from the outside — is quietly undermining customer experience in banking, telecoms, retail, and beyond. In this episode of The CX Algorithm, Dr Eslam Afifi sits down with Oleksandr (Sasha) Zablotskyi, Head of Digital Channels at Openbank (Santander), to challenge one of the most deeply embedded assumptions in CX design: that channels are the right unit of measurement, investment, and organisational structure. Sasha's argument is direct. Customers have never thought in channels. They think in tasks, in needs, in moments. The channel is a delivery mechanism — invisible when it works, painful when it doesn't. The journey is the product. And until organisations restructure around that idea — not just in strategy decks, but in their org charts, their metrics, and their AI roadmaps — the gap between intent and experience will persist. Whether you lead CX, product, digital, or customer strategy — this episode will challenge how you think about the systems your organisation has built, and who they were actually built for. In this episode you'll learn: • Why customers have never thought in channels — and why organisations still do • How the org chart is the real obstacle to journey-centric experience • Why channel metrics are necessary but not sufficient — and what journey metrics actually look like in practice • How cross-functional squads change not just how teams work, but what questions they ask • Why AI is accelerating the death of channels — and the risk of automating fragmentation instead of solving it • What leaders should stop designing immediately, and what they should start Chapters 00:00 Welcome and Sasha's role at Openbank 02:09 Why customers never think in channels 05:46 The org chart as the real obstacle 06:50 Cross-functional squads that own journeys 08:45 Journey metrics beyond channel metrics 12:46 Omnichannel and channels as delivery mechanisms 13:56 Overcoming channel turf and legacy systems 17:31 How AI accelerates the death of channels 21:05 Final advice: optimise the moment of need About the guest Oleksandr (Sasha) Zablotskyi is a digital experience and transformation leader with deep expertise across e-commerce, telecommunications, and financial services. Currently serving as Head of Digital Channels at Openbank — Santander's digital-first banking platform and now the largest European digital bank by deposit volume, with operations across Spain, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, the US, and Mexico — Sasha leads the evolution of customer journeys at one of the most ambitious digital banking platforms in the world. Over the course of his career, Sasha has worked at the intersection of product, customer experience, technology, and digital strategy — helping organisations rethink how customers interact with digital services in an increasingly connected world. From pioneering Ukraine's first eSIM solution at lifecell (including a cross-company one-minute activation flow built in partnership with Monobank) to building omnichannel commerce at Eldorado, his experience spans the full arc of digital transformation — from legacy retail to modern banking infrastructure. Full episode notes, transcript and chapters: https://www.thecxalgorithm.com/episod... Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4jUMZl3... Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast... Subscribe to the newsletter:   / the-cx-algorithim-podcast-7413940175195570176   Hosted by Dr Eslam Afifi — a CX, data, and AI leader with deep experience across financial services, public sector, and consulting — The CX Algorithm Podcast explores how people, data, technology, and design come together to shape meaningful customer experiences in an increasingly intelligent world.