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June 24, 2026

The Compounding Asset: Why Your Humanity is the Only Thing That Won't Depreciate

In a world of easily replicated tools, true advantage comes from trust. Learn how technology-aided customer experience helps you build lasting relationships and a competitive moat.

From Hype to Permanence: In a market saturated with shifting software moats, it is easy to get caught in the temporary. The most successful leaders are stacking trust with strategic technology to build something harder to replicate: A Legacy of Experience. The goal is a relationship that can’t be copied in a day.

The Power of the Long-Term Moat

  • Build What Can’t Be Cloned: A real human workflow, backed by direct user conversations, takes years to replicate. That gap is your moat.
  • The Compound Interest of Trust: Organic trust builds permanent assets that grow in value over time.
  • Diversify Before the Moat Shrinks: The time to build human-centered layers is when you are ahead, not when you are threatened.

Designing Your Narrative

Invest in Outcomes: Move your business from simply providing information to providing results. When you are the one doing the work for the customer, you become indispensable.

Stack Organic Trust and Discovery: Use content to build authority, then place it where users are already searching for solutions.

Let Users Shape the Architecture: Engage in direct feedback loops. This builds loyalty that no algorithm can disrupt.

Get Me a Person by Joseph Michelli — book cover
New book

Get Me a Person

Winning Human Connection and Loyalty in the Age of AI. On sale December 8 — signed, personalized copies are available now.

Pre-order the book
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Written by

Joseph Michelli

Joseph Michelli, Ph.D., is a Certified Speaking Professional and #1 New York Times bestselling author whose books are drawn from his work inside Starbucks, The Ritz-Carlton, Mercedes-Benz, Airbnb, and Zappos. His new book, Get Me a Person, releases December 8. Signed, personalized copies available now. He helps leadership teams design human-centered, technology-aided experiences that build loyalty and referrals. Start a conversation about your team.

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