Colin Shaw

Telecoms career and founding Beyond Philosophy

Colin Shaw was a senior executive at a large telecoms company, where he led 3,500 people in sales, marketing and customer service^[1]. He founded Beyond Philosophy in 2002 as one of the first customer experience consultancies^[1]. The firm describes itself as a global customer experience consultancy that helps organisations improve their customer experience strategy and engagement in order to grow^[3]. It is headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, and London, and has worked across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia^[3]. Shaw is its founder and CEO^[2].

Beyond Philosophy lists American Express, FedEx and Caterpillar among the organisations it has worked with^[1]. Its case studies include Aviva, du, Ricoh, Memorial Hermann and Maersk Line^[3]. In the Maersk Line case, the firm reports that its methodology helped the container shipping company raise its Net Promoter Score by 40 points in 30 months, which it links to a 10% rise in shipping volumes^[4]. The firm states that the Financial Times has selected it four times as a top management consultancy^[6].

Books on customer experience

Beyond Philosophy's books page lists Building Great Customer Experiences, Revolutionize Your Customer Experience, The DNA of Customer Experience, Future Trends and Insights of Customer Experience, Happy Employees Make Happy Customers and Unlocking the Hidden Customer Experience^[2]. Building Great Customer Experiences, written with John Ivens, argues that both the physical execution and the emotional impact of an experience shape customer satisfaction, loyalty and commercial results^[2]. Happy Employees Make Happy Customers covers why the employee experience matters, how to hire, and how leaders can create an environment that keeps staff engaged^[2].

The Intuitive Customer, written with Ryan Hamilton of Emory University, looks at why organisations struggle to improve customer measures and see loyalty scores such as Net Promoter plateau^[2]. Its answer is that firms need to understand the emotional, subconscious and psychological intuitions that drive customer behaviour, and the book applies behavioural economics to customer experience^[2]. Hamilton's Emory faculty page describes the book as applying insights from consumer psychology to managing customer experiences^[8].

The Intuitive Customer podcast

Shaw co-hosts The Intuitive Customer podcast with Hamilton, a professor of marketing at Emory's Goizueta Business School^[6]. Apple Podcasts lists the show as active from 2017 to 2026 with 438 episodes, and describes it as a discussion of how to improve customer experience and gain growth^[5]. Beyond Philosophy states that the podcast has had more than 600,000 downloads^[6].

In a May 2026 episode, Shaw and Hamilton set out a decision framework for when AI should lead customer interactions, when humans should lead, and how to avoid automating the moments that drive loyalty or churn^[6]. The episode description notes that customers did not ask for companies to become AI-first^[6]. In another May 2026 episode they discussed why new ideas in customer experience struggle to break through, and the signs that the current CX paradigm is reaching diminishing returns^[7]. Shaw said in that episode that when a paradigm hits its limits, the answer is to think differently rather than do more^[7].

Writing and speaking

Shaw writes the Why Customers Buy newsletter on LinkedIn, which his company reports had 87,000 subscribers in 2026^[6]. His company biography states that LinkedIn named him one of its Top 150 Business Influencers and includes him in its Top Voices programme^[1]. He is a keynote speaker and has commented on CNN, BBC TV, NPR and LBC^[1].

Known for

• Founding Beyond Philosophy in 2002
• The Intuitive Customer book and podcast with Ryan Hamilton
• Building Great Customer Experiences and The DNA of Customer Experience
• Work on the emotional and subconscious drivers of customer behaviour

Sources

1. Beyond Philosophy: Colin Shaw biography — checked 6 Nov 2026
2. Beyond Philosophy: Books — checked 6 Nov 2026
3. Beyond Philosophy: About — checked 6 Nov 2026
4. Beyond Philosophy: Maersk Line case study — checked 6 Nov 2026
5. Apple Podcasts: The Intuitive Customer — checked 6 Nov 2026
6. Beyond Philosophy: The Intuitive Customer, How To Decide When To Use a Human vs AI, May 2026 — checked 6 Nov 2026
7. Beyond Philosophy: The Intuitive Customer, The Customer Experience Paradigm Has Hit Its Limits, May 2026 — checked 6 Nov 2026
8. Emory Goizueta Business School: Ryan Hamilton faculty profile — checked 6 Nov 2026