Building Trustworthy Brands in an AI World With Sasha Strauss

Sasha Strauss is the Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Innovation Protocol, a brand strategy consultancy that helps organizations define, strengthen, and communicate their identities with clarity and purpose. Since founding the firm in 2006, he has advised leading organizations, including Google, Disney, LEGO, PayPal, and Nestlé, on brand strategy and leadership communications. Sasha is also a longtime graduate professor of brand strategy at UCLA, USC, and UC Irvine, where he teaches the next generation of business leaders. An internationally recognized speaker, he shares insights on branding, leadership, and AI-driven strategy with organizations and conferences worldwide. In this episode… Successful businesses often struggle to clearly communicate what sets them apart, leading to inconsistent customer experiences, reduced trust, and missed opportunities. As AI reshapes how people discover and evaluate companies, organizations also face the challenge of maintaining authenticity as they adopt new technology. How can businesses build a brand that customers trust without losing their human identity? Sasha Strauss, a brand strategy expert and educator, explains that a strong brand is built on a consistent promise that is reflected in company culture, employee behavior, and every customer interaction. He recommends defining a clear brand identity through research and competitive analysis rather than guesswork, ensuring employees understand and embody the brand, and training AI tools to communicate in ways that align with an organization's values and voice. Sasha also shares how AI can accelerate research, personalize content, and improve customer experiences while reinforcing — not replacing — human expertise and creativity. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker interviews Sasha Strauss, Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Innovation Protocol, about building trusted brands in the age of AI. Sasha discusses why company culture and brand are inseparable, how businesses can use AI to strengthen customer trust, and why authentic human creativity remains a competitive advantage.