Conny Kalcher: How Zurich is Making Empathy Pay Off by Closing the Gap

The Empathy Edge · Mar 24, 2026 · 48m

For years, empathy was treated as a business nice-to-have—important, but secondary to speed, scale, and efficiency. The data now tells a very different story.

In this conversation, Maria and Conny, the Chief Customer Officer at Zurich Insurance Group, dive into Zurich’s new global study, Addressing the Empathy Gap, which surveyed more than 11,000 consumers across 11 markets. The findings are striking: 79% of consumers say empathy matters more than any other factor, and 43% have left a brand due to a lack of empathy. This isn’t theoretical; it’s revenue walking out the door.

Conny shares how…