The contact centre is one of the most valuable tools in any business. This evolving environment provides a crucial point of connection between a brand and its customers. With the right solutions, companies can do so much more than just answer client questions. A quality contact centre is also way of accessing sales opportunities, and a tool for differentiation.
Today’s consumers put experience at the top of their priority list when choosing companies to do business with. We’re all looking for helpful and intuitive conversations from the organisations that we rely on. Contact centre and CX technology responds to this demand with omnichannel opportunities and ever-improving tools.
According to Grandview Research, by 2027, the market for contact centre software will reach $72.3 billion. If you want to be on the cutting edge of this landscape, then it pays to follow some of the most insightful minds of the industry.
Here’s your introduction, in no particular order, to some of the most valuable contact centre influencers in 2020.
Rowan Trollope
Rowan Trollope stands out as one of the better-known influencers in the communication landscape today. This American technology entrepreneur is more than just a knowledgeable figure. Rowan is a passionate part of the marketplace, constantly delivering meaningful insights into the way that communication is changing.
Today, Rowan Trollope is the CEO of Five9. He joined the cloud software company as CEO in 2018 and has since supported the brand in expanding its market cap to more than $6 billion. Rowan has accelerated the growth of revenue for Five9, and he’s pushing the company in the right direction towards expanding product margins.
Trollope has an impressive history in the communications space. Before he started leading Five9, he was GM and SVP of Cisco Systems, working in the IoT and Applications division. He also spend a few years working as SVP and General Manager of Cisco’s Collaboration technology group.
By far, Rowan’s most extensive role was with Symantec, where he spend more than 21 years moving through a variety of critical roles in the team. Today, he’s a vital factor in Five9’s success as an industry-leading company for cloud contact centre and CX solutions.
Tiago Paiva
CEO and Founder of Talkdesk, Tiago Paiva, is another example of an influential leader in contact centre and customer experience solutions. Paiva is the creative force behind Talkdesk’s incredible accomplishments in CX technology. With consumer-ready ease of use and enterprise-class performance built in at the core, Talkdesk stands out as a true innovative solution.
After achieving his masters degree in engineering, Paiva decided that he wasn’t built for the standard 9-to-5 life. However, he was working in a time where startups just weren’t as common as they were today. His goal to create a product that would transform the world pushed him into learning how to code, and eventually producing the Talkdesk business.
Tiago is an inspirational figure in the contact centre space, proving that you can build anything with the right attitude. His transformative company started as a creation for a Twilio hackathon. Paiva wanted to build something that would support companies in providing better customer service to callers. Now, that simple idea is transforming business operations around the world.
Omar Tawakol
General Manager and Vice President of the Cisco Contact Centre business unit, Omar Tawakol, is an active part of the Cisco ecosystem. He regularly shares valuable information online and speaks at events. As the leader of Cisco’s Contact Centre solution, Omar is responsible for the development and consistent transformation of Cisco’s CC strategy and portfolio.
Tawakol came to his role in Cisco from an incredible background in the technology and communication landscape. Omar was the CEO and co-founder of Voicea – a company which he led until it was purchased by Cisco in 2019 (August). Voicea was an AI-focused assistant platform dedicated to supporting better customer experience and business productivity.
Before the creation of Voicea, Omar was also CEO and Founder of BlueKai – the company responsible for building the world’s largest marketplace for consumer data. BlueKai created a powerful data management platform, and eventually earned an acquisition from Oracle in 2014. In Oracle, Omar served as the GM and Senior Vice President of the Data Cloud unit.
Thomas Kurian
Thomas Kurian is a creative mind, innovator, and inspirational leader in the communications industry. His incredible history in communications and technology build on an unusual background. Once, Kurian was the chemical engineer and general manager of the Graphite India company. Kurian is also the twin brother of NetApp CEO, George Kurian.
Now, Thomas Kurian, as CEO of Google Cloud and Google Contact Centre AI, has created a powerful space for himself in the communications niche. In the early 90s, Kurian played a crucial role in delivering valuable research and information to the industry as a Business Analyst for McKinsey and Company. He also spent some time as an Engagement Manager for the same brand.
In 1996, Thomas became President of the Oracle company. He took is first executive role as the Vice President of Oracle’s eBusiness division, supporting a host of important company-wide initiatives concentrating on transforming Oracle from a digital perspective. Kurian was also responsible for the Fusion Middleware product portfolio in Oracle. The segment became the fastest growing in the Oracle business under Kurian’s leadership.
During his first year as Google CEO, Kurian focused on developing G Suite as a solution for enterprise clients. Now, Thomas is driving the business towards new investments in tools like the Google Contact Centre AI.
Pasquale DeMaio
An authentic and dedicated leader with a proven knack for success, Pasquale DeMaio is the General Manager of Amazon Web Services (AWS). Using his track record of exceptional vision and intuition, DeMaio has achieved incredible things over the years, leading cross-disciplinary teams to deliver customer-focused products to the market.
Capable of factoring technology, customer experience, architecture, and other business initiatives into a comprehensive strategy, DeMaio knows how to create products that people love. He’s widely renowned as one of the most influential leaders in his space, with excellent employee satisfaction feedback too.
Today, Pasquale is the General Manager of Amazon Connect, a cloud-based and self-service contact centre based on similar technology that Amazon customer service associates use around the world. DeMaio led the effort to push Amazon Connect from a customer service tool in Amazon, to a publicly available AWS service. DeMaio has 20 years of experience delivering world-class B2C and B2B products.
Before working with Amazon, Pasquale had a great history with Microsoft, supporting the company in innovations like vector-rendered maps, and senior program management. His specialties include user experience, augmented reality, technology innovation, and customer success. DeMaio knows what it takes to deliver SaaS at scale.
Al Cook
Director of Product Management and Head of the Twilio Contact Centre business, Al Cook, is a fantastic figure to follow for those interested in customer experience and contact centre solutions. Twilio is currently one of the most innovative businesses in the customer contact landscape, offering versatile solutions through Twilio Flex.
Al is one of the innovators pushing Twilio to accomplish incredible things for customers through APIs, and programmable technology. Al is the Vice President of Twilio Flex, dealing with product management and engineering. However, he’s also VP and General Manager for Artificial Intelligence at Twilio, which puts him on the cutting edge of the company’s latest innovations.
Cook is responsible for the design and transformation of Twilio Flex as a programmable contact centre. He took this unique concept through from founding idea to a fast-growing solution in the CC industry. As a passionate and driven leader in his industry, Cook offers brilliant views into how technology can change the way we connect.
Before working with Twilio, Al was a product manager at the MetaSwitch networks company, where he gained plenty of experience in the communication landscape. He has also worked as a consultant with the well-respected Deloitte brand.
Noam Fine
Noam Fine, Head of AI Applications at Vonage, is an entrepreneur, and an innovator, dedicated to improving customer and brand experiences around the world. As the forward-thinking head of Vonage’s AI applications, he contributes to the Vonage’s ever-evolving strategy for intelligent technology and customer service. His passion for industry evolution and his deep knowledge of the technical space make him an incredible leader.
Noam joined Vonage after the company acquired Over.Ai, the voice intelligence platform that Fine co-founded and led as CEO. Over.ai was a powerful contact centre representatives platform designed to support complicated interactions between consumers and businesses. This technology now supports the Vonage brand.
Before Over.ai, Noam was also the co-founder and CEO of another company named Sensiya. This company created a contextual awareness platform, which helped to provide access to actionable and meaningful data. The company was eventually purchased by i.am+, where Fine became the General Manager, responsible for overseeing operations and supporting innovation at the company.
With a special understanding of product strategy, artificial intelligence, emerging technology and strategic alliances, Noam has a unique power for creating amazing experiences. Today, he is a massive part of the team turning Vonage into a genuinely transformational market leader for the contact centre.
Barak Eilam
Working with the NICE company for more than 21 years, Barak Eilam has guided this amazing brand throughout countless transformations during his incredible career. Barak Eilam became the CEO of NICE, in 2014, after several years with the company in various positions like President of NICE Americas, and Vice President of Analytics.
Barak played a critical party in helping to inspire the strategic direction of the company, leading its transition into a forward-thinking enterprise software company. Eilam’s innovative acquisition strategy also led to an increased share price for NICE in recent years. As CEO of the company, Barak has earned various awards for his achievements.
Eilam has a long-standing history with the NICE company. When he originally joined, he was the Vice President of the Interaction Analytics Group. Before he began working with NICE, Barak was an Officer with the IDF (Israel Defence Forces). Today, Barak continues to guide NICE in the right direction, towards greater profitability and innovation.
Following a consistent vision to make the business more lucrative and transformational, Eilam regularly talks about how he will help NICE to expand in the years to come, increasing the quality of things like analytics software for better customer experiences and more relevant interactions. Barak has already proven himself as a fantastic power in the contact centre space, and he’s not going to let anything slow him down.
Tony Bates
Anthony Bates (Tony Bates) is a British business leader and a wonderful figure to follow for anyone interested in the potential and growth of the contact centre. An inspirational presence for all who know him, Bates has an impressive career behind him in the technology and digital landscape. Today, Tony Bates is the CEO of Genesys, one of the market leaders in exceptional tools for contact centre innovation.
Before he began his career with Genesys in 2019, Tony already had plenty of experience under his belt. He’s currently a board member for VMware, one of the world’s best-known virtual machine and cloud technology solutions. Bates also acts as an ongoing board member for the eBay company – the most profitable online auction house in the world.
For a little over a year, Tony was the CEO of Growth for the Social Capital Company. He also held a variety of important leadership positions in technology-based businesses before this. Between 2014 and 2016, Bates was the President of GoPro. In 2011, he started a career as the Executive Vice President of Microsoft, responsible for various aspects of strategy and business development.
Tony also spent some time working as CEO of Skype, one of the more popular conferencing tools in the world – and a service that continues to evolve to this day. He has also worked with the MCI Telecommunications Group, and Cisco, as a Senior Vice President and General Manager. Today, Bates brings all of these experiences and more to his leadership at Genesys.
Emir Susic
Finally, not to be overlooked as a meaningful contact centre influencer, Emir Susic is the VP of Avaya International’s Professional Services Group. Susic has been the Vice President of APS international for more than 2 years now. Before this, Emir held numerous positions within the Avaya company, including APS International Senior Director, and Director of EMEA Services sales.
What makes Susic’s input on the contact centre landscape so valuable is his current view of the evolving marketplace, and his impressive history. Emir came to Avaya from an exceptional Contact Centre service provider background. Susic was responsible for running the largest contact centre in Croatia. He has his finger on the pulse of every significant contact centre customer, and project that Avaya currently works on.
With various positions in his past, including Director of the HT company and President of the Board for the Optima Telecom group, Emir has a lot of value to offer. He provides Avaya’s team with an amazing business knowledge and a tech perspective that addresses today, yesterday, and tomorrow.
As an experienced figure in the management of complex service and sales environment, Emir is a valuable voice in the contact centre space. He knows how to manage teams of various sizes, and he has run multiple cross-functional projects over the years. Emir is a figure worth watching for those looking to learn about modern solutions for customer experience.
The Thought Leaders in Contact Centre
The contact centre landscape is evolving at a rapid pace. We’ve gone beyond a world where customers only have the opportunity to connect with companies through a complex and time-consuming phone call. Today’s customer and brand connections are more complex, immersive, and sophisticated than ever before.
At a time when customer experience is the only true differentiator for today’s businesses, companies of all sizes must invest in the best possible contact centre. It’s the contact centre technology of an organisation that bridges the gap between the client and the brand. Get this technology right, and you can easily transform any lead or prospect into a dedicated customer.
Going forward, it’s impossible to predict what the future of contact centres might bring. We can see plenty of opportunities on the horizon. Cloud-based contact centres that allow for flexibility and employee freedom are becoming more appealing. At the same time, artificial intelligence and analytics are making it easier for teams to assess the sentiment and need of a customer in real-time.
The rise of new forms of communication is influencing contact centres too, leading to more comprehensive environments for everyday interactions. The thought leaders above are the people leading our companies towards a new future in contact centre opportunities. If you want to be on the cutting edge of what’s happing in the contact centre realm, these are the people you should be listening to.
What do you think of my list of CC influencers? Is there anyone I’ve missed? Join the conversation on social media.
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