CX and the City #NICEi23 (original) (raw)
Barak Keynote on the AI Wave. Credit Michels
Dave Michels
Enterprise Communications Analyst | Protagonist | Specializing in Storytelling & Reputation Management for good brands.
Published Jun 9, 2023
NICE hosted its customer conference in NYC this week. In addition to its customers and partners, there were also several financial and industry analysts in attendance. One of the hashtags for the event was #CXandtheCity, the perfect storm for CX, NYC, and its featured guest keynoter Sarah Jessica Parker.
Nice figures its Interactions events are the biggest CX conferences in the industry, and that certainly seems plausible. This was the first time I attended Interactions in person. For the past several years they were virtual events. I’ve become a big fan of the Interactions Keynote presentations. Barak Eilam has previously taken advantage of the virtual format by going all-out with green screen technology. His frictionless keynote last year was exceptional, and I was wondering what NICE would do on a physical stage.
I was not disappointed. Eilam started off on the screen, then came down the aisle like a rock star, and did a fantastic on-stage presentation with interactive digital graphics. It’s actually quite an appropriate metaphor – he turned the keynote into a journey involving multiple real-time and digital interactions. It may not have been orchestrated, but it was choreographed.
There were two major keynotes, one by CEO Barak Eilam and the other by President CX Barry Cooper . They were different and non-repetitive, but so reinforcing I can’t remember who said what. The theme was the digitalization and “AI-zation” that’s rapidly reshaping the industry. Three new major AI products were announced: Enlighten Copilot, Enlighten Autopilot, and Enlighten Actions.
It wasn’t just #CXandtheCity that was a perfect storm, but so are current tech transitions for NICE. The company is at the intersection of tons of data and AI tools, and domain expertise, and has strong relationships with brands and partners, It’s growing and profitable with an operating margin of 35%. On top of that, its leadership team has very little turnover. #SeasonedPros.
I left the event optimistic about NICE’s positioning, and I believe 2023 is going to be a big year for CCaaS. The effects of the pandemic and changes in economic conditions are shaking things up. That was another theme – Cooper said this year’s Interactions was more “game-changing” than any other. The Gartner CCaaS MQ has had only minor changes for the past four years, but I expect that comes to an end this year, and NICE will soon be sharing the Leader’s quadrant with dots of a different color.
Big things are happening for sure. Sarah Jessica Parker even managed to get Einat Weiss on a keynote stage.
There’s more to come on this. I will end here for now, and leave you with some of my videos from the event.
Elevate AI is now FREEMIUM with Neeraj Verma
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Gregory Weber , CTO Eventus – how to sell, implement, support, and host NICE CCaaS
Kathy Sobus of C1 on how to keep agents and customers happy.
Real-Time, Recorded Dave and Zeus Kerravala discuss #NICEi23 and #CiscoLive.
Cross posted on TalkingPointz.com.