In this inaugural episode of Leapfrog CX Strategies longform interviews, host Dave Michaels discusses with Vasili Triant, CEO of UJET, the evolving landscape of customer experience (CX) technology. Vasily shares insights from his extensive career, spanning companies like Shoretel, Serenova, and Cisco, before taking the helm at UJET.
**Key Discussion Points:**
- **Industry Background:** Vasily’s journey through various tech companies, highlighting the transition from on-premise solutions to cloud-based services. He reflects on his time at Shoretel as a formative experience, noting the company's significant growth and eventual impact of the cloud transition. Serenova is recalled as a company with potential that faced a challenging path.
- **UJET's Evolution:** Vasily discusses his role in UJET's growth, including navigating fundraising rounds and his recent promotion to CEO. He touches upon the company's strategic pivot towards AI-driven CX transformation, emphasizing the integration of conversational analytics and virtual agent capabilities.
- **AI in CX:** The conversation delves into the impact of AI on the contact center industry. While acknowledging the excitement around virtual agents, Vasily expresses a nuanced view, suggesting that while AI enhances efficiency, the human element and personalized customer experience remain crucial. He cautions against an overreliance on automation as a sole cost-saving measure, advocating for a balanced approach that leverages AI for proactive and efficient customer engagement.
- **The Google Partnership:** Vasily elaborates on UJET's strategic partnership with Google, discussing how it has influenced the company's go-to-market strategy and product development roadmap. He highlights the symbiotic nature of the relationship and the potential for future collaboration, particularly in leveraging Google's reach to drive AI adoption in CX.
- **Workforce Management (WFM) and Quality Management (QM):** The discussion addresses the acquisition of Authority, a WFM/QM solutions provider. Vasily explains the rationale behind the acquisition, emphasizing the strategic importance of integrating these capabilities to offer a more comprehensive CX solution. He differentiates between the evolving QM space, which he believes is ripe for AI disruption, and the more established WFM market.
- **Future Outlook:** Vasily shares his vision for UJET, focusing on continued innovation in AI-powered CX solutions, strategic partnerships, and expanding into new markets, including a growing presence in Portugal. He expresses a passion for genuinely transforming customer experiences by leveraging technology to create more proactive, efficient, and personalized interactions.
This episode provides a deep dive into the strategies and vision driving a key player in the CX technology sector.