Avaya ENGAGE Overview
Innovation Without Disruption – ENGAGE Coverage
While driving a Tesla through the streets of Silicon Valley, I began to notice a clear difference between traditional vehicle manufacturers, with whom I was involved for five years, and electric vehicle manufacturers. This difference was highlighted when the Uber driver I took said, “I had to relearn how to drive because I don’t need to brake for anything with the latest update. Plus, I can already test autonomous driving. Want to see?” And for a few blocks, passing through traffic lights and intersections, I was there, contemplating the unparalleled ingenuity of humanity in building AI.
You may be wondering, what does Tesla have to do with Avaya’s global event, ENGAGE, held last week in Denver, which is the focus of this article? There are three common elements that I will discuss: Innovation, Leadership, and AI.
Innovation
The big challenge for traditional vehicle manufacturers in transitioning to EVs is moving from a mechanical and product mindset to a digital and platform mindset. If you look, you will see that Tesla and other EV manufacturers have far more electrical engineers and software developers than mechanical engineers. The nature of a digital product involves Agility, Updates, and Integrated Services, forming the core of what a platform is.
This same concept has been masterfully applied by the new leadership at Avaya. The company has moved away from a focus on products and an extensive list with over 100 different elements, besides the hardware SKUs, to transform into a CX services platform with just two solutions:
1. Avaya Experience Platform CCaaS
2. UC Suite
Here we can already see the difference in company vision from five years ago to today. Software is eating the world, and no single player dominates the market! All the major players in the digital world have achieved success with a platform strategy, and this is exactly what we saw Avaya present during ENGAGE. New partnerships with relevant players like Zoom to meet the new language of the world, video. The acquisition of Edify with a focus on Orchestration, the Holy Grail of excellent CX, and an AXP architecture design with resources and partnerships at every stage of the CX journey.
This type of business transformation doesn’t happen without a crucial aspect…
Leadership
The new CEO, Alan Masarek, who will soon complete two years with the company, believes that “if you can’t imagine the future, you can’t turn it into strategy,” and what a beautiful future he has imagined for Avaya. The same motto that Elon Musk has lived by, leading him to impact different industries such as Financial, Mobility, Energy, and Space.
First, there was a reshuffling of the company’s top management, bringing in professionals with vast experience in what… Cloud and Platform solutions! Moreover, he confessed to me in a closed session that the two main characteristics he sought in the reshuffling were Intellectual Capacity and Adaptability. Since the digital invasion and the opportunity for cloud solutions to be constantly updated, it is impossible for a leader to be rigid. Perhaps the best term for what Mr. Masarek has done is to build an Anti-Fragile leadership.
With the new team, it’s time to share the vision composed of three key elements:
Voice of the Customer
– Ricardo Gorski, Country Manager here in Brazil, told me that Brazil was the first country Alan visited outside the US when he took over and that he spent his days getting to know people, talking to teams, visiting customers. This was clear in Josh Mueller’s, CMO, speech when he took the stage: “My role as CMO is to listen to the Voice of the Customer and make sure it is understood by the WHOLE company.”
Choose Your Journey
– With the customer’s voice heard, it became clear that Avaya needed to regain their trust. Initially, this was done through a financial recovery process in less than a year. Subsequently, understanding that many customers had a legacy base and that the battle is not On-Premises vs. Cloud and the company’s leadership is adaptive, the choice was to make the platform flexible for the customer to choose what they prefer. An internal challenge that has proven successful with big cases on stage like Comcast Business.
Innovation Without Disruption
The above item reveals the motto the company has followed over the past two years: we will accompany you on your innovation journey without disrupting your business. With this phrase applied to its solutions, Avaya’s leadership has managed to re-establish customer trust and return to market leadership.
But Doesn’t AI Cause Disruption?
Certainly, and that’s why the team is so attentive. The acquisition of Edify was already a step in this direction, the platformization of AXP allows various market players to integrate their AI solutions into the platform, creating a seamless experience for the customer. Here in Brazil, the creation of MakeOne Lab, a GenAI and Innovation Lab within the market-leading partner, shows our belief in the power of this new platform.
According to the company’s leaders, the formula for business success is CX + EX = BG, and AI solutions were presented for each of these elements. In CX, the possibility of creating AI Agents to handle simpler calls and integration with Generative AI platforms points to the future of brand-consumer relationships. In EX, Agent Assist solutions such as Real-time Strategy, Conversation Wrap-Up, and AI Insights in Analytics point to the Agent of the Future! A great example of what we call here at the LAB Amplified Intelligence.
There is no doubt that these solutions will lead to Business Growth, and with global leadership in installed customer service bases, it is clear that Avaya will quickly reap the benefits of this formula.
While Elon Musk had a blank slate to shape the future of Mobility as he wished, providing great freedom of imagination, Alan had an entire base built in a leadership position but under technology already disconnected from current times.
Perhaps it is more challenging to make the leader of the pack Roaring Back than to create a new pack, but as he himself said on stage, Avaya’s option has been to Roaring Forward!
