Most organizations today struggle for a seamless customer experience journey. In an exclusive interaction with Toolbox, Sagi Dudai, Chief Technology Officer, Vonage, talks about how organizations can programmatically route calls, create custom communication apps, and integrate third-party systems to build chatbots and other tools to deliver an engaging customer experienceOpens a new window .
With an experience of over 20 years, leading the charge at one of the fastest moving technology companies, Sagi explains why the future of enterprise business communications is based in the cloud. Once a VoIP pioneer, Vonage today offers cloud-based unified communicationsOpens a new window and other IP services for businesses. We asked Sagi to share his views on AI-enabled applications, contextual communications, and how to integrate these technologies into applications and API products.
Key takeaways from this Tech Talk interview on the process of business communication:
- Top 3 tips on how best to prepare businesses for the API economy
- Best practices for seamless integration of AI-based applications in the tech stack
- Trends to follow in unified communications as a service for 2020
Here’s the edited transcript of the interview with Sagi Dudai on the importance of cloud in business communications:
Sagi, to set the stage, tell us about your career path so far and what your role at Vonage entails.
I began my career as a developer in the Israel Defense Force, where I worked on classified software and hardware engineering projects for Israeli intelligence. I completed an intense computer science training program and fell in love with IT. After spending a few years in the cyber division of the Israel Defense Force, I went on to earn my bachelor’s degree in computer science and business administration from Tel Aviv University.
As my career progressed, I became immersed in technologies like cloud, mobile, machine learning, and AI. Before joining Vonage in 2012 as the VP of mobile development, I held engineering leadership roles at companies like Mercury Interactive, TelMap, and fring. These positions helped me prepare for my role at Vonage.
In my current role as the chief technology officer at Vonage, I am responsible for leading the company’s technology vision, architecture, and design. I oversee technology development across the company, including new products, the technologies behind them, and R&D. Before becoming the CTO, I was the SVP of software engineering and network and led all the software development and network divisions for Vonage.
How can CTOs best prepare their organizations for the API economy?
The first step CTOs should take is ensure strong relationships with the developer community. Because, while APIs can create a more plug-and-play technical environment, each API should be evaluated just as one would evaluate any other technology tool the organization might implement. One way to help move the evaluation process forward is by referring to the community of experts that is already well versed in that API. The developer community is a critical resource that will help your organization’s developers successfully leverage the API knowledge base. This, in turn, will shorten your time to market and help debug coding issues.
It’s also important to remind your organization that not all APIs are created equal. To truly grasp the value of an API, it’s important to ask: How powerful are the resources to which this API is an interface?
Many vendors tout the fact that their APIs are extensions of their applications: a connector that exposes the product’s predefined features to developers for a level of custom programming. While there’s nothing wrong with this type of API, there are still others that can deliver services beyond what’s available in your current cloud infrastructure platform. In the case of communications platforms, for example, some communications platforms-as-a-service (CPaaS) APIs allow users to integrate with a variety of powerful third-party communications services to create wholly new communications experiences that off-the-shelf applications can’t support.
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What are the major pain points and challenges in setting up artificial intelligence capabilities for businesses?
One crucial fact to remember about setting up AI in your business is that AI is a tool in your toolbox, not the reason you do something. AI initiatives, like any other project, should help solve a business problem that you’ve identified before implementation. Many organizations leap at the opportunity to leverage AI without first understanding exactly how it will help their organization drive business forward. Once your organization identifies a pilot project and the value you can unlock by successfully completing it, you can decide which tools from your toolbox to use to solve it, and AI might be one of them.
Most implementations over the past number of years with AI started because it is the buzzword out there. This is why they fail. Keep your focus on the problem you are trying to solve and then take advantage of a very powerful tool.
Do you have any tips for CTOs and CIOs trying to better understand the language of business and to demonstrate the business impact of technology?
My simple advice would be to:
· Meet your customers, stay close to them so that you can understand their needs.
· Read a lot. Blogs, books, etc. – the industry is changing rapidly, and the pace of change is always accelerating. You must make the effort to keep up.
· Build a super talented team. You can’t do it all on your own; you will need a very strong and talented team to get the job done right.
How can organizations seamlessly integrate AI-based applications in their tech stack to improve collaboration and customer experience?
Rather than thinking of AI as a type of software or application, technology leaders might be better off viewing AI as an umbrella term that refers to tools, such as natural language processing, machine learning, or virtual assistants.
For example, virtual agents (what we typically think of when we envision AI or “botsâ€), are just a type of technology that leverages AI. Today, there are tools that allow people, with or without technical backgrounds, to design bots with limited code. Bots take advantage of other types of AI, such as speech-to-text algorithms that enable the creation of tools like conversational voice bots.
Technology leaders may want to weigh more heavily on AI-enabled applications that they can implement via API, or AI technologies that they can leverage to create a host of different applications. By focusing on technologies that are relatively easy to implement and can be customized for an array of use cases, technology leaders can effectively implement applications that improve the collaboration and customer experience across multiple channels.
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What is unified communication as a service (UCaaS) and what technologies are used to power UCaaS?
A successful unified communication as a service (UCaaS) product suite consists of a range of tools and capabilities: mobile apps, desktop apps, workstream collaboration, unified inbox across apps, social messaging apps, and the ability to seamlessly transition between mobile and desktop apps. These tools not only increase mobility and flexibility for employees, but they also give them the ability to work productively across various locations, whether that is at a desktop, a remote workspace, or on-the-go. Integration is another key component to powering UCaaS.
Cloud communications enable customers to change the way they communicate and operate through intelligent interactions via enterprise communications applications and programmable communications.
What will be the next big thing in unified communications as a service (UCaaS)? How does it benefit businesses to use UCaaS?
The future of enterprise business communications is based in the cloud. Unified communications as a service (UCaaS) cloud contact center solutions are empowering enterprises to build and scale next-generation contact centers. They are putting customer satisfaction at the heart of evolving technology and opening incredible pathways to efficiency and scale.
In the past, organizations had to build out separate contact centers and pay for the installation and maintenance that went with them. Or, companies managed contact center solutions by tacking on components to existing private branch exchanges.
By comparison, UCaaS cloud contact center solutions are built on elegant and hardware-light approaches. They offer massive advantages in the form of reduced deployment time, dynamic responsiveness, and the ability to grow at the pace of business over time.
Nothing drives a customer crazier than having to repeat him or herself to every new participant in the course of a single interaction. But a unified communications environment can solve that problem. Voice, text, and every other channel available to the user can become the part of a whole-customer view that tracks and informs every participant, empowering real-time conversations at every step.
Tell us about the upcoming projects in business communications at Vonage that you are excited about.
Following the recent acquisition of voice AI platform provider, Over.ai, we are busy integrating this technology into our applications and API products.
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Which trends are you tracking in this space as we approach 2020?
I’m tracking the development of APIs as a major piece of technology infrastructure. APIs can scale business-driving capabilities as needed without requiring the typical massive capital outlays or large teams of in-house developers and technically-oriented people.
I’m also interested in how personalization will continue to evolve. To stay ahead of the competition, businesses must deliver highly personalized experiences to customers. This personalization must transcend channels to personalize communications regardless of the means customers prefer, such as phone, email, SMS, online chat, or mobile app.
Finally, on a related note, contextual communications should continue to blossom. Along with personalization, customers want contextual communications. This means that businesses will plumb information like a customer’s intent, physical location, and social presence to better understand what customers want in order to eliminate the friction that may exist in the customer experience.
Neha: Thank you, Sagi, for sharing your invaluable insights on the importance of cloud in business communications. We hope to talk to you again soon.
About Sagi DudaiOpens a new window :
Sagi Dudai is the chief technology officer at Vonage. In this role, he is responsible for leading Vonage’s technology vision, architecture, and design, overseeing all aspects of technology development, including new products, their enabling technologies, and R&D. Before being named CTO, Mr. Dudai was senior vice president of software engineering at Vonage, responsible for software development company-wide.
About VonageOpens a new window :
Vonage is redefining business communications, helping enterprises use fully integrated unified communications, contact center, and programmable communications solutions via APIs. True to our roots as a technology disruptor, we’ve embraced technology to transform businesses to collaborate more productively and engage their customers more effectively across all communications channels.
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