Analyst Perspectives

Verint held its analyst conference recently, using the opportunity to flesh out how it is responding to the rapid developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and data-related technologies and to changes in the way enterprises consider the purchasing process for contact center-related tools.  

The market for contact center technology is changing very quickly. It has historically focused on traditional routing-based systems, starting with the automatic call distributor (ACD). ACDs have long functioned as the engine for connecting consumers to centers, even in the digital channel era. Increasingly, buyers are taking a more expansive approach to organizing their contact center tech stacks, and not always using the ACD as the core component upon which to build those stacks. This is especially notable in enterprises that are seeking to use their centers to drive growth and revenue, not just in a reactive call-handling role.  

In response to that shift, software providers have been keen to develop more complex software portfolios that reflect the innovations around AI, automation and analytics. (The shift is also derived from the fact that commoditization of core contact center tools, like the ACD, forces providers to examine their growth in adjacent technologies.) For many providers, it has been difficult to articulate the benefits of those technologies to contact center buyers specifically, largely because the contact center still operates as a silo relative to other customer experience (CX) teams.  

Verint has been dealing with both of those elements: steadily developing innovative tools that boost contact center performance while also establishing the contact center as a more integrated part of an enterprise CX program. At the analyst conference, Verint explored a new conception of the market for the contact center (and its adjacencies) that focuses on CX automation. I think that after watching them evolve their message over recent years, in tandem with their technology, they have finally landed on an effective way to present the combination of core contact center technology and extended tools that coordinate data and enhance the capabilities of a mixed contact center/CX team.  

It is with some satisfaction that I note that the framework Verint is using maps very well to the Customer Experience Management market view expressed by Ventana Research since 2022.  

It’s clear that Verint has been looking for ways to translate very complex interdepartmental technologies into use cases and benefits for people in specific roles. That has been part of their messaging as well as product development. With regard to AI, for example, Verint has been very clear about identifying the specific use cases in which to deploy AI, and put dollar figures on the proposed benefits and ROI. The company is using the phrase “CX Automation” as a way of describing the functions of its products in the center and the connections that the technology enables the contact center to build with other departments and processes.  

The reason CX Automation resonates as a way to describe this evolving market is because it focuses on outcomes, rather than activities. CX Automation explicitly acknowledges the changed landscape: new and different buyers, competing visions of a CX tech stack and providers with different priorities replacing the uniformity of the traditional contact center ACD-focused product set. When I look forward 3-5 years, I see a contact center landscape very far removed from the one where a handful of contact-center-as-a-service (CCaaS) and legacy prem companies deliver routing as the core product. It will be an environment in which data is central and communications tools are taken for granted. One can argue whether CX Automation is the best name for a market segment, but it’s a very accurate description of the combined universe of functions that start in the call center and radiate outward to affect every business action that impacts customer behavior. By 2027, 90% of customer interactions will combine automated conversational self-service and live agents, reducing costs, time and enabling agents to focus on high-value interactions.  

Another example is the way Verint has developed its Engagement Data Hub, which is the fundamental platform resource that drives just about every other component. Clearly, control of customer and interaction data is a precursor to successful AI outcomes. Identifying the Data Hub as the substrate through which to achieve those AI results is a smart move, and a differentiated one, because not all of Verint’s competitors have this capability. To make the point even clearer, the Data Hub is presented as the place where its AI bots go through continuous training, using current and updated data. This helps clarify the value amid the complexity. 

Another AI tool that Verint has developed in the past year is a Data Insights Bot that puts relevant insights into the hands of people one step removed from the center, allowing them to see relationships between actions and outcomes and understand the interconnectedness between what happens in the center and the wider world of business goals and outcomes.  

That’s the difference between this bot and the other, more narrowly defined bots—this one is open-ended and designed specifically for users to “have a conversation with their data.” This could potentially distinguish it from even advanced analytics by its proactivity in surfacing relevant insights before users even ask direct questions.  

There is clearly value in the way Verint is bundling its offerings. CEO Dan Bodner shared the details of a number of seven- and eight-figure deals that were closed already in 2024, with more potentially to come. That signals an appetite for complexity among serious enterprises and an acknowledgement that the traditional basket of routing and associated tools is no longer sufficient for running a modern contact center.  

Enterprises should look at the technology model Verint is offering and consider it for its openness, its focus on control of data and the resolute way the company associates ROI with specific use cases in both contact centers and broader CX.   

Regards,

Keith Dawson