Why Vendors Are Years Ahead of the Contact Centers Buying Them

Max Ball, principal analyst at Forrester covering conversational AI and CCaaS, joins Sascha Poggemann to unpack why vendors are innovating faster than the conservative enterprises deploying them, and why nearly 650 conversational AI companies are headed for consolidation as budgets and buying committees evolve. He also digs into the real math behind agentic staffing changes, the unglamorous engineering work of integrations, testing and observability that separates a slick demo from a production-grade system, and his concern that free consumer AI agents from Big Tech could end up steering customers by ad revenue rather than fit.

👉 NiCE:
https://www.nice.com/speak-to-an-agent

🔗Connect with Max:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-ball-244932/

🔗Forrester:
https://www.forrester.com/bold/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social

🔗Connect with Neeraj:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/neerajsverma/

🔗Connect with Sascha:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/saschapoggemann/

____________________
Timestamps:

00:52 — The Evolution of Agentic AI 
03:47 — The AI Vendor Landscape 
05:01 — The Future of Contact Centers 
06:37 — AI and the Human Workforce 
10:07 — Why Enterprises Hesitate on AI 
13:30 — The Cost of Skipping AI Testing 
19:12 — Why AI Demos Aren't Enough 
22:09 — The Rise of Personal AI Agents

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About Speak to an Agent:

Speak to an Agent explores what it really takes to bring AI into large organizations, why AI can't fix a problem you haven't already solved, why real understanding matters more than a polished voice, and why the domain expert who knows how to use AI is becoming the most valuable person in the business. The show features the leaders, founders, and technologists building and deploying AI at scale, and they get candid about what's working, what isn't, and what changes now that machines can reason, plan, and act at a human level, and sometimes beyond it. If you're responsible for putting AI to work inside your organization, this is a conversation you won't want to miss

• (00:52) - The Evolution of Agentic AI
• (03:47) - The AI Vendor Landscape
• (05:01) - The Future of Contact Centers
• (06:37) - AI and the Human Workforce
• (10:07) - Why Enterprises Hesitate on AI
• (13:30) - The Cost of Skipping AI Testing
• (19:12) - Why AI Demos Aren't Enough
• (22:09) - The Rise of Personal AI Agents

Why Deloitte's Selin Güven Says AI Adoption Needs Patience

Deloitte's Selin Güven says trust is earned in small bets, not big rollouts. From hallucination risk to what a bot should never do, she's seen it all. Her advice: start small, get it right, then scale.

👉 NiCE:
https://www.nice.com/speak-to-an-agent

🔗Connect with Selin:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/selin-g%C3%BCven-9a651415b/

🔗Deloitte:
https://www.deloitte.com/us/en.html

🔗Connect with Neeraj:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/neerajsverma/

🔗Connect with Sascha:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/saschapoggemann/

___________________

Timestamps:
00:49 — From Chatbots to AI Agents 

03:10 — Building the Right AI Foundations

04:30 — AI Won't Fix Broken Processes 

07:25 — AI Guardrails and Security 
09:25 — Testing AI Agents at Scale 

11:03 — Measuring AI Agent Success 

14:04 — How AI Transforms Workforces 

19:27 — Where to Start With AI

____________________

About Speak to an Agent:

Speak to an Agent explores what it really takes to bring AI into large organizations, why AI can't fix a problem you haven't already solved, why real understanding matters more than a polished voice, and why the domain expert who knows how to use AI is becoming the most valuable person in the business. The show features the leaders, founders, and technologists building and deploying AI at scale, and they get candid about what's working, what isn't, and what changes now that machines can reason, plan, and act at a human level, and sometimes beyond it. If you're responsible for putting AI to work inside your organization, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.

• (00:49) - From Chatbots to AI Agents
• (03:10) - Building the Right AI Foundations
• (04:30) - AI Won't Fix Broken Processes
• (07:25) - AI Guardrails and Security
• (09:25) - Testing AI Agents at Scale
• (11:03) - Measuring AI Agent Success
• (14:04) - How AI Transforms Workforces
• (19:27) - Where to Start With AI

Gooder AI’s Eric Siegel on Why Most AI Projects Never Make It to Deployment

Gooder AI founder Eric Siegel says the industry is obsessed with the wrong number. Accuracy, precision, AUC score, none of it matters if nobody can translate what a model does into dollars. Eric makes the case for predictive AI's quiet comeback, why 80-95% of AI projects still fail to ever deploy, and why marketing hype might matter almost as much as the model itself. Out now in paperback: his book, The AI Playbook.

👉 NiCE:
https://www.nice.com/speak-to-an-agent

🔗Connect with Eric:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/predictiveanalytics/

🔗Eric’s company, Gooder AI:
https://www.gooder.ai/

🔗Connect with Neeraj:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/neerajsverma/

🔗Connect with Sascha:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/saschapoggemann/

____________________

Timestamps:

00:51 — Why AI Value Matters

03:18 — The Power of Predictive AI

06:36 — Why Accuracy Isn't Enough

11:07 — The Cost of AI Models

13:20 — Why AI Projects Fail

18:13 — Measuring AI Agent Reliability

23:59 — Predictive AI Makes a Comeback

29:39 — Bridging Business and AI

____________________

About Speak to an Agent:

Speak to an Agent explores what it really takes to bring AI into large organizations, why AI can't fix a problem you haven't already solved, why real understanding matters more than a polished voice, and why the domain expert who knows how to use AI is becoming the most valuable person in the business. Featuring the people and ideas shaping the future of CX AI, the innovators, the thought leaders, and those making the decisions. They get candid about what's working, what isn't, and what changes now that machines can reason, plan, and act at a human level, and sometimes beyond it. If you're responsible for putting AI to work inside your organization, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.

• (00:51) - Why AI Value Matters
• (03:18) - The Power of Predictive AI
• (06:36) - Why Accuracy Isn't Enough
• (11:07) - The Cost of AI Models
• (13:20) - Why AI Projects Fail
• (18:13) - Measuring AI Agent Reliability
• (23:59) - Predictive AI Makes a Comeback
• (29:39) - Bridging Business and AI

ServiceNow's CRM product lead Sarup Paul draws a hard distinction between engagement-layer platforms and resolution-layer platforms, arguing that complex enterprise workflows,not the UI or the model will determine who controls the agentic enterprise. Paul also reveals how ServiceNow's AI Control Tower is positioning the company as the governance layer for all AI agents across the enterprise, not just its own.

👉 NiCE:
 https://www.nice.com

🔗Connect with Sarup:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarup/
🔗Service Now:
https://www.servicenow.com/
🔗Connect with Neeraj:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/neerajsverma/

_______________________

00:54 — Enterprise AI Is Here

03:17 — AI That Resolves Problems

06:22 — Beyond Basic AI Agents

07:54 — Governing Enterprise AI Agents

10:05 — AI Replacing Human Work?

14:09 — Why Enterprise SaaS Survives

18:28 — The ROI of AI

22:24 — AI Changes Product Development

_______________________

About Speak to an Agent:

Speak to an Agent explores what it really takes to bring AI into large organizations, why AI can't fix a problem you haven't already solved, why real understanding matters more than a polished voice, and why the domain expert who knows how to use AI is becoming the most valuable person in the business. The show features the leaders, founders, and technologists building and deploying AI at scale, and they get candid about what's working, what isn't, and what changes now that machines can reason, plan, and act at a human level, and sometimes beyond it. If you're responsible for putting AI to work inside your organization, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.

• (00:54) - Enterprise AI Is Here
• (03:17) - AI That Resolves Problems
• (06:22) - Beyond Basic AI Agents
• (07:54) - Governing Enterprise AI Agents
• (10:05) - AI Replacing Human Work?
• (14:09) - Why Enterprise SaaS Survives
• (18:28) - The ROI of AI
• (22:24) - AI Changes Product Development

Founder of Israel's Biggest AI Community, on Why AI Strategy Is Really an Engineering Problem

Uri Eliabayev, who founded Machine & Deep Learning Israel, now the country's largest AI community with tens of thousands of members, joins Sascha Poggemann to explain why he evaluates AI models on task-specific outcomes rather than benchmarks, and how reframing any problem as a code problem changes what teams believe is possible to automate. They also discuss why AI adoption succeeds fastest when it aligns with employees' own motivations rather than being mandated top-down, and why enterprises should embrace an iterative, patient approach instead of expecting one-shot results.

👉 NiCE:
 https://www.nice.com

🔗Connect with Uri:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/urieliabayev/

🔗Machine & Deep Learning Isreal
https://machinelearning.co.il/

🔗Connect with Neeraj:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/neerajsverma/

____________________

01:03 — Building Israel’s AI Community

05:33 — The Next AI Frontier

10:12 — Taking AI Into Production

14:01 — Making Enterprise AI Work

18:45 — AI Governance and Regulation

23:34 — Will AI Replace Jobs?

26:24 — Becoming Better With AI

29:32 — Getting Employees to Adopt AI

_______________________

About Speak to an Agent:

Speak to an Agent explores what it really takes to bring AI into large organizations, why AI can't fix a problem you haven't already solved, why real understanding matters more than a polished voice, and why the domain expert who knows how to use AI is becoming the most valuable person in the business. The show features the leaders, founders, and technologists building and deploying AI at scale, and they get candid about what's working, what isn't, and what changes now that machines can reason, plan, and act at a human level, and sometimes beyond it. If you're responsible for putting AI to work inside your organization, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.

• (01:03) - Building Israel’s AI Community
• (05:33) - The Next AI Frontier
• (10:12) - Taking AI Into Production
• (14:01) - Making Enterprise AI Work
• (18:45) - AI Governance and Regulation
• (23:34) - Will AI Replace Jobs?
• (26:24) - Becoming Better With AI
• (29:32) - Getting Employees to Adopt AI

What It Actually Takes to Ship Voice AI

AssemblyAI founder Dylan Fox on why voice AI was left for dead. He unpacks the messy multi-model voice stacks behind today's AI agents. Should AI even try to sound human? A sharp, no-fluff look at what it takes to ship real voice AI.

👉 NiCE:
https://www.nice.com/speak-to-an-agent

🔗Connect with Dylan:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanbfox

🔗AssemblyAI:
https://www.assemblyai.com/
🔗Connect with Neeraj:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/neerajsverma/

____________________

00:00 – Intro
01:10 – Meet Dylan Fox
02:39 – Why Voice AI Is Back
05:04 – Where Voice Agents Still Fail
08:44 – The Voice AI Tech Stack
09:54 – The Future of Voice-to-Voice AI
12:01 – Smarter Speech Intelligence
15:59 – When AI Agents Work Together
18:00 – Accuracy, Context & Hallucinations
21:26 – Building the Future of Voice AI

_______________________

About Speak to an Agent:

Speak to an Agent explores what it really takes to bring AI into large organizations, why AI can't fix a problem you haven't already solved, why real understanding matters more than a polished voice, and why the domain expert who knows how to use AI is becoming the most valuable person in the business. The show features the leaders, founders, and technologists building and deploying AI at scale, and they get candid about what's working, what isn't, and what changes now that machines can reason, plan, and act at a human level, and sometimes beyond it. If you're responsible for putting AI to work inside your organization, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.

The show features the leaders, founders, and technologists building and deploying AI at scale, and they get candid about what's working, what isn't, and what changes now that machines can reason, plan, and act at a human level, and sometimes beyond it. If you're responsible for putting AI to work inside your organization, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.