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Season 1 Episode 6 | While Vendors Are Racing, Buyers Are Walking | Max Ball
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.
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.
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https://www.nice.com/speak-to-an-agent
https://www.nice.com/speak-to-an-agent
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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
Creators and Guests
What is 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.