CXO of the week: Raja Lakshmipathy, VP and MD, Genesys India & SAARC region

Genesys orchestrates billions of remarkable customer experiences for organisations in more than 100 countries. Through the power of our cloud, digital and AI technologies, organisations can realise Experience as a Service, our vision for empathetic customer experiences at scale. With Genesys, organisations have the power to deliver proactive, predictive, and hyper personalised experiences to deepen their customer connection across every marketing, sales, and service moment on any channel, while also improving employee productivity and engagement. By transforming back-office technology to a modern revenue velocity engine Genesys enables true intimacy at scale to foster customer trust and loyalty.

A seasoned professional with over 27 years of experience in the Collaboration and Customer Experience industry, Raja Lakshmipathy is the Managing Director for Genesys India & SAARC Countries. Raja is responsible for driving the architecture and sales strategy for the company’s comprehensive portfolio of digital customer experience solutions in India and SAARC counties.

Recently we have engaged in an interview with Raja Lakshmipathy is the Managing Director for Genesys India & SAARC Countries. He shared his views on key offerings and key USPs of Genesys, his entrepreneurial journey, the company’s growth, and much more.

Introduction.

With over three decades of experience in the customer experience business, I currently serve as the Vice President and Managing Director for Genesys India& SAARC region. I am responsible for driving the platform  and sales strategy for the company’s comprehensive portfolio of digital customer experience solutions in India and SAARC counties. Prior to joining Genesys four years back, I held strategic UC and CX leadership positions at in the country.

How has Covid-19 accelerated the transition to digital for the traditional AI industry?

Covid-19 has altered the technological, operational, regulatory, and cultural aspects of work and how business is done today. With the pandemic, businesses had to be flexible and rethink their approach for providing a positive customer experience, which implied that "anythingphysical" had to be "everything virtual" as well. The covid business disruptions released pent-up demand for online goods and services in numerous industries, including travel, business, and technology. As a result, trends changed frequently and significantly, and customer experience (CX) was no exception.

On the technological front, Covid-19 has dramatically accelerated the adoption of digital technologies and the cloud. It fundamentally changed the work environment of employees and the norms of customer engagement in the process. As a result of this change, CX leaders are now strategically utilising AI to serve customers better by orchestrating end-to-end experiences, empathetic interactions and personalised services where they feel heard and understood.  To deliver on this value proposition,  businesses are  placing a high priority on the employee experience, using tools such as workforce engagement management not just to increase contact centre productivity and efficiency but also to build a sense of purpose and satisfaction and unleash employee superpowers as they actively engage in their roles

What will be the new normal in the industry?

Planning, being ready, and training for business calamities are all part of business continuity. For as long as I can recall, it has been integral to managing a contact centre operation. Even though this crisis was ofan unparalleled magnitude, many of the problems that companies with contact centres experienced in the early stages of the shutdown could have been avoided if they placed their bets on cloud. Fortunately, we’ve assisted many businesses to leverage our capabilities of cloud computing through the Genesys Cloud CX platform and assist them to rapidly get back on track to continue with their business as per normal while being able to safeguard their employees’ health.

There is a paradigm shift in how organisations and employees have learnt to navigate work, hiring and other processes that were unthinkable to be executed remotely. For example, with hiring being impacted during covid, although there is no substitute for in-person conversations when conducting job interviews, people learned to evaluate, trust, and value others digitally in this new normal. The new normal has demanded businessesbe flexible,and resilient and rethink how they would not just survive but thrive. It is timefor organisations to access what did and didn’t work in delivering customer engagement during the pandemic, adjust their people, processes, and technologyaccordingly. They needtoplan on acceleratingthe implementation of cloud-based digital customer engagement solutions to ensure business continuity and growth.

What, as per you, are the five important things that Genesys should be looking at today?

In a rapidly changing business environment, companies are striving to become loyalty leaders, and the Experience Economy is shaping technology and re-defining CX. One can sayCX is the new battleground where customers tie the experience to brand perception. In this dynamic environment, a lot is at stake to catch the customer interest and attention. A People-Centric Approach that drives moments of trust & a lifetime of loyalty, becomes key.

At Genesys, we are fully focussed on orchestrating personalised, end-to-end experiences within and beyond the contact centre which encompasses Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS), Customer Journey Management, experience automation, and experience orchestration capabilities – all on an open cloud platform. We believe that the market is ready for Experience as a Service, and wewill continue to leverage digital, cloud, automation, and artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver the power of empathy to each and every experience that our customers have with us.We are the only global leader in customer experience to provide businesses with an all-in-one public cloud customer experience  platform that is available locally in India. This means that we can provide Indian businesses, as well as those in the other 12 cloud regions where our cloud services are deployed, stability and security across our Genesys Cloud CX platform.

We have the following top priorities for the future:

• We aim to take the lead with Cloud on a subscription-based approach from a product perspective.
• We'll take a deeper look at the install base andevolve  important clients to the cloud environment from their current premises.
• Additionally, we strive for operational excellence and quicken the adoption of automation and digital technologies by more clients.
• Our focus is on expanding the market leadership of Genesys Cloud by emphasisingon the convergence of customer experiences (CX) and employee experiences (EX).
• We will continue to strengthen our position as an innovation platform for Genesys, customers, and partners to excel in CCaaS as well as Experience Orchestration and Customer Journey Management capabilities.

How can small financial players overcome the challenges faced while adopting technology into their business?

Organisations that provide financial services are now concentrating on creating consumer experiences that are secure, seamless, and accessible. Challengers are appearing from all directions because of the growth of digital banks, payment platforms, and fintech disruptors. The secret to long-term growth is to maintain consumer mindshare while lowering service costs, increasing agility, and accelerating digital transformation on a secure platform.

Many small financial players have made great progress, and security is the most important yet underappreciated concern for them. Smaller businesses may prioritise efficiency and end up incurring huge costs on security  when implementing and maintaining new technologies on their own. For these organisations Cloud comes as huge saviour and delivers great value.  These enterprises require a clear objective from the beginning, one in which security is a crucial element. They must adopt a proactive approach to creating a highly secure system to prevent any potential security breaches. For these players, updating and integrating software can be a huge challenge. They can gain access to the newest and most effective technological solutions with the aid of technology providers..

Lastly, small businesses can concentrate on upskilling their personnel, recruiting technology experts who are tech savvy. They must also continue to track and assess these technologies and make iterations as necessary. In today’s economy, experience is the only currency and the exceptional is now the expected – because when customers have a great experience, this sets and notches up the standard for every future interaction with that brand and beyond.

What changes is Genesys bringing to the industry?

Let me begin with saying that Genesys is the first global customer experience organisation to provide Indian enterprises reliability, flexibility and scale to deliver rapid innovation with the launch of Genesys Cloud CX. The adoption of cloud was a game changer for the CX industry and has potential for more growth with a lot of businesses following in pursuit and switching to cloud. We are looking to accelerate the cloud adoption that will continue to drive India’s growth story. Businesses must always reconsider the best ways to use technology to market, sell, and support their customers. The advantages of AI are no longer limited to companies with dedicated engineers striving to unleash its full potential. I am convinced that Genesys is spearheading the effort to democratise AI,making it available to a broader range of businesses.
Genesys Cloud CX developers also work to ensure that customers can see the latest features with the click of a button every week, without interruptions or downtime. This means quick access to new functionality, such as AI-powered solutions that can facilitate more fluid customer and employee journeys, without using IT resources. We are making our presence felt in all the verticals. In the coming years, we hope to also focus on the Small and Medium Businesses (SMB) segment for expansion.

How has the pandemic shaped/changed the work culture?

The pandemic caused a significant dynamic shift in the workplace environment and accelerated the arrival of the future of work. Organisations were forced to switch to the remote model of work as lockdowns were implementedAccording to the future of work survey by MIT and Genesys, 84% of
survey respondents highlighted that hybrid or remote work optionsallowed them to better retain staff by offering flexibleschedules. 60% respondents agreed that it lowered stress levels andimproved their mental health. With their staff dispersed around the globe, businesses were compelled to move to the cloud. The adoption of new technology increased as businesses scrambled to maintain connectivity across continents without sacrificing security.

To protect employees' well-being during the epidemic, businesses have also implemented flexible work schedules. The survey also points out that COVID-19 has catalysed a long-term shift toward flexible working for contact centre employees. Fully remote working for contact centre employees is expected to grow to 40% by 2024, and by that time, a further 23%will be operating a hybrid model.  More businesses are also paying attention to their employees' physical and mental wellbeing.

Share views on the changing work culture over the past decade?

I think the pandemic has brought about the biggest change, which is the constantly evolving nature of the workforce. Organisations that were once completely on-site have shifted to either remote or hybrid models. It's also encouraging to see more organisations placing a priority on employee welfare, in terms of mental well-being, flexible time hours, and employee beneficial schemes.

The integration of the ever-evolving technology is driving innovations at an exponential rate. Implementing Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing is assisting businesses in staying current in the tech industry. If you look at employee communication from ten years ago, it was largely emails. Tools have gotten smarter. As companies expanded, we shifted to using more collaborative applications and technologies for quicker employee communication. In the modern environment, there are aids for every task. So, it's impressive to see how much technology has advanced in the workplace in the last ten years.

One book that you would recommend to the freshers that can help.

The books "The Secret" and "The Power" by Rhonda Byrne are my picks. Despite the fact that these are self-help books for everyone in all circumstances, I believe they will assist the beginners in developing a good outlook and the ability to influence others via self-belief, a positive attitude, and the setting of high expectations.

Another book, "The first 90 days," by Michael D. Watkins, might be more helpful if you are taking on a leadership position for the first time. With the aid of this book, one could accelerate the process of reaching the "breakeven point" in their career and effectively assume control during a challenging career transition.