Speak to an Agent

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. 👉 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 ____________________ 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

Season 1 Episode 5 | Small Bets, Big Trust | Selin Güven 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

Season 1 Episode 4 | Value Is Sexy 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

Season 1 Episode 3 | Whoever Owns the Workflow Owns the Enterprise | Sarup Paul Why Sarup Is Betting on Workflow Orchestration as the AI Control Plane 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

Season 1 Episode 2 | Everything Is a Code Problem | Uri Eliabayev 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