Some 50 unified communications leaders have overwhelmingly named artificial intelligence, specifically generative AI, as the most important technology for their business this year.
As part of our inaugural UC All-Stars series, we asked more than 50 UC Leaders to pick the technology they think will have the most significant impact on the enterprise space this year.
Below is a snapshot of some of their answers. You can view their complete answers to these questions and more in UC All-Stars or click a leader’s name to view their full profile.
Senior execs and influencers from the likes of Microsoft, Zoom, Avaya, GoTo and more all named AI the defining technology of the year.
Peter Mahoney, Chief Marketing Officer at GoTo, said: “Anyone who doesn’t answer “AI” in some form of this question needs professional help.
“Unprecedented advances in AI have changed nearly every part of our business. From the way we operate to the products we build.
“A year ago, embracing AI was an advantage. In 2024, you need to fully embrace AI just to keep up with others in the market.”
Josh Blalock, Chief Video Evangelist, Jabra, reluctantly agreed.
“Whether I like this to be the answer or not, AI – in various forms – will likely have the biggest impact on my business, as well as the businesses of most others,” he said.
“It is already changing the way that content is made, and the AI within UC platforms is driving the hardware design & creation.”
No less than three All-Stars admitted their AI answer was a “cliché” but said there was no other viable technology to name:
- Randy Chapman, Solutions Engineer, Logitech, also named AI – specifically around the impact it will have on the world of collaboration.
“It might sound cliché, but collaborative AI,” he said. “I’ve been playing with Copilot since getting a license and I am genuinely astonished at what it can do.
“It is great to see that other collaboration and meeting platforms are also adopting their own AI tools.
“As long as they are used responsibly they can be transformative. Embrace them and see how they can help you. Don’t worry, they won’t replace you.”
- Avaya CEO Alan Masarek said: “It sounds cliché by this point, but AI is continuing to have a major impact on both the UC and CX industries“This year, organizations are looking at how AI investments must translate directly and tangibly to driving real business value.“Many see the potential of AI to reshape productivity, workflows and cross-team collaboration. But managing the risks, privacy, security, and business ethics concerns associated with AI technology, while still reaping the benefits of these innovations, will make the difference for the most successful businesses this year.”
- Analyst Jon Arnold said: “AI – sounds cliche, but it’s not well-understood, and there’s a growing need for people like me to explain, clarify, educate, inform, etc. – and that’s what drives my business.”
Independent Approval
It wasn’t just vendor All-Stars hyping up AI’s potential; industry analysts agreed.
Some analysts highlighted how AI will impact the way they personally work.
Zeus Kerravala, Founder and Chief Analyst, ZK Research said: “I think most people will say generative AI, but I haven’t played with it as much as I should have.
“For me, anything to do with rapid video editing. I do so many videos, and I have a great video editor but it would be nice to use AI to take quick iPhone videos and turn them into splashy social media worth posts would be nice.”
Tim Banting, Practice Leader- Digital Workplace, Omdia, said: “Many businesses are currently developing all sorts of features and products that they are calling ‘Generative AI’.
“However, once the initial excitement wears off, there will be some AI features that will prove to be truly valuable to me by the year 2024. Personally, I am most interested in anything that can help me write more effectively and efficiently.”
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Dom Black, Director of Research Services at Cavell, said: “I hate to say it but AI (as I imagine most are going to say this!). As a research company, we’ve already seen greater productivity within our teams and expect to see greater returns in the future.”
Blair Pleasant, President & Principal Analyst, COMMfusion, said: “As an analyst, the technology I’m consulting and writing about the most is AI, of course, particularly for how it’s being used in the customer experience (CX) space.”
While all the analysts we spoke to are optimistic about AI’s eventual impact, some also noted the importance of caution.
They flagged issues around compliance, public perception, security, privacy and adoption.
Kevin Kieller said: “With no doubt, artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) will be a primary focus and topic in 2024
“AI and GenAI will likely cause public relations issues and project failures [but] will help some organizations deliver real, measurable, sustainable competitive advantage.”
Irwin Lazar, President and Principal Analyst at Metrigy, flagged security and compliance as challenges to be overcome.
“Nothing has transformed communications, collaboration, and customer engagement as quickly as AI, nor is raising fundamental questions about work, security, privacy, and compliance,” he said.
Melissa Swartz, Technology Consultant, Swartz Consulting, LLC, added: “Artificial Intelligence is changing the industry in so many ways, at a very rapid pace. This causes confusion for organizations trying to sort through what these changes mean and how to take advantage of new capabilities.
Best of the Rest
However, some of our brave All-Stars were willing to sidestep AI and focus on a handful of other areas.
Here are the best of the rest:
- Patrick Watson, Head of Research at Cavell, said: “Customer experience-focused technologies, such as contact centre. Increasingly the whole communications industry appears to be focusing on, or leading with CX, and this trend has radically transformed the focus of our research.”
- Patrick Kelley, Distinguished Architect, Zoom, said: “If I don’t answer with Gen AI no one will believe me, but I think low-code development platforms creating workflow automation will have the greatest user impact.”
- Jamie Hughes, Sales Director at Evolve IP UK, said: “There’s a few solutions that we have launched recently but I feel that Webex is having a resurgence in the market, especially from the end customers choosing the quick to adopt solutions from the COVID period.”
- Dhwani Soni, GVP of Product Management, Design & Operations at 8×8, said: “Bringing together the three portfolios of UC, CC & CPaaS has been fundamental in delivering a product like Engage. This year has been particularly pivot as we have accelerated our CX-centric innovations to market that help drive proactive customer engagement across the entire organization.”
