Look for Genesys when the announcer tells the drivers to “start your engines” at this year’s Indianapolis 500. In our first major sports sponsorship, we’ve teamed up with IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe to take on the largest single-day sporting event in the world. This move also reflects our “Race to the Cloud” campaign that you’ll see across this year.

Race to the Cloud is designed to increase awareness of both our brand and of the power of Genesys CloudTM to deliver the personalized customer experiences that no other vendor in our industry can match.

Even when you’ve got the goods, it takes extraordinary focus and courage to get to Victory Lane. That’s the Genesys spirit. Whether the race is at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or in the cloud, we’re all in. We’re all in for innovating the best customer experiences for companies around the world and their customers.

We believe that, just as in IndyCar, the best things in customer experience happen as a result of humans and machines working together. And it’s this combination that enables Genesys to deliver more than 70 billion remarkable experiences every year for our customers and their customers — globally. That’s why we think the IndyCar series, and James Hinchcliffe specifically, is the perfect match.

Let’s start with the machines. What’s under the hood matters. An old engine just can’t compete in today’s cars or in modern contact centers. In both cases, there’s so much innovation that goes on every day, every month, every year; sitting on old technology will leave you eating everyone else’s dust.

And it goes without saying that speed is essential in auto racing. But it’s also critical in customer experience. It applies both being able to quickly resolve customer issues and seamlessly take advantage of new capabilities. And it’s the cloud that lets you put innovations like predictive engagement, workforce engagement management and intelligent automation to work almost immediately — even if you still have some or most of your contact center on-premises.

The cloud is the only practical way to keep up with changing customer expectations. And, even if you’ve inherited a legacy on-premises contact center, you’re no longer stuck with the “best-in-class system” from 2005. Whether you need to move to the cloud one step at a time or are ready to go now, you can take advantage of the capabilities of the most modern, turbo-charged contact center available today.

But the most important part of any technology is the human who uses it.

And in this world — where leading businesses compete on customer experience instead of products and services — only humans can deliver the quality that will set apart your experience. It’s empathy. The ability to understand, appreciate and respond to the feelings of another person makes a really great experience shine so brightly in our memory.

Empathy fuels our CX Heroes, customer service representatives who have gone so far above and beyond the usual customer experience standard. These heroes have reignited relationships for customers, convinced companies to change established rules and even helped get rid of wasps.  And they did it all because they genuinely care about their customers.

Empathy and dedication to take on the toughest challenges to create the best customer experiences in the world. And these drive our Experience as a Service vision.

James also brings empathy and dedication to the world, making him a great brand ambassador for Genesys. His commitment to the community has made him beloved in Indianapolis, where he lives. He participates in charity events wherever he goes, with beneficiaries including Make a Wish Canada, Race for Cancer and Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia Foundation of Canada.

After surviving a nearly fatal accident during an Indianapolis 500 practice round in 2015, he worked with the Red Cross to encourage people to donate blood. He also established a “Race for Recovery” fundraiser for the Wound Clinic at the IU Health Methodist Hospital, which played a key role in the early days of his recovery.

And talk about dedication and determination — barely a year after the accident, he not only returned to racing but won the pole position for the 2016 Indy 500.

Teaming with James in the Indianapolis 500 means we get to support one of our hometowns. More Genesys employees are based in Indy than anywhere else in the world. So, when they sing “Back Home Again in Indiana” before the race in May, we will be.