We’re all in the business of “human impact” — putting  people and the planet first as we continue to innovate for good. It’s essential that businesses focus on making the world a better place by fostering collective action that drives progress and meaningful change through technology.  

At Genesys, we help create experiences as distinctive as iconic brands to deliver future possibilities using some of the most innovative technologies. Working with Microsoft is central to making this possible.   

Microsoft is not only a partner, but the company is also a Genesys customer that uses our technology to transform customer and employee experiences across more than 30 lines of business. By combining our world-class technologies, we’re enabling businesses to innovate faster and become more agile.    

The continuing acceleration of digital transformation means providing customers with a combination of advanced capabilities. With Nuance now with Microsoft, our partnership adds yet another dimension to the value we can deliver together.  

We recently sat down with John Hernandez, Executive Vice President and GM of Genesys Multicloud™, and Tony Lorentzen, SVP and GM Intelligent Engagement of Nuance Communications, a Microsoft company, to discuss how the Genesys and Microsoft partnership is uniquely positioned to deliver transformative technologies that solve human challenges.   

Why is it necessary to raise our collective standards when it comes to people and the planet? And how do you see the power of partnerships playing a role in this? 

Tony Lorentzen: As an organisation and as individuals, we all share a responsibility to advance our collective standards, take care of each other and make the world around us a better place. We believe having a focused and central purpose is key to achieving that.   

Through technological innovation harnessing the power of AI, we can foster collective action to drive progress and meaningful change. We build each piece of technology with the mission to amplify our collective intelligence and deliver tangible outcomes. Partnerships are foundational to building toward those outcomes by bringing customers flexible and integrated offerings that meet their varying needs — leveraging the collective products, successes and innovations.  

Collectively, with Genesys we’re solving tough problems for our customers. The obstacles we face can be challenging. Having long-standing partners like Genesys who are building beside us and focused on solving those same problems for the customer make the overall solution stronger and more accessible.    

What is the importance of the Genesys and Microsoft partnership? Why does it matter to customers and businesses?   

John Hernandez: At the highest level, the Genesys and Microsoft partnership is raising the standard for customer and employee experiences. Our long-standing partnership makes it easier to leverage cloud and artificial intelligence technologies to get deeper insights and provide tailor-made experiences for every customer. By integrating our world-leading technologies, businesses can innovate faster and improve their business agility, which impacts how they service customers.   

Every company has a different starting point when it comes to technology. Some are brand new and were born in the digital age and can just jump right in — using the latest and newest AI technologies, for example, for self-service. And enabling their workforce with the right knowledge to help consumers navigate through questions and issues. Others have years — or decades-long technology investments — they need to consider and connect.  

With the Genesys and Microsoft partnership, we bring the best of both worlds with foundational technologies that each of us bring to orchestrate the journey for customers and businesses. Essentially, we’re helping them connect the old with the new; augment their systems with future-thinking capabilities to ultimately streamline transformative technologies to deliver the outcomes for their businesses. But at the end of the day, it’s really all about making lives easier for both our customers and their employees.  

Tony Lorentzen: It really is all about the outcomes our technologies can deliver together by enabling automated, secure and predictive conversations that enhance customer and employee experiences. The flexibility we can offer customers, no matter where they are in their digital transformation journeys, combined with the technology innovations available for them to seamlessly integrate, is unique in the market.   

I think our customers appreciate the ability to adopt the pieces of our offerings that best meet their needs as they modernise their contact centres. Together with Genesys, we are evolving what is available to organisations with an eye toward maximising efficiencies and delivering future-proof solutions leveraging the power of AI.    

What does the business of human impact mean to you and how does it relate to your role as a leader?  

John Hernandez: I see human impact as using the power of people and our collective minds to develop for the future. At Genesys, I proudly lead hundreds of product and engineering leaders around the world.  

If you think about it, the technologies we develop and deliver today are by-products of ideas coming from humans. So, in developing that technology, there’s a lot of human understanding and empathy required to make an impact.   

That’s why in everything we do, we put our end customers — often these are consumers — at the centre of everything we create. Customers really are central to how we can make experiences better by understanding that need and the problem we’re solving for them.   

How is data impacting human understanding within Microsoft? How are you using data to reframe your imperatives around the customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX)?   

Tony Lorentzen: We have to think about data as a means to an end. While it’s incredibly important to our business, data itself is not going to change CX or EX.   

It’s how we apply the data, how we gather it responsibly and how we apply it to solve problems. The output of data — when applied with outcomes in mind — is the stories it can tell, the way in which it can advance how we understand a situation and, ultimately, its ability to amplify our human intelligence.   

As computing has advanced, massive amounts of data can be processed at a rapid pace, and with that comes the ability for us to, in-real-time, better understand who a conversational system is engaging with and what that individual — whether an end customer or an employee — likely is needing at a given moment in time. Anytime we can help organisations better understand the individual on the other side, we can build more personalised, secure and enjoyable experiences.   

Why do you think human-centric technologies are the missing link to most business imperatives? What does success look like on that front?  

John Hernandez: One of biggest challenges I see in businesses today is often, they’re stuck with an inside-out view of the world. It’s human nature. We always see things from our own point of view.   

We’re starting to see a shift that it really should start with the customer. Being customer-centric allows us to have a greater understanding of how we develop the right technologies to respond to human need and even build on sustainability.   

For example, the more immersive we can make technologies, the less need for people to travel to get the service they require, which reduces their overall carbon footprint. It’s really a continuous and connected cycle.     

At Genesys, at the heart of what we do is delivering on that human connection, understanding and empathy. Being empathetic doesn’t just mean being nice. It’s about listening and understanding where our customers are coming from, and acting upon that knowledge and, in many cases, being proactive.   

Equally important is empowering our employees by simplifying the management of these technologies to enable them to use it at the right time.   

With Genesys and Microsoft, success means leveraging the combined power of our people and technologies to inspire — giving our employees a sense of purpose in their day-to-day work while also meeting customers’ needs. Technologies like AI enable our teams to gain better insight and feel empowered to help their customers, especially in those moments of need.    

I believe that having an open dialogue can raise our level of consciousness and hopefully help all of us strengthen our commitment to both people and the planet.