This week, Marc Bernstein sits down with David Karandish, Founder and CEO of Capacity, for a conversation that stretches beyond tech stacks and into the future of how humans and systems work together. From the outdated CRM to the rise of “systems of engagement,” Marc and David unpack why the traditional software hierarchy is being flipped—and how AI copilots are becoming essential teammates, not replacements. They explore what it takes to design tech that aligns with how people actually get work done, the role of smart automation in the “Decade of the Agent,” and the real story behind the latest M&A movement in contact centers. Whether you’re thinking about how to structure your tools or your team, this episode is a masterclass in strategic clarity.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:24 Before Capacity
02:32 CRM, CCaaS, & AI
12:56 Decade of the Agent
18:26 System of Engagement
23:13 M&A Activity in the Contact Center
34:13 Organizing Frameworks
47:00 AI in 3 Years
In this episode of Reimagining the Contact Center, Marc Bernstein sits down with customer experience legend Shep Hyken to unpack the evolving relationship between AI and human empathy in customer service.
Together, they dive into:
The rise of self-service everything
The danger of “artificial incompetence”
Why empathy still matters—even in a world ruled by bots
The tension between customer convenience and human connection
What a no-human future might mean for loyalty, trust, and brand memory
Whether you're building an AI roadmap or just trying to keep your CX human, this episode will challenge your assumptions and sharpen your strategy.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:33 AI for Consumers
15:25 Human Empathy
17:35 Artificial Incompetence
22:40 A Future With No Humans
33:04 What Companies Will Still Hire People?
40:15 AI in 3 Years
In this episode of Reimagining the Contact Center, Marc Bernstein sits down with Lily Clifford, Founder and CEO of Rime, to unpack the emotional mechanics of spoken language, the cultural expectations we attach to voice technology, and why some AI voices make us uneasy while others feel oddly familiar.
Marc and Lily explore how human communication isn’t just about words—it’s about cadence, intention, and identity. They discuss the risks of blurring the line between synthetic and human, how different generations are reshaping voice tech expectations, and why making a voice “believable” is more about respect than realism.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:08 Mechanics of the Human Voice
04:33 Foundations of Human Conversations
09:52 Where is the Bottleneck?
14:40 Social Standards or AI Voice
18:45 Human Likeness of AI Voice
21:27 Ecosystem of Voices
27:48 Indistinguishable from Human Voice
33:45 What is Next for Rime?
40:00 AI in 3 Years
AI is everywhere—but are we using it wisely?
In this episode of Reimagining the Contact Center, Marc Bernstein sits down with Sam Wilson, CEO of 8x8, to dissect the current wave of AI adoption in CCaaS and beyond.
Sam shares his perspective on balancing innovation with customer trust, integrating AI that actually works, and redefining what “good” looks like in the modern contact center.
Whether you're a tech-forward leader or a skeptic with scars from failed pilots, this episode will shift how you think about AI’s role in your operation.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Impact of AI on CCaaS
10:05 Contact Center Disruption
12:40 AI vs. Human Hallucinations
15:40 Agent Assist
20:50 Prioritizing AI Investments
30:07 Per Agent Use Cases
34:30 AI Outcomes
42:40 AI in 3 Years
What does it really take to bring AI into the workforce—for real? In this episode of Reimagining the Contact Center, Marc Bernstein sits down with Charanya “CK” Kannan, CEO and Co-founder of Pinkfish, to explore the new rules of AI adoption.
CK brings the hard-earned perspective of a founder who’s seen it all—and still bets big on AI. The two dive deep into why agentic AI is leaving RPA in the dust, what it means to pace your automation strategy, and why every org needs a champion who understands what AI can (and can’t) do.
This one’s for the leaders who know that automation isn’t about moving fast—it’s about moving smart.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:00 CKs Background & The Evolution of AI
04:42 Founding Pinkfish
06:56 Pace to Automate
10:38 Joining the Workforce with AI Knowledge
12:28 RPA vs. Agentic AI
18:13 Being the Champion for AI
23:04 AI Inferring & Use Cases
28:26 Browser Capture Tools & App Builds
34:42 AI in 3 Years
In this episode, Marc Bernstein sits down with Will Bodewes, CEO of Phonely. This one's about architecture, not aspiration. Will breaks down the anatomy of a voice agent, from speech generation and LLM orchestration to real-time prompting and user control. You'll hear why hallucinations aren't what you think, how “agent guidelines” shape human-like behavior, and why flow-based design is the new gold standard for AI in the contact center.
Plus, how Phonely customers go live in 30 days, what really drives conversion, and why the future of AI isn’t about doing everything—it’s about doing the right things, repeatedly, without fail.
Whether you're building an AI roadmap or just tired of buzzwords, this one’s for you.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:03 Setting Up LLMs
05:10 Prompts & Giving Users Control
06:47 Setting Up On Phonely
09:50 Agent Guidelines
14:02 First Day, Month, and Year Using Phonely
18:40 AI Agent Use Cases & Limitations
24:13 Customers' Comfort & Learnings
32:10 AI in 3 Years
In this episode of Reimagining the Contact Center, Balto CEO Marc Bernstein sits down with Calabrio’s CTO for a wide-ranging, mind-bending conversation about the true impact of AI. Not just on operations. Not just on outcomes. But on how we think, lead, and find meaning in work. This one’s part neuroscience, part strategy, part spiritual reset for anyone feeling overwhelmed by the AI buzz. Don’t miss it.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Different AI Eras
02:00 Past Clarity With AI
08:20 What AI Does To The Human Brain
12:55 Break Through The Noise
16:48 Barrier To Great Contact Center Value
21:18 WEM Category
25:50 AI Agents vs. Human Agents
29:20 AI in 3 Years
Marc Bernstein speaks with Daniel Ziv, VP of Experience Management and Analytics at Verint, about why Verint doesn’t call itself an AI company—but an AI outcomes company. They dive into the difference between building tech and delivering results, unpack Verint’s Da Vinci and Genie Bots, and debate the power of open platforms in driving speed, control, and integration. Together, they paint a vision of AI that’s not just smart—but purpose-built to solve real business problems.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:13 Use Cases & Key Outcomes
04:40 Value First Approach
07:40 Open vs. Closed Platform
13:00 Micro Workflows
15:30 Narrow Intelligence
17:40 Relationship Building
19:05 Verint Da Vinci
25:18 Setting Up Bots
31:19 AI in 3 Years
Marc Bernstein speaks with Alex Levin, Founder & CEO of Regal.ai, about how AI is reshaping contact centers. They explore why AI agents are now the cheapest, most effective way to handle interactions, the barriers to full AI adoption, and when we’ll see 90% AI-powered contact centers. Looking ahead, they predict a future where AI removes friction from customer service, making great experiences effortless.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:58 Founding Regal.ai
07:00 Valuable & Cost Effective
10:54 AI Agent Barriers
13:45 Technology vs. People
16:20 AI Agent Process
21:00 Future of AI Intelligence
26:17 Regal.ai in 1 Year
31:44 Companies Who Are Ready
33:26 AI in 3 Years
Marc Bernstein sits down with Isaiah Granet, Founder & CEO of Bland AI, to explore how Voice AI agents are revolutionizing customer service and making long hold times a thing of the past. They dive into how Bland AI is designing conversational AI that feels personal, responsive, and as effortless as talking to an old friend.
The discussion covers the evolution of voice as the preferred customer service channel, why AI-driven conversations can outperform human interactions, and how companies can create seamless, frustration-free customer experiences. They also tackle the impact of AI on jobs, exploring whether automation will replace workers or open up new opportunities for more meaningful roles.
Looking ahead, they imagine a future where customers interact with AI-powered personal assistants instead of navigating clunky phone trees—an era where great service is just a voice command away.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:57 Voice AI Agent using Gen AI
02:30 Founding Story
07:35 Engagement with Voice AI
10:30 LLM Data
12:40 Training AI on Social Skills
17:00 Different AI Tools
19:40 Strategies as AI Leaders
24:00 AI Taking Jobs
36:22 AI in 3 Years
Ricardo Herreros-Symons and Marc Bernstein explore the rapidly evolving world of contact center AI, from real-time automation to the next frontier of seamless, natural-sounding conversations. They discuss how AI is enhancing agent performance, handling complex interactions, and redefining customer service. Together, they examine the balance between cutting-edge speech recognition technology and maintaining human-like interactions, highlighting what’s next for AI in the contact center space.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:10 Contact Center AI
03:40 AI Intelligence
07:35 Natural Language
10:45 Getting it Right with AI
17:45 Speechmatics
22:40 Speechmatics Demo
26:35 Automated Use Cases
30:15 AI in 3 Years
Kishlaya Sharma and Marc Bernstein discuss the future of AI, back-office automation, and the delicate balance between leveraging cutting-edge technology while keeping the humanness in the contact center.
Timestamps:
00:00 Bling Introduction
07:25 Unified Platforms
10:12 Bling's Approach
14:00 AI in Communications
17:25 AI Agents vs. Human Agents
20:20 LLM's at Bling
26:30 Relinquishing Control
33:13 AI in 3 Years
Etie Hertz and Marc Bernstein discuss Loris' customer insights, quality assurance, agent copilot and more.
Timestamps:
00:00 Loris Introduction & Startup Life
05:45 Loris' Growth
11:00 Automating Volume
15:15 Loris Value Propositions
22:30 Sentiment Analysis
28:30 Agent Copilot & Customer Success
34:10 Loris' Future & AI in 3 Years
Bobby Hakimi and Marc Bernstein discuss Convoso's AI capabilities, automated call assistants, prompt engineering, and more.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:55 Convoso & AI Capabilities
05:00 Automated Call Assistants
07:15 Support Use Cases
08:23 Prompt Engineering
14:30 Convoso's AI Roadmap
22:10 AI in 3 Years
Tom Laird and Marc Bernstein discuss OttoQA's capabilities, LLM approach vs. keyword approach, and calibration & QA workflows.
Timestamps:
00:00 OttoQA Beginnings & AI Experience
08:00 LLM Approach vs. Keyword Approach
11:00 Customer Experience
15:00 OttoQA Capabilities
24:15 Calibration & QA Workflow
34:05 OttoQA & AI in 3 Years
Davit Baghdasaryan and Marc Bernstein discuss Krisp's incredible noise cancelling technology, customer wins, and the talk around AI Agents vs. Human Agents.
Timestamps:
00:00 Growing Up Outside of the US
03:34 Teachings from Silicon Valley
05:52 Krisp's Technology
09:32 AI Build Path
12:47 Krisp's Wins
20:06 Customer Wins
22:32 AI Agents vs. Human Agents
29:30 AI in 3 Years
Blair and Marc discuss the convergence of contact center technologies, the new professional agent, Chick-fil-A CX missteps, and best practices for companies focusing on engagement.
Blair Pleasant is President & Principal Analyst of COMMfusion LLC and a co-founder of BCStrategies. With over 20 years experience as an industry analyst, she is a frequent speaker and participant in industry conferences, webinars, podcasts, and other events to help educate customers, solution providers, channel partners, investors, and others about the evolving Unified Communications and Collaboration and contact center markets.
---
Follow Marc on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/baltoceo/
Learn more about Balto: balto.ai
---
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/marcbernstein/message
Megan and Marc discuss lessons from theater, the power of mindfulness and empathy, and new digital frontiers for managing successful CX.
Megan Merrick is a passionate advocate for building unrivaled customer experiences for companies. She is currently championing this pursuit as Head of CX at Candy Digital, a digital collectables company that works with household names like the MLB, WWE, and Netflix. Megan was recently recognized as a CCW 2022 Next Generation Leader.
---
Follow Marc on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/baltoceo/
Learn more about Balto: balto.ai
---
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/marcbernstein/message
Eric and Marc discuss methods for thoughtful decision-making, the trials and tribulations of building a virtual contact center, and nurturing agent growth and development for resounding success.
Eric Sims is an entrepreneur and interventionist who helps business owners recover from their addiction to old ways of doing business. Since 2018, he has led the booming growth of Leading Edge Connections, a fully virtual outsourced contact center and solutions company that helps businesses gain and retain customers.
---
Follow Marc on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/baltoceo/
Learn more about Balto: balto.ai
---
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/marcbernstein/message
Juanita and Marc discuss the power dynamic between agents and customers, the importance of maintaining a connection to technology, and how honing in on the human experience transforms the contact center.
Juanita Coley, a.k.a. The Contact Center Whisperer, is the founder of Solid Rock Consulting, whose mission is to normalize women in tech and leadership roles. Her 14 year career began as a call center agent and has progressed to a consulting role, bringing new efficiencies and optimizations to corporations and household brands like United Health Care, Optum, Walgreens, Liberty Medical, and many more.
---
Follow Marc on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/baltoceo/
Learn more about Balto: balto.ai
---
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/marcbernstein/message