This blog is part of our series that highlights the voices of Uniphorians. I sat down, virtually to welcome our new Chief Business Officer, Santosh Iyer and the following is the edited transcript of our conversation.
Tell us a little bit about your background and expertise…
I’m an engineer by training with an MBA and have been fortunate to have lived and worked across 3 continents in my 22 years in the software/tech industry, both as an operator and an advisor. I bring a blend of sales, strategy, business operations and P/L experience with premier consulting firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Infosys Consulting, software industry leaders like Qlik and hypergrowth AI/ML unicorns like DataRobot.
How do you think AI and automation can impact customer service?
Excellent customer service has been consistently rated as the single most important driver in building a long term, successful businesses. We don’t have to look beyond our own kids to acknowledge the clear bias to interact with devices using voice for the coming generations. Automated, multi-lingual speech recognition, combined with ML/AI and omnichannel capabilities are fundamentally changing how customer requests are received, serviced, and documented. The future belongs to those companies who can anticipate customer intent and proactively respond in near real-time and conversational AI has the power to make that happen.
What are you most looking forward to with your new role at Uniphore?
At Uniphore I will be leading our GTM and Sales Strategy, Revenue Operations, Sales Development, Industry Solutions, Business Value Consulting and Customer Advisory Board functions. Uniphore is well-positioned to disrupt the $350B customer service industry with world-class conversational AI solutions and I look forward to being part of this exciting journey. But most importantly, the people at Uniphore, beginning from the leadership team, right down to the associates are truly world-class professionals with very diverse backgrounds and the opportunity to work alongside them is what I’m looking forward to the most.
What is your morning routine?
The first thing I do every morning is take my dog outside and I usually start my day around 6 am by drinking an entire bottle of water, followed by a mindfulness session. Next, I try to respond to urgent emails and clear my inbox since my global roles have meant that my email box keeps humming all night. At least 3-4 times a week, I try and get a quick strength training or cardio workout. And when I am not traveling, I drop my daughter off to school before heading to work.
What are your top 3 work from home tips?
1. Dress like you would for work – shoes included.
2. Block off your calendar for a quick lunch.
3. Make sure that you are getting out of that chair frequently to walk and stretch.
Rapid-fire:
Favorite vacation spot:
Barcelona
Last book you read:
Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt
First job:
From ages 12-14, I was an ‘apprentice’ with a semi-pro cricket team. And my job during weekdays afternoon after school involved cleaning cricket kits, oiling and taping cricket bats, carrying drinks during practice sessions, etc. for senior players. I was paid not with money, but with regular batting sessions at the nets, coaching tips, access to used gear and traveling with the team for games during the weekend. Best job I ever had ?
Celebrity voice that you would want to power your favorite brand’s contact center:
Morgan Freeman for the agent and Bono for the ‘hold’ music
Thanks to Santosh for the time and welcome to Uniphore.
Meet the rest of the Uniphore team by reading our “voices of Uniphorians” blog series.
Interested in working at Uniphore? Look at our current openings.