Episode Transcript
[00:00:22] Speaker A: Welcome everybody and hello to all of our Metro site viewers and listeners today. I'm Robin Garris, CEO of metrogy and I am so super excited for what we have in store for today's interview. But let me start with some background.
Well, first of all, just tell you we have Michelle Cooper here who is the relatively new CMO of nice. And just for, I mean I'm sure everyone knows of nice, but just for those of you who want a little background, one of the world's largest providers of CX technology and actually the number one CCAAS provider in Metro G's own metrorank Report that we do. We've done it for three years. Every year NICE is number one. And we look at that through looking at a whole different mix of categories like financials and market momentum and product mix and what customers are saying about the company and so on. But I really think when you look at nice, it's been known for a long time for rapid innovation, definitely kind of a powerhouse marketing organization. I always hear people say, oh, I love nice's marketing budget. They do such a great job, you know, and that's beyond just ccas, you know, the company really, I think has infused AI into all of its products and that will be things like workforce augmentation, workflow, orchestration, knowledge management, analytics, fraud prevention, copilots, autopilots. The list really does go on a lot of analytics, which is what I really like. I know I mentioned that, but that's one of the areas I love talking about.
NICE recently announced plans to acquire what most people agree is the industry leading AI agent provider, Cognigy, or at least one of them. One of the leading providers and executives have certainly hinted that there's more acquisitions and growth on the way. And so this is why I really wanted to talk to Michelle.
She is at the helm now of this well regarded marketing organization and certainly also part of the executive team that is transforming and really transforming NICE and growing it. So Michelle, I am truly delighted to have you here today. So welcome.
[00:02:26] Speaker B: Thank you so much, Robin. I'm thrilled to be here with you.
[00:02:29] Speaker A: Yeah. So let's start with some background about really you so people get to know you a little bit better. But what led you to this point in your career? Like why Nice and what experience and I would say both work and personal. Do you think really was most useful or will be most useful moving forward in this position?
[00:02:49] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. So it's been 90 days. That is hard to believe. It's like the fastest 90 days of my entire Life, I think. But to your question, like, I have spent my entire career in the technology and the software sector and really have had the great opportunity to work with a lot of market leaders over more years than I actually care to count.
But most recently I was at SAP and spent a long portion of my career there.
And I think for me, what SAP really helped me hone is working in a large global enterprise organization and the ability to really work across lots of different lobs, industries and geographies. And really being able to put that all together and bring that now to NICE is an opportunity that I'm really, really excited about.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: What?
[00:03:50] Speaker A: So, like, okay, here you are at this big company, SAP. So what, what did you think about NICE when you first came here? Like, was. It was nice even on your radar, given you you were with SAP, it wasn't really directly competitive with nice. I mean, what were you thinking about it at that point?
[00:04:05] Speaker B: Yeah, it's funny, it really wasn't on my radar at all.
[00:04:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:09] Speaker B: And the first time it hit actually was when Scott was. Was first announced with his appointment. Right, sure. And so that was really the first time that I took a look.
Obviously, in some of the discussions leading up to my appointment, I had an opportunity to spend time with Barry and members of the leadership team and with Scott and every conversation that I had, Robin, I was just so impressed. I was impressed by the culture, surprised at just the innovation roadmap. The depth and the breadth of the portfolio and the vision that they have built over the years still continues to humble me when I just look at the depth and the richness of the portfolio and, you know, you have to have like the right ingredients in and around. It's the right opportunity at the right time. But for me too, as an individual, you know, I really am driven by making a difference and working with people that I respect.
And in an environment and a culture where you really feel like you can make a difference and be successful. And it was just. It's kind of been perfect timing and so many sizes, you know, so, so many surprises, you know, really, as I kind of have started to dig in and to learn the business and learn the team and the company.
[00:05:23] Speaker A: Oh, surprises. Okay. So can you share any of the surprises that you. That you've seen since you've been there?
[00:05:30] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm surprised every day. I think I learn every day about a new piece of the functionality and the depth of the portfolio. And as you know, because you've covered us for a long time, that the company has had Tremendous success and growth. But a lot of that has been through acquisition. Right. And very strategic acquisitions at pivotal times, you know, kind of in the market to get, you know, to get to the cloud, to make shifts to, you know, make shifts to the AI environment that we're all living in right now. Such as it's really just pleasantly surprised at how strategic and intentional that roadmap and vision has been built. And now really the focus right now that Scott and the ELT have around accelerating the growth to really bring that vision and focus to fruition.
[00:06:23] Speaker A: You know, it's funny, like as an analyst, obviously it's my job to stay up on all these, all the products and all the features of different companies. And I can't tell you how many discussions I've had with Barry where I'm like, hey, I know I've heard of this. There's a startup doing X, you know, like, this is. What are you guys thinking of this? Or when are you going to do? It's like, we already have it. I'm like, oh, so it is, it's very deep, it's very feature rich. And even when you start looking at the verticals, that always amazes me when I look at the verticalist and all the different capabilities that you have for verticals is pretty astounding.
But you know, kind of going back into the marketing side of things, I mean, you obviously just completed a rebranding, new logo, new website, new colors. Kristen Bell is sort of the advertising spokesperson. Everyone loves her.
How do you think, like, how do you connect the dots that that rebranding has in what's to come with nice moving forward?
[00:07:16] Speaker B: Absolutely. And I guess I first I will say, you know, the team has done an amazing job. Like when I, when I look at the, the rebrand, the intention, the landing on our purpose around creating a nice world, like, I really think they embrace the, not only the strength of, of what we have kind of historically in our legacy, but even more importantly, like, hey, what's the next chapter and how are we really positioned to win? So it's kind of weird as you walk in as a cmo, you know, someone said to me like, hey, one of the first things that you do is rebrand and you don't get to do that.
And, but you know, I couldn't be more like just pleased though with that, the work that was done and I really kind of look at my role now in and around about how do I take that brand, right. And that great work that happened and drive it consistently through everything that we do. And to really bring that, that kind of, that human essence that create a nice world, captures and drive that through every component, channel, program, message that we deliver and then equally expand it into some of our other business units, whether that's the actimizing financial services space or in the, in the public safety and justice area. And that's some of the work that we're doing right now, Robin. But the spokesperson with, with Kristen was an excellent choice. You know, she's warm, she's authentic, and I think she really captures the essence of the culture and the way that we want to work with our customers and partners around really creating a better experience for our customers, but then equally their customers as well.
And I think the essence of that, I think really provides us a really clear purpose and platform to be able to do that.
[00:09:10] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, for sure. And it's interesting, you talk about the human element of the rebrand and at the same time, you know, you're doing a lot more with AI, so really trying to convey that message, I guess, that yes, you can automate things, but you can also maintain a very human connection with the people that you do business with.
[00:09:27] Speaker B: Right, Absolutely.
[00:09:28] Speaker A: Yeah. Interesting. I hadn't, I hadn't looked at it that way specifically before until you just said that, but I'm like, oh, yeah, that is a, that is a well thought out strategy in that regard.
You know, when I, you mentioned like Actimize, you also have Evidence Central, you know, so I obviously nice is probably best known in the CCAS and AI spaces, but it does have those two other business units, Actimize and Evidence Central, and obviously you're in charge of that too. So do you see these two business units becoming more prominent? Do you have a specific marketing strategy that pulls everything together? I mean, do you, as nice growers, do you expect, like there's going to be, are you going to sort of market these each individually or eventually in a more integrated way or, you know, as you grow, there's maybe going to be more of these, you know, and evidence central type of business units. I'm just kind of trying to get a sense for the future with those.
[00:10:20] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a great question. I mean, like, just like you mentioned, like, hey, we're the leaders in ccast, right. You know, our other business units are, you know, de facto leaders in their own vertical spaces. Right. You know, Actimize works with the largest, you know, financial institutions to help, you know, fight financial crime or to drive regulatory compliance in the public safety. We're working with law enforcement and the judicial systems to be able to collect and analyze evidence and digital evidence. So I look at that from a marketing strategy perspective. I do want to build an overarching corporate narrative and building brand equity and how we have a joint mission and kind of purpose across all three of those. And kind of going back to the conversation we just had about brand, the beautiful thing of creating a nice world actually can very easily describe that we do and building trust in the financial community or protecting our communities in the public safety world. So we're going to focus on building that corporate narrative and we have some work underway right now. But then equally, those are very different solutions. They're very different vertical, very different buyers and title sets. So the teams need the flexibility to be able to, you know, kind of market individually into those communities. But, you know, we're looking for, you know, you know, we have deep domain expertise in all three of our areas, right? We, you know, customer obsessed in and around value and helping them achieve success.
We've got deep roots of innovation and AI, you know, AI leadership. And those are common pillars that sit across the three, irregardless of those individual sectors or verticals that we, you know, compete in.
[00:12:25] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, you definitely can see that AI, you know, as being kind of a thread that can go across all of them. Innovations that you're doing in AI can kind of really do a lot in all of them. But when we look at the CX space, I mean, competition is obviously very strong.
A lot of existing ccas providers, of course we've got startups, you know, as AI really becomes front and center with cx, you have the hyperscalers, the CRM providers to contend with. And you know, if I'm a cco, like a chief customer officer at a company, I'm trying to decide who should I go with. We're working with a few companies right now in that regard. Like, why should I select nice versus anyone else? Everyone's got their own story.
What would make me go to you.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: Versus pick your competitor?
It's a great question. And to your point, I mean, it's very, very crowded right now. It's very noisy space and it's not really clear always to be able to distinguish the differences right across those businesses.
So for me, I think about it from a couple perspectives. If I were a cco, things that would really resonate with me from a nice perspective would be one, we have deep, deep domain expertise in and around customer experience. It's what we've done. We've done it for decades. We do it better than anyone in the industry.
Second, when you think about AI and AI innovation and capabilities, it's not just generic AI that is going to help these organizations transform. It's really deep, purpose built AI capabilities and business processes where you're combining that domain expertise plus an understanding of a customer, their processes and the data sets to really inform and drive smart AI application. And then the other thing that I think is really important is that as more and more technologies continue to evolve, being able to have that in a single platform that's integrated and orchestrated across that entire customer journey and being able to make the simplicity for our customers and managing that complexity. And so I just think that for me kind of that best of suite is so powerful, especially with as fast as changing the technology is changing. So I really think our platform strategy is a really, really unique driver for us.
And then the last piece I know you've been following us very closely on are our Cognigy acquisition. And I think that really puts us in a great position to, to be able to drive the best of conversational and agentic AI across that entire customer life cycle. And again, all orchestrated in a single platform. And I just think that that's so critical when you look at what our customers really need to do and the opportunity that they have to transform the role of a contact center and customer service in context of a broader growth agenda, innovation agenda within their own organizations.
[00:15:46] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, the whole unified platform discussion is interesting and it's one that we're hearing more and more about. So we've just done some research, it's not out yet, but I was looking at the preliminary data and we were just asking questions about the importance of having a unified platform. Hugely important. And but you know, you think about if you have a unified platform, there is like the trade off, if you will, with that, is that okay, you don't do best of breed anymore. You're not piecing together things. And some people argue, oh, best of breed, I can get the best piece of everything and put it together. And when we asked, you know, for preferences, would you, you know, are you bypassing bessa breed to go to a unified platform? Overwhelmingly, it was like over 70% of companies saying yes, this, this is where we're heading. So I think that that unified platform is something that's resonating quite a bit with the, the enterprise audience for sure.
But when we go, you know, you look at your role as cmo, obviously you're, you're responsible for the public perception of, and the knowledge About Nice, kind of just all the stuff you were just talking about, you know, needing people, needing to know why, you know, why they should select you, what you're good at. So when you think about how fast the market's changing and how fast Nice's product portfolio changes, and I don't mean not changes, but it accelerates it. You've got all this innovation. It's not like you're pulling things away, but you keep adding more and more. So you know, you've got this, this rapid change. Do you think that that makes your job as a CMO easier or more challenging?
[00:17:14] Speaker B: New, you know, probably a little bit above, candidly. Right. I mean, I think the great news is that it, from the good perspective, we always have a lot to talk about, right. I mean, there's always new partnerships, there's new capabilities, the innovation roadmap. So there is a lot. Right.
And I think that's, that's good, you know, that that's a good problem to have. But I think the on the flip side of it is, is how do we distill that complexity down, you know, so that it's easy for our customers to consume, understand the, the just the depth of the portfolio, being able to find the resources that they need. So I really like that for me right now is kind of one of the things that's like literally at the top of my list is to help really kind of distill that down and make sure that we're really, really clear.
Because, you know, kind of going back to our earlier conversation, we have so many things in there and so many capabilities that it's just, I think we just, we have an op. We have an opportunity there to really simplify that.
And the other thing that I will say that, you know, we're not alone in from a marketing perspective, but the buying decision has changed so much. Right. You talk about cross functional buying committees and you know, kind of the elevation and influence of all of the new AI title sets. It's really, I think, put a lot more responsibility on the marketing team to understand that, that buyers, that buying cycle has changed, you know, the different title sets involved in it and then really being able to message much, much more intentionally, you know, in regards to those different Personas or titles, you know, against that. And I mean, it's, you know, AI titles, obviously, it's the CIO and the IT titles, our core customer care and contact titles, but even finance, right. And I think that's one of the areas that we see opportunity is to take our core messaging and just get more prescriptive, you know, in and around how we actually support, you know, those different perspectives and needs that those different cross functional teams have. But it's a great problem to have.
We're writing a story that is changing very, very fast. And the great news is that marketing is really in the driver's seat to help to offer that as we go forward.
[00:19:42] Speaker A: Yeah, so true. And I think another question, when you think about being a CMO and one thing that's on a lot of people's minds, big, you know, big changes at Nice. And I think when a new CMO takes over, a lot of people wonder, hey, what's going to change? And we thought the same thing when Scott took over as CEO.
You know, Nice has been very successful. It's had a great run. It's clear that, you know, Scott, for those of you who don't know Scott Russell, new CEO, relatively new, not brand new, relatively new. You know, he has grand plans for it to be even more successful. He's been very clear and very, very vocal, very energetic about it every time I've heard him speak. So what will you do to ensure that the marketing organization enables that success?
[00:20:33] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
First off, I don't believe my role is here to fix things. Right. Because there is a great foundation and one that I've been so pleased with. The team's great, the work's been great, there's a great foundation. So I really look at my role and charter is, is how do I amplify and scale to support the next wave of growth for, for, for nice. Like that, like that is where my focus is.
And it really kind of sits in a couple of buckets, Robin. It's how do we simplify our message, right? How, how do we unify a corporate brand narrative that is consistent to make sure we really land, you know, the whole way from the top, you know, master brand the whole way down into the individual portfolio and solution messaging.
It's to bring a more data driven demand generation orientation to make sure that we can really target, precision, target the right customers and buyers.
A lot of focus on partner marketing and building our partner DNA. You know, you've heard Scott talk about the importance of our ecosystem and that's an area that we're really investing in.
So that is, you know, a key focus area of mine. And then really just making sure that, you know, we're able to build the, whether it's a brand engine or demand engine to really help and support the growth objectives that we have. And I will say that, you know, as cognigy comes in, you know, really making sure that we can really help drive the adoption of conversational AI in our customers in the market and help them ultimately get to their, you know, their, their own transformations fast, faster.
[00:22:34] Speaker A: Yeah. And you talk about trial by fire. I mean, what, within your first 90 days you have a major acquisition, you know, to basically, you know, oversee all the marketing. I thought that all went very well. I mean, there was a lot of buzz about that.
People were talking all about that, saying, yeah, this makes sense.
But you know, I've worked with a lot of CMOs over the years and there's so many different styles of CMOs. You know, some are really public facing, they want to get out there, they want to be speaking, doing all sorts of stuff. Others are a little more behind the scenes, enabling others. What's your style? I mean, how do you think it will ultimately, you know, kind of affect your success metrics by which you're judged as a cmo? As a cmo, I'm just overall the marketing organization.
[00:23:17] Speaker B: Absolutely. So I am very collaborative and very customer focused. Right. Everything I kind of look through is really through the lens of a customer in the business, what's right for the business.
I believe that marketing is a growth engine through and through and it is a core contributor to the success and the growth and the ambitions that we have as a company over the next several years. I get asked that a lot like, hey, are you more public facing? And I really think it kind of depends on the situation, like when I can help build trust with our customers and the media, the analyst community and, you know, individuals and leaders like yourself. I will be public facing, but I equally believe it's so important and to work with the team behind the scenes and empowering them. So I really, it for me, it's very situational, like I'm prepared to do both. I know that's a big component of this role, but you know, I really. It's what's best for the business will drive how and where I spend my time in those two different worlds.
[00:24:22] Speaker A: Yeah, and enabling your people, empowering your people too. Like, you know, the people who are on your team who report to you. I think, I always think that's a great.
Just a sign of a good leader, you know, like it's.
[00:24:34] Speaker B: And they're a great.
[00:24:35] Speaker A: You're empowering others. You're, you know. Yeah, totally agree.
So just another question and then we'll wrap up. But you know, you've known Scott for a while, right? You guys Worked together for a while. So you worked together before this.
So talk about how you two work together. And I'm going to ask you a question like, do you have advice for Scott or the rest of the executive team? And I don't mean that, you know, I'm just like, what's your advice as to what they should do? What they should do in their roles that they may not already be doing? I don't know. Just.
[00:25:08] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:25:10] Speaker A: Give us a little insight. Give us a little.
[00:25:12] Speaker B: So it's interesting because Scott and I, obviously we both worked at SAP, but what may be interesting to many of your viewers is like, we actually really did not work directly together.
[00:25:23] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:25:24] Speaker B: So, you know, obviously we came from the same world. We, you know, lived in, you know, in the same world and knew of one another. But I did not work directly for him. But what I will say is that I always admired him. So when the opportunity really came to, you know, to fruition to, to, to come to Nice and to have that opportunity to work with him and Barry and the team, like, that was a no brainer, right? I said earlier, like, working for leaders that I respect is so important to me. And I, and I do that, you know, I respect him immensely.
Like, listen, he's bold, he's ambitious, he knows where he wants to take this company. It's all the things that you would look for leader.
He's a big supporter in marketing and the belief in that, he knows it's a critical ingredient to our continued success.
So you couldn't ask for a better relationship and commitment and understanding the importance of it.
And I really have enjoyed over the last several months just being able to work more close, closely with him in this capacity to really understand where we're going and where he needs help and support to really bring that vision to fruition.
My role is to take that vision, amplify it, land it in market, make sure that the market understands where we're going and our customers understand our value proposition and the solutions and offerings that we have.
You know, I think if we do that and continue to do that well, there's absolutely no reason why we cannot continue to grow and build on the success that NICE has had. You know, this point.
[00:27:08] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, you think, you know, CEOs can come from all different backgrounds. They can come from product, they can come from engineering, sales, marketing, and he comes from sales. So it's kind of like tightly tied in with marketing. Does, does he have a lot of his own ideas that he wants you to implement or is he more like, I'm trusting you as the expert to enable and empower the rest of us, kind of.
[00:27:29] Speaker B: Yeah, both. Right. I mean, but I will say he really respects the function and the role and really looks to me to define where are those places where we need to lean in and get better as a marketing organization.
So I think that trust is there.
Obviously, high expectations. I wouldn't have it any other way. But yeah, I think you couldn't ask for a better partnership. But he does, you know, he does. He understands the customer inside and out, understands, you know, enterprise and really how to do that at global scale and global reach. And those are looking. Those are the things that I think he's really looking for, for myself and the team to be able to bring to Nice and really help us grow on the foundation and the success that we've had.
[00:28:20] Speaker A: Okay, so what about the advice piece of it? Like.
[00:28:24] Speaker B: Challenge us.
Challenge us, right? Yeah. Okay.
Challenge us to think bigger, give us feedback. Like, I think that that's so important and just really to continue to just empower the entire organization to continue to evolve our culture and to drive our own transformation. You know, we've got the right vision, we've got the right team, we have the right portfolio. You know, we have market leadership, we work with amazing brands and customers. And I just think that we are, you know, can absolutely be unstoppable. So my advice would be continue to feed the culture, empower us, and let us run absolutely as fast as we can, you know, after the opportunity ahead.
[00:29:10] Speaker A: Now, I'm asking you one. I'm sorry, I know, don't be dumb. But like, I always have thought of nice. I've known the company for a long time as kind of a real work hard, play, play hard kind of culture.
Do you. Do you feel that you're going to. The leadership is going to change that at all? I mean, obviously, the work hard still there. Is it going to. Is it going to. Is there anything changing about the culture in terms of the, you know, like the human side of things, the play hard kind of side of things and say play hard loosely. I'm just saying I know that you guys do a lot of, you know, you're really good about getting people together and making sure that people feel valued and, you know, things like that. But I mean, is that. Is there anything changing on that? On the human side?
[00:29:47] Speaker B: I would say actually more empowerment. I think the employees from my sense are really, really excited about where we're going, the vision. And I think Scott definitely brings like a really strong.
You know, he's like, he's an authentic leader. He's empathetic. I think he's listening. He's taking the employee feedback and really is committed to your point. Not changing, but building on the culture. Right. And really, I think, you know, kind of leaning in hard on, you know, the empowerment and really giving the teams clear direction and then getting out of their way to let them go do what they need to do. So, yeah, I think it's, again, for me, it's like, whether it's division or where we go next or the culture, there's such a great foundation, and I really think it's, you know, he's focused on how do we, you know, amplify and build on that.
[00:30:44] Speaker A: I like that. You know, like, here's what we need. I'm gonna let you go and set you loose and go do it the way you want to do it. No micromanagement there. I think that's where some companies really end up failing, is in the micromanagement side. So it's great to hear that. The whole culture sounds like it's wonderful. So. All right. I know I've kept you a little long, so it's been a great discussion. Michelle, thank you so much for joining us today and just sharing your insights and your plans. It'll be interesting to watch as the. As the time moves on. So thank you so much.
[00:31:08] Speaker B: Absolutely. I look forward to working with you. Robin, thank you so much.
