A Q&A with NiCE Chief Operating Officer Arun Chandra

During the annual NiCE World conference in Orlando, Fla., this year, Phil Britt had a chance to sit down with Arun Chandra, who was appointed NiCE's chief operating officer late last year, to discuss the outlook for the company, the direction of artificial intelligence within the company, and the economy as a whole.

CRM: NiCE acquired Cognigy last year, and other companies before that. Is NiCE looking for other acquisitions or will the company be concentrating more on building and expanding with what you have?

Chandra: The answer is both. As you saw in the [NiCE World] announcements, we have built a complete platform for customer experience AI, and it has all of the components for an end-to-end CX solution. But going forward, depending on our needs and depending on where the market is, we will make acquisitions if it makes sense.

CRM: At the conference, Nationwide, Fabletics, and other NiCE customers talked about some of their successes using AI, yet there are analyst reports about companies not yet getting positive returns from their AI investments. What is the difference between the companies succeeding with AI and those that aren't?

Chandra: AI is still in its very early stages, though there are changes that are happening very quickly. The technology is moving faster than some business customers have been able to adopt it and get leverage for their own benefit. But the trend is definitely shifting. We're seeing a lot of people in the market moving from proof of concept and pilots into production stage. The benefits get realized when you actually take AI and put it into production.

CRM: During the dot-com boom in the late 1990s, there were similar discussions about companies making money as production ramped, but some companies didn't survive long enough to see the benefits. What is the difference now? How do companies invest in the technology and survive long enough to realize the benefits?

Chandra: The companies that are the most successful have a definite plan for the success of their business—the kinds of customers they want to acquire, what their [profit and loss] looks like down the road, what their financial strategy looks like, and what their operational strategy is. Those are the ones that are more forcefully deploying the technology rather than the ones who arent baking it into their strategic plans.

CRM: With the recent IPO announcements by Anthropic and OpenAI as well as discussions by legislators and even the Pope about the impact of the technology, AI has been at the center of many technology and business discussions for the last couple of years, particularly for its potential impact on the workforce. How will this shake out for the industry as a whole and for NiCE in particular? For NiCE's clients?

Chandra: Our approach is to look at both AI agents and human agents co-existing harmoniously across the spectrum. Also, the number of interactions is going up significantly. So a lot will be done by AI. I have always believed that there will be a requirement for humans to be involved, too, though their particular roles will change. It could be humans helping AI agents and vice versa. We are trying to furnish and orchestrate all of the intelligence for AI agents and human agents together.

CRM: What about your customers? How are they approaching balancing AI and humans?

Chandra: I have yet to meet a customer who has said that they're going to reduce their human workforce to zero. Most of them are looking at how to use AI to augment and support human agents. AI solves the easier tasks, leaving more complex tasks for humans. Those tasks take longer, so there is still work for humans.

CRM: What is your outlook for NiCE the rest of the year and for 2027?

Chandra: Our company financial outlook was shared on our earnings call, and that remains the same. I am very optimistic about NiCE. I joined the company six months ago, and I'm more excited than anything else. We've focused on driving operational excellence and setting up NiCE for long-term success.

CRM: Outside of a blip during COVID, there hasn't been a recession for some time. Any concerns about a possible economic downturn or other macro-economic factors?

Chandra: There are macro-economic factors that are beyond our control. What's happening in the Middle East is something that is beyond everyone's control. We stay very, very focused on what's controllable, making sure that our strategies are aligned with where we think business is going. We have a fundamentally strong business, so we will be very successful.