Unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock, it should be obvious that artificial intelligence is all the rage. Though there are many use cases and industries that AI could affect, customer experience, CX for short, is considered by many to be the low-hanging fruit of AI.

However, the potential for AI to enable CX solutions is fraught with high risk and high reward. Do it right, you increase loyalty, gain customers, improve mindshare and enjoy the cornucopia of benefits. Do it wrong and you become a punchline in AI-gone-wrong stories and perhaps cause irreparable damage.

This has left some customers skittish to move forward with AI in CX even though the value proposition is compelling. Recently, TeKnowledge, a global tech services provider specializing in artificial intelligence, CX and cybersecurity, has partnered with Genesys, a provider of AI CX tools such as contact center, conversational AI and virtual assistants. Together, they aim to help to simplify the deployment of AI, derisk it but also equip teams with the right skills — turning AI adoption into real business value.

TeKnowledge was founded in 2010 as a support services provider in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, handling everything from basic to advanced support for tech companies. It then expanded to Latin America and then Asia-Pacific in the following years. Today, it has grown into a global company with 19 hubs and 6,000 experts who guide organizations through every stage of the technology lifecycle: designing, implementing, adopting and support.

The company is one of Microsoft Corp.‘s global and longstanding partners and is recognized as a Microsoft Solutions Partner. Approximately 70% of its experts specialize in Microsoft Productivity Business Process and Intelligent Cloud solutions such as Azure and SQL Server. It told me it’s committed to digital skilling by providing comprehensive training programs and certifications in Microsoft solutions. The TeKnowledge ecosystem is built around the platforms its customers rely on most and Microsoft is a de facto standard for most organizations.

TeKnowledge also offers advisory and skilling services, not just for tech vendors but also for governments. This includes managing global support operations, training government employees in Qatar, and handling complex, large-scale projects. TeKnowledge, Microsoft and the Qatar Ministry of Communications and Information Technology entered a partnership and jointly set up the Digital Center of Excellence in Doha, a digital skilling initiative that supports the digital transformation ambition of the country.

Security has always been a focus area for TeKnowledge, particularly in digital transformation projects. The company’s managed security services are based on Microsoft’s Sentinel SIEM and Defender endpoint security platforms. In a conversation with Mahmood Lockhat, chief technology officer of TeKnowledge, he told me it designs security into every project it does. This should prove to a differentiator for TeKnowledge in the CX market, as many communications-centric partners do not have a deep understanding of security.

In fact, historically, I’ve found the awareness of security in the unified communications and contact center space is extremely low, and security and compliance tend to be an afterthought other than in highly regulated verticals. In fact, very few of the unified communications and contact center vendors or channel partners ever talk about security. With data-centric AI coming, it’s critical to bake security into the project.

The timing for the Genesys is interesting because it coincides with TeKnowledge going on a hiring spree and bringing on board many of Avaya’s experts and leaders in CX, AI and professional services, and promoted talent from within, and expanded leadership roles in its Americas hub.

TeKnowledge is set to become a global reseller for Genesys Cloud, one of the most widely deployed CX solutions. Beyond sales, TeKnowledge will provide managed services and implementation support for Genesys Cloud.

The addition of Genesys into the TeKnowledge portfolio combined with the Avaya team could create significant share shift in the EMEA region. Avaya has a stated focus on the global 1500, most of which are in the U.S. The leadership team at TeKnowledge has many of the relationships with companies in and out of the G1500 and now have a product in Genesys that’s available globally.

TeKnowledge is well-versed in Microsoft AI, which addresses employee productivity. The combination of Microsoft and Genesys gives TeKnowledge a “best of breed” suite for communications. Lockhat also emphasized the unique advantage of Genesys’s open architecture and presence in both regulated and open markets:

“We chose Genesys because we feel that from a global perspective and the verticals that they serve, they’ve got the most global reach,” he said. “One of the other aspects is around regulated markets like the Middle East, Africa and India. They have a solution that caters to regulated and open markets. Overall, these were the main drivers.”

In recent months, experts observed a rising demand for AI and automation, with organizations aiming to cut their reliance on human agents by approximately 25% each year. Many plan to automate up to 80% of their processes within the next one to four years using virtual assistants, robotic process automation, and other tools. The partnership with Genesys gives TeKnowledge the technology to meet this demand.

From an enterprise perspective, though the promise of AI is to boost productivity, early use cases are focused on how to reduce costs and increase efficiency through automation. TeKnowledge can help with this by automating many mundane tasks but then bringing in AI to handle more complex interactions. TeKnowledge’s model of consulting led engagements, enables them to better meet customer demands by identifying the low-hanging fruit to help companies get started with AI, something that is currently a struggle for many companies.

Although the AI messaging from the UC and CX providers looks very similar, the functions and capabilities can vary widely. As the demand for AI and automation grows, it’s critical for customers to pick the right platform and ensure it has the right capabilities and security. Partnerships between a services company and vendor such as the TeKnowledge and Genesys can greatly simplify and de-risk deployments for customers. As AI in CX matures, I would expect to see more partnerships like this emerge.

Zeus Kerravala is a principal analyst at ZK Research, a division of Kerravala Consulting. He wrote this article for SiliconANGLE. 

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