Genesys CEO emphasizes AI orchestration for CX success
No one should have to go through a car crash to appreciate the power of an outstanding customer experience (CX), but Genesys CEO chairman and CEO Tony Bates suggested it was a good example of why orchestrating disparate artificial intelligence (AI) applications has become a critical priority for organizations that want to succeed.
Speaking at the company’s Xperience 2025 customer event in Nashville, Tenn., which was broadcast online, Bates pointed out that the stress of a car crash is only compounded when those involved struggle to navigate the insurance claims process. Then comes requests for additional documentation, following up on status updates and hearing final decisions from an assessor.
CEO, Genesys
“If any part of this journey gets stuck or feels slow, or there’s friction or there’s tension, it’s not just a delay in that process. It’s a breakdown in trust that you as business owners have with your customer,” Bates said. “Customers don’t remember that form they filled out. They don’t remember even who they talked to on the phone. They just remember how they felt. That’s what they remember.”
AI can help sectors like insurance in myriad ways, but Bates said organizations need to move carefully as they shift from generative AI that surfaces customer insights to agentic AI that can perform actions on an employee or customer’s behalf.
“(Agentic) moves the way we think about the business from automation, which was primarily for efficiency, to really being able to start to think about orchestration for experience,” he said. “Orchestration means having a coordinated system of capabilities, and they’re happening all at once, all at the same time.”
Genesys will offer those capabilities with the launch of connected CX workflow automation. This not only includes agentic AI tools for contact centers but those in other departments. Genesys Cloud, for instance, will give employees across the enterprise the same AI tools as frontline employees, while Work Automation will allow cross-functional AI orchestration.
“They have to work together. They’re not isolated features. They’re compounding capabilities, each reinforcing the next, each working in harmony,” Bates said, describing this as “level five” in terms of AI maturity. “This is where AI itself will pursue the outcomes. Now you’ll have virtual agents, copilots and orchestrators that actually reason. They’re planning and they’re acting on their own to actually collaborate across the business, across systems.”
Genesys Cloud Associate will offer role-based interfaces to make it easier to deploy them to various lines of business, which Bates said meant every employee can become in effect an “experience orchestrator.” The company will also be offering an “Orchestrators” education and community program to upskill teams for AI-powered experience orchestration.
Many firms are focusing first on internal AI use cases, which Genesys recognized by launching upgraded Copilots that integrate with its AI guides and AI studio. AI agents will also be interoperate with each other and leverage model context protocol (MCP) to share context and trigger workflows across platforms.
“When I talk to CEOs and I go around the world, what I hear over and over again is they’re not looking for just a point solution,” Bates said. “What they’re looking for is strategic partners that help them transform and I do want to put to you that this is a major transformation that we’re about to embark on.”
Genesys Xperience 2025 wrapped up Wednesday.
