From an enterprise communications stalwart exiting bankruptcy to a CRM giant expanding its portfolio via acquisition, here are some extracts from our most popular news stories over the last seven days.
Mitel Wins Court Approval for Its Plan to Exit Bankruptcy
Mitel is set to exit Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, with the Texas courts approving its pre-packaged plan.
Upon its initiation, the plan will wipe approximately $1.15BN from its debts, which total $1.3BN.
The plan will also reduce its annual cash interest expenses by around $135MN.
Additionally, Mitel will access $64.5MN of financing to support its go-forward operations.
The news comes just 39 days after Mitel filed for bankruptcy, expecting a “swift” exit.
Now, the vendor has pledged to leave Chapter 11 protection within the “current calendar quarter” – aka before July begins.
Then, it may leverage that $64.5MN and look toward its next chapter.
In the meantime, Mitel promises a “normal course of business”.
As such, customers and partners shouldn’t expect the exit process to impact Mitel’s support and services. (Read on…).
Google Debuts Its “Next-Generation” Customer Engagement Suite
Last week, Google formally announced the “next generation” of its Customer Engagement Suite.
In doing so at Google Next 2025, the tech giant showcased its slew of AI-powered capabilities for the offering.
The enhancements will span the four cornerstone solutions that comprise the Customer Engagement Suite: Conversational Agents, Google Cloud CCaaS, Agent Assist, and Conversational Insights.
When announcing the news, Lisa O’Malley, Senior Director of Product Management for Google Cloud AI, detailed some of the features of the revamped Customer Engagement Suite:
[It] will include human-like voices, comprehension, and the ability to understand emotions, and integration with data sources, CRM systems, and popular business messaging platforms.
Yet, perhaps most significant is Google’s framing of this as the “next-generation” Customer Engagement Suite.
In doing so, it positions the solution as an “end-to-end AI CX application”, not just an offering for contact centers. (Read on…).
HubSpot to Snap Up Dashworks & Bolster Its Breeze Portfolio
HubSpot has agreed to acquire Dashworks, the “AI Assistant for Workplace Questions”.
Dashworks integrates with “all” a company’s apps to create a “single source of truth”.
In doing so, it centralizes shared documents, tickets, and databases.
Its AI Assistant then answers employee questions by dipping into that single source of truth and formulating answers.
As such, it can support a marketer asking for the latest brand guidelines. It may also assist a sales rep requesting the status of an account or a service agent trying to solve a customer query.
Yet, the possibilities extend much further.
Given this, Dashworks will help HubSpot bolster Breeze Copilot, the AI assistant that connects customer insights across its hubs to answer user questions and help them complete tasks.
Indeed, Dashworks will expand the breadth of knowledge sources Breeze Copilot accesses, so it sources answers from more enterprise systems, including Google Drive, Slack, and beyond. (Read on…).
Gong Claims Most AI Agents Are “Unrealistic or Uninspired”, Unveils Its Own to Move the Needle
Gong has become the latest high-profile customer experience tech provider to release AI agents.
Like those of its market rivals, these agents can reason, adapt, and act to mechanize front-office processes.
However, to understand what makes Gong’s approach different, it’s critical to understand its heritage.
At its core, it’s still the conversational intelligence provider that rose to the fore by presenting tech that tells salespeople what they did well and not so well in sales calls.
Yet, it has expanded into a more comprehensive CX platform that helps organizations pinpoint what’s driving revenue, build more accurate pipelines, and even design growth strategies.
These growth strategies consider the cross-functional customer experience and are deeply informed by the voice of the customer, something traditional CRMs struggle with.
Gong’s AI agents aim to boost these strategies further and help businesses optimize revenue.
In doing so, they are differentiated from much of what’s on the CX market today.
“AI is evolving fast, but much of what’s on the market today is either unrealistic or uninspired,” said Amit Bendov, CEO and Co-Founder of Gong. (Read on…).
