Earlier this month, AWS introduced the next generation of its cloud contact center platform, Amazon Connect.
As announced at Enterprise Connect 2025, the cloud giant embedded first-party AI across the platform.
These AI capabilities span self-service, agent assistance, conversational analytics, and more.
In making this move, AWS simplifies contact center AI adoption and gains full control over its roadmap.
Moreover, AWS allows businesses to activate AI-driven features with “just a few clicks”.
In a company blog, Pasquale DeMaio, VP of Amazon Connect, added how the revamped unified platform can resolve the issue of disconnected AI point solutions and attract customers looking for a simplified enterprise CCaaS platform.
Indeed, since launching in 2017 as a developer-focused solution, Amazon Connect has evolved to serve both businesses looking for an out-of-the-box solution and those wanting to customize their contact center infrastructure.
As it continues that evolution, AWS is winning more plaudits from industry analysts.
AWS Shows Growth In Its AI & Contact Center Strategy
The Amazon Connect relaunch caught the eye of Shelly Kramer, President and CEO at Kramer & Company, particularly in how it may represent a shift in AWS’ AI strategy.
In a conversation with CX Today, Kramer detailed how AWS has an unfortunate reputation of lagging behind its competitors when it comes to AI, but this release has the potential to flip the script.
Instead of simply discussing AI solutions, AWS is delivering a platform that spans the entire environment, eliminating piecemeal tech stacks while keeping costs predictable – an increasingly pressing concern given rising cloud and AI costs.
Indeed, the move proves that Amazon is not just “sitting on its hands” but actively innovating.
Rebecca Wetteman, CEO and Principal Analyst at Valoir, agreed, arguing that the new-look Amazon Connect shows that AWS has learned from its previous AI mistake of focusing too much on the developer audience.
She said: “When we start talking about CX and AI and AI in the contact center, it cannot be a here you go developers, build a house out of an acorn and a hunk of steel, right?
It has to be more turnkey integrated for the business user where they’re not spending months and months figuring out how to tool, integrate, and put guardrails around it.
Instead, Wetteman argues that what companies really want is a much more low-cost, low-risk turnkey solution, which AWS appears to be delivering.
Making an Immediate Impact with AI
Like her fellow analysts, Liz Miller, VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, is impressed with AWS’ refreshing approach to AI in CX.
Miller argues that customers have been frustrated in the past with AI being marketed as a “game-changer” while seemingly not delivering the immediate value that they expected.
This issue is exacerbated by the fact that many businesses struggle with integration costs and navigating the complexity of AI models.
Although Miller suggests that AWS could have – in the past – offered customers more support here, she sees “Amazon Connect 2.0” as the company taking responsibility and providing users with the necessary out-of-the-box features and integrations to maximize the potential of their solutions.
Miller’s assertions were supported by Finbarr Begley, Senior Research Analyst at Cavell, who recently spoke with members of the Amazon Connect team at Enterprise Connect.
According to Begley, the AWS team emphasized a conscious push toward low-code/no-code interfaces.
While large enterprises have the resources to manage complex deployments, Begley believes that AWS has realized that mid-sized organizations need an easier, more guided approach.
Although it may be some time before users without sufficient technical skills are able to implement the tech, the new Amazon Connect will “at least help you get to where you want to be.” Begley summarized:
Then, the pressure on the tech team to get it right and build that gargantuan contact center with all the difficulty starts to reduce a little.
For Wetteman, the new Amazon Connect platform is an example of a broader industry shift.
Whereas two years ago, a lot of businesses wanted to build their own LLMs, they are now recognizing that it’s expensive, time-consuming, and often doesn’t yield the expected results.
These organizations now want their vendors to “take on some of the risk.
“They want the vendor to put some of these pieces together so that they can actually get something out there working that is not just more cost-effective and cost predictable to build, but to manage over time.”
She believes that AWS is responding to this demand.
Stay Tuned for More Analyst Hot Takes
The Amazon Connect relaunch was discussed during a recent edition of CX Today’s Big CX News Show, where four of the top CX analysts in the sector shared their views and insights on the announcement.
Soon the show will go live on CX Today, with the analysts also discussing Zendesk’s new CCaaS platform and Genesys stalling its IPO bid.
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