New NICE CEO Scott Russell Shares His Vision, Spotlights Growth Opportunities

“NICE’s best days are in front of us,” declared the new head honcho

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New NICE CEO Scott Russell Shares His Vision, Spotlights Growth Opportunities
Contact CenterWorkforce Engagement ManagementLatest News

Published: January 29, 2025

Charlie Mitchell

In becoming the new NICE CEO, Scott Russell has big boots to fill.

Over a decade, his predecessor – Barak Eilam – led the company’s transformation from a workforce optimization (WFO) specialist to a CCaaS leader.

As Eilam did so, NICE’s market cap increased from $2.37BN upon his appointment to $10.5BN today.

Such success stemmed from NICE exploring new markets and building a presence there.

The best example is its 2016 acquisition of inContact, which brought NICE into the CCaaS space and proved one of the most successful business deals in the history of CX.

Indeed, it delivered CXone to NICE, a solution that – as per Gartner and Forrester in their respective Magic Quadrant and Wave reports – leads the CCaaS market.

Meanwhile, in recent years, NICE has also expanded into journey orchestration, robotic process automation (RPA), and – most recently – UCaaS.

As Russell – who most recently spent 14+ years at SAP – takes over, don’t expect him to rip up that playbook. Instead, the focus will remain on expansion, ecosystem, and – of course – AI.

Indeed, that’s one of many key takeaways from Russell’s first interview as NICE CEO.

Talking to CX Today, he shared more on his key motivations for taking the CEO mantle, his vision for the company, and the possible growth opportunities available in the broader CX ecosystem.

Check out the interview with Russell below, or read on to unpack the key talking points.

Russell: NICE’s Best Days Are Yet to Come

“I joined NICE because of our leadership [in customer experience],” said Russell. “We’ve been a leader for a long period of time.”

Russell credited Eilam for establishing that leadership globally. However, he added:

What excites me most is the opportunity ahead. I believe NICE’s best days are in front of us.

Unsurprisingly, Russell touted AI as central to that future, suggesting that NICE’s approach to AI and automation is already unmatched.

Now, the CEO sees an opportunity to better support service teams in leveraging their contact center data – specifically intent-related data – to automate more customer conversations at scale.

“The opportunity for us is to take our core strength in CCaaS and then expand into other adjacent areas – using data, intents, and insights – and automate customer service,” he concluded.

NICE’s Key Focuses for 2025: Expansion, Ecosystem, & Continued Market Leadership

From his time at SAP – alongside IBM and PWC – Russell has gained a deep understanding of enterprise technology, cloud at scale, and managing global teams.

That experience aligns with his first key focus for 2025: international expansion.

According to the new CEO, the expansion will involve moving into new markets and driving growth across multiple domains.

Alongside that objective, Russell shares his ambitions to:

  • Strengthen NICE’s ecosystem and partnerships to deliver greater value for customers.
  • Stay ahead of market trends – especially with AI – and capitalize on new opportunities.
  • Drive a growth mindset across the organization, balancing risk and opportunity to bolster its existing leadership position.

“I certainly have high expectations for our future,” Russell noted. “We’ve got to deliver on the promise to our customers, but it’s something that I think I’m well suited to in terms of what NICE needs and my capability to match it.”

Which Domains Will NICE Expand Into?

While teasing plans to pull NICE into new domains, Russell remained coy about which arenas the CCaaS juggernaut is targeting.

However, he noted how its strategy will center on going beyond customer interaction points and orchestrating more of the customer experience.

“We’ve already got a great capability with our CXone Mpower platform,” he said. “The capabilities are remarkable, and I was delighted to see that. But there’s more that we can do.

The opportunity for us is to expand our value for our customers, ultimately serving their consumers.

In doing so, the new CEO hopes to help customers automate more effectively, lower their headcounts, and develop end-to-end solutions with the help of a strengthened partner base.

Final Takeaways

When reflecting on the opportunities ahead, Russell again highlighted his drive to push NICE’s international expansion forward, expand its ecosystem, and automate more of the service experience.

Yet, he closed by suggesting that the company will double down on innovation so its customers can utilize more AI, reduce costs, and reinvest in growth.

As that happens, Russell appears confident that NICE will become an increasingly vital part of an enterprise’s cloud landscape.

For more exclusive interviews with the brightest minds in CX, subscribe to the CX Today newsletter.

 

 

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