What has been your business/work highlight of 2024 so far?

AI is in everyone’s mind, and I am no exception. It’s been great to see how quickly we’ve been able to embrace the possibilities across the entire Webex platform and more broadly Cisco. A specific highlight for me has been building on our existing AI capability in our CPaaS platform, Webex Connect. We have accelerated how businesses can deliver better experiences for their customers in a quicker and simpler way with chat-to-agent summarisation and training of chatbots, through supporting developers with a code generator feature in our visual flow builder. We’ve also advanced significantly in using generative AI to assist in creating content that is more engaging and compelling.

Who is your business hero and why?

Maybe an unconventional business hero is the Liverpool Football Club manager Jurgen Klopp. He embodies the essential leadership qualities required to build, manage, and inspire teams, bringing together all parties with a unified vision, and this approach has led to both commercial and sporting success. He adheres to the principle that relationships matter first and foremost and that a positive attitude and a collective approach lay the foundations for achievement.

What’s the biggest business mistake you’ve made and what did you learn from it?

In the mid-1990s, I had the opportunity to enter the US mobile messaging and content market through an acquisition, but we chose not to pursue this opportunity. At the time, the US market was very fragmented with incompatible standards and business models, in contrast to the more mature European market. In hindsight, it seems obvious that the US market would grow significantly once the standardisation issues were resolved. However, we focused on the cultural differences and took a static view of the market, we failed to recognise that successful technologies achieve global adoption and consumer differences can be overcome with a compelling value proposition.

What’s the most inspirational book you’ve ever read and why?

Clay Christensen’s “How will you measure your life” is an excellent book at connecting your business life and personal values. It shows how you need to carefully measure business success and how accomplishments in both life and business are often achieved over the long term.

What’s the biggest challenge you face in your role in 2024?

Keeping up to date with technology developments is an ongoing struggle, and it seems increasingly difficult. The pace of change has accelerated and is exponential. This requires a regular review of what we are doing and why. It would be just as easy to get carried away and waste effort as it is to be paralysed by analysis. Successfully navigating through all this requires great flexibility, quick responses, and collective experience throughout an organisation.

What technology will have the greatest impact on your business this year and why?

Beyond AI, the announcement within the messaging market from Apple that they will support RCS (“Rich Communication Services”) on Apple devices will have a huge impact on the use of richer, smarter messaging channels for customer interactions. RCS allows for a branded messaging experience that is more secure, personalised, and conversational. This will not only improve the effectiveness of the existing use cases but also allow additional use cases to flourish. The impact will be felt over many years, and I cannot overstate the possibilities of having a secure, two-way, digital channel between brands and customers in an age when trust and legitimacy are needed more than ever.