The world has had its share of crises in the last few years from a health pandemic, political tensions, climate change, humanitarian risks, economic downturns, to technological disruptions and demands. As with any crisis, those who embrace it as an opportunity emerge as leaders. In tech, the rise of Generative AI and launch of ChatGPT disrupted the industry overnight, accelerating digital transformation investments and the adoption of Conversational AI.

A good customer service strategy can be extremely rewarding in the age of soaring customer expectations. People love to publicly acknowledge when they’ve had a memorable customer service experience. On the other hand, poor customer service can make them forget all the good experiences your company has offered. Building an airtight customer service strategy is the best way to weather the demands of today’s savvy customers.

Call center agents are often asked to do the impossible: Make every customer happy—while struggling with slow tech, increased workloads, stress, and burnout. Thankfully, many in the world of CX are discovering how to spell relief: AI. According to “The New CX Priorities,” a new industry report from Freshworks, CX leaders must treat customer support as a strategic function with far-reaching impact across the organization.

According to Freshdesk’s Future of CX report, the pandemic has forced consumers to adapt to digital channels. While the consumers of 2023 prefer digital-first experiences, they expect service providers to keep up with quality customer service across channels. As companies revisit their customer service strategy, they can take a leaf out of companies that get customer service right.

Customer service is more important today than ever before. The customer service teams that are driving revenue, wow-ing customers and building long-term relationships often have a strong leader at the helm. Sure, you can hire a customer service leader consultant, but if you are looking for the best in-house operators, you’ve come to the right place. We wanted to recognize our 25 favorite customer service practitioners doing incredible work in the CX space today.

Even Fintech companies are not immune to financial crises. In the last few weeks, we’ve seen banking systems collapse with yet another rise in interest rates by the Fed. Global financial regulators agree that the banking system is secure, healthy and flowing with cash. However, while that may be so, all that borrowing and decrease in consumer confidence shows just how much strain is on the financial system – and fintech customer experiences.

Generative AI and the hype of ChatGPT changed the tech industry overnight raising concerns over the role of social responsibility in AI. We need to welcome AI into the workforce in a brand-safe way where enterprises, employees, and consumers feel safe using it. At Netomi, we invented Sanctioned AI to do exactly that – a powerful combination of generative tech and LLMs that allow brands to respond to more customer queries, while preserving brand safety and customer experience.

Customer service (CS) platforms have been adopting conversational AI at incredible rates as consumers expect a higher quality customer experience. Many of these platforms are rushing to break into the market and boost sales but are making some basic mistakes in the process. The focus for newly emerging technologies has been predominantly on user interface (UI) and aesthetics rather than functionality and performance.

At Freshworks, we have always built software that delivers value to our customers. It starts with a deep understanding of the day-to-day users of our solutions.