Manila, Philippines – In an effort to bring technology-driven transformation to the scene, Converge ICT Solutions recently announced a strategic collaboration with Salesforce, a global technology company and AI customer relationship management platform, enhancing customer experiences and operational efficiency in the Philippines.

In this collaboration, the two are geared towards the establishment of the first generative AI contact centre, leveraging Salesforce’s generative AI solutions and bringing improvements in efficiency, scalability, and data-driven insights.

Converge will harness the power of predictive and generative AI through Salesforce’s Einstein and Einstein 1 Platform, specifically designed to revolutionise operational efficiency and digital experiences for both residential and enterprise customers.

Salesforce’s Einstein 1 Platform, as the first predictive and generative AI platform on a CRM, will also enable Converge to leverage Einstein Bots for streamlined requests, present relevant service replies for agent-assisted support, and provide real-time analytics, including predicted churn for each customer profile. It is also set to employ Salesforce’s Service Cloud, Field Service, and MuleSoft.

With Field Service, Converge customers are also offered greater transparency, expanding their use of MuleSoft for further integration and connecting data across key business systems.

Talking about the project, Sujith Abraham, senior vice president and general manager at Salesforce ASEAN, said, “This expanded relationship represents the next step in our journey of transforming customer experiences with Converge. Our trusted AI-powered solutions will help Converge deliver more efficient and personalised experiences to customers across all touchpoints.”

“We’re excited to work closely with an industry leader like Converge to harness the power of generative AI in one of the first-of-its kind contact centres in the Philippines,” he added.

Jesus C. Romero, chief operations officer at Converge, also shared, “We have the best-in-class network; now we are leveraging the most modern technology to give the best customer experience to our more than 2 million subscribers.”

“We paved the way for the more meaningful use of AI in our network operations (in our back-end), and now we are embedding this into our customer-facing operations in the customer experience. We are committed to innovating in every aspect of our business to better serve the broadband needs of our customers,” he concluded.

The new contact centre is scheduled to be operational in the second half of 2024, aiming to reduce costs, optimise productivity, and enhance the speed and quality of customer service resolution at every touchpoint. This is consistent with Converge’s commitment to digitise support channels and promote self-service.

Singapore – As workforces change along with the dynamic state of industries, global communications platform Slack has unveiled its new global research via YouGov designed to explore the different approaches and personalities in the workplace, and the impact of those differences on desk worker preferences and the adoption of technology and AI.

Data from Slack and YouGov mainly suggests that Singapore has the second highest number of individuals who thrive on virtual connectivity, mobility and adaptability, whilst Singapore workers are also ranked second in terms of leveraging AI at work. 

Going into specifics, the study revealed five dominant types of workplace personas in a Singapore workplace namely, ‘The Road Warrior’, ‘The Detective’, ‘The Networker’, ‘The Problem Solver’, and ‘The Expressionist’.

According to the survey of over 15,000 desk workers across nine markets, Singapore ranks high globally for its workforce’s comfort in building virtual connections and thriving in varied work locations. This type of worker, dubbed The ‘Road Warrior’, makes up 26% of the Singapore workforce and prioritises flexibility over all else.

The most common traits of Singapore ‘Road Warriors’ include working away from their desk (91%) and working wherever they want in a way that fits their schedule is the most important to them (46%). They describe themselves as adaptable (85%) and colleagues describe them as being most likely to work from a new location (26%).

In contrast, Singapore reports fewer ‘Detectives’ (21% compared to 30% globally)—those with a knack for seeking and sharing information—compared to other regions. Singapore’s comparatively younger workforce is a factor here, with Detectives found to be most common amongst older workforces. 

Singaporeans classified as ‘Detectives’ are best described as organised (94%), with a preference for figuring things out on their own (85%), sharing information with others on the team, and finding the right information as quickly as possible. Colleagues describe this persona as the best at digging up information (42%), and most likely to know everything going on at the company (52%).

With this in mind, the research also revealed that one in four desk workers globally are currently working with AI (26%), with the highest usage being in Singapore (34%) and India (54%). 

Notably, the personas identified in the research showed differences in how they approach the adoption of new technology, such as AI, in the workplace. Detectives and Road Warriors feel the least supported with the introduction of new technology, with 15% of each group globally feeling their company provides little or no training or information. 

This highlights the importance for  Singapore businesses to better understand the training and skills gaps that workers need the most support with, especially in getting a better handle on how to best introduce AI.   

Talking about the findings, Derek Laney, Slack technology evangelist, APAC, Salesforce, commented, “Whether you have five or 5,000 people, every workplace has a unique ecosystem of personalities, skill sets and working styles.

“With Singapore’s culturally diverse workforce, recognising these differences is vital for businesses that want to provide a truly empowering environment for their staff. No two employees work exactly alike, leaders must embrace a flexible management approach and versatile technologies so people can play to their unique strengths at work,” he added.

Manila, Philippines – Philippine Airlines (PAL) has announced that it has tapped Salesforce to improve its current customer experience (CX) strategy, aimed at redefining its customer service and engagement.

The agreement was signed at a recent ceremony at the Conrad Manila, with top executives of PAL, Salesforce, AF Digital, Amadeus, and other key stakeholders in attendance.

Through the partnership, PAL will integrate Salesforce Customer 360, Salesforce’s integrated CRM platform powered by AI, across the airline’s contact center and customer feedback handling units. This will provide a comprehensive view of customer interactions to elevate the overall passenger experience while enhancing internal processes to improve efficiency.

Moreover, PAL will be using Salesforce Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Customer and Partner Portal as well as Slack to provide employees with the insights and tools they need to deliver exceptional customer experiences at every touchpoint. 

The airline also plans to harness the power of AI through the Salesforce Einstein Chatbot, leveraging its ability to use natural language processing (NLP) to understand and respond to customer inquiries.

Capt. Stanley K. Ng, president and chief operating officer at Philippine Airlines, said, “This is more than a partnership. It is a statement of Philippine Airlines’ commitment to the future — a future where digital transformation isn’t just a buzzword but a strategic imperative. It’s about reimagining what Philippine Airlines can be, driven by technology, but always focused on the human experience. We welcome Salesforce as our partner in PAL’s pursuit to create a unified, trustworthy and enriching customer journey.”

Meanwhile, Sujith Abraham, senior vice president and general manager at Salesforce ASEAN, commented, “We are thrilled to partner with Philippine Airlines on their digital transformation journey, and on their mission to deliver exceptional customer experiences. We share values and a customer-centric vision that aims to redefine the very concept of airline customer service for the modern age. We look forward to helping PAL realize the value of AI, data, CRM and trust with data-driven insights to predict, personalize and respond to evolving customer preferences at every touchpoint.”

Lastly, Aurea Vidal, chief information officer at Philippine Airlines, said, “Agility is not just an approach for Philippine Airlines; it’s a way of life, especially as we navigate the complex, fast-paced demands of the airline industry. By partnering with Salesforce, we can build a framework that can swiftly adapt to the evolving needs of our customers and the market. Salesforce CRM will provide us with the strategic agility we need to meet, and exceed the evolving needs of our passengers.”

Singapore – In collaboration with global customer relationship management (CRM) software company Salesforce, global cloud communications firm Vonage has launched Vonage ‘Conversations for Salesforce’, a configurable omnichannel messaging app powered by the Vonage Communications Platform. 

Vonage’s new app provides a flexible and scalable way of sending SMS, MMS, and WhatsApp messages from within Salesforce, making it easy for businesses to develop custom workflows using standard Salesforce tools.

This feature aims to enable businesses to serve customers directly from the Salesforce platform and deliver exceptional customer engagements, whilst blending bot and Vonage Contact Center (VCC) agent interactions.

With Salesforce as a single source of truth for customer data, users can participate in a conversation and access the entire customer history. Response-handling can also be automated with chatbots or routed automatically to the right agent or organisation to enable fast resolution.

Savinay Berry, EVP, product & engineering at Vonage, said, “Vonage ‘Conversations for Salesforce’ unlocks the power of delivering personalised two-way interactions with customers from Salesforce, enabling engagement at scale with SMS, MMS and WhatsApp channels while blending bot and VCC agent interactions.”

“Based on Salesforce’s best practices and latest tools, the app overcomes the constraints of existing solutions and is enabling conversations across the entire organisation,” he added. 

Vonage Conversations for Salesforce is part of the full Vonage AI Acceleration Suite for Salesforce, a portfolio of AI-capable, low-code/no-code programmable components that aim to help speed business transformation and seamlessly integrate with Salesforce applications to enable personalised conversations across omni-channel communications.

Singapore – Consumers in Singapore are wary of the fast adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by businesses, with 87% of local consumers saying they want to know whether they are communicating with an AI or human for customer service. This was according to the latest data from Salesforce.

According to the data, around 79% of the respondents are concerned about companies using AI unethically. However, it is also worth noting that around 66% of customers in Singapore say advances in AI make it more important that companies are trustworthy.

Meanwhile, 53% of customers in Singapore expect companies to understand their needs as they change. Furthermore, 85% of customers in Singapore expect faster service and 78% expect better personalisation as technology advances.

In addition, 78% of customers in Singapore expect consistent interactions across departments and 76% expect to interact with someone immediately when they contact a company.

Lastly, in terms of customer engagement, 85% of consumers in Singapore say the experience a company provides is just as important as its products and services. However, many companies fall short – 66% of customers in Singapore say most companies treat them as a number rather than a unique individual.

Moreover, 62% of consumers in Singapore switched brands at least once in the past year. With this, the quest for better deals is the leading reason for switching brands but the demand for product quality follows closely behind. 

Sujith Abraham, senior vice president and general manager for Salesforce ASEAN, said, “Rising customer expectations means companies can’t afford to stand still when it comes to customer service. Technologies such as AI hold immense potential for businesses to keep up with changing needs and preferences. But this also raises pressing concerns around the ethics of AI.”

He added, “The trust imperative is now more important than ever. Companies that will succeed are those that demonstrate they are approaching the technology thoughtfully, grounded in transparency and security, in order to win the trust of their customers.”

California, USA – SnapLogic, provider of intelligent integration and enterprise automation, has announced the appointment of industry veteran Tony Owens, to its board of directors, to guide teams on go-to-market strategy and global expansion. 

Owens was the former president at Salesforce and senior executive at Oracle and has over 20 years of experience building and managing global sales operations, including helping Salesforce grow to over $10b in revenue. 

In his newly appointed role on SnapLogic’s board of directors, Owens will work closely with company leadership to guide strategy and identify new growth and sales opportunities.

“It’s a privilege to join SnapLogic’s board of directors as the company enters its next stage of growth,” said Owens. “SnapLogic has already established itself as a leader in enterprise integration and automation with proven success across major verticals. I look forward to working with the team to continue to drive innovation, expand the global footprint, and reach even more customers to help propel their business success.”

The news follows the company reaping record revenue and customer growth, with employee headcount doubling over the last year. 

“By continuing to invest in product, global expansion, and key executive hires, SnapLogic is positioned to scale like never before,” said Gaurav Dhillon, CEO at SnapLogic. “This past year has seen significant market changes impacting almost every industry, and we continue to see more companies turning to SnapLogic to address their data and application integration needs to work smarter and more efficiently. 

“Customers are looking for platforms that automate their business processes to save money, gather their data and power their analytics and AI/ML initiatives to gain market share and navigate better through turbulent times. SnapLogic provides the only unified platform in the market today that combines ease of use with unprecedented scale to accomplish these objectives for enterprises everywhere.”

Earlier this year SnapLogic announced a raft of innovative developments including availability on the Google Cloud Marketplace to let users quickly deploy functional software packages that run on Google Cloud. SnapLogic also recently announced the release of SnapGPT, the first-ever generative AI solution for enterprise applications and the modern data stack. The new addition to the SnapLogic platform leverages AI to quickly integrate and automate business processes using natural language prompts. 

“As the volume and complexity of data continues to grow across the enterprise, it’s more important than ever for organisations to replace legacy technologies with intelligent integration and automation,” said Jeremiah Stone, CTO at SnapLogic. “With limited budgets and talent shortages across the board, SnapLogic’s automation platform quickly and reliably connects complex systems to liberate teams and streamline business processes. Our team is committed to continuous innovation and delivering easy-to-use, AI-driven solutions that meet the ever evolving needs of our expanding customer base.”

With a growing customer base in the APAC region, including Stemly and Reece, SnapLogic has recently been recognised as a Customers’ Choice in the “2023 Gartner Peer Insights ‘Voice of the Customer’: Data Integration Tools” report and named a 2023 Data Breakthrough Award Winner for Data Warehouse Solution of the Year.

Singapore – Global software company Salesforce has announced the layoff of hundreds of its employees, following plans to cut costs in their operations and harsh global economic conditions.

An initial report by Protocol noted that the company plans to lay off a large number of individuals, roughly 2,000 people or more, for ‘performance’ issues.

A spokesperson for Salesforce confirmed said news to CNBC, saying “Our sales performance process drives accountability. Unfortunately, that can lead to some leaving the business, and we support them through their transition.”

Salesforce previously underwent retrenchment in August 2020, and then in January this year while they implemented a ‘hiring freeze’.

The new Salesforce employee cutbacks come after its investors are increasingly demanding a greater return, with the majority of this investment being poured into growing its business by acquiring businesses such as Slack and Tableau.

Big Tech has been struggling to cope up with losses lately, with other tech companies such as Meta, Oracle, Twitter, Snap and Netflix announcing massive layoffs as well.

Australia – Australia-based integrated communications agency Icon Agency has been appointed by cloud-based software company Salesforce to manage its Australian communications for the global CRM leader in CRM.

The move will see Salesforce joining Icon’s expanding roster of global technology brands including ADP, Schneider Electric, and Luno. 

Salesforce said that it believes that business is the greatest platform for change and is committed to doing well and doing good, making the brand a seamless addition to Icon’s purpose-driven client base.

Joanne Painter, Icon Agency’s managing director, commented that they are thrilled to work with a value-led business, dedicated to trust, customer success, innovation, equality, and sustainability, and it’s a time of tremendous change and they need more innovators and change-makers to navigate significant headwinds.

“As a trusted digital adviser, Salesforce is perfectly placed to support the evolution of businesses to a more resilient, prosperous, and sustainable future. Salesforce is an ideal fit for Icon’s brand platform, ‘For people, with purpose’. We continue to cement our expertise in the tech sector to complement our existing strengths in healthcare, education and government Purpose is not just a lofty ideal. We’re committed to work that makes the world better, enabling us to rapidly expand whilst producing award-winning work. The results are clear: purposeful work works,” said Painter.

Just recently, Icon Agency appointed Simon Hobbs to step into its newly created role of executive director of digital. He will be leading Icon’s digital department with a focus on new business development and optimising the team’s processes and systems.

Geneva, Switzerland – Banking software company Temenos has announced that Infinity Digital for Salesforce will be made available on their platform, which brings together the worlds of CRM, assisted channels, and digital channels onto a single platform. The solution will be available on Salesforce AppExchange, an enterprise cloud marketplace. 

Infinity Digital for Salesforce offers banks synchronisation between Salesforce Financial Services Cloud and the bank’s core banking systems. It helps banks achieve higher efficiency and streamlining of servicing, onboarding, and origination processes with better personalisation and greater customer experience.

This solution integrates Salesforce Financial Services Cloud with Temenos’ digital banking platform, giving customer-facing teams in banks a holistic view of their customers surfacing both customer engagement and transactional banking data across all channels and transactional systems. 

In addition, Infinity Digital for Salesforce enables banks to serve their customers with tailored offers made possible through relevant, complete, and accurate information at every interaction. Banks can integrate digital and assisted channels with their transactional system and create a unified platform across marketing, sales, servicing, and origination functions to give client-facing teams a complete and actionable view of customer interactions.

Max Chuard, chief executive officer at Temenos, said that they are excited to extend their leadership in digital by combining their open banking platform with Salesforce Financial Services Cloud in a single platform to help banks reinvent the customer and employee omnichannel experience.

“We are aiming to solve one of the most fundamental problems in banking today by connecting the worlds of CRM, transactional footprint and digital interactions. This go-to-market strategy will accelerate our penetration in the digital front office segment. We help banks with complex channel architectures by breaking down silos to reduce complexity and costs, and achieve customer-centric business transformation to provide outstanding customer experiences,” Chuard said.

Meanwhile, Eran Agrios, SVP and GM for financial services at Salesforce, commented, “We’re excited to see Temenos innovate with Salesforce Financial Services Cloud to help banks deepen their relationships with customers through hyper-personalised experiences. With Infinity Digital for Salesforce, customers can connect their core banking systems to their omnichannel experiences, delivering hyper-personalised experiences faster.”

Quebec, Canada — OSF Digital, a global provider of digital transformation service, announced the acquisition of Datarati, a Salesforce partner with expertise in Salesforce Marketing Cloud in Australia and New Zealand, and serves consumers across the Asia-Pacific region. 

Datarati, being one of the established marketing agencies with expertise in Salesforce in APAC, has helped in the digital transformations of companies in various industries namely retail & consumer goods, communications, media, financial services, insurance, and health care. 

The purchase of Datarati further bolsters OSF Digital as a global multi-cloud provider partner of Salesforce, whom they have partnered with for over 10 years delivering digital transformations across different areas of marketing and sales. The digital transformation firm continues to focus on increasing its capabilities as it intends to lead in the area of digital transformation. 

Gerard Szatvanyi, CEO of OSF Digital, commented on the acquisition, saying that as part of the company’s mission to be the leading global digital transformation partner to companies worldwide, the firm will continue to expand with other acquisitions of a Salesforce-focused services leader in the APAC region.

“With additional Marketing Cloud capability, capacity, and Performance Marketing expertise, we are equipped to continue exponential growth in the fast-growing APAC region and beyond,” Szatvanyi said.

Will Scully-Power, founder and CEO of Datarati, commented, “We’re excited to embark on this next phase of our rapid growth of Salesforce Marketing Cloud services and expansion of our Salesforce solutions across Australia, New Zealand, and the wider Asia-Pacific region. By coming together with the wider OSF Digital team, we will now have increased capacity and capability to support the demand from our customers to support their digital transformations.”

The buy-out is part of the global commerce company’s strategy to scale locally and regionally throughout different markets, as well as to increase its Salesforce Digital 360 capabilities. This is OSF Digital’s sixth acquisition in the past nine months, and its second acquisition of a Salesforce-focused services partner based in APAC.