Day 2 Keynote: From Forecasting Precision to Intraday Control

/ AI, Customer Experience, Enterprise Software, Verint Engage

Session Overview

Day 2 doubled down on “Stronger, Faster, Measurable” with two big product spotlights: Exact Forecasting Bot and Intraday Spike Bot. Plus live customer stories from ID.me and CVS Aetna. The message was to pair better plans (interval-level accuracy across channels) with faster reactions (detect, diagnose, and contain unexpected surges in minutes).

  • Exact Forecasting Bot: Adds AI atop best-fit algorithms to model cross-channel impacts (voice, chat, email, back office). Targeting >90% daily/interval accuracy, early adopters claim to see +5–10% accuracy, a potential $2–$4M annual savings in a 1,000-agent center.
  • Intraday Spike Bot: Auto-detects anomalies, analyzes conversation content vs. baselines (yesterday/last week), quantifies impact (e.g., $30k/hour), and proposes actions: IVA script updates, agent coaching nudges, and real-time knowledge posts.
  • Customer evidence:
    • ID.me: Live chat mix rose 6% → 53% (goal 75%); self-service containment moved from low-60s to mid-70s.
    • CVS Aetna: 100% AQM coverage for coaching, mined ~800k monthly surveys; insights informed hiring cadence, tenure, and support tied to material business outcomes.
  • Theme: Move beyond queue shuffling. Use unified data + agentic updates to address root causes and not just firefight symptoms.

Industry Perspective

Enterprises are exiting pilot mode and demanding time-to-value with proof. Two macro data points truly highlight the moment:

  • ROI is becoming visible: In a SiliconANGLE/theCUBE Research survey, 46% of respondents report tangible ROI from AI deployments, reflecting growing confidence when projects are scoped to business outcomes.
  • Budgets are following outcomes: Among 600 IT decision-makers building proprietary AI apps, 83% expect to increase AI spend in 2025, with most planning double-digit growth, despite flat overall IT budgets.

Still, complexity and skill gaps slow modernization, a theme flagged repeatedly for app/CX leaders. Packaging forecasting and intraday response as opinionated bots helps reduce that complexity while keeping hybrid/on-prem constraints intact; key for conservative, regulated shops.

Overall, Day 2’s combo of plan accurately, react instantly, measure continuously is the right operating model for contact centers living with volatile demand and strict governance.

Moving Forward

1) Treat forecasting accuracy as an operating contract

  • Define what “>90% every interval” means per channel/interval, set minimum data quality, and publish explainability views (weightings, uncertainty bands). Tie gains to overtime avoidance, shrinkage, and schedule efficiency.

2) Stand up intraday governance before the next spike

  • Pre-agree triggers (∆ vs. yesterday/last week/same time), auto-actions (pre-approved IVA snippets, KB posts, agent cues), and approval roles with audit trails. Measure time-to-contain as a first-class KPI.

3) Make value measurement turnkey

  • Use out-of-the-box dashboards to attribute impact: containment → capacity, AHT/ACW → labor $, coaching → error/callback reduction, survey mining → revenue retention. Establish 30/60/90-day checkpoints.

4) Embrace hybrid without duplicating builds

  • Provide reference patterns for where logic lives (on-prem vs. cloud) and how changes propagate. Use IVA Studio to ship small changes in days, validate, iterate.

Bottom line: Day 2 translates CX automation into a closed loop where you can predict demand precisely, respond to volatility in real time, and prove outcomes on the dashboard. For leaders navigating vendor noise and governance drag, this is the practical recipe to scale AI while keeping service levels, costs, and revenue moving the right way.

Authors

  • With over 15 years of hands-on experience in operations roles across legal, financial, and technology sectors, Sam Weston brings deep expertise in the systems that power modern enterprises such as ERP, CRM, HCM, CX, and beyond. Her career has spanned the full spectrum of enterprise applications, from optimizing business processes and managing platforms to leading digital transformation initiatives.

    Sam has transitioned her expertise into the analyst arena, focusing on enterprise applications and the evolving role they play in business productivity and transformation. She provides independent insights that bridge technology capabilities with business outcomes, helping organizations and vendors alike navigate a changing enterprise software landscape.

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  • Paul Nashawaty

    Paul Nashawaty, Practice Leader and Lead Principal Analyst, specializes in application modernization across build, release and operations. With a wealth of expertise in digital transformation initiatives spanning front-end and back-end systems, he also possesses comprehensive knowledge of the underlying infrastructure ecosystem crucial for supporting modernization endeavors. With over 25 years of experience, Paul has a proven track record in implementing effective go-to-market strategies, including the identification of new market channels, the growth and cultivation of partner ecosystems, and the successful execution of strategic plans resulting in positive business outcomes for his clients.

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