Three questions that can help close the AI ROI Gap. August 21, 2026 According to a recent Plug and Play Enterprise AI survey, 74% of companies now have at least one AI deployment live in production - past the pilot stage - but only about half of those companies can point to a measurable return on it. That gap isn't only a CX problem, but it shows up clearly in the CX and Contact Center world, where a live production deployment means real customers are already on the other end of it. That's what eGain, Liminal, NICE, RingCentral, and Sinch each spoke to in their own way at the Velocity CX/AI Event in Dallas - working through what makes an AI conversation useful to a customer instead of just easier to sell. Three questions shape how you close that gap for your own clients, serve them better, and grow your business at the same time. The Signal: What Signal Is the Client Already Showing You? Every AI platform can describe what it does. Fewer conversations start with what's going wrong inside a customer's business: the missed calls, the NPS scores slipping, the complaints piling up. RingCentral describes these as signals rather than pain points, because a client's own customer experience data usually surfaces the issue before they can explain it themselves. Asking about the signal before naming a solution is what a trusted technology expert does, and it leads to a recommendation that actually fits the client instead of whatever's easiest to pitch. The ROI Gap: Is a Governance Gap or a Knowledge Gap Holding the Return Back? Once that signal points to an account already running AI in production - and per the numbers up top, most now are - the next question is why it isn't paying off. Liminal and eGain each point to a different answer - not the only possible causes, but two that come up often enough to be worth ruling out first. Liminal's approach centers on governance: most companies already have employees relying on public AI tools with no visibility into what data is leaving the building. That's the shadow AI problem, and it puts a CIO or CISO in a bind - shut down access and lose the productivity gains everyone else is capturing, or leave it open and inherit the compliance risk. Either way, leadership can't point to a clean ROI story when they can't see how AI is being used across the business. The result looks like a governance gap holding back the return, not a technology problem. eGain's approach centers on something more basic: a bot or agent is only as good as the knowledge it can pull from, and scattered, inconsistent content produces a confident answer that's wrong - which shows up to the customer as exactly the kind of inconsistent experience that erodes trust. For the client, that's the difference between a deployment that's stuck and one that's actively wrong: governance keeps it boxed in, bad knowledge makes it misfire. For you, it's a sharper, more specific opening than any generic AI pitch. The Overlay: Does the Solution Require Ripping Out What's Already in Place? Once the blocker is diagnosed, the next question is whether fixing it means starting over. For eGain and NICE, the strongest AI opportunities right now layer on top of what a client has instead of asking them to replace it - just from different sides of the Contact Center. eGain's knowledge hub connects into a CRM or contact center a client already runs. NICE's Cognigy platform sits over an existing contact center rather than swapping it out, so a client keeps the tools their team knows. Sinch follows the same logic at the infrastructure layer: its Voice Relay product adds voice AI capability to a client's existing agents and call center operations through Sinch's API, rather than requiring a new platform underneath it. For the client, that means no disruption to the systems their team already relies on, so the customer experience doesn't dip while the AI layer goes in. For you, it means an easier yes. Pick an account this week. Start with the signal - always. If AI is already part of the picture, rule out the governance or knowledge gap before you assume the technology itself is the problem. If it isn't there yet, that same signal is your opening to shape the deployment around what the client already has from day one. Either way, confirm the fit before you name a solution. That's the conversation that leads to a better customer experience - and, for you, a clearer path to the next deal, whichever of these five providers ends up being the right fit.

RingCentral's Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Agarwal sold 3,437 shares of Class A Common Stock on 17 and 18 August 2026, according to an SEC filing. The transaction comprised a pre-scheduled sale of 1,688 shares and a non-discretionary remittance of 1,749 shares to cover tax liabilities from vesting restricted stock units. The shares were sold at a weighted-average price of $64.77, generating approximately $223,000. The discretionary portion was executed under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan established in September 2025. Following the transactions, Agarwal retains direct ownership of 169,282 shares, representing a 0.2% stake valued at approximately $11 million. The sale occurred after RingCentral's stock generated a 116% total return over the preceding 12 months.

CMSWire opens submissions for the 2027 IMPACT Awards. August 18, 2026 The program adds new categories recognizing the use of AI in customer experience; submissions are open through November 20, 2026. SAN FRANCISCO, CA - August 18, 2026 - Now in its 6th year, the CMSWire IMPACT Awards program has opened submissions for 2027, recognizing exceptional work in customer experience, digital experience and customer service. Entries will be accepted through November 20, 2026, and winners will be announced in spring 2027. Entries are judged on the outcomes an initiative delivered and the evidence provided to support them. Applications are reviewed by a panel of more than 200 volunteer judges - practitioners, specialists, consultants and CX experts - and each entry is evaluated by multiple judges. The practitioner awards are open to customer experience, digital experience and customer service leaders who have deployed impactful initiatives or technology over the past 12 months. Vendor awards recognize work a company has done for a customer or client. This year, CMSWire added three categories that recognize how customer experience teams and vendors are applying AI: * Best Use of Agentic AI in Customer Experience (Practitioners) * Best Use of AI for Customer Data, Identity, or Personalization (Vendors - Case Study) * Best AI-Powered Self-Service or Conversational Experience (Vendors - Case Study) For Practitioners * Customer Experience Leader of the Year * Customer Journey Innovation * Best Use of Agentic AI in Customer Experience (new for 2027) For Vendors - Case Study * Best Use of AI in Customer Experience * Best Customer Experience Transformation * Best Use of AI for Customer Data, Identity, or Personalization (new for 2027) * Best AI-Powered Self-Service or Conversational Experience (new for 2027) For Vendors - Platform / Solution * Excellence in CCaaS & Customer Service * Excellence in Chatbots & Conversational AI * Excellence in DX Analytics, Observability & Intelligence * Excellence in Digital Experience & Journey Optimization Recent winners. Recent CMSWire IMPACT Award honorees include Talkdesk, Optimizely, RingCentral, Quadient, Concentrix and Firstsource. Full lists of past winners are available on the IMPACT Awards site: simplermedia.com/impact-awards/cmswire/ "The IMPACT Awards recognize the customer experience teams that can show real results from their work. We added the new AI categories this year because that's where a lot of the most interesting work is happening right now. We want to recognize the teams doing it well." - Dom Nicastro, Editor-in-Chief, CMSWire How to enter. * Submissions are open now through November 20. * Early Bird: Register and start an application during August-September and a 30% discount applies automatically to vendor fees - including applications completed after September. * Multiple entries: Use code TWOORMORE at checkout for 40% off total application fees. * Pricing: There is no cost to enter Customer Experience Leader of the Year. Other practitioner awards are $149 per application; vendor awards are $995 per application, before discounts. Applications are submitted at awards.simplermedia.com/cx. Full category descriptions, judging details and FAQs are available at simplermedia.com/impact-awards/cmswire. Recognition. Winners will be announced in March 2027. They are recognized in a feature article on CMSWire, in a listing on the IMPACT Awards site and with digital badges for their own promotion. Gold winners also receive a physical trophy, and Leaders of the Year are invited to an interview with the CMSWire editor-in-chief. About cmswire. CMSWire is the leading digital community for customer experience, customer service and digital experience professionals, published by Simpler Media Group. Through editorial coverage, original research and digital events, CMSWire helps practitioners advance their careers via high impact knowledge, networking and recognition. Learn more at cmswire.com. About Simpler Media Group. Simpler Media Group (SMG) is a B2B technology information and research services company serving a global community of more than 7 million digital business leaders. SMG publishes CMSWire, Reworked and VKTR, and operates a research division producing annual benchmark reports, market guides and custom insights for enterprise clients. SMG's annual IMPACT Awards recognize outstanding achievement in customer and employee experience, with honors for both practitioners and vendors. Learn more at simplermedia.com. MEDIA CONTACT: Tim Harnett Awards Director [email protected] (800) 939-1913, ext. 726 Featured Research