2026 ZKast #90 - Will the FCC Kill Offshoring? The Rise of AI Agents and CX Executive Shuffles

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:06]Hey everyone, uh Z Caraval from ZK Research here with Wanita Kohley and we're going to another episode of what's new in CX. One, you and I, it's been a while. We've been traveling a lot.

[00:00:17]>> I know.

[00:00:18]>> You know, you've been all over at the masters. You've been you've been just all over jet setting everywhere.

[00:00:24]>> Yeah. Well, you've been a few places, too. So, >> yeah, I've been busy.

[00:00:28]>> Yeah. Anyways, let's let's start with a really interesting um upcoming proposal from the FCC uh that seems to have a lot of implications to customers, vendors, really everybody.

[00:00:42]And that is that they're limiting the amount the FCC wants to limit the amount of calls that companies can offshore.

[00:00:49]Now, offshoring has been very common uh for companies to lower the cost. BPOS are entirely built on the concept of offshoring and uh there's a lot of challenge that come with it and uh the FCC has said uh we want to limit that I think to 30% of the overall calls.

[00:01:08]>> Yeah. and um your thoughts around this like you you talk to a lot of CX leaders this this there's a lot of cost implications you know there's a lot to this >> it's it's it's so far reaching that I don't think people have even thought about all of the things that it's going to touch so it's not just about offshoring and uh you know one of the things that the SEC is saying and I I've heard this in the news is like oh you know when we offshore we're some of these centers are where people are going to get trained for scams. And I'm like, people getting trained to scam here in the US, right? So like I think that that's I think that is really a mute point. But I think what this is really going to do, I've been hosting these AI in the wild dinners and for for some time now, literally a couple actually a couple years. But this year, a new theme has been emerging with this FCC ruling conversation that's happening that hey, if this happens, this is going to accelerate our use of AI. And I don't think that people are really putting those two dots together. If we can no longer offshore, then we're going especially, you know, Americans, we are very like we are very like you're not going to tell me what to do type of people, right? And so I think that's going to make them say, hey, well, okay, cool.

[00:02:30]You don't want us to offshore. You're going to try and tell us how to run our business. We're going to accelerate our AI adoption. And so I think it's going to have that inverse effect of what people think of like, oh, it's going to bring more jobs back on shore or it's going to solve for some kind of different thing. And that's a theme that's been coming up in the AI dinner.

[00:02:48]Leaders are saying, hey, we are making it a requirement uh for agents to learn about AI. We're making it a requirement like uh for us to really start to think about how we use AI in real use cases.

[00:03:02]uh as before when we were hosting the AI dinners, it was like, hey, this is how we're using AI. It's peeling off some of the lowhanging fruit and and we're still trying to figure out how we use AI AI.

[00:03:13]Now the conversation has shifted to how do we make AI a part of our expanded workforce. And so I think that FCC has a lot to do the convers whether it passes or not. You know, I think it has a lot to do with the conversation, how that conversation is starting to trend differently >> and that is interesting, right? So, uh maybe the easiest way to not offshore calls is to not have the call at all, right? And that's where your AI agents come into play, right? So, if you think of a company that does say a thousand calls a day and 70% are offshored, that would be, you know, 700 calls and then 30 on. But you think so if I bring all thousand on you know here to the US I've got to more than um you know double the number of US agents I have if I can use AI then to handle say 80% of the calls of all those high frequency low complexity ones right then I could actually cut all my offshore and then even possibly reduce the number of people I have onshore and so this could have a pretty interesting effect on uh Asian jobs, but then also the company's ability to handle more calls quickly and then uh drive their cost down as well.

[00:04:28]So I I think all in all for for the big brands out there that run these big contact centers, this could actually be a good thing that to help them to act as a force and function to help them, you know, move to AI faster. And I think ultimately as a consumer, I want my calls handled faster and with less friction and things like that. And so AI promises that. And so I I don't know if the FTC's intention was to push companies towards AI. I think it was more about bringing jobs back here.

[00:05:00]>> But you're right, it could have a negative effect. We could actually wind up cutting the number of US jobs because we're cutting the the total number of calls. Right.

[00:05:07]>> Right. Right. Uh you know, I have a saying the which is kind of interesting.

[00:05:12]The best call is the one I didn't need to make. Right. Uh, so the whole and I I think that's a a general kind of feel amongst most consumers is like people aren't buying things and then saying, "Oh yeah, I want to have to call and and figure out how to get it service and all those different things." And so when we think about a great customer experience is the one that was so intuitive that I didn't need to call you in the first place. So, as we get to that point, when we think about AI automation and we're anticipating the customer's needs, back to your point of not needing the call in the first place or not needing the interaction in the first place, how do we how do we get there? And I think that if FCC ruling passes, if this FCC ruling passes, that's going to accelerate organizations desire to say, "Hey, we got to figure out how do we not need this interaction to happen in the first place."

[00:06:06]Yeah. And don't you think it will pass just with this administration's focus on >> I don't know if it will pass or not like you know and this is what something that came up in in our recent dinner in Dallas. Uh one um co-founder of an organization came and they were saying I don't I can't foresee them telling us how we have to like mandate how we have to run our business now. I can see them imposing a certain tax, you know, like some certain taxation or sanctions because of X, Y, and Z, but to say you absolutely cannot do it, I think that's a different I don't think that falls in their their scope or wheelhouse. So, I I don't I don't know if it will pass or not. I'm not I'm not a political person.

[00:06:51]>> The only reason companies offshore is to save money. And so now if the cost if the cost of even if they put a a tariff or a tax on the offshored calls that's driving costs up and all this leads to trying to figure out a new way to run your contact center with less people and um you know I I think while uh that's unfortunate.

[00:07:09]>> So Z that's a good good point that you said though because that's one of the things that came up in the dinner.

[00:07:15]Someone said I think they believe that the only reason we offshore is to save money and that's not always the case.

[00:07:22]that actually came up in the dinner and they were saying I'm I'm sure it has a big part of it but one leader said one of the reasons that they offshore is because around loyalty to the brand and they find a different level of commitment with in different cultures right depending on where they are offshoring to uh and so I was like hm that's interesting because most people think that right like hey the biggest reason which I'm sure it is a big reason that people offshore But that that very point came up in the dinner and they were saying I think the reason I think organizations think that the reason the biggest point for offshoring is to save cost when what we really see is that our attrition is lower when we offshore. Uh our culture and our uh loyalty to brand is better. They they listed a numerous numerous amounts of things and I that was not necessarily tied to cost savings and I thought that was interesting. And what percent of the companies do you think that is though?

[00:08:22]>> I don't know. I don't know. I'm sure like, like I said, I'm sure a big reason is, you know, cost. So, if back to your point, when they add in the sanction or the tax for doing that, if the costs outweigh the benefits, then it only makes good business sense to not do it.

[00:08:37]But when you said that, I was like, that came up in dinner. It's like it was there.

[00:08:42]>> Yeah. All right. Well, if you're a company and you're looking to offshore, get ahead of the curve. use AI and then you don't have to offshore all because all your those calls go away. So that's ultimately that's what you want. Uh second up on the docknet is the uh Avalara reunion here, right? So u emit methodus who's the new CEO at 59. Um he worked with his CMO at Avalar was uh Jay Lee. He joins him now at 59. Right. Um and uh it's interesting too because the old position when Nikki Hall had it was CMO. This is Jay Lee has been given the title of chief marketing marketing and growth officer where they've tied u you can think about you tie the top of the funnel to the bottom of the funnel.

[00:09:28]Right.

[00:09:29]>> Yeah. Yeah. Which actually I don't know why more companies don't do that. Um and um it it's interesting that you know 59 I think this will lead to another some kind of brand pivot right they're um they're trying to move from IVs to Gen AI right now and focusing more on Agentic but they've had a lot of brand pivots of late and so um I don't know Jay all that well um and so um or or emit frankly for that matter so I don't have a lot of insight into whether this good or bad I I think it the way it's structured makes some sense. I think there is some risk though in um in in another brand pivot just because the 59's had so many and I don't know if you had any thoughts on this.

[00:10:13]>> No. Well, I'm interested to see where it leads from a um like what happens new product or what happens with um new pivots like what you said. Uh I think it is extremely smart that the top of funnel is connecting to bottom bottom of funnel, right? like, hey, we're letting people know about what we do and our product and all the different things and how does that lead to conversions and sales, right? So, that makes tremendous amounts of sense and I think more organizations should do that. Uh, I'm interested to see how that top of funnel like what they're talking about actually converts to conversion and sales revenue and if any new uh sectors emerge.

[00:10:56]>> Yeah. And um I I do think that there's a this is a big job uh I think for 59 right now. You know they've been positioning themselves as the intelligent CX platform and that obviously isn't unique um in the industry. There's they have a lot of traditional competitors you know nice and Amazon connect and things like that but then there's also a lot of the UK vendors zoom and ring central moved into their own contact center as well. And a lot of times I feel like 59 has been the um you know they've the only vendor that's really remained that kind of niche cure um you know CCAs company right because even nice they bought Cognagi they own their own AI >> 59 tends to you know they partner with ver they partner with a lot of companies and so their stack isn't as robust as others. Now, I will say Lee Lee's focus from what I've heard is kind of operational rigor. Um he's you know he um he had a lot of big brands in his background. I I think um uh you know PayPal, American Express, things like that as well. So um you know the the the question is what does he I you know what I would like to know is what he wants this brand to be known as. I think you know their current branding just to me seems a little bit tired.

[00:12:18]Yeah, I think it's it's um again they went through this whole phase of new CEO, new all the different things and so I'm really looking forward to hearing like what's next, right? So what's next?

[00:12:30]What's new product? As a matter of fact, at it was uh him and Enterprise Connect.

[00:12:35]I stopped by the boo booth and I was like, hey, what's going on? What's next?

[00:12:38]And all the different things. And so I'm I'm really interested to see what comes out of this with the new CMO and growth officer. cloud.

[00:12:46]>> Yeah. And it's been a long time since they had a CMO, so it's about time they filled that gap, but I guess they had to get CEO in first.

[00:12:52]>> All right. Well, so more to come there.

[00:12:54]Um, you know, along those executive hires, um, Variant or the new Varant, Verant Calabrio, Ver Verablio, if you want to call him that, uh, hired a new, um, >> chief commercial officer, right? Teresa um, um, I don't know her that well, Teresa. Uh, Anani or Ana.

[00:13:19]>> Yeah, I I believe so. I know her first name is Teresa.

[00:13:22]>> I don't actually I haven't followed Veron in a while and I know they're going to this post merger era >> um of bringing the two companies together. They're they they both had kind of loyal customer base um you know she came from Sofos and Zenesk, right?

[00:13:38]So, she's bringing a lot of that um you know software transformation skills to herwood. Did you have any thoughts on this hire?

[00:13:46]>> Yeah, I'm actually very intrigued to see um because since they're bringing her in um in this role, I believe that hopefully what we're going to see post this merger with Varant and Calabrio is that they're starting to really merge these um customer B like get pull the best out of these customer stories, right? like, oh, this is what is really working. Well, we know also that they recently made the announcement about all of the Calabrio customers having access to all of the varant bots, right? Which is, I think, a a great move because then now all the Collabrio customers are going to have access to these AI bots and in the ecosystem when it comes to AI and automation. So, I'm really interested to see how Teresa does with pulling out and trying to tracking those customer um customers to success and making sure those stories float to the top and what the learnings are she get she gets from that to really kind of take this merger make the you know pull the best out of this merger. Yeah, it's it's an interesting time to join too because they are owned by Toma Bravo, right? The private equity company >> and typically you look at the Toma Bravo playbook, it's uh you know margin expansion and operational tightening. So they want you to do more with less and so the question is can you maintain I know both companies had pretty good seat scores, right? So can you maintain high customer satisfaction when you're being streamlined and restructured >> and um you know the uh I think one of the risks here is uh um you know service friction right if a customer uses both platforms they want a single point of accountability but you need but all that backend stuff needs to be unified on the on the support things like that. Um uh I did I saw a quote from her where she talked about outcomes are the scoreboard as well. And so you know if the AI bots don't deliver the promised two to 3x efficiency gains and outcomes that the company's been talking about that scoreboard then looks bad right so I I think um in some way she's when I think of that quote she's pinning her leadership to measurable wins and but I I think that's a case for this industry in general. It's you know we want more outcomes. In fact, that was something that came up at the NRF show was that um uh one of the CIOS I was talking to said that he comes to the show now because he thinks it was an outcome based show, not a tech show, right? So, uh let's see if she can do that. So, >> yeah. Yeah. I I I I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful.

[00:16:20]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know it's a company you like a lot. I've I've not like I said, since they got gobbled up inside Bravo, I haven't really followed them, but uh perhaps time to get them back on the radar. Now, there's one other company you want to talk about that you ran across called Sonis that um and in some ways it goes back to the um offshore ending discussion. So, why don't you connect the dots on what the company does?

[00:16:42]>> Yeah. So, Sonis is a accent translation um speech uh voice language translation.

[00:16:49]So, they they have quite a few different products. Uh but one of the things that again why this ties back to FCC and just what we're hearing about uh accent and some of the bias I think around offshoring and and outsourcing is around accent right I was recently talking to a CX leader uh and they were talking to me about the QM doing quality and listening to their calls and they were talking to me about the abuse when when they're listening to the calls the abuse that uh agents endure even ones that are here on near shore and in uh here locally, but because they have an accent, then a lot of times they just have extreme abuse.

[00:17:33]And so Sonis, I was talking talking to them about Sonis and they were saying, "Oh yeah, when we see that uh our agents are using the Sonis application, which again is accent uh accent translation.

[00:17:47]It reduces the accent so that it removes that barrier around, hey, I can't understand you. I can't what what's what did you say? Say that again. Repeat that." So they're seeing average handle time being reduced. They're also seeing sales. I talked to one leader and they were saying sales improved by like 20%.

[00:18:05]Right? So it's not just a cost savings uh mechanism. They're also looking at it as a revenue revenue driver in their organization. And so I'm interested again in some of these AI use cases again back to this FCC conversation. If this passes, how does this impact uh the acceleration of AI? Right? because this was this CX leader was talking about their agents that were here locally, not necessarily agents that were uh offshore, you know.

[00:18:35]>> Yeah.

[00:18:35]>> So, interesting.

[00:18:37]>> Well, in fact, a lot of companies when they offshore train um train employees to speak with with local accents, right?

[00:18:44]And so, if you're from the south, you know, Texas, whatever, New England, you all have different accents, right? And so I think and and it um it's interesting that um that does give people comfort. They they want to know they're talking to people that are more like them and understand their concerns.

[00:19:02]And so if you are from the south and you talk some of the southern accents, that gives comfort, right? So um um so that's that's interesting that it can do that to him. So um you know with AI. So um best of luck to him. I think I think there's you know I could see that being used not just in the world of CX but you know like sports teams of international players you know things like that right that there's there's a lot of different ways you can do that hotels >> and uh so that's one of the to me that's one of the great use cases the AI is going to bring is the ability to translate and match accents and things um without having to have a lot of people on standby. Right.

[00:19:42]>> Absolutely. It reminded me of this. I was watching this Discover uh this Discover commercial on YouTube and it was super funny. It was like about personality matching. So, you had one person that called into uh the call center and they were like this real snippy and spicy kind of person and the agent that got them on the phone, they were snippy, direct, and spicy as well.

[00:20:07]And that kind of brought comfort to the caller that was calling in. And then you had this one person who called in that was super monotone, boring, kind of dry.

[00:20:17]And the agent, the person they got matched to on the call center side was kind of monotone, boring, dry. Uh, so back to your back to your statement about like adding comfort. I think that accent when you talk to someone who has that southern or you have, you know, the New York, you kind of, you know, real fast pace. you do that kind of matching it, it it it shows us as humans we're more alike than we are different. And so then that breeds some kind of level of familiarity.

[00:20:46]>> Yeah. All right. Well, you know, I guess we started with uh um the FCC driving AI adoption and we ended with uh translation driving AI adoption. So I want to add one.

[00:20:59]>> No, I think uh what would you say the news of the week is? you know, we always have >> Oh, that's interesting. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[00:21:05]I um I think the first one I think the FCC >> um if if we're looking for a real catalyst like often companies don't do things differently unless they're forced to do things differently >> and uh I think this is a for forcing mechanism that'll make them look at how to operate their contact centers different and frankly I think it's good for everybody.

[00:21:24]>> Absolutely. I think so too. I think uh the FCC for the same reason, right? It's it's what COVID was to work at home, right? before COVID came uh and again we didn't want CO to come but nobody could figure out how to get people to work at home we can't do it we can't do it we can't do it right and then CO came and it's like overnight people was working at home and organizations still survived right so I think this is that for forcing mechanism to to say hey we got to figure something out and um I don't know what that answer is going to be ruling wise but I think I know businesses will still survive.

[00:22:01]>> Yeah. All right. Well, everyone get on the AI bandwagon. So, it's here.

[00:22:05]>> It's here.

[00:22:06]>> Yeah. All right. So, on behalf of Oneita Koli, that's what's new in CX and uh we'll see you uh sometime soon. I guess there's a lot of events coming up. So, on behalf of Oneita, I'm Zas Caraval saying thanks for watching. Uh give us a like, hit that subscribe button. We'll see you next time on our next episode of What's New in CX >> CX. Bye, guys.