customer-communications
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Sophie Cheng
The new Sinch CMO has spent her career turning complicated technology into useful customer choices. Her next problem is harder: making AI communication earn trust after the demo ends.
Bird, Optimove, Bottomline and DataOceans Map the Customer Stack
Four software companies reveal why customer communication is no longer one job. The useful question is not which platform does everything, but which system should decide, deliver, transact and keep the record.
The Machinery Behind Every Bill, Text, and Postcard You Get
Optimove, Twilio, Lob, Newgen, Windward, and Experlogix rarely land on the same slide. Yet they are all fighting one quiet war - turning a row in a database into a message you actually open.
Quadient
A century-old maker of postage meters quietly turned itself into a software company. Here is how Quadient bet its future on the mail nobody thinks about - the bills, statements and packages that decide whether a customer stays.
AI Can Draft the Document. Humans Still Own the Risk
Six automation platforms promise faster, more personal communications. The real test is whether they remove operational work without weakening judgment, control or accountability.
Cincom Systems
For 50-plus years Cincom quietly sold the software that runs behind other companies' sales quotes and customer letters. It also kept alive one of computing's most influential programming languages.
Yobi
Yobi is an AI workforce platform that lets businesses deploy task-specific 'AI employees' - synthetic agents that answer calls, reply across text and social channels, book appointments and sync data 24/7. Founded by Ahmed Reza and built around named agents like Kate (reception), Marie (support) and Carlos (operations), Yobi unifies calls, messaging, CRM and team collaboration so small and mid-sized teams stop switching tools and start automating the busywork.
Dan O'Connell
Dan O'Connell is the CEO of Front, the AI-powered customer communications platform used by 9,000+ companies. A veteran of Google, AdRoll, and Dialpad - where he helped scale ARR from $30M to $200M+ - O'Connell joined Front as CEO in May 2024, succeeding co-founder Mathilde Collin, with a mandate to drive the company's next phase of AI-led growth. He is a UC Berkeley Haas MBA, Santa Clara University alumnus, Ironman triathlete, and a recurring voice in the conversation about how AI will reshape human work rather than replace it.