Cresta Crew is back with one of Cresta’s newest team members: Sai Vivek, Field Chief Technology Officer (CTO). In this series, we shine a spotlight on the many different departments at Cresta and the talented, interesting, and dynamic people who work within them.
Read on to hear from Sai himself!
Tell us about yourself – what is your background?
I have over 2 decades of tech and CX transformation experience. I started my career at Verizon designing and implementing self-service apps for millions of customers. The foundational elements of customer centricity, rapid innovation and efficient operations stuck with me as I grew within the organization to lead Verizon’s Digital and Contact Center platforms.
I am joining Cresta from Google where I was the industry solutions leader for CCAI in Google Cloud Consulting delivering on significant pipeline. There,I had the opportunity to partner with Fortune 500 customers across TMEG, Retail, Health Care & Life Sciences, and Financial Services to design and deliver customized solutions that leverage Google’s Cloud AI capabilities.
I live in the DC area with my wife Ramya, who is a nutritionist, and our two kids. I have an MBA from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from BITS Pilani, India.
What inspired you to join Cresta?
My interactions with Cresta go back to my days with Verizon, where I saw the potential of the solution while evaluating it alongside Verizon’s business stakeholders.
Cresta has since grown dramatically from both a tech capability and an organizational standpoint.There is significant interest from customers across the globe to modernize their existing CX platforms and extract value from their customer engagement. CX AI will be the growth engine of the future for enterprises and Cresta is well-positioned to be a valuable partner in their AI journey.
Our CEO Ping and Cresta’s leadership have done an outstanding job growing the team which now comprises CCAI industry thought leaders and brilliant engineering minds.
To quote Michael Jordan,”Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships”. I believe I am joining a championship team and look forward to contributing to Cresta’s growth story.
What is your role at Cresta? What do you think a typical day will look like?
I am joining as Cresta’s Field CTO with the objective of growing the business by connecting Cresta’s technical capabilities to customer needs and showcasing the value companies can extract through smart implementation of the product. Transformation is riddled with technical complexities and business challenges and I will lean on my two decades of knowledge, including 6+ years of CCAI specific implementation experience, to help steer through some of those.
My typical day will involve talking to new and existing customers about their CX AI vision and implementation strategies, providing guidance on solution delivery methodology, while helping Cresta’s leadership team move the business forward.
What about Cresta’s platform got you excited?
Digital experience (Mobile, Web, Virtual Agent) has seen a dramatic improvement over the years, thanks to significant investment from customers on UX, AI, and back-office capabilities.
Unfortunately, the frontline employee/agent experience has not seen a similarly dramatic shift. The capabilities that Cresta offers in this space have the potential to be the gold standard for AI-powered agent experiences. With the recent launch of Voice Virtual Agent, Cresta now has the full suite of capabilities that customers are looking to implement to improve CX.
Lastly, customers are still unable to fully utilize the power of conversation insights and often these projects end as expensive proof of concepts. By connecting Cresta’s Conversation Intelligence with a larger contact center analytics play, customers can now unlock significant value through tailored experiences.
What big trends in this space do you envision over the next year?
Research firm IDC predicts worldwide spending on AI strategies will increase to $337B in 2025 and more than double to $748B by 2028. Most businesses will seek new AI-powered solutions to boost top-line revenue while increasing efficiency of operations.
I expect the transition from evaluating GenAI to full-scale production deployment to accelerate in 2025 and beyond. While cloud providers continue to attract usage, the lack of solutions will create a compelling case for enterprises to rely more on packaged SaaS solutions to power their AI ambitions. I also envision a world where virtual assistants start to share meaningful workloads with humans, ushering in a new era of automation.
What do you think is the most important skill for a new Crestan to have?
The ability to learn and adapt quickly is an important skill for a new Crestan and I envision doing that from my first day on the job. Learning about our capabilities, our customers, and the opportunity ahead of us is critical in hitting the ground running fast. The challenge for us is balancing speed of delivery with quality in order to help our customers see value in our products and services.
What do you love to do with your time when you’re not at work?
My interests include coaching for junior Lego League Robotics and advising high school STEM clubs on the impact of AI on business.I also volunteer for local charities that are focused on supporting the homeless in the DC metro area.
I love traveling and a beach vacation is my preference. In my spare time, I love golfing with my teenage son and daughter who play much better than I do.
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Welcome to the team, Sai!
