Genesys expands AI engineers to speed customer rollouts

Genesys has expanded its forward-deployed engineering operations for customer experience AI projects to help enterprise customers put agentic AI systems into production more quickly.

Its engineering teams work directly with customers on integration, governance and operational issues that often delay deployments. The model is focused on customer experience use cases that organisations want to move from pilot stages into day-to-day use.

Genesys is combining those teams with a broader services structure that includes pre-built applications and a global pool of more than 2,000 customer experience specialists across advisory, deployment and managed services. The applications, known as Expert Apps, are distributed through the Genesys AppFoundry and package AI agents and tools into products customers can deploy.

Tony Bates, chairman and chief executive officer of Genesys, said the company sees a gap between AI experimentation and operational use in large organisations.

"The next phase of enterprise AI won't be defined by how many AI tools or pilots a company has. It will be defined by its ability to turn AI into an operating model that consistently delivers outcomes," Bates said. "We're bringing together agentic orchestration, embedded expertise and proven innovation so organisations can start with an experience that matters, put it into production, learn from it and scale from there. That's how organisations can turn the potential of agentic AI into business value."

Customer rollout

The expanded engineering approach has already been used by customers including Banco de Crédito del Perú, eir and Riachuelo. Those engagements have focused on moving selected agentic AI use cases into live production environments.

At eir, the telecoms group has used the company's cloud platform alongside Genesys teams as part of a wider operational change programme.

"The combination of Genesys Cloud and hands-on expertise from the Genesys team has enabled us to accelerate our transformation and operationalise AI around the outcomes that matter to our business," said Oonagh O'Reilly, director of transformation and operational support at eir. "It is helping us turn our AI investments into measurable value and build momentum for what comes next."

Riachuelo also pointed to a shift from trial projects to deployed systems in customer service operations.

"Agentic AI is helping us fundamentally rethink how we serve our customers," said César Nicoletti, senior manager of CX, digital products and operations at Riachuelo. "Working closely with Genesys forward-deployed engineers has helped us quickly move beyond experimentation to deliver agentic experiences that resolve more customer needs while improving efficiency and satisfaction."

Broader model

Forward-deployed engineering has become a more visible part of how software companies try to convert AI interest into revenue-generating projects. Rather than selling software licences alone, vendors increasingly provide technical teams that work alongside customer staff to address data, process and governance barriers during implementation.

Genesys said its model also includes what it calls Agentic Experience Labs and Experience Orchestration Plans, designed to help customers identify suitable customer experience projects and map a longer-term transformation plan. Forward-deployed engineers then work with customer teams to build repeatable patterns that can be used in other parts of the organisation.

Scott Cravotta, chief customer officer at Genesys, said the main challenge is not proving the concept of AI, but carrying projects through to operational use.

"The last mile of agentic AI transformation is where strategy meets execution," Cravotta said. "Enterprises must align data, governance, change management and use cases to move these initiatives into production and deliver value. Our FDEs work side by side with customer teams to turn agentic AI into measurable business outcomes."

Lessons from customer deployments feed back into product development and the creation of new Expert Apps. That gives customers access to tools based on deployment patterns already tested in live environments, while allowing Genesys to refine its software and services around common implementation problems.

Underlying the broader offering is Genesys Cloud, which handles more than 33 billion interactions each year for more than 7,500 customers worldwide, according to the company. It says the platform is built to connect customer data, AI systems, staff and business software across customer journeys and internal operations.

The push reflects a broader pattern in the enterprise technology market, where suppliers are under pressure to show that generative and agentic AI projects can move beyond pilots and produce measurable returns. For customer experience vendors in particular, that means proving AI can be integrated into existing service systems without creating new operational or governance risks.

Genesys said its forward-deployed engineers work directly with customers to address those constraints as organisations seek to expand AI in customer service and support functions.