Former CEO and Chairman of Cisco John Chambers, Former Convergys CEO Andrea J. Ayers and CrowdStrike CFO Burt Podbere join as market leader hits record growth
Uniphore, an early leader in Conversational Service Automation (CSA), today announced three new appointments to its board of directors – John Chambers, Andrea Ayers and Burt Podbere. Their combined experience in building market leaders, driving innovation and scaling global companies will accelerate Uniphore’s growth and further advance the company’s leadership in utilizing AI and automation for customer service. All additions to the board are effective immediately.
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“Conversational AI solutions in the era of COVID-19.”
Comments on the News:
- “We are thrilled to welcome John, Andrea and Burt to Uniphore’s board of directors,” said Umesh Sachdev, CEO and Co-Founder, Uniphore. “They are joining Uniphore at a key point in our history as we rapidly drive our business forward and build deeper relationships with our customers. Each executive brings invaluable experience and expertise which will help us execute our strategy, drive profitability and expand into new markets with our industry leading artificial intelligence and automation solutions.”
- “Uniphore has a culture of innovation and change, which has allowed them to redefine the next generation of conversational AI and automation for today’s enterprises. Umesh and his entire team are transforming the customer experience landscape by capturing a business model shift with advancements in technology. This is just the beginning for Uniphore. I am continually inspired by this team and could not be more excited to join the board,” said John Chambers.
- “Joining the board of a hyper-growth company like Uniphore is an incredible opportunity. The team is bringing cutting edge technology to one of the most critical markets and I look forward to helping unlock this massive potential,” said Andrea Ayers.
- “Uniphore’s leadership is moving the entire industry forward in new and exciting ways and I know the team has even more ambitious plans for the future. I am eager to dig in,” said Burt Podbere.
These new appointments come as Uniphore is experiencing record demand for its AI and automation solutions. Uniphore has tripled its revenue over the past year, due to an increased reliance on contact centers and a surging demand for AI and automation to strengthen customer service. In the past year alone, the company has forged major partnerships with some of the world’s largest CX business providers, signed multi-million dollar contracts with Fortune 50 companies, added more than 100 employees globally including a new CFO, and acquired both RPA and Emotion AI technology to extend their technology leadership and open up new market opportunities across the enterprise.
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Further, in 2020, Uniphore was recognized as a Gartner Cool Vendor and by IDC as being one of only a few companies that provide “Conversational AI solutions in the era of COVID-19.” Additionally, it was named a Best Place to Work in the Bay Area and Umesh Sachdev, Uniphore’s CEO was named a Top 40 Under 40 Leaders in the industry. Kicking off this year, Forbes reported that Uniphore was one of the “Top 25 Machine Learning company to watch in 2021.”
Background on John Chambers
John Chambers is the founder and CEO of JC2 Ventures, a purpose-driven venture capital firm focused on enabling startups from around the world to build and scale. In his role, Chambers uses his decades of experience disrupting the technology industry to invest in and coach companies that are leading the next market transitions. Prior to founding JC2 Ventures in 2018, Chambers served as CEO, Chairman and Executive Chairman of Cisco. During his 25+ years with Cisco, he helped grow the company from $70 million when he joined in 1991, to $1.2 billion when he became CEO in 1995, to $47 billion when he stepped down as CEO in 2015.
Background on Andrea Ayers
Andrea J. Ayers is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Convergys Corporation, and has been a director of the Company since December 2014. She had a significant role in the transformation of Convergys from a company with three business lines to a customer management solutions company with approximately 125,000 employees worldwide. Her expertise in multi-channel customer experience, customer management analytics and technology will be extremely valuable for Uniphore.
Background on Burt Podbere
Burt Podbere serves as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for CrowdStrike. Since joining the company, Podbere has been instrumental in establishing the company’s long-term financial management strategy and developing the company’s global expansion strategy. During his five plus year tenure at CrowdStrike he has help secure approximately $1B in equity financing through several funding rounds including its 2019 IPO as well as approximately $1.5B in secured and unsecured debt. Podbere has worked in Canada, Europe, and the U.S. where he has garnered extensive knowledge of both domestic and international finance, SaaS businesses, and international operations.