NICE on the Hunt for New CEO with Eilam’s Departure Set for Year-End

“Leading NICE for the past decade has been the pinnacle of my career,” Eilam said. “It is an honor to work alongside a team of 8,500 talented and dedicated NICErs around the globe. While my team and NICE’s mission continues to inspire me daily, after 25 years at NICE and with the company poised for continued leadership and success, it’s the right time to transition the helm of the company to a new leader.”

Who could that new leader be? We’re sure there will be plenty of speculation. So let’s add some here: Barry Cooper, president, NICE CX Division, could be a potential successor, given his experience (joined NICE in 2011) and focus: he’s responsible for product strategy, innovation, product management, R&D, solution marketing, implementation customer support and cloud operations of NICE CX solutions. That’s the sweet spot of what makes software companies tick, and, according to its growth report, NICE has done just that. Sitecore recently went the route of a product leader turned CEO.

And there’s plenty of room for growth in the customer experience software space: by two estimates, the global customer experience management software market will be valued at $19.34 billion by this year and $70.20 billion by 2032; and the global contact center software market will be worth $52.17 billion this year and $218.31 billion by 2032.

Promote From Within, Focus on AI in CX

Nichole Hinton, CEO and principal consultant with N&M Consulting and a CMSWire Contributor, said great CEOs like Eilam don’t come around very often. When they do, she added, you tend to see a tremendous positive impact, not just for the customers and the marketplace, but for the employees as well. 

“In the case of NICE and its search for the next leader, there are certainly big shoes to fill, so promoting within, someone who understands the culture of NICE, would be the best option,” Hinton told CMSWire this morning. “If not, the board should focus on someone who will commit to not changing how the internal culture there works but instead, how the products evolve and really tuning into the customer and their feedback.”

Internal culture is often overlooked when it comes to a great customer experience, Hinton added. However, she said, when your employees are treated well with no fear of “regime change,” then they can continue to thrive; this means your organization will continue to do so.

“I’ve seen a lot of executive turnover in my day and unfortunately, many a time, the internal culture erodes, trust is lost inside and out, and sales stay stagnant, if not decline,” Hinton said. “Customers want to align with an organization that cares all the way around, is a trusted advisor and instills confidence in them that they made the right investment. Thus, a customer-centric leader is crucial because they tend to listen more and ‘command’ less.” 

Further, the new CEO must think about an AI responsibility strategy as it relates to CX, something Hinton said many organizations do not have in place. With AI very much now being a team member in most teams, it’s important to assign it a role in the organization, such as a “doer-analyst,” while allowing the human employees to be the “strategist-human touch” role.

“That kind of forward-thinking propels a company into the future,” she said, “and demonstrates to the customer base that they still very much matter.”

Have a tip to share with our editorial team? Drop us a line: