{"id":641770,"date":"2026-09-02T17:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T00:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genesys.com\/blog\/post\/genesys-ceo-tony-bates-introduces-the-operating-model-for-winning-in-the-agentic-era"},"modified":"2026-09-18T02:59:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T09:59:42","slug":"genesys-ceo-tony-bates-introduces-the-operating-model-for-winning-in-the-agentic-era","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.genesys.com\/en-sg\/blog\/post\/genesys-ceo-tony-bates-introduces-the-operating-model-for-winning-in-the-agentic-era","title":{"rendered":"Genesys CEO Tony Bates introduces the operating model for winning in the agentic era"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]LAS VEGAS<\/span><\/b> \u2013 \u201cMost companies don\u2019t have an AI problem. They have an operating model problem.\u201d That\u2019s the message Genesys Chairman and CEO Tony Bates delivered today to a packed audience at Xperience, the company\u2019s annual customer conference. Then he laid out the roadmap to fix it.<\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to experience, your biggest competition is no longer in your industry alone. It\u2019s every brand, everywhere, creating better experiences. The AI tools your customers use every day \u2014 from their desktop applications to the phones in their pockets \u2014 are capable, personal and indispensable. Those same customers have come to expect that their needs<\/span> are met without any friction or stress. And that’s the kind of experience they now expect from your brand.<\/span><\/p>\n

Closing that experience gap, Bates argued, is a business imperative, one that will decide who wins in the agentic era and who scrambles to catch up. <\/span>This, Bates said, is the most consequential shift in customer experiences in years, and it demands better experiences, better economics and an operating model built to keep pace.<\/span><\/p>\n

Experience has become a competitive battleground \u2014 and a priority in every boardroom, Bates said, because the competitive bar keeps rising. The State of Customer Experience report<\/a> by Genesys found<\/span> that 92% of consumers surveyed expect every company to match the best experience they’ve ever had, and 85% say poor service has made them spend less or walk away.<\/span> [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]

\u201cCustomers are asking a very reasonable question: if my personal AI can understand me so well, why can\u2019t companies?\u201d <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tony Bates<\/span><\/i>
\nChairman and CEO, Genesys<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”639503″ css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

Closing the gap with agentic orchestration<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Businesses already have the context to close the gap (purchasing history, service requests, shopping behaviour), but the data is often scattered across systems that don\u2019t talk to each other. Bates called that fragmentation a competitive liability. The real question is how to align and activate that context to create the right experience in the right moment, at scale. That\u2019s what agentic orchestration does.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bates illustrated the idea with a musical demonstration, an orchestra full of musicians whose talent alone doesn\u2019t create a great performance \u2014 it <\/span> takes a conductor coordinating everything in real time. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now imagine that every listener gets their own version tuned to what they want to hear \u2014 the same notes rebalanced in real time. Every listener becomes an audience of one. That\u2019s real-time orchestration based on contextual intelligence.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Your business already has the musicians \u2014 people, AI agents, workflows, data and connected systems. It needs a conductor. Agentic orchestration perceives what\u2019s happening, reasons through the best steps and brings everything together to deliver the right outcome for the customer and business in real time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That leap in capability is a significant milestone. Bates noted that two years after introducing the Levels of Experience Orchestration maturity model, Genesys Cloud has reached Level 4 \u2014 full agentic orchestration where AI can perceive, reason, plan, act and optimise continuously. But it\u2019s not the ultimate goal. \u201cLevel 4 is not the destination,\u201d Bates said. \u201cIt\u2019s just the starting point.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The<\/span> operating model<\/span> for the agentic era<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

Most enterprises already have plenty of AI \u2014 virtual agents, copilots and knowledge tools bolted onto a process still designed for humans to execute. Bates was direct: more standalone AI won’t solve the problem. It creates more silos and friction. The fix isn’t more AI. It’s a different operating model. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Until now, the model has been human-centric, even when it\u2019s AI-assisted. People interact with customers, determine their needs and execute the steps, with AI only improving efficiency.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In an agentic operating model, AI determines intent, decides what steps to take and completes many tasks autonomously, sometimes handling an entire interaction. Humans shift toward setting goals, defining boundaries, providing judgment and overseeing the system. They\u2019re still in charge. But AI is an active partner in getting to the outcome. We are in the era of the human + AI workforce.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]

\u201cI don\u2019t believe most organisations have an AI problem. I think they have an operating model problem. You can\u2019t unlock the full potential of agentic AI by bolting it onto an enterprise that was designed for human-only execution.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tony Bates<\/span><\/i>
\nChairman and CEO, Genesys<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

The five elements of <\/span>an<\/span> agentic operating model<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

This is where the real transformation happens \u2014 and where the businesses that will lead the next decade pull away from the pack. Bates outlined five fundamental elements that are redefined in the shift to an agentic operating model, stressing that they\u2019re interconnected, each one enhancing the others to evolve how organisations operate.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Connected experiences<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Today, most customer interactions are disconnected. The customer engages; the company responds; the interaction ends. In an agentic operating model, experiences reflect a holistic customer journey, connected across every touchpoint, carrying context, intent and memory forward, so every interaction makes the next one smarter. \u201cThe payoff,\u201d Bates says, \u201cisn\u2019t just better service. It\u2019s about creating stronger customer relationships, greater loyalty and more growth for your business.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Human + agentic AI workforce<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Today, most organisations see humans as the workforce and AI as a tool. That shows up in how they manage the two \u2014 with separate systems and processes. As AI takes on more responsibility, that separation stops making sense. In an agentic operating model, humans and AI together form a hybrid workforce, with major implications for how work is routed, forecasted and managed, as well as how success is measured.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Outcome economics<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Traditionally, contact centres manage performance with metrics like average handle time (AHT) and first-contact resolution (FCR). They\u2019re good indicators of efficiency. But they don\u2019t measure what matters most \u2014 the economics of the outcomes. In an agentic operating model, cost and revenue per outcome replace traditional efficiency metrics as the main measure of success, continuously optimising instead of just tracking them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Governed autonomy<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Getting AI to take action isn\u2019t the hard part. It\u2019s giving AI the freedom to act while knowing it will stay within the boundaries you define. That\u2019s why governance can\u2019t be an afterthought. Permissions, policies and guardrails must be built into the orchestration platform from the beginning. Every action the AI takes must be observable and auditable. And, when necessary, it must escalate to a human instead of failing silently. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]

\u201c<\/span><\/i>Governance is not the brake on autonomy. It is the license to scale it.<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Tony Bates
\n<\/span><\/i>Chairman and CEO, Genesys<\/span><\/i> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

Continuous transformation<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

We tend to think of transformation as a project with a beginning and an end. But when customer expectations, workforce needs and AI capabilities are constantly evolving, transformation can\u2019t stop. In an agentic operating model, it becomes an adaptive, continuous process. Both the AI and the organisation keep learning, adapting and improving while the business runs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

The platform built for agentic orchestration<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

An agentic operating model, Bates said, requires a platform built for it from the ground up, not a collection of point solutions. <\/span>Genesys Cloud is that platform<\/span> \u2013 an agentic orchestration platform for CX, built as a system of outcomes on contextual intelligence, with four components working together:<\/span><\/p>\n