- The main conclusion stemming from an event held by Atento, Living Digital: Navigating altered DNA is that customers expect to see constant improvement for CX.
- Executive leaders from Tigo, Careerxchange, Dia Group, Mas Global Consulting, Five9, DirecTV, Aleatica, Sedi, Auara, and Atento, took part as speakers in the panel sessions.
- Arianna Huffington, guest speaker, discussed how in the wake of the pandemic technology should be a tool but it must be humanized.
NEW YORK, February 16th 2022 – Atento S.A. (NYSE: ATTO, “Atento” or the “Company”), one of the five largest providers worldwide and the leading company in customer relationship services and business process outsourcing (CRM / BPO) in Latin America, hosted its global virtual event Living Digital: Navigating Altered DNA in their quest to explore the latest news in the CX sector and share its own best practices.
The event was hosted by Atento’s CEO, Carlos López-Abadía. During his opening speech, López-Abadía said, “The pandemic has boosted new management capacities and has driven efficiency. We want to help companies innovate, not only regarding technology, but in everything we do. During this event we will learn from different perspectives.”
Following the opening speech, the generational panel, moderated by Atento’s CEO, Carlos López-Abadía, discussed how the consumer-brand relationship is changing across generations. Panelists Antonio Espinosa de los Monteros (CEO & Co-founder of Auara and millennial), Edivan Costa (Entrepreneur & Founder of SEDI, and Gen X) and Paula Sánchez, a student representing Gen Z, shared their perspectives about how the relationship consumers had with brands changed amongst different generations. Carlos concluded the panel underlining the importance of listening to the client’s needs, which can be done thanks to all the technologies and analytics we can benefit from nowadays.
Arianna Huffington’s take on the post pandemic scenario
During the event, special guest Arianna Huffington, one of Time magazine’s most influential people and founder of The Huffington Post and Thrive Global, offered an inspirational keynote speech in which she talked about her personal experience on burnout and the situation the pandemic created in the workplace. Arianna referred to the pandemic as a catalyst of fundamental change, and urged attendees to use the crisis as a way to help people change the way they live.
She also addressed the importance of giving technology the role it deserves in human lives, saying, “Technology is paramount: we need it to be connected all around the world. But it is a tool: you can use it to do amazing things, but you shouldn’t be submerged and lost in it.”
The notion of technology as a benefit, and a challenge, continued during the fireside chat Arianna held with Atento CEO, Carlos Lopéz-Abadía, following her speech. Arianna mentioned that it was important for us to connect with ourselves and, more importantly, to set boundaries to technology, leading to more tech, but humanized tech. This was something Carlos agreed upon this, sharing with Arianna that he liked the term Augmented Humanity that she had mentioned.
Technology, employers and customers in the post pandemic reality
Three additional panels were conducted by Atento executives to explore the role of technology in the sector. The customer panel was moderated by Cathrine Jooste, Chief Commercial Officer and US Nearshore Director at Atento. She held a conversation with Fabian Saavedra (Vice President of Customer Care at DIRECTV Latin America), Mariano Alonso (Customer Experience Director of Tigo), Pedro Fabretti (Customer Excellence Manager at Nubank Inversions) and Vanessa Silveyra de la Garza (Global Director of Sustainability and Customer Service at Aleatica). During their conversation, they talked about how technology, connectivity and data impact the relationship with customers, emphasizing that the human touch continues to be essential. “Customers need resolution, and within that resolution in many cases the human factor is essential,” said Mariano Alonso. All panelists also shared their views on how customers have evolved during the past 5 to 10 years, and agreed that now, more than ever, it is key to deeply understand customers´ needs to personalize products and experiences.
Kiomara Hidalgo, Chief People Officer Global at Atento, led the employer panel, where HR experts commented on “The Great Resignation” and the challenges companies face regarding the attraction and retention of talent. All panelists agreed that today’s market is undergoing unprecedented changes, which makes harder to retain talent. To fully understand how key companies are facing these issues and their strategies, Kiomara talked to Mary Mauck (Sr. HR Business Partner at Five9), Mónica Hernández (CEO at Mas Global Consulting) and Nick Alonso Jr. (President and CEO of Careerxchange). They underlined the importance of flexibility in the workplace in order to promote real equality and equity within companies and stressed the importance of counting on a solid ESG strategy.
Finally, during the technology panel, Carlos Valero Alcántara, CIO of Grupo Día and Nick Delis, Senior Vice President Eastern USA and International Sales at Five9 gathered together with Eduardo Aguirre, CIO at Atento. They discussed the strategies their companies are following surrounding the technology challenges that arose during the pandemic. “80% of consumers will continue to purchase from brands that they discovered during the pandemic,” revealed Mr. Delis, which poses a big challenge for all companies in terms of quality and speed of delivery because according to Mr. Delis, the new reality comes by the hand of being able to deliver quicker. The panelists also explained how their companies were facing the challenge of managing teleworkers while guaranteeing productivity, and went through some of the key trends they expect to see in the coming years.
The future of CX
During the event, when asked about the future of CX, Carlos reinforced the importance of listening to customers to understand their needs in order to be able to meet or exceed their expectations, as well as the importance of constant improvement. He commented that, “it is key, because customers want us to deliver better,more competitive customer service, and that is not going to change. The demands are going to continue to increase”.
About Atento
Atento is one of the five largest global providers for client relationship management and business process outsourcing services nearshoring for companies that carry out their activities in the United States. Since 1999, the company has developed its business model in 14 countries with a workforce of 150,000 employees. Atento has over 400 clients for which it provides a wide range of CRM/BPO services through multiple channels. Its clients are leading multinational companies in the technology, digital, telecommunications, finance, health, consumer and public administration sectors, amongst others. Atento trades under ATTO on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2019 Atento was recognized by Great Place to Work® as one of the 25 World’s Best Multinational Workplaces and as one of the Best Places to Work in Latin America. For more information www.atento.com
Media inquiries
