Happy Friday! ‘This week in CX’ brings you the latest roundup of industry news.
This week, we’ve explored how agentic AI like Freshworks’ Freddy is transforming customer service, the rise of AI-written messages and RCS communication, and how companies like Starbucks are leveraging AI assistants to enhance efficiency and customer experience.
We’re also discussing new updates from Bloomberg, NiCE, and more.
Key news
- Nintendo stock soared to a record high Wednesday, powered by sales of its newest gaming console, the Switch 2. Shares in the Japanese company have jumped 46% this year, per CNBC, adding roughly $39 billion to the stock’s value. With the gaming sector less exposed to the trade wars roiling worldwide markets, investors view Nintendo as a haven from volatility, says Bloomberg. That’s because, with 3.5 million units sold in its first four days, the Switch 2 has “vastly outstripped sales” of its predecessor and become a certified hit.
- Discarded clothes from UK and European fast-fashion brands have been found in or around Ghanaian conservation areas, according to Unearthed and Greenpeace Africa. Garments from brands including H&M, Primark, Zara, M&S and Primark were found in areas known to be home to vital wildlife and vegetation. Ghana receives more discarded clothing than any other country, with representatives lobbying the EU and UK to hold retailers legally accountable for their products’ end-of-life impact. In the UK, more than two-thirds of clothing sent to be reused and recycled is exported, often ending up in overflowing dump sites.
- Your next interview with human resources might not involve a human at all. Per Bloomberg, artificial intelligence (AI) can conduct real-time screener calls with a synthetic voice that holds two-way conversations and provides feedback to hiring managers. Proponents highlight the technology’s ability to increase efficiency for employers and flexibility for job seekers, though the rollout hasn’t been without glitches, like repeated words or misinterpreted responses. Startups such as Apriora, HeyMilo AI and Ribbon claim fast growth and suggest AI is already being used beyond the screening phase.
CXM news stories
Here’s the full news stories that CXM have reported on in the past week. Learn all about the latest news about Rich Communication Services, AI in customer service, and the newly introduced AI assistants in Starbucks.
NiCE and AWS Deliver Smart AI Agents at Scale
NiCE has expanded its partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), aiming to transform the future of intelligent, AI-driven customer service. The collaboration aims to streamline how organisations build, deploy, and scale AI-powered solutions that drive real business value across every aspect of customer operations.
“NiCE brings decades of deep customer service expertise, rich data and a proven AI-based foundation. AWS brings enhanced scale, infrastructure and generative AI innovation,” said Barry Cooper, President, CX Division, NiCE. “Together, we’re delivering enterprise-wide automation, turning vision into action across the front, middle and back office. Mpower Agents are just one example: AI-powered agents that deploy instantly, adapt in real time and operate with precision at scale.”
Together, NiCE and AWS are bringing transformative enterprise-grade automation to life by combining the powerful features of NiCE’s CXone Mpower platform with AWS services such as Amazon Bedrock, Amazon Q, Amazon SageMaker, and the Amazon Nova family of large language models (LLMs).
Streamlining AI Agent Creation
One major advancement lies in how the CXone Mpower platform simplifies the creation of AI agents. By integrating with Amazon Q, CXone Mpower Agents can now instantly generate highly intelligent virtual agents, without the need for complex prompts or code. In addition, these agents are contextually aware, acting on real-time information such as current policies, product updates, and historical customer data to ensure accurate, compliant service.
Another powerful innovation is CXone Mpower Orchestrator, which takes automation beyond just customer-facing interactions. This tool enables enterprises to automate workflows seamlessly across departments—from sales and support to billing and fulfillment—effectively breaking down operational silos. Thanks to integration with Amazon Q Business, Mpower Orchestrator can now connect to an even broader ecosystem of applications and data sources, enabling dynamic, personalised customer journeys.
AI-Driven Assistance for Employees
NiCE and AWS also empower employees with AI-driven assistance through CXone Mpower Copilot. This real-time support system provides contextual guidance and intelligent task automation for agents, supervisors, and decision-makers alike. Moreover, by using AWS’s global cloud infrastructure, Copilot can be deployed anywhere in the world with low latency and high availability, making it easier for enterprises to support global teams, boost productivity, and improve service quality at scale.