AI-Powered CX & Partnerships: Jake Butterbaugh on Five9's Vision

1. Your career spans industry giants like Accenture, Cisco, and now Five9. What drew you to the world of AI-powered CX, and how has your journey shaped your vision for the future?

I have had the opportunity to work with very talented people at some very influential companies. A common theme in my roles has been the power of partnerships, and Five9 really takes this to heart. The importance Five9 puts on doing the right thing and putting people first -- employees, customers, and partners -- was a big draw for me, along with the chance to work in an industry that so directly aFects everyday consumers.

I was also interested in working with a company that prioritized learning and nurtured innovation. AI is a great example. Five9 isn't just getting started there – we've been doing AI since 2018, and I wanted to be a part of bringing AI-elevated oFerings to the customer experience. While the industry has built a legacy of successful contact center solutions, the market is asking for modern capabilities to improve and deliver great customer experiences. Companies today need tighter integrated workflows and comprehensive capabilities that bring together the best of multiple platforms to future-proof their technology investments.

This leads me to the development of our global partner program. We believe that working with partners empowers our customers to do so much more – and do it all faster, better, and more eFectively. It's an exciting time to work with Five9!

2. You've led global partner strategies at top organizations. What's the secret to building partnerships that aren't just transactional but truly transformative—like Five9's with Google Cloud?

It always comes back to having a mutual and sincere desire to see customers succeed. It's that simple. When customer success is top of mind, you design solutions that address real customer needs, create processes focused on ease of doing business, and choose partners that share your values and drive for innovation and excellence. That's what guides us when we look for partnerships and, ultimately, what makes our partnership with Google so successful. 

3. Five9's launch on Google Cloud Marketplace simplifies access to AI-powered CX solutions. What makes this partnership a game-changer for enterprises worldwide?

The CX market is evolving at an incredibly rapid pace, with a big focus on AI. Ultimately, we strive to help our customers find success by providing hyper-personalized experiences that drive growth. We also recognize that customer organizations, including ourselves, around the world are increasingly engaging with Google Cloud & leveraging Google Cloud solutions to accelerate their growth. Five9's global availability on Google Cloud Marketplace means we are easy to find, purchase, and deploy for an even broader set of customers. This becomes a game changer for businesses looking to diFerentiate how they can serve their customers, potentially burn down some Google Cloud spend, and future-proof their technology stack for long-term scalability and innovation with a company that also is aligned to Google Cloud.

4. Five9 AI Agents are now globally accessible. How does this expansion empower businesses to scale AI-driven customer engagement effortlessly?

We launched AI Agents in November 2024, and it empowers businesses to create chat and voice bots that combine the conversational abilities of a human with the speed and extensive knowledge of AI -- and our recent announcement unveiled a new version of Five9 AI Agents specifically for Google Cloud. This stand-alone solution lets customers take advantage of the ease of Google Cloud Marketplace and utilize Google Cloud technology, coupled with Five9 AI-elevated CX, to create exceptional customer experiences. Designed to deliver the power of AI self-service for an elevated customer experience, we see the combination of the Five9 Intelligent CX Platform and the scalability and security of Google Cloud as a recipe for CX success.

5. The CX landscape is shifting rapidly. What's one customer expectation trend that businesses must adapt to in 2025 and beyond?

Without a doubt, AI is the biggest trend affecting all companies today, and CX is no exception. Its potential is endless, giving us the ability to help customers move confidently to a new era of CX. We believe in empowering everyone whose role can be supercharged by it. We harness AI to unlock organizational insights, making them accessible, actionable, and transformative.

In this AI-driven era, we believe that contact center agents will operate more like brand ambassadors. Armed with relevant and contextual business information, they will remain the backbone of customer relationships, fostering loyalty and trust. In terms of saying it as "one customer expectation": customers want real AI that delivers real outcomes, not just discussions.

6. AI is often measured by ROI and operational impact, but can you share a human-centric success story that highlights the real-world impact of Five9's AI solutions?

An AI-driven CX success story I love is US Radiology Specialists, one of the country's premier providers of diagnostic imaging services. But they aren't just a leader in diagnostic imaging - they're transforming patient care with tech.

With over 5,000 team members and more than 175 outpatient imaging centers across 13 states, their team conducts more than 7 million studies annually. They came to a place where they were experiencing significant wait times, misrouting calls, experiencing rising costs in their 10 contact centers, along with using outdated technology and ineFicient manual processes.

We were honored to partner with them, and they are now automating 75% of outbound calls and cutting call times by 4.5 minutes. With agents freed up for complex cases, conversion rates jumped by 24%, adding $4M in revenue.

But aside from great stats, the speed of getting through to a live person and getting the right treatment can make a real diFerence and save lives.

At Five9's recent annual sales & services kickoF, US Radiology shared a story about one of their physicians' family members experiencing severe head pain. They were worried about a hemorrhage. They called in, were routed to an agent, and they were able to schedule and see the patient within an hour to get a scan. Turns out it was indeed a brain hemorrhage – and they were able to bring the patient in for surgery, which ultimately saved that person's life. That's the kind of impact we are helping to enable – and you can't help but be inspired by that.

7. With Five9's centralized procurement through Google Cloud, how does this help companies stay agile, future-ready, and innovation-driven?

There are some very practical benefits to procurement of Five9 via Google Cloud Marketplace, including simplified billing and management and the ability to use existing Google Cloud budget and retire cloud-committed spend. The Google Cloud Marketplace model we deployed also makes Five9 an accessible solution for organizations of all sizes. At the end of the day, we want to be easy to access and easy to do business with to help drive innovation, collaboration, and sustainable value for our customers as the CX landscape continues to develop.

8. If you had to predict the next major breakthrough in AI-powered CX, what would it be—and how is Five9 positioned to lead that transformation?

We believe that we'll see the evolution from AI as primarily a chatbot or automation tool—to becoming a real-time assistant for human agents. We need to rethink AI—not as just a technology tool, but as a co-worker. Imagine if AI could sense tone, emotion, and frustration levels, allowing for human-like interactions. Analyzing voice and even facial expressions, what if AI could detect when a customer needs human escalation or when reassurance and tailored messaging could solve their concerns?

AI innovation is moving fast, and we believe that it can make the customer experience better. Five9 is taking that seriously by looking at the entire customer journey. We are one of the leaders redefining CX within and beyond the contact center and approach it with both practicality and 'sky-is-the-limit' ambition, remaining business-oriented in our innovations. As we look to the future, you will continue to see us invest heavily in our AI, our platform, and our people for success.