MarTech Edge Interview with Ruth Zive, Chief Marketing Officer, LivePerson

Welcome, Ruth! Can you tell us about the journey that eventually led you to join LivePerson?

Throughout my career, I’ve always cared deeply about creating meaningful connections between businesses and their customers; in fact, connecting with customers and seeing them use what I’ve marketed to deliver meaningful outcomes is by far the most gratifying part of my job. So it’s meant a lot to work for companies that sell solutions to bring brands closer to their customers.

Before my current role at LivePerson, I was CMO at Ada, where I helped transform the company from a startup into a prominent player in the industry. Prior to that, I led marketing for Blueprint Software Systems.

So this is my third turn as CMO, and LivePerson felt like a perfect fit for someone passionate about shaping the future of customer engagement.

Could you kindly elaborate on your company’s mission and how AI plays a significant role in accomplishing that mission?

LivePerson is the global leader in enterprise conversations. Thousands of the world’s leading brands—including HSBC, Chipotle, and Virgin Media—use our award-winning Conversational Cloud platform and AI to connect with millions of consumers.

AI plays a huge role in our ability to automate conversations at such a massive scale. In fact, we power nearly a billion conversational interactions every month, and that provides a uniquely rich data set for us to build and improve the AI tools that help our customer brands achieve better business outcomes.

Can you provide some insights into how your company’s Generative AI and Large Language Models contribute to driving improved business outcomes?

LivePerson’s AI is fueled by the world’s largest dataset of enterprise customer interactions. If you’re working with AI based on a good foundational dataset—and you have in place controls to protect the experience—the benefits of using Generative AI and LLMs for customer engagement are huge.

For example, the ability of LLMs to craft natural-sounding responses makes it very easy for a consumer to interact with AI in a way that feels simple and comfortable. Plus, LLMs can retain context, so people don’t have to repeat themselves and can continue a thread of dialog that feels very human. This results in consumer experiences that are way beyond the scripted dialog flows we see in traditional bot-building; we’re talking next-level experiences.

Still, they need to be integrated and developed with safeguards in place and hosted on a safe and secure platform to protect both the consumer experience and your brand’s reputation. A thoughtful, controlled approach to creating and improving these experiences can help ensure they perform correctly and deliver amazing customer experiences.

Congratulations on LivePerson’s recognition at the 2023 SIIA CODiEs for winning top AI-powered customer service awards! How has this achievement impacted your company’s approach, and what strategies do you have in place?

Thank you! It’s always an honor to be recognized by our peers in the AI and customer service industries. Since our inception and entry into the AI space nearly 20 years ago, our goal has always been to deliver best-in-class technology solutions that transform the customer experience.

Ever since we invented webchat for brands decades back, we’ve kept to the cutting edge of providing more efficient ways for companies and customers to connect digitally, and we just keep building on that on purpose. Our recently launched generative AI capabilities are no different, aimed at applying the power of the latest AI developments to customer conversations—all in a way that restores a sense of control and safety.

In the rapidly evolving industry, how do you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and advancements in AI and technology to drive your marketing strategies forward?

I’m fortunate to work with a great team that helps me keep ahead of the curve. LivePerson employees are the best and brightest in AI and CX, with many having made great strides with AI and automation well before the current wave of hype. I also make it a point to keep up with our customers, who represent many of the most innovative and biggest brands in the world. I learn a lot from them about their needs, goals, and what they’re doing to keep at the top of their game.

On top of that, I talk to other CX and AI leaders to stay up-to-date. In fact, LivePerson recently launched a new podcast, Generation AI: Automating Better Business, that’s all about getting the latest news and strategies from innovators in the space. I encourage your readers to check it out and share their feedback!

How do you tailor marketing strategies to effectively target and engage specific verticals while maintaining a consistent brand message?

First, we create our top-level brand messaging and value propositions that apply across the board. Beneath those core concepts, we dig deep into the specifics for particular verticals in an effort to really understand their unique needs and pain points.

Highlighting our work with customers in key verticals is critical—it demonstrates that we “get it” and have successfully partnered with and helped other companies in their field. Our customer success stories create a narrative including stats that show off our work together, as well as quotes from our customers so they can communicate in their own words how our solutions helped meet their particular needs.

In what ways does your company promote diversity and inclusion in AI development and deployment?

As a pioneer in AI, we saw the need early on to fight against bias. In 2018, we founded a nonprofit, EqualAI, to help set standards and certifications for responsible AI. Today, it’s one of the leading voices in the space. They have a ton of resources at equalai.org, from podcasts to checklists to frameworks, on creating responsible AI.

It’s open to everyone—anyone can become EqualAI certified or access its resources. We also make sure we are utilizing their training and best practices in-house, with several of our executives and employees becoming EqualAI certified.

As CMO, how do you plan to position your company to stay ahead in this rapidly changing martech landscape in the next five years?

Staying ahead can be a challenge, especially in a field that moves as fast as ours. Similar to what I said earlier about good data underpinning good AI, it’s also important to use data in our decision-making. This involves keeping a close eye on emerging trends and customer preferences—and how the competition is responding to them. It also means we need to continually use data to optimize our campaigns, allocate resources, and measure how we are driving marketing results.

Another priority is staying customer-centric. We need to be agile and adaptable to quickly respond to their demands and provide tailored solutions that meet their specific needs and pain points. When our customers succeed, we succeed.

And last but certainly not least, it’s a priority of mine to continue to invest in our talent. We have an exceptional team of experts, and it’s crucial to their individual development and our collective success that we keep developing their skills and foster a culture of innovation.