MarTech Interview with Rusty Jensen, Chief Revenue Officer, ConnexAI 

How agentic AI is reshaping enterprise workflows, accountability, and customer engagement through digital workers at scale.

Rusty, you’ve spent over 15 years leading growth in AI and SaaS across some of the most transformative technology firms. What drew you to ConnexAI, and how does this role align with your vision for where enterprise AI is headed? 

I have always been passionate about artificial intelligence and how it can be applied within customer experience. After more than 15 years of witnessing the development and adoption of cloud contact center and customer communications technology, I believe AI truly has the potential to fundamentally transform how organizations operate. 

In previous companies throughout my career, I worked to introduce AI into business processes and develop AI capabilities to bring to market. Many of these initiatives did not reach their full potential because the technology wasn’t quite ready yet. However, those experiences have provided me with a comprehensive understanding of what it actually takes to drive real success with AI adoption. At its core, it requires technology capable of performing human-level tasks, and beyond that, effective leadership, clear vision, and willingness to adapt. 

When I discovered ConnexAI, I was working for a large communications company and reviewing several advanced AI systems for potential partnerships. ConnexAI stood out instantly. The technology was years ahead of anything else we had seen, going far beyond automation and data analysis to provide a foundation for reimagining business operations from the ground up. 

What drew me most to ConnexAI was how closely our founder’s mission, vision, and values aligned with my personal desire to deliver meaningful, lasting impact. At this point in my career, I wanted to work for a company with the right vision, technology and people that are capable of changing how enterprises function at their core. 

Since joining as the Chief Revenue Officer, my role has allowed me to help organizations not only adopt AI but also use it to create sustainable competitive advantage and build workplaces where people can do their best work.

Agentic AI has moved from concept to enterprise adoption at an unprecedented pace. What factors are driving this acceleration beyond what industry analysts anticipated? 

Business leaders today recognize how transformative AI can be. Executives worldwide are asking: How are we using AI? How are we integrating it into our operations? They understand AI represents one of the greatest opportunities for growth and innovation, and they’re moving quickly to capitalize on it. 

Two factors are driving this acceleration. The first is opportunity. 

Companies see AI’s potential to gain a lasting competitive edge, offering enormous possibilities for revenue growth and cost reduction. In our deployments there are scenarios where AI manages up to 80 percent of customer communications, significantly reducing labor costs while increasing speed and accuracy. When an organization operates at a fraction of competitors’ costs, it can reinvest into revenue-producing activities like marketing, sales, and customer engagement. AI also drives new revenue by automating appointment setting, speed to lead, nurture and follow up, data analysis, prospect identification, and personalization of interactions on a scale that humans alone cannot achieve. 

The second factor is the very real risk of falling behind. If a competitor successfully implements AI and gains major efficiency advantages, the gap becomes extremely difficult to close. Being a year or two late can leave a company struggling to keep up. That awareness has created a strong sense of urgency across industries. 

AI adoption speed isn’t just about excitement for new technology. It’s about strategy and survival. Leaders understand both the tremendous opportunity and the risk of inaction. Those who take decisive steps today position their organizations to lead in this new era of intelligent business. 

Many organizations are shifting from using AI as a supportive tool to embedding it as an operational “coworker.” How does that transition reshape the dynamics of workplace productivity and accountability? 

ConnexAI is one of the few providers that has moved beyond the experimental phase of AI, successfully deploying digital workers as part of an integrated workforce. We are seeing this transformation happen in real time, giving us a unique perspective on how AI is reshaping organizations and fundamentally changing how people work. 

AI takes on the repetitive and monotonous tasks that drain energy from human employees. In customer communications, it excels at managing routine interactions across all channels. For instance, calls, chats, and emails that follow predictable conversational patterns. By automating these predictable tasks, AI frees up significant capacity within organizations .

Human employees use AI “coworkers” to enhance their performance, automating routine processes, summarizing conversations, taking on follow-up actions, and enabling human teams to operate more efficiently. 

This shift allows people to focus on what truly matters. Embedding AI as an operational coworker isn’t only about automation. It’s about creating a more effective and sustainable workplace where technology manages repetitive tasks and people are empowered to focus on meaningful, high-value work. Productivity increases, customer experiences improve, and employees find greater overall satisfaction in their work. This balance drives the greatest improvements I have ever seen in business from both a performance and a cultural standpoint. 

From your conversations with business leaders, what are the biggest sources of resistance when teams begin integrating AI into their daily workflows? 

There’s often a real gap between the executive vision for AI adoption and the day-to-day reality faced by the employees who have to make it happen. Many leaders see how AI can transform performance, but for the teams responsible for implementing it, the change can feel daunting and risky. 

We work in a high-accountability culture, and introducing a new technology that fundamentally changes how work gets done brings real pressure. When AI takes on full processes once handled by humans, employees must adapt quickly and collaborate with these new systems. That shift can create hesitation. Teams will often start with smaller, safer deployments that feel manageable, even if those projects don’t fully capture the vision held forth by executives. 

Addressing that resistance starts with strong, supportive leadership. Executives need to create an environment where it’s safe for teams to experiment and learn. That means maintaining accountability while also making it clear that AI adoption involves trial, adjustment, and iteration. Leaders who set that tone create conditions where innovation thrives. 

Practically speaking, success comes from starting small. Rather than transforming an entire organization overnight, focus on high-impact use cases that deliver measurable ROI quickly, like customer intake, repetitive support interactions, or outbound engagement. Each successful deployment builds confidence and momentum, helping teams grow comfortable as AI becomes a deeper part of operations. 

Overcoming resistance requires balancing vision with practicality. When leadership provides clear direction and a safe space to innovate, teams gain confidence to move forward. That’s where real transformation begins. 

Scaling AI beyond pilot programs often exposes deeper organizational and data challenges. What patterns are you observing in how companies overcome those growing pains?

Many organizations remain in the experimental stage of AI adoption, either building internal solutions or integrating technologies from different vendors to solve specific business problems. As these efforts move deeper into an organization, companies often uncover structural challenges that make scaling difficult. 

Most business processes were designed for humans to navigate from start to finish. For AI to operate effectively within those processes, it needs two things: access and guidance. 

Access means having the same permissions, data, systems, and communication tools that a human would use. Guidance means being equipped with the rules, procedures, and operational knowledge to complete the work correctly. Without both, AI cannot perform the job as intended no matter how “smart” it is. 

This is where many companies encounter barriers. Their systems are siloed, their data isn’t easily accessible, and their AI tools often lack the deep integration or communication capabilities needed to perform end-to-end tasks. Many platforms handle individual use cases but struggle to execute complete workflows that require cross-system access, human-like communication, and compliance. As a result, many early initiatives stall before reaching scale because the technology cannot keep up with the organization’s vision. 

Companies that succeed treat this as a learning process. They recognize that implementing AI isn’t as simple as plugging in a tool or subscribing to a platform. It takes iteration, trial, and error. They experiment, fail, learn, and try again, each time getting closer to a model that works. Over time, they realize that replicating human-level performance requires AI partners capable of operating across the full technology stack, maintaining compliance and aligning closely with executive goals. 

Organizations that embrace that process and learn through experience are the ones that ultimately move beyond pilot programs and achieve true enterprise-wide transformation. 

ConnexAI’s recognition for cross-lingual NLP highlights the platform’s global relevance. How is multilingual AI transforming the customer experience landscape, particularly for service-driven enterprises? 

Language has always been one of the biggest barriers between organizations and their customers. AI is removing that barrier by allowing companies and clients to communicate more effectively in the languages and formats that feel most natural to them. This improves comfort and clarity while lowering the cost and complexity of expanding into new markets. 

At ConnexAI, our platform supports more than 80 languages, giving organizations a meaningful advantage. Instead of hiring large multilingual teams, businesses can deploy AI agents that communicate fluently across regions and languages. This flexibility helps companies enter new markets faster, reduce operational barriers, and deliver consistent, high-quality customer experiences everywhere.

For customers, this shift is transformative. When people communicate in their preferred language, they feel understood and valued. AI interprets intent accurately, processes requests, and executes tasks that solve problems quickly. This level of interaction builds trust and creates a more natural, human connection between customers and brands. 

As global markets grow increasingly diverse, multilingual AI enables organizations to connect with customers across cultures in ways that weren’t possible before. It helps teams understand their clients better, provide more personalized service, and strengthen relationships. Ultimately, it’s not just about translation or automation. It’s about connection. AI is helping break down linguistic and cultural barriers so businesses can grow globally while serving every customer locally with authenticity and care. 

As AI becomes embedded in more business functions, leadership decisions become critical. What qualities distinguish leaders who successfully guide their teams through AI transformation? 

The most important quality leaders need when guiding AI transformation is commitment. They must be fully committed to the process and understand both the potential and the disruption that comes with it. True transformation doesn’t happen through small adjustments or experiments on the edges. It requires a clear vision of what the organization will look like on the other side and the patience, endurance, and understanding needed to lead people through the change. 

Leaders must help teams see where the company is headed and what the transformation journey will involve. It will include trial and error, learning, and occasional failure. Leaders must create a safe environment where people feel supported throughout that process. Just as importantly, they need to communicate how this transformation benefits individuals within the organization. Many employees worry that AI could replace or diminish their roles. Leaders must help them see how their work will evolve, why their skills remain valuable, and how they fit into the future of the company. 

Strong leadership during AI transformation requires empathy and awareness. Leading through change can feel isolating because people often hesitate to share their true concerns. The best leaders don’t wait for that feedback to come to them; they go out and seek it. They spend time talking with teams, department heads, and individual contributors to understand how people really feel about the changes taking place. 

By maintaining direct connection and open communication, leaders identify challenges early, address resistance before it grows, and ensure people feel heard. The leaders who succeed in AI transformation combine clear vision and strategic focus with patience, empathy, and the ability to inspire trust. 

The conversation around AI often centers on efficiency, but there’s a cultural component too. How are enterprises balancing automation gains with the human side of innovation and collaboration?

AI is driving a major shift in how work gets done. It’s taking on a large share of repetitive and time-sensitive tasks. Because ConnexAI works closely with enterprises deploying AI at scale, we’re seeing this transformation firsthand. The change goes beyond efficiency and is reshaping workplace culture in a positive way. 

Organizations that approach AI strategically hold onto their best people and invest in them. Rather than using automation solely to cut costs, they use it to create space for innovation. With AI managing much of the routine workload, employees gain the time and mental focus to improve operations, enhance customer experiences, and drive growth. 

Many teams find that AI allows them to work more thoughtfully. Service levels and performance targets are often met automatically, giving people room to think more strategically and invest in what truly matters: building stronger customer relationships, refining sales processes, and improving collaboration. 

Most importantly, companies aren’t simply replacing people with machines. They’re reinvesting the gains from automation into growth, training, and innovation. This shift helps organizations move from a culture of constant pressure to one of creativity and progress. 

AI is changing how people work together. It’s giving teams the freedom to be more strategic, connected, and innovative, creating stronger organizations and better outcomes for everyone involved. 

Looking at the next 18 months, how do you expect agentic AI to impact workforce roles, skill requirements, and even hiring strategies? 

As AI becomes more embedded in the workplace, humans need to differentiate themselves and continuously elevate their skills. Since AI handles many of the monotonous tasks that slow people down, it frees humans to focus on higher-value efforts. The most valuable employees will be those who lean into what humans do best: creativity, emotional intelligence, and relationship building, while learning to collaborate effectively with AI systems. 

From a hiring perspective, this shift means organizations are increasingly looking for people who embrace change, are curious about technology, and view AI as a collaborative partner rather than a threat. The next generation of professionals will need both technical fluency and strong interpersonal skills to thrive in environments where human insight and machine intelligence work hand in hand. 

In the next 18 months, I expect companies to focus on hiring adaptable, growth-minded individuals who can integrate AI into their workflows to enhance productivity and innovation. The workforce of the future isn’t just human or AI. It’s the two working together, complementing each other’s strengths.

ConnexAI is clearly positioned at the intersection of language, intelligence, and enterprise efficiency. What’s next on your innovation roadmap, and how do you see your technology shaping the next wave of AI adoption? 

As we continue developing our digital workforce, our focus is on expanding access and deepening capability. We want AI to interact seamlessly with organizational systems and processes while becoming more dynamic in how it solves problems. Instead of simply following predefined workflows, AI agents should be able to think beyond them, collaborate with human teams, and adapt to the challenges they’re given. 

At ConnexAI, our goal is to evolve digital labor so it functions like a true member of the workforce. That means enabling AI to take on assignments, contribute to projects, and communicate with the same fluency and contextual awareness that people do. We’re ensuring our technology strengthens collaboration between humans and AI agents, helping organizations to view their AI systems not merely as a collection of automation tools, but as active contributors to the business. 

Looking ahead, we’re empowering AI agents to take on more complex, multi-step processes that span multiple departments and functions. This helps organizations unlock greater efficiency while giving human teams the time and freedom to focus on creativity, strategy, and innovation. Our vision for the future of AI adoption is one where people and digital workers operate side by side, each amplifying the other’s strengths to drive growth and transformation at scale. 

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A quote or advice from the author:

No matter what challenges arise, humans are endlessly adaptable. With self-belief, innovation, and consistent effort, we can accomplish anything.