I have been following space for the past few decades (SaaS was not a thing then) after having been on the other side of the user of customer experience tools. Sometimes in a start-up you realize the customer experience is the customers calling the CEO's cell phone or an account manager not answering their phone becuase they were on vacation and no forwarding queue. I learnt setting up an IVR, nudged and cajoled a team member to record a friendly voice. As i was experiencing all this the companies menioned in this article were beginning to disrupt the space. It is now an exciting time to be in the customer experience business as a user.

Customer experience executives everywhere are celebrating the cooperation with CIOs to reduce stress, improve efficiency and—most importantly—eliminate the dreaded "customer on hold." Today's leaders are prioritizing capacity creation: reducing time to resolve tickets and scaling agents instantly during spikes. Outcome-based automation is resulting in lower costs per call and higher opportunity for upsells.

Market Landscape: The 2026 Power Players

Hyperscaler Dominance: Google Cloud CCaaS

Google Cloud has matured into a dominant Ecosystem-First player in 2026. Under CEO Thomas Kurian, the Contact Center AI (CCAI) platform now leverages Vertex AI and Gemini 1.5 to provide "native intelligence." By enabling "zero-copy" data access for BigQuery, Google allows AI agents to pull real-time business context without traditional migration latency. This shifts the contact center from a cost center to a proactive commerce engine focused on end-to-end task resolution rather than simple deflection.

The Specialist Disruption: Nextiva, UJET, and Wildix

While the giants focus on technical scale, specialists are winning on user experience. Nextiva has bridged the gap for the mid-market, focusing on a unified customer data view that simplifies the account manager's daily workflow. UJET continues to disrupt with its mobile-first architecture, treating the smartphone app as the primary interaction point. Meanwhile, Wildix is proving that communication is a revenue tool, with a browser-first approach that integrates directly into the sales funnel.

Cisco Webex: The Infrastructure Powerhouse

In its Q2 2026 earnings (reported Feb 11, 2026), Cisco reported record revenue of $15.3 billion. Collaboration revenue rose 6% YoY to $1.05 billion. With the acquisition of EzDubs for real-time translation and $2.1 billion in AI infrastructure orders this quarter, Cisco is the engine room for the next phase of agentic AI deployments.

Sierra: The Agentic Powerhouse

Sierra, co-founded by Bret Taylor, represents the shift to Agentic AI. Reaching $100M in ARR by November 2025, Sierra’s "Agent OS" allows enterprises to build autonomous agents that process returns and change flights without human intervention. Their $10 billion valuation underscores the massive demand for "digital labor" that actually completes tasks rather than just answering questions.

Verint: The Thoma Bravo Shift

In late 2025, Thoma Bravo completed the take-private acquisition of Verint, merging it with Calabrio. This combined "CX Automation" powerhouse focuses on outcome-based bots that achieved containment rates in the mid-70s percent range at their 2025 analyst day. Under Interim CEO Mike Lipps, Verint is pivoting toward "AI Business Outcomes" that layer on top of any existing telephony infrastructure.

NICE: The Enterprise Depth Leader

NICE reported full-year 2025 revenue of $2.945B (rounding to $2.95B). CEO Scott Russell confirmed that every new seven-figure CX deal now includes AI/Cognigy components. Their AI ARR has surged 66% YoY to $328M, fueling a new $600 million share buyback program and establishing NICE as the technical benchmark for application-first CCaaS.

Five9 and RingCentral: The Application Pivot

Five9 reported record full-year 2025 revenue of $1.15 billion. Under Amit Mathradas, the company has completed a $50M share repurchase to signal confidence in its "Intelligent Virtual Agents" (IVAs). Simultaneously, RingCentral approved its first quarterly dividend ($0.075) as new products reached a $100M ARR exit rate, signaling a shift from high-growth startup to a mature, value-focused player.

8x8 and Twilio: Infrastructure and Code

8x8, under Samuel Wilson, reported that usage-based AI offerings surged 60%, enabling a 41% reduction in total debt. Meanwhile, Twilio achieved GAAP operating profitability in 2025 with $5.07B in revenue, maintaining its $2B repurchase program as its "Voice AI" grows at 60% YoY.

Zoho and Mitel: The Ecosystem and the Hybrid

Under CEO Mani Vembu, Zoho is making the contact center an invisible part of the business suite, using Zia AI to resolve tickets using full business context. Mitel, led by Mike Robinson, remains the champion of the hybrid environment, ensuring that enterprises with legacy on-premise infrastructure can still leverage cloud-native AI capabilities without a "rip and replace" mandate.