Overview

November 30

With an evolving competitive landscape and heightened customer expectations, utility companies must find innovative ways to engage customers. Advances in technology have fueled a new era of digital customer service that leverages extensible cloud-based frameworks. Operating in the cloud can boost customer experience and free up valuable resources for high-level tasks.

Now is the time for service providers to consider a cloud-based digital transformation and how they can develop a plan for success.

To learn more, download the on-demand webinar. This panel discussion hosted by Governing, Amazon Web Services and USAN explores:

The state of customer experience in the utility industry
Examples of real-world applications in a cloud environment
Practical advice from industry experts

Speakers

Jeff Friedman

Business Development Manager, State and Local Government - Public Utilities, AWS

Jeff Friedman leads state and local government utilities (“Munis”) and municipal solid waste activity for Amazon Web Services. In this role, he advances digital transformation with AWS-powered solution providers across the US. Prior to AWS, Jeff served in a variety of capacities in tech (Microsoft, Philadelphia’s Office of Innovation & Technology) and consulting (Public Financial Management, Deloitte), always focused on improving organizational performance driving better quality-of-life and services for constituents/customers. Notably, Jeff worked for Mayor Michael Nutter, where he launched Philadelphia’s 311 program, co-founded and co-chaired the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, initiated a Bloomberg Philanthropies-supported social enterprise tech accelerator, and managed civic tech projects built by Code for America Fellows.

Steve Herlocher

Senior Vice President of Product and Marketing, USAN

Steve Herlocher is senior vice president of product and marketing for USAN. Steve leads USAN’s omnichannel customer engagement unit, marketing, product management, and business development of AWS channels. Steve is also responsible for driving next-generation cloud customer experience offerings with strategic partners including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Salesforce, and Microsoft. Steve has held numerous leadership positions that enabled him to provide impactful customer engagement solutions to contact centers worldwide. He was chief marketing officer at Jacada, Inc., leading the creation and launch of Visual IVR as a recognized and successful product in the customer experience space. Prior to that, he was chief technology officer and senior vice president of product delivery at Jacada, Ltd. Steve also served as executive vice president of sales and marketing at Interactive Softworks. Steve holds a bachelor of computer engineering degree from the University of Michigan.

William (Bill) Rials, Ph.D. — Moderator

Senior Fellow, Center for Digital Government

William (Bill) Rials, Ph.D., is a professor and associate director (department chair) of the Tulane University School of Professional Advancement IT and Cybersecurity Program, where he focuses on continually delivering and updating the program curriculum based on innovative and emerging technologies. Before transitioning to academia and higher education, he had a diverse gov tech career delivering value to state agencies, local governments, and law enforcement agencies throughout the state of Mississippi. He has served in CIO, CTO, and CISO roles for local governments and also in various leadership positions within the state of Mississippi’s IT organization as a deputy to the state CIO. Dr. Rials holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Belhaven University, a master’s degree in computer information systems and cybersecurity from Missouri State University, as well as a Ph.D. in higher education administration and public administration from Jackson State University. His dissertation research involved the critical factors that affect the adoption of cloud services within the public sector. He is a noted expert in the IT and cybersecurity space and is frequently quoted by national media outlets. He is also a frequent contributor to national IT government organizations such as NASTD and NASCIO.

Webinar

Discover a New Era of Customer Engagement for Utilities