Cognigy Strengthens Executive Team to Further Momentum, Supports Continued Enterprise Demand for Conversational AI

March 15, 2023 DÜSSELDORF and SAN FRANCISCO – Cognigy, a market leader in Enterprise Conversational AI, today announced executive team appointments of Joe Havlik, vice president of North America, Alan Ranger, vice president of marketing, Thomas Roll, vice president of global alliances and partnerships, and Sami Ammous, vice president of sales, APAC. 

The demand for conversational artificial intelligence (CAI) continues to grow as users gain greater levels of confidence interacting with businesses on voice and digital channels. One key driver is Generative AI, which, when combined with traditional CAI platforms, can deliver value that extends far beyond what each component can deliver alone. Ongoing adoption of Generative AI will help to further transform enterprise customer service and contact centers by creating advanced conversational experiences and driving efficiency.

Cognigy is at the forefront of a truly transformational shift in contact center operations and has recently introduced a Generative AI solution for enterprise contact centers. “By strengthening our executive team at this critical juncture, we are ensuring that Cognigy has the leadership necessary for continued growth and further momentum as we expand our presence in strategic regions worldwide,” said Sascha Poggemann, Cognigy co-founder and COO. “Our new leadership additions will be of key importance as we continue to drive the market forward and deliver game-changing solutions that empower enterprises with modern AI capabilities.”

Experienced technology executive Joe Havlik has joined the Cognigy team as vice president of North America. In this position, Havlik will focus on growing the North American pre-sales, sales, and post-sales organization – building a world-class, enterprise SaaS-focused business and expanding Cognigy’s best-in-class solution from its stronghold in Europe into the North American market. Havlik is a proven leader with rich experience in UCaaS, CCaaS, and CAI. For more than two decades, Havlik has built, sold, and supported SaaS-based telephony and contact center solutions at companies including Nokia (Alcatel-Lucent), Alvaria, and RingCentral.

Taking on the role of vice president of marketing, Alan Ranger will lead the development and execution of a global marketing strategy that aligns with the company’s plans for growth and meets corporate goals and objectives. Market expansion in high-growth regions such as the U.S., Middle East/North Africa (MENA), and Asia-Pacific (APAC) will be a particular focus, along with managing high-performing marketing teams across all areas, including branding, product marketing, demand generation, events, and social media. Before joining the Cognigy team, Ranger spent six years at LivePerson leading global market development.

In his new role as vice president of global alliances and partnerships, Thomas Roll will be instrumental in growing Cognigy’s global partner business. Roll is a seasoned customer service and AI leader with over 25 years of experience in senior sales and partner management positions at international tech and telecom providers, including LivePerson, Retresco, British Telecom, and COLT Telecom.

As Cognigy’s vice president of sales, APAC, Sami Ammous will focus on expanding the company’s presence in the APAC region and leading the teams responsible for business development, sales, marketing, and customer success. Ammous brings a wealth of experience in contact centers, a wide breadth of expertise across multiple cloud technologies, and a deep understanding of business in the APAC region to his role. Prior to joining Cognigy, Ammous served as vice president, of APAC/Japan for Avaya.

In 2022 Cognigy’s global employee base grew 100%, quadrupling the number of employees in the United States and adding new offices in Spain and Dubai. Compared to 12 months ago, Cognigy.AI instances are now handling 5,000% more conversations.