Last year, we received this recognition for our efforts in amplifying the voices, stories, and leadership strategies of women who are shaping the future of customer experience (CX). This year, we are honored to be recognized for our internal efforts in employee well-being and development, as we support our team in building the skills and networks they need to thrive in the AI era. For us, this recognition validates a core belief: you cannot build transformative technology for your customers without cultivating a highly supportive, innovative culture for your own people.

Our AI journey started long before the current hype. We’ve been building native capabilities directly into our cloud contact center platform since 2017. That early foresight allowed us to lead the industry’s current shift toward Customer Experience Automation (CXA)—using AI not just to answer simple customer questions, but to analyze issues, take multi-step actions across systems, and seamlessly resolve customer needs end-to-end. But in the era of AI, simply delivering AI to the market is not enough. As a technology company, we have to constantly innovate from the inside out and actively embrace AI in our own day-to-day operations. To mirror the future we are building for our customers, we are quickly creating a hybrid workforce where human expertise and judgment combine seamlessly with AI to drive better business outcomes.



Making AI a continuous journey.

To ensure our employees feel confident and supported as technology rapidly evolves, we’ve made AI fluency a continuous journey rather than a checklist of corporate trainings. We believe that the true power of a hybrid workforce lies in how AI can augment human potential. AI can completely take routine, administrative tasks off our plates, but it can also actively assist our people in real time so they can focus on strategic work and creative problem-solving.

Building new skills requires a safe space to experiment, so our approach to AI training in the workforce blends bite-sized exercises with expert-led webinars to give employees a low-pressure environment to test new concepts. Of course, asking people to learn something new only works if you actually give them the bandwidth to do it. At Talkdesk, we have biannual “Learning Days” to provide protected time that’s dedicated entirely to independent exploration and skill mastery. And because adopting new technology is always easier with a trusted peer by your side, we embedded “AI Champions” across every department. These champions serve as on-the-ground guides and advocates for their specific teams, ensuring everyone has the localized support they need to figure out exactly how AI can improve their day-to-day work.



Expanding innovation beyond the product team.

Talkdesk was actually born out of a hackathon, and that spirit of rapid, hands-on building has always been central to our DNA. Every year, our annual Hackathon event is a catalyst for our product and engineering teams to experiment and push the boundaries of our CX solutions. However, we realized that AI innovation could extend to every team at Talkdesk. Last year, we reimagined the event by introducing an AI-focused “Business Transformation” track designed specifically to help non-technical staff transition from simply using AI to actively building workflows with it. Participants got hands-on coaching to learn how to “vibe code” and build functional automations. Empowering everyday employees to become creators sparked engagement across the entire organization, and resulted in 48 new internal automations spanning every department and creating efficiencies throughout the business.



Cultivating leadership in an AI-first world.

Meaningful career development also requires strong mentorship, advocacy, and community alongside technical skills. We recently launched IAmHER, a Women and Allies Employee Resource Group co-chaired by senior female executives at Talkdesk. Beyond just networking, the ERG connects emerging talent with experienced leaders to provide direct mentorship, guidance, and career advocacy. To ensure members build tangible leadership skills, IAmHER plans practical workshops focused on critical areas like negotiation, strategic planning, and executive presence. The goal is to create a welcoming internal network where our employees can safely share experiences, build professional alliances, and grow their careers together.

AI might be the technology driving the future of work, but it is our people who actually create the magic. We want everyone at Talkdesk to feel like they can bring their biggest, boldest ideas to the table with the freedom to learn and fail fast. Receiving this 2026 Tech Cares Award means so much to us because it reflects exactly that: a culture where people feel deeply supported, valued, and empowered to grow right alongside the technology we build.

About Dr. Shauna Geraghty

Dr. Shauna Geraghty is head of global people and talent at Talkdesk, where she leads workforce strategy at the intersection of people, technology, and AI. Since joining as Talkdesk’s first U.S. employee, she has helped scale the organization from startup to more than 1,500 employees worldwide. As chair of the company’s AI Steering Committee, Shauna focuses on how AI and automation can empower employees, grow productivity, and evolve organizational design. She holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from the PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium.