Founder & Executive Chairman, Synchronoss
Search every verified Stephen Waldis interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. At the 2017 Mobile World Congress, Synchronoss founder and executive chairman Stephen Waldis discussed the company's work with mobile operators and the role of data in digital transformation. Waldis stated that Synchronoss had spent 15 years building software for mobile operators, including the activation software for the iPhone. He estimated that approximately $100 billion in revenues had disappeared for operators as messaging evolved, and described data as "really at the heart of the digital transformation." Waldis noted that outside of social networking, operator data is the "number two most qualified data source" for brands, representing a growth opportunity for Synchronoss's customers. Waldis highlighted several trends in customer engagement, including the growth of IP-based chat bots, which he said were growing at 55% and would "take off significantly" in the coming years. He described Synchronoss's cloud product as ingesting over 225 terabytes of data daily on a global basis and cited a deployment at Verizon with adoption rates exceeding 80% across devices. Waldis said that operators are focused on targeted analytics, data tagging, chat bots, and smart campaigns, and that the ability to turn self-service into an automated service environment would provide a "huge difference" to consumers.
“We estimate roughly hundred billion dollars of revenues disappeared for the operators over the years as messaging is gone.”
“Data is really at the heart of the digital transformation and if you can see that besides the different revenue streams that exist out there, one of the things that is really important is the insight.”
“Outside of social networking, when you talk to brands, the number two most qualified data source comes from the operator's data. It's a huge growth opportunity for our customers.”
“There's 3x the amount of developers focused on bots, which tells you this is not only a phenomenon that's coming but it's going to come really fast and provide another level of customer engagement and automated self-service across the industry.”
“SMS growth is about $70 billion a year but it's only growing at 4%, so that market and its capabilities don't keep up with the standards of what we're seeing in the market today.”
“The growth of IP-based ADB chat bots is leading, growing at a rate of 55%. This is the insurgence that in a year or two you'll start to see these numbers take off significantly.”
“When operators have the ability to have business rules driven dialogue and change self-service into an automated service environment, that's a huge difference to consumers who see a very easy to use experience.”
“Most of our operator customers today are focused on targeted analytics, targeted data tagging of the information we're collecting on their customers, chat bots, and creating really smart campaigns that they can leverage that data.”
“We have deployed the largest and most successful consumer web-based cloud product at Verizon with adoption rates exceeding 80% across devices, providing a proudful experience for customers.”
“Operators hold very critical insight leveraging significant data today, which provides valuable opportunities and solutions to consumers and drives monetization in a market that is being squeezed.”
Synchronoss Founder & Executive Chairman, Stephen Waldis, discusses data being at the heart of the digital transformation at ...
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