In his new role as CEO of NICE, Scott Russell is focusing on leveraging artificial intelligence and cloud solutions to transform customer experiences amid economic uncertainty. Russell, who took the helm at the software company in January 2025 after more than 14 years at SAP, believes AI is central to helping businesses maintain customer loyalty during challenging times.

"There's no doubt that customers around the world their happiness is down. They're concerned. They're worried what they use with their wallet where they spend their dollars," Russell explained during a recent CNBC interview. "And so companies are really focused about loyalty."

Scott Russell, CEO of AI and automation software platform NICE

Russell brings extensive enterprise technology experience to NICE, having previously served as Global Chief Revenue Officer at SAP where he was responsible for $31 billion in revenue while driving the company's transformation to cloud services. His appointment, announced in August 2024, came after the retirement of previous CEO Barak Eilam, who led the company for over a decade.

AI-Driven Customer Experiences

For NICE, which serves approximately 25,000 organizations across more than 150 countries, the focus is squarely on using AI to create effortless customer experiences. Russell highlighted Sony as an example of effective implementation.