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Voice and PABX are passe. Avaya's CEO, Jim Chirico, sees enterprise communication being fully disrupted and digitalised. But there will still be human agents at call centres, he says.
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RIGHT after college, Jim Chirico, Avaya's president and CEO, wanted to join the Federal Bureau of Investigation and he came pretty close to bagging his dream job. However, in one of those paradoxical twists that shape careers and lives, just as the sleuth's job seemed to be within grasp, the then US President, Jimmy Carter, took a decision to freeze government hiring. A bit crestfallen, Mr Chirico went and joined IBM. What appeared to be a second choice, however, provided the New York native his epiphany. A few days into the job, he realised that the technology industry was ideally suited for his character and abilities.
That feeling of gratification of having inadvertently walked into the right career choice hasn't changed for the Avaya CEO all these years. Nearly four decades into his career, he is still grateful for the blessing in disguise that landed him in the tech sector.
"I grew up in a small town in New York and I had a twin brother, and we were very competitive. When I went to school and college, I took part in athletics.
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