Global Talent it's a Requirement

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"I mean the biggest complaint in support from a customer usually is it's slow. Whatever the sport is, it's slow. Now, slow can be very different for different people. Slow can be 20 minutes, slow can be 20 months, right? I mean there's different variations of what it is but you have to know that. So you have to know your customers. You have to talk to them." - Marlene Summers, SVP Global Support, ECI

Here are the reflections from my podcast with Marlene Summers 🎧 Watch or listen here →

So, we just dropped a new episode featuring Marlene Lee Summers, one of the most respected voices in customer success and support — and someone I’ve had the privilege to work with since our days at Zuora.

And if there’s one truth that emerged from this conversation, it’s this: AI isn’t replacing people — it’s forcing us to rebuild the way people and systems work together.

Marlene put it beautifully:

“It’s not just optional anymore — it’s a requirement. It’s like a true unlock. You have people working all the time, which is what you needed in the traditional model before. Teams in India and the Philippines can do that and accommodate that because there’s a whole culture built around it — and that’s so powerful.”

That statement sums up what many still miss about offshore talent: it’s not about cheap labor, it’s about continuous leverage. The world’s best operators are realizing that global teams don’t just provide coverage — they create capacity. That’s what Exordiom Talent was built for.

Marlene shared a framework that’s stuck with me since we recorded:

“There are three things people need: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”

She’s right. You can’t build a world-class support or success team if your people don’t have those three anchors. AI can automate tasks, but leadership builds purpose.

At Exordiom Talent, we think about this daily — how to give our offshore talent not just work, but a sense of mission that connects directly to customer outcomes. We spent a lot of time behind the scenes integrating cultures, people, and work, which separates us from a traditional staffing company - we consider ourselves as the leverage infrastructure for companies scaling out their teams.

Marlene and I both agreed: the conversation about outsourcing has completely evolved.

“Early motivations for outsourcing were purely about cost. But leadership is hard everywhere. Managing global teams isn’t harder — it’s just different. The tools now make it seamless.”

She’s spot on. What used to be a cost decision is now a capability decision. The smartest companies aren’t asking “Where is the cheapest headcount?” — they’re asking “Where can we create 24/7 leverage without friction?”

We dove into the hype vs. reality of AI, and Marlene said something that every operator should print out:

“We’ll always need humans. The best part of AI is the potential — the magic. But troubleshooting, triage, and real problem-solving still require experience, education, and judgment.”

That line captures the heart of it. AI isn’t here to eliminate judgment. It’s here to amplify it. When used right, it takes the repetitive 60% of work off the plate — and elevates the remaining 40% into strategic, human-driven effort.

One of my favorite moments came when she said:

“No customer ever complained that someone was too nice. Even if they didn’t know the answer, empathy still mattered.”

That’s why empathy is still the most underrated support skill. No matter how advanced AI becomes, empathy scales trust, not bandwidth. And in customer relationships, trust is the currency. It makes sense to leverage AI to drive research, collect and tally data, and provide some quick solutions, but the empathy still needs to be demonstrated through the human engagement.

As founders and leaders, we’re living in the most transformative decade of operations since SaaS began. AI will reshape how we deliver service, but it will do so through the people and processes we build around it. The question isn’t “Will AI replace my team?” It’s “How can my team use AI to unlock more leverage, speed, and empathy at scale?”

That’s the kind of thinking we’re bringing to our clients every day at Exordiom Talent - helping them architect teams that blend AI and global talent to drive growth, not just reduce burn.

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