30-year Customer Experience and Customer Service Technology Veteran to Lead Market Intelligence and Evangelism for Five9

Five9,provider of the Intelligent CX Platform, today announced the appointment of Steve Blood as Vice President of Market Intelligence and Evangelism at Five9. Based in Europe, Blood will focus on shaping and elevating Five9’s positioning as it expands its global leadership in customer experience.

“As one of the most prominent industry analysts in CX, Steve’s addition to the Five9 team underscores our role as an innovator,” said Five9 CMO Niki Hall. “His profound understanding of market demands will help amplify Five9’s thought leadership and his invaluable contributions will undoubtedly bolster our mission to deliver unparalleled CX solutions across all scales and sectors. We are beyond thrilled to welcome Steve and look forward to achieving remarkable milestones together.”

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Blood was most recently a Vice President and Analyst in Gartner’s Customer Service and Support team, part of the Sales & Customer Service practice. His research primarily focused on customer service and support technologies, with a specific expertise in market insights, contact center applications, digital customer service and customer service analytics. During his tenure at Gartner, Steve served as an advisor of customer service technology to end users and buyers of mid, large, and enterprise organizations across multiple continents. He authored industry-defining research, including most recently the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Contact Center as a Service, Predicts 2024: Customer Service and Support Strategy and Leadership, and Market Guide for Digital Customer Service and Support.

“Five9 has achieved strong brand recognition and demonstrability in a market that was dominated by legacy customer experience and service technology,” said Blood. “I’ve been watching this market for decades and have always been impressed by how Five9 has grown organically to one of the largest CCaaS players today. I believe in the power of the collective – and Five9 has always embraced collaboration as a core strength, which aligns firmly with my beliefs. The opportunity is immense, and I am excited to be a part of Five9’s next chapter of growth.”

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Prior to Gartner, Blood worked in product marketing at Rockwell Electronic Commerce, where he was responsible for marketing its next generation contact center portfolio in EMEA. Before that, he spent 10 years in the U.K. telecommunications industry in product management, sales and technical support roles for BT, Mercury Communications and NTL.