Ex-Zscaler Exec Hopes Track Record Will Help Boost Talkdesk Revenue

Contact-center-as-a-service (CCaaS) provider Talkdesk this month hired former Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Zscaler executive Albert "Al" Caravelli to be its senior vice president of strategic alliances and partners. 

With no formal experience in CCaaS, Caravelli told Channel Futures that he accepted the role with Talkdesk because every time he's taken on unchartered territory in the past, it was because he "went out of his comfort factor and knowledge of a particular industry." 

He noted that those previously employers were all "successful," something he hopes will translate to the newfound space he finds himself in with the contact center provider. 

"I don't know the CCaaS industry that we're in, so I am learning that, and I am learning about Talkdesk as well, but if I look back when I went to Mercury Interactive in 2003 (acquired by HP in 2006), I knew nothing about testing or IT service management, yet we did very well. I was responsible for alliances there, and we grew the company from 100 million to $1 billion in four years," Caravelli told us.

From there, Caravelli went to Jive Software, a Yammer competitor, and pulled off a similar feat, he said. Following a successful IPO, he moved on, heading to Zscaler. 

"I remember having a conversation with a few partners who said they had never heard of Zscaler, but at the time, they were the largest security consulting company with an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $28 million. I was also the fourth person in the channel. Fast-forward to when I left: it was a $2.4 billion company and 95% of business ran across the channel," Caravalli said. 

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Talkdesk Revenue Could Soar Under New Channel Leadership

All this brings us to today, where Caravelli hopes he can transform Talkdesk revenue via the channel as he learns an entirely new industry.

Looking to "recruit the right partners" to help grow his team, Caravelli also said he is betting on the total addressable market in the CCaaS space to extend some opportunity for growth.

"It is over $300 billion in the space, which is amazing," Caravelli told Channel Futures. 

Company culture is another aspect that he says will help him grow Talkdesk revenue.

"Talkdesk is customer-obsessed, something we're building at Talkdesk, along with removing internal politics," Caravalli said. 

Recognizing that Talkdesk faces stiff competition, Caravalli said, "[The competition] has been doing the same thing for more than 20 years and didn't build their platform from the ground up to be an in a multitenant environment."

Getting Pumped About Vertical Markets

During his career, Caravelli hasn't had much chance to dip his toes into vertical markets.

But with his newfound love for the CCaaS space and push to help increase Talkdesk revenue, he says the firm's inroads into vertical markets will prove pivotal for pulling off heightened profit margins. 

"Of all the early-stage companies I've been with in my career, I never could sell in vertical markets," Caravelli furthermore told us, adding that selling through vertical markets via the channel equates to scale.

He asserts that he will continue to expand his team, employing roughly 60 members to help scale Talkdesk channel efforts for what he assumes will be inevitable Talkdesk revenue growth.

"You have to align with the right partners to help supplement," he added.