Gladly: Delivering Seamless, Personal Customer Experiences with AI

Gladly is the only CX platform that puts the customer - not tickets - at the center of every conversation. Trusted by the world's most customer-centric brands, including Crate & Barrel, Ulta Beauty, and Tumi, Gladly delivers radically efficient and radically personal experiences. Learn more at www.gladly.ai.

Briefly describe the nominated organization or individual: history and past performance (up to 1,250 characters):

Gladly is a customer experience platform built on a simple belief: customer service should feel personal, seamless, and human-not fragmented across ticket numbers. Founded to replace outdated, ticket-based systems, Gladly was designed from day one around lifelong customer relationships. Every interaction, whether handled by AI or a human, lives in one continuous conversation across voice, chat, SMS, email, and social channels. This people-centered architecture has made Gladly a partner of choice for some of the world's most customer-centric brands, including Crate & Barrel, Rothy's, Allbirds, Breeze Airways, and Condé Nast.

Historically, Gladly has been recognized for helping brands deliver radically personal service while improving efficiency. The platform consistently earns top ratings for ease of use and agent satisfaction, enabling companies to reduce handle times, increase first-contact resolution, and boost CSAT. Its conversational model and unified customer profiles have powered measurable improvements in loyalty and long-term customer value. Today, Gladly continues to lead the industry in redefining how AI can elevate-not erode-the customer experience.

Outline the nominated achievements since July 1, 2023 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 1,500 characters):

Since July 2023, Gladly has advanced AI in a direction that directly improves CX-faster answers, seamless escalation, and service that feels personal rather than automated. We expanded our AI agent, Sidekick, to draw from a unified, lifelong customer view across all channels, allowing AI to respond with full context and continuity. Customers no longer repeat information or restart conversations when switching between AI and human support, creating a dramatically smoother, more human experience.

AI now adapts to each brand's tone and policies, ensuring consistent and trustworthy responses. New features such as real-time translation, conversational summaries, and suggested replies help agents deliver clear, empathetic communication and maintain experience quality even during peak demand. The result is faster service without sacrificing connection.

Customer outcomes reflect this experience-first approach. Breeze Airways improved guest satisfaction through a digital-first service model where AI resolves or assists 37-71% of conversations and only 0.2% of interactions require phone support. Rothy's saw 20% of AI-assisted conversations lead to purchases, turning support into a guided, personalized shopping experience. MaryRuth's AI assistant "WREN" delivers human-sounding, brand-aligned responses that customers praise, contributing to a 35% efficiency lift and higher satisfaction across channels.

These achievements show that AI can enhance-not replace-the human experience.

Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 1,500 characters):

Most AI in customer service focuses on deflection and cost reduction, often degrading the customer experience with impersonal scripts, rigid decision trees, and forced automation. Gladly's achievements are significant because they prove the opposite is possible: AI can deepen personalization, increase satisfaction, and make service feel effortless. Unlike ticket-based platforms, Gladly's unified conversation model gives AI the full context of every customer's history, preferences, and prior interactions-creating responses that feel consistent, natural, and informed. This materially changes the experience. Customers no longer repeat themselves across channels or between AI and human support. Escalations feel seamless because the agent receives a complete timeline and Sidekick's recommended next steps. AI operates in the brand's voice, which maintains trust and emotional connection-something competing, out-of-the-box bots struggle to deliver.

Compared to industry norms-where customer satisfaction with AI has fallen and many deployments fail to meet expectations-Gladly's results stand out. Breeze Airways' ability to maintain an NPS of 59 while scaling digitally, Rothy's ability to convert service interactions into revenue, and MaryRuth's customer praise for AI-generated responses illustrate meaningful experiential gains, not just productivity improvements. Gladly's approach elevates AI from an efficiency tool to a driver of loyalty, setting a new benchmark for AI-driven CX.

Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 1,500 characters):

The supporting materials included in this nomination provide clear, verifiable evidence of Gladly's impact on customer experience. Our CCW Excellence Award for Disruptive Technology of the Year validates our ability to meaningfully reshape how brands deliver AI-powered service. In addition, our placement on the Constellation ShortList(TM) for Digital Customer Service and Support-awarded to only 12 platforms-reinforces the credibility of Gladly's people-centered, AI-enabled approach.

The attached customer case studies demonstrate the experiential outcomes described. Breeze Airways' digital-first transformation shows AI resolving or assisting the majority of conversations while maintaining an industry-leading NPS of 59. Rothy's documentation highlights how AI-assisted conversations lead to purchases, elevating the customer journey rather than interrupting it.

MaryRuth's materials show how their AI assistant "WREN" produces human-sounding, brand-aligned responses that customers praise, contributing to higher CSAT and a smoother experience across channels. Condé Nast's case study shows significant improvements in first-contact resolution, personalization, and cross-brand continuity.

Together, these attachments substantiate that the improvements referenced-higher satisfaction, seamless omnichannel experience, and brand-consistent AI interactions-are measurable, repeatable, and already recognized by customers and industry evaluators.