Business success requires human connection

Mike Carden’s The Joyous Podcast features conversations with some of the world’s leading management thinkers. 

This episode features Nate Edwards, executive vice president of field operations at Altice USA. He has over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, holding roles in field operations, service delivery, enterprise customer support, and transformation.

Here’s a ChatGPT precis of the transcript for this week’s episode or listen here.

Edwards’ journey began with aspirations of becoming a lawyer but shifted towards teaching after realising the demands of legal work. After teaching high school English, he faced challenges finding a job in Connecticut and ended up joining the phone company as a technician. 

Over the years, Edwards progressed through various roles, combining his teaching background with technical expertise, ultimately becoming Senior Vice President.

The conversation explores Edwards’ unexpected career path, emphasising his ability to analyse problems and innovate solutions. Carden highlights the importance of understanding Edwards’ origin story, drawing parallels with the Marvel universe's origin stories.

The discussion delves into Edwards’ role in enterprise field operations and service delivery, managing technicians and support staff. 

Edwards describes how Joyous, a communication platform, has positively impacted his team's engagement and collaboration. He recounts a successful use case where Joyous facilitated immediate feedback from technicians, resulting in the quick resolution of defects in a modem launch.

The conversation touches on the challenges of communication within large organisations, particularly with remote and field service teams and how important personal interactions are. 

Carden and Edwards discuss the potential future developments of Joyous, envisioning a more data-driven and AI-enhanced platform. Edwards expresses his desire for Joyous to provide predictive, proactive campaign recommendations, leveraging generative AI to enhance insights and streamline communication processes.