CloudWave shows how partner success comes through specialisation
The local outfit knows where to specialise and how to stay agnostic to scale globally.
As AI reshapes customer engagement, organisations are rethinking contact centre systems.
CloudWave is at the forefront of this shift, helping organisations connect data, AI and human service across integrated platforms.
“We’re doubling down on that orchestration layer, with real-time, AI-driven interactions across all channels. It’s where we see ourselves fitting,” said Mike Powrie, CEO and founder, CloudWave.
Founded in 2013 and based in Sydney, CloudWave is a local tech success story that’s grown through partnerships with tech providers like Twilio, where its services can be white labelled by other providers.
“We’ve been involved with Twilio for so long that we share a common language and it allows us to interoperate,” Powrie explained.
As organisations accelerate their AI initiatives, however, Powrie expects consolidation ahead.
“There are probably a lot of AI vendors or partners that will go away after a couple of years… I think the hyperscalers like Twilio will win the war, just purely based on the investment,” he told CRN Australia.
Managing security in the partner ecosystem
Security underpins everything CloudWave does, both internally and within its partner ecosystem. The business is ISO 27001 certified and working towards SOC 2 compliance.
It’s a priority Powrie describes as “number one for us, above everything else in our organisation”.
It’s also a priority in its engagement with partners like Twilio, which includes clear demarcation about customer data.
“We also leverage Twilio’s efforts and HIPAA compliance and we don’t touch the data as it stays on its services,” he explained.
Powrie is incredibly proud to be at the helm of an outfit showing Australian innovation on the world stage.
“We’re not following the AI wave — we are shaping it,” he said.
Building the orchestration layer
CloudWave is one of a handful of outfits specialising in that orchestration layer that connects hyperscalers, LLMs and platforms like Twilio.
Its NeonNow suite uses hyperscalers like Twilio to deliver scalable, customised customer-experience systems. Powrie said its guiding mission is staying tech agnostic and avoiding vendor lock-in to fit with customer needs.
“We’re keeping it quite open, allowing people to achieve fantastic outcomes today, but also not get painted into a corner,” said Powrie from the Twilio Signal event in Sydney last week.
He believes that partners will find success by specialising — finding “niches within niches” — as Cloudwave has with orchestration.
“That’s where other successful partners might try — in specific verticals or specific tasks and specialising,” he said.