In this episode, Martin talks to Dan Schlenzig, who leads the CX Sales team at Cisco across 22 countries. Dan shares his journey from helpdesk beginnings to managing international teams and gives a fascinating insight into how Cisco is driving innovation in the AI and CX space.

🎙️ Topics covered:

• Dan’s career journey and leadership lessons

• Cisco’s transformation from on-premise to cloud CX

• The AI phone booth demo coming to the Contact Centre Expo

• The future of voice AI and multilingual challenges

• Building guardrails and AI quality management

• How Cisco is helping customers build and train their own AI bots

Dan also shares a glimpse of what’s next for AI, how Cisco is empowering customers to innovate safely, and what makes the company such a great place to work.

👉 Subscribe to Get Out of Wrap for more conversations with the people shaping our industry.

In this episode of Get Out of Wrap, Martin talks with Sam Sanford — writer, performer and former contact centre worker — whose acclaimed interactive show I Love My Job (with an asterisk!) shines a spotlight on the fascinating, funny, and deeply human world of customer service.

Sam’s one-person play mixes comedy, theatre and audience interaction to explore what it really means to “communicate authentically” in a world of scripts, KPIs and AI. Drawing on her own time in call centres, she shares hilarious and heartfelt stories about the conversations we have — and the ones we wish we could.

Expect discussions on:

• The blurred line between human and AI communication

• The exhaustion of constant conversation

• The joy (and chaos) of customer interactions

• Why treating people like people still matters most

This episode is a celebration of the humour, absurdity and humanity at the heart of contact centre life. 🎭

At just 20 years old, Lewis Parkin is proving that age is no barrier to impact in the contact centre world.

Starting out at Alvaria in an entry-level role, Lewis quickly showed his initiative — creating training videos, planning events, helping with design projects, and even managing customer accounts across the UK and Ireland. His story is a brilliant example of curiosity, attitude, and the power of saying yes.

In this episode, host Martin Teasdale chats with Lewis about:

• How he entered the contact centre industry straight from college

• The perceptions young people have about contact centres

• What he’s learned from working with experienced leaders like Steve Powell, Bruce Skjolde and Phil Jude

• How variety and responsibility helped him grow

• Why proactive customer contact excites him about the future

Lewis also shares what it’s like being part of a global team, how he handles imposter syndrome, and why technology and creativity go hand in hand.

From knocking on doors in the rain to leading one of Glasgow’s most energetic sales operations, Garry Beattie has lived the full contact-centre journey.

In this episode, Garry shares:

• His early lessons in face-to-face sales and how they shaped his leadership style

• The role of support, recognition, and development in building strong teams

• Why outbound sales is still thriving when done with honesty and heart

• The “SAS mentality” that drives his team’s culture and performance

• How Betr develops leaders from within and celebrates success the right way

A must-listen for anyone in outbound sales or people leadership.

👏 Brought to you by Betr Outsourcing — champions of proactive, high-performing contact-centre teams.

A New Way to Lead: Danny Wareham on “Constellations” and Culture as the True Leader.

In this episode of Get Out of Wrap, Martin Teasdale sits down with Danny Wareham, author of Constellations and founder of Firgun, to explore a revolutionary new way of looking at leadership.

After nearly two decades in corporate life, Danny took redundancy and embarked on a master’s-level journey into organisational psychology — a path that led to Constellations, a book redefining what leadership really means.

Danny shares the thinking behind his four-year research project: that leadership isn’t about a single figurehead, but about creating environments and cultures that lead themselves. From the psychology of trust and team dynamics to the lessons organisations can learn from the military and small businesses, this conversation challenges every assumption about hierarchy and control.

Whether you’re a contact centre leader, manager, or just passionate about building better teams, this is an episode that will change how you think about leadership forever.

📘 Constellations is available now in Waterstones, WHSmith, Barnes & Noble, and online.

In this episode of Get Out of Wrap, I sit down with Olly Hobson, co-founder of Cloudax, to hear how he’s making waves in the world of AI-powered voice technology — all before the age of 25.

Olly shares his journey from building websites during his GCSEs to co-founding Cloudax and developing some of the most human-like AI voice systems on the market today.

We dive into:
✅ How AI voice can transform the contact centre experience — replacing IVRs and reducing wait times.
✅ Why this isn’t about replacing agents, but about freeing them up to focus on complex, high-value conversations.
✅ Lessons Olly learned from the NatWest Accelerator and the power of community in our industry.
✅ His vision for integrating AI voice with CCaaS platforms to create a seamless end-to-end customer journey.

What struck me most? Olly’s passion, work ethic, and belief that AI is here to augment, not replace. He’s part of a new wave of entrepreneurs shaping the future of customer experience.

🎧 Tune in to hear from one of the brightest young voices in our industry.

In this episode of Get Out of Wrap, host Martin Teasdale speaks with Phil Jude, Senior Director at Alvaria, about how outbound has transformed into proactive customer contact — and why it’s becoming central to customer experience strategy.

Phil shares his journey from outbound agent to senior leadership, reflecting on the lessons learned along the way. Together, we explore:

• The evolution of outbound into proactive engagement.

• Using data and AI to deliver outreach that prevents problems before they happen.

• Why compliance and regulation are essential foundations.

• How proactive contact drives loyalty, retention, and revenue.

• The future of partnerships and best-of-breed technology in the contact centre industry.

Whether you’re a CX leader, contact centre manager, or simply curious about how proactive outreach can reshape customer experience, this conversation will give you fresh insights.

👉 Listen now and discover why proactive customer contact is the secret to future-proofing CX.

Thanks to my partners Alvaria for supporting the podcast.

On your LinkedIn Live Contact Centre show we talked about hybrid working and whether its helping or hurting your culture.

We also shared the first stats from the State of Contact Centre Technology survey I have recently done with Quetzel.