OUTSTANDING CATEGORY
Rienzi Ramirez
President & Country Manager
Even before grit became a buzz word in the business world, Rienzi Ramirez used it to fuel him towards success. When grit wasn’t a definitive term for success, its definition of strong will, and desire to succeed was at the core of how Rienzi did things. Be it in academics – where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Quantitative Economics degree and also holds two post graduate degrees, a Masters in Industrial Economics and an MBA from the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in the Philippines by the age of twenty-six – and in forging through challenges in his career to present.
With his exceptional academic credentials, Rienzi was enthusiastic and confident to start his career. He had his sights set on a Hong Kong-based company where he saw himself starting his climb on the corporate ladder and where he wanted to build his career – not caring about the pay or the position, he just wanted to get in. What came after was his first career upset, and his confidence was blown when he was not accepted into the company. What cut through was he came offering not only his talent and skill when he applied to the company, but his heart and passion, which made the rejection all the more devastating. The upsetting incident in his career strengthened his focus on building not just people’s skills but in developing them holistically by creating opportunities through professional and personal development. His strong competitive spirit was now coupled with the passion to open doors for people.
In 2001, he joined a start-up BPO company, where he was tasked to develop and implement customer relationship management plans for their US clients. From then on, he grabbed every opportunity to showcase not just his drive for excellence but also his leadership skills.
Today, Rienzi sits as the President and Country Manager of 24/7 Customer Philippines, Inc. ([24]7.ai), while concurrently serves as a Chief Delivery Officer of [24]7.ai Global. In a highly competitive industry, [24]7.ai differentiates itself by offering an integrated people and technology solution to its clients and their customers. Rienzi understands that in order for his people to deliver the best customer experience, he needs to deliver the best employee experience and make them feel valued members of the organization.
As the leader of a people-based organization, Rienzi makes big investments in time and resources on staff development, as he believes that investing on the company’s workforce will pay off in the overall results and retention of the company’s top talents, and eventually will lead to major wins for the company.
As a testament to this, in 2013, the company started a provident fund program to encourage people to save. As long as people set aside money from their pay, the company would save a certain amount for them, too. At the end of five years, the program had 694 members actively saving and by 2018, [24]7.ai paid out 894 employees with them getting greater than 200% of the amount they saved. It was a highly successful program where Rienzi showed that the company is in full support of people’s financial wellness and is willing to co-invest with the employees.
In 2016, Rienzi led the launch of a new Customer Engagement Application that was tested initially on 15 agents which generated almost 10-15 point improvements in agent metrics as it relates to better customer experience and issue resolution. Today, it is used by four large enterprises, including Fortune 500 companies in Telecommunications, Banking, and Media. With over 300K session in place and over 3,000 agents using the product, it is the most highly acclaimed innovative product for Voice transactions generating almost 20-30 point improvements in Customer Experience, Sales Conversion, and Issue Resolution. In the same year, Rienzi embarked on a five-year journey to 2020, to improve the overall frontline leadership in the company. There was a lot of investment in time and resources to make sure the company is developing the frontlines. As of 2018, the management, led by Rienzi, has been rated by the employees with 92% overall satisfaction on how leaders lead. This is a testament to the partnership between Rienzi and his frontline leaders in how they care and lead the people.
“I think the most rewarding part of being an entrepreneur is witnessing how people’s lives have improved with what you have created. Sometimes, it’s as simple as you created a process, or as complex as launching an app, but in the end when you personally see how people’s lives have become better with what you create, there is an unquantifiable return on emotional investment.” – Rienzi Ramirez
Rienzi’s personal vision and mission is to create a highly engaged workforce while improving their personal and professional lives which resonates in how he leads his organization and how he interacts with his people. He loves to talk to the employees and shows genuine concern for their welfare. Of all the stories and experiences that [24]7.ai people share about Rienzi, one stands out where he made efforts for one of the leaders to adjust to her new home after moving to be closer to work. When the employee was fairly new to the company, he briefly asked how she was settling in to find out that her moved brought on a problem of high electricity bill mainly due to an electric stove. Rienzi suggested using LPG instead but she said that she’s had a hard time looking for one. The same afternoon, a delivery man came knocking at the employee’s door, and with him was an LPG tank that Rienzi ordered for her. According to the employee, what made it more touching was that she did not mention her address to Rienzi, which only means that Rienzi had to ask around for her address – which made the gesture more heart-warming. Rienzi’s genuine concern for employee’s well-being brings him to find ways to care for things that matter most to his employees.
“The most successful enterprises are those that have gone way beyond the purpose of profits and that in the end, it is all about people and how you uplift their lives. It may be about their own learning, growth and development, their family life, work-life or their own livelihood – whatever it is, we will be there as an organization making an impact on people’s lives while upholding the highest business standards and meeting the expectations of our stakeholders,” shared Rienzi.
He finds fulfillment in joint success with people who he works with. He has a team that he has worked with for more than 10 years – that’s a long time to be working with the same team in the industry they are in. He achieved it because he focused on making his people successful and found his own success in theirs. “I think the most rewarding part of being an entrepreneur is witnessing how people’s lives have improved with what you have created. Sometimes, it’s as simple as you created a process, or as complex as launching an app, but in the end when you personally see how people’s lives have become better with what you create, there is an unquantifiable return on emotional investment,” ended Rienzi.
Certainly a pretty good feat for someone who had a door closed on him, only to open doors for many others.
OUTSTANDING CATEGORY
Rienzi Ramirez
President & Country Manager
Even before grit became a buzz word in the business world, Rienzi Ramirez used it to fuel him towards success. When grit wasn’t a definitive term for success, its definition of strong will, and desire to succeed was at the core of how Rienzi did things. Be it in academics – where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Quantitative Economics degree and also holds two post graduate degrees, a Masters in Industrial Economics and an MBA from the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in the Philippines by the age of twenty-six – and in forging through challenges in his career to present.
With his exceptional academic credentials, Rienzi was enthusiastic and confident to start his career. He had his sights set on a Hong Kong-based company where he saw himself starting his climb on the corporate ladder and where he wanted to build his career – not caring about the pay or the position, he just wanted to get in. What came after was his first career upset, and his confidence was blown when he was not accepted into the company. What cut through was he came offering not only his talent and skill when he applied to the company, but his heart and passion, which made the rejection all the more devastating. The upsetting incident in his career strengthened his focus on building not just people’s skills but in developing them holistically by creating opportunities through professional and personal development. His strong competitive spirit was now coupled with the passion to open doors for people.
In 2001, he joined a start-up BPO company, where he was tasked to develop and implement customer relationship management plans for their US clients. From then on, he grabbed every opportunity to showcase not just his drive for excellence but also his leadership skills.
Today, Rienzi sits as the President and Country Manager of 24/7 Customer Philippines, Inc. ([24]7.ai), while concurrently serves as a Chief Delivery Officer of [24]7.ai Global. In a highly competitive industry, [24]7.ai differentiates itself by offering an integrated people and technology solution to its clients and their customers. Rienzi understands that in order for his people to deliver the best customer experience, he needs to deliver the best employee experience and make them feel valued members of the organization.
As the leader of a people-based organization, Rienzi makes big investments in time and resources on staff development, as he believes that investing on the company’s workforce will pay off in the overall results and retention of the company’s top talents, and eventually will lead to major wins for the company.
As a testament to this, in 2013, the company started a provident fund program to encourage people to save. As long as people set aside money from their pay, the company would save a certain amount for them, too. At the end of five years, the program had 694 members actively saving and by 2018, [24]7.ai paid out 894 employees with them getting greater than 200% of the amount they saved. It was a highly successful program where Rienzi showed that the company is in full support of people’s financial wellness and is willing to co-invest with the employees.
In 2016, Rienzi led the launch of a new Customer Engagement Application that was tested initially on 15 agents which generated almost 10-15 point improvements in agent metrics as it relates to better customer experience and issue resolution. Today, it is used by four large enterprises, including Fortune 500 companies in Telecommunications, Banking, and Media. With over 300K session in place and over 3,000 agents using the product, it is the most highly acclaimed innovative product for Voice transactions generating almost 20-30 point improvements in Customer Experience, Sales Conversion, and Issue Resolution. In the same year, Rienzi embarked on a five-year journey to 2020, to improve the overall frontline leadership in the company. There was a lot of investment in time and resources to make sure the company is developing the frontlines. As of 2018, the management, led by Rienzi, has been rated by the employees with 92% overall satisfaction on how leaders lead. This is a testament to the partnership between Rienzi and his frontline leaders in how they care and lead the people.
“I think the most rewarding part of being an entrepreneur is witnessing how people’s lives have improved with what you have created. Sometimes, it’s as simple as you created a process, or as complex as launching an app, but in the end when you personally see how people’s lives have become better with what you create, there is an unquantifiable return on emotional investment.” – Rienzi Ramirez
Rienzi’s personal vision and mission is to create a highly engaged workforce while improving their personal and professional lives which resonates in how he leads his organization and how he interacts with his people. He loves to talk to the employees and shows genuine concern for their welfare. Of all the stories and experiences that [24]7.ai people share about Rienzi, one stands out where he made efforts for one of the leaders to adjust to her new home after moving to be closer to work. When the employee was fairly new to the company, he briefly asked how she was settling in to find out that her moved brought on a problem of high electricity bill mainly due to an electric stove. Rienzi suggested using LPG instead but she said that she’s had a hard time looking for one. The same afternoon, a delivery man came knocking at the employee’s door, and with him was an LPG tank that Rienzi ordered for her. According to the employee, what made it more touching was that she did not mention her address to Rienzi, which only means that Rienzi had to ask around for her address – which made the gesture more heart-warming. Rienzi’s genuine concern for employee’s well-being brings him to find ways to care for things that matter most to his employees.
“The most successful enterprises are those that have gone way beyond the purpose of profits and that in the end, it is all about people and how you uplift their lives. It may be about their own learning, growth and development, their family life, work-life or their own livelihood – whatever it is, we will be there as an organization making an impact on people’s lives while upholding the highest business standards and meeting the expectations of our stakeholders,” shared Rienzi.
He finds fulfillment in joint success with people who he works with. He has a team that he has worked with for more than 10 years – that’s a long time to be working with the same team in the industry they are in. He achieved it because he focused on making his people successful and found his own success in theirs. “I think the most rewarding part of being an entrepreneur is witnessing how people’s lives have improved with what you have created. Sometimes, it’s as simple as you created a process, or as complex as launching an app, but in the end when you personally see how people’s lives have become better with what you create, there is an unquantifiable return on emotional investment,” ended Rienzi.
Certainly a pretty good feat for someone who had a door closed on him, only to open doors for many others.