Author Archives
Derek Top, Principal Analyst and Research Director, Opus Research
Derek Top is Principal Analyst and Research Director for Opus Research, a diversified advisory firm tracking how AI, LLMs, and advanced technologies are impacting customer experiences and enterprise applications. For more than 20 years, he has been covering technology innovation and spearheading analysis about how Conversational AI and Conversational Intelligence technologies transform businesses and reshape customer experiences.
Previously, Top served as senior associate editor with Optimize magazine and InformationWeek covering business technology and enterprise IT trends for CMP Media and UBM. Before joining CMP, Top was managing editor with Streaming Media, Inc. Prior to Opus Research, he was senior editor and program director at the Trellis Group. There he helped produce the VERGE conference series and wrote about how technology convergence drives innovation for smart energy and sustainability.
Contact: dtop@opusresearch.net
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Opus Research Report: Agentic Commerce, A 15-Year View of a 2-Year-Old Category
New Opus Research report traces agentic commerce back to its conversational roots and maps who the agent works for, how much authority it holds, and what brands need to build now.
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NiCE Delivered on Cognigy. Now Comes the Hard Part.
One year after acquiring Cognigy, NiCE showed analysts in Maui that it has largely delivered on its integration promises. The harder test now is helping enterprises govern and operate AI agents at scale, not building them.
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The New Economics of Agentic Voice AI: The True Cost Per Resolution
Join Opus Research and USAN to look past per-token pricing and find out what it really costs to resolve a customer conversation with agentic voice AI, and how to forecast that cost at scale.
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Five9’s “Humantic” Bet Is Really a Bet on Conversations
Five9’s new leadership team is betting that conversation data and an open, neutral interaction layer will matter more than owning every AI agent in the stack.
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Salesforce’s Agentic Enterprise: A Coherent Architecture, an Unfinished Operating Model
Dreamforce 2026 showed a fast-maturing Agentforce whose reach in CX will depend on coordination, CCaaS, and workforce design.
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Opus Research Report: Why Customer Experience Needs an AI Agent Control Plane
New Opus Research report defines the five layers of a complete AI agent control plane, and why no single vendor will deliver it.
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2025 Conversation Intelligence Intelliview: Introducing Conversational Experience Orchestration
Opus Research’s exclusive report details nine leading solutions providers, outlining specific products and services, technology differentiators, business impact, and future strategies for advanced LLMs and GenAI.