What MLB™ and The Shield Companies taught us about connected customer experiences

At Zoomtopia this year, Amy Roberge, head of global CX solutions engineering at Zoom, sat down with two leaders who know a thing or two about serving their customers under pressure: Neil Boland, CISO and SVP of technology and security at Major League Baseball™ (MLB), and Jonathan Hypes, director of IT, at The Shield Companies.

Baseball and pest control don’t sound like industries that have much in common. But when it comes to customer experience, their challenges and solutions share a similar thread: connecting in ways that put their customers first.

AI may be what’s on everyone’s mind, but the panel opened with a reminder that technology isn’t the endgame. Connection is at the heart of customer experience. As Amy put it: “Technology is a tool, not the differentiator. What matters is how it helps customers feel connected to the brands they trust.”

For MLB™, that means making sure every fan interaction, whether in the stadium, on the phone, or online, is as seamless as the game itself. “There’s no margin for error,” Neil explained. “When a fan calls, it’s in real time, just like in a baseball game. Every minute spent resolving an issue is a minute they want back with the team or the broadcast.”

For The Shield Companies, connection means empathy. Jonathan described a shift from simply reacting to problems to proactively creating better experiences: “When customers call us, it’s usually because something’s wrong. We wanted to change that dynamic by equipping agents with context and leading with empathy. Our mission is to spread happiness and it starts with how we handle those calls.”

Both organizations pointed to simplicity as a critical success factor.

The Shield Company’s rapid growth, nearly doubling its branch count in two years, demanded a platform that could scale without creating a headache for IT. “Legacy phone systems couldn’t keep up,” Jonathan said. “Zoom CX let us grow at speed while making life easier for agents and customers alike.”

MLB™ experienced the same benefit. “We had clubs that set up Zoom CX over a weekend with no heavy lift,” Neil recalled. “That kind of ease, along with the platform familiarity, doesn’t just save time, it builds confidence and trust across the organization.”

When the conversation turned to AI, both leaders emphasized its role as an enabler to help people do their jobs better.

Neil called out how Zoom’s built-in native AI supports his team—surfacing coaching in real time, flagging at-risk calls, and even spotting upsell opportunities. Jonathan pointed to sentiment analysis and Zoom AI Expert  Assist, that help agents redirect conversations and resolve issues faster.

There’s a caveat, though: data quality is everything. As Jonathan noted with a smile, “Please, clean your data before you unleash AI on it.”

The session closed with advice that applies across all industries:

• Jonathan from The Shield Company’s advice: “Understand your customers, including your agents, and please clean your data.”
• Neil from MLB’s™  advice: “Don’t overthink it. Just get started. The Zoom platform makes it easy to begin, and you’ll learn as you go.”

The part of the conversation that stuck out most was the reminder that, at the end of the day, customer experience is about people. Tools like AI, automation, and integrated platforms are powerful, but only when they make human connections stronger, faster, and more enjoyable.

MLB™ and The Shield Company are proving the importance of feeling connected to your customers, whether you’re helping fans get back to the ballpark or helping families feel at ease in their homes.

Watch the full session from Zoomtopia to hear the complete conversation,  including candid stories, lessons learned, and how these organizations are using Zoom CX to build connected experiences that truly resonate. 

You can also join a live Zoomtopia on the Road session in a city near you and watch all Zoomtopia sessions on demand. 

Major League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com.