Umm, Now We Have Holograms in Customer Service?

This week on Funnel Frontier: Retail just got weirder—and smarter. Kailey talks, solves problems, and and runs locally (no cloud required).

This week:

• A hologram just joined your CX team
• Agentforce Marketing now speaks WhatsApp, SMS, and RCS

Stat of the Week

34% of businesses using generative AI report exceptional customer service compared to those that don’t. (CRM.org)

💫 A hologram just joined your CX team

At NRF 2026, amid the sea of self-checkout demos and “frictionless” buzzwords, Cisco and Proto Hologram dropped something you don’t see every day: a holographic AI assistant that actually does something useful.

Meet Kailey: a hologram with edge AI brains and surprisingly good people skills. She speaks like a person, answers like an expert, and doesn’t freeze when the Wi-Fi hiccups. 

According to Proto’s founder David Nussbaum: “Kailey runs on a small language model deployed at the edge using Cisco’s Unified Edge platform, enabling natural, voice-based conversations without relying on the cloud.”

Also? She’s a real person scanned live at the event, then beamed into Proto’s booth like a customer support Jedi.

She’s not some 3D avatar cooked up in a lab. Kailey is a real person, scanned live at the event and projected into Proto’s booth like a customer service Jedi—ready to answer product questions, handle support, and charm you in three dimensions. 

🛍️ The help desk just got a sci-fi upgrade

Retail tech is great at two things: looking impressive in keynotes and disappointing on the floor. Chatbots stall. QR codes get ignored. Digital signage might as well be wallpaper.

Kailey’s different, and not just because she looks like she walked out of a sci-fi reboot. She runs on a small language model at the edge. That means:

• No lag. Answers happen faster than your average store associate can find the SKU gun.
• No cloud dependency. Store Wi-Fi having a midlife crisis? Doesn’t matter, Kailey keeps talking.
• Multilingual by design. NRF attendees tested her in multiple languages. No “press 1 for English” nonsense.
• Real governance. Proto’s SOC 2 certification means there’s security muscle under the hood.

This isn’t just another shiny gimmick for keynotes and flagship stores. If it actually scales (and that’s still an if), Kailey could handle FAQs, product comparisons, wayfinding, even preempt some returns, and do it all without getting flustered or escalating to a manager named Chad.

Because in 2026, a kiosk that just sits there is a liability. You want one that sells, speaks, and doesn’t crash when the network hiccups.

💡 Holograms are cool. But can they help you clear tickets?

Kailey might look like sci-fi, but she’s actually retail’s sneak peek at something practical: AI that stays local, speaks human, and shows up where the customer is, even when Wi-Fi ghosts you.

If you’re running CX at a mid-sized brand and wondering “Is this even for us?”, it depends.

You don’t need a booth hologram. But the tech under the hood? That’s worth watching.

Edge AI means faster answers and fewer “Sorry, what was that?” moments—especially for things like wayfinding, product lookups, return policies, and all the repeat questions that jam up your live support.

If you’re testing edge AI, don’t get hypnotized by the hologram. Ask:

• Can it handle your top 10 repeat questions, without cloud lag?
• Is the data actually accurate, secure, and managed by someone who isn’t “Brad from IT” part-time?
• Will it reduce escalations, or just add another screen to clean?

Because customers don’t care if it’s a hologram, chatbot, or carrier pigeon. They care if it works.

And how to start with edge AI? Talk to your contact center or IT vendor. Some already support edge-deployed agents. Cisco’s Unified Edge platform, for example, is what powers Kailey, and it’s built for real-world deployments, not just show-floor sparkle.

The Week @ CRM.org

CRM Implementation 101. Rolling out a CRM without a plan is how office morale and data hygiene die at the same time.

Best Mobile CRM Software. Sales waits for no desktop. These CRMs turn your phone into a pipeline powerhouse, no hotspot required.

🌸 Weekly Bloom 🌸 

Stress Isn’t Always the Enemy. Turns out stress can boost memory, extend lifespan, and fuel performance. You just have to stop treating it like a toxic ex.

Agentforce Marketing now speaks WhatsApp, SMS, and RCS

Forget campaigns that ghost your customers after the CTA. Vonage’s latest Salesforce integration brings two-way messaging into Agentforce Marketing, so your outreach doesn’t just land… it talks back.

Instead of one-way promos and dead-end notifications, brands can now have real-time chats across SMS, WhatsApp, and RCS right inside Salesforce. That means customers can ask a question, get an answer, and maybe even hit “buy now” all without leaving the thread.

"In today's market, it's not enough to just send messages; businesses must create meaningful connections across every customer touchpoint," said Christophe Van de Weyer, President and Head of Business Unit API for Vonage.

🛠️ What’s new under the hood

Vonage Conversations for Agentforce Marketing wires Salesforce’s marketing platform directly into Vonage’s messaging APIs. Now, you’re having actual conversations instead of just sending campaigns.

Here’s what gets unlocked:

• Two-way messaging across SMS, WhatsApp, and RCS, all inside Salesforce
• AI that auto-replies, personalizes messages, and adjusts tone using real-time CRM data
• Conversations that don’t feel like spam; they feel like customer service with perfect timing

This isn’t just “Hello [first name]” on three different channels. This is marketing that remembers your shoe size, your cart, and the fact that you ghosted that promo last week. And yeah—it still wants to talk.

📈 Marketing that texts back—and brings receipts

With Vonage Conversations baked into Agentforce Marketing, your campaigns stop acting like email blasts with commitment issues and start behaving like actual conversations. 

You get:

• Replies, not just reach: Two-way, omnichannel messaging (SMS, WhatsApp, RCS) that doesn’t ghost your customers after the promo code drops.
• Context that sticks: From “Hey, your order shipped” to “Need help returning it?”—everyone sees the same thread.
• Fewer toggles, faster launches: Add channels without duct-taping new tools to your tech stack like a CX-themed science fair project.
• Engagement you can actually measure: All the clicks, replies, and drop-offs tied directly to journeys, not siloed in some dusty spreadsheet.

And because all of this runs inside Salesforce, you’re turning every customer touchpoint into part of a shared, trackable story.

💡 Why this matters

For every team drowning in AI tools, data silos, and “Please contact support” dead ends, this is a reset button. Conversations finally feel continuous. Messaging becomes part of the experience, not an interruption.

Vonage’s bet? The next wave of CX won’t be who sends the most. It’ll be who remembers what you said last time, says something worth hearing, and keeps the chat going.

Because great CX doesn’t start with “Dear valued customer.”

It starts with, “Hey, still thinking about those shoes?”

Galactic Gourmet

CRM blips from around the web

Emplifi taps Reddit data to fuel AI-powered brand strategy. Emplifi is integrating Reddit’s real-time community data into its Fuel platform, turning conversation trends into actionable tactics for retail, CPG, and sports brands. Teams can now detect sentiment shifts early and act faster across channels.

Calabrio launches unified QA for AI and human agents. Calabrio’s new Omni Agent Intelligence gives contact centers one view of agent performance across humans, AI, and platforms. Teams can now track quality, spot handoff issues, and improve outcomes no matter how the tech stack evolves.

AWS launches European Sovereign Cloud, expands across EU. AWS has launched its European Sovereign Cloud, offering a fully independent, EU-only cloud for sensitive data workloads. The service expands to Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal, backed by a €7.8B investment in Germany.

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