In today’s always-on economy, seamless and personalized customer engagement has become a norm. As India races ahead in its digital transformation journey, enterprises are under growing pressure to deliver consistent, real-time communication across multiple channels while navigating complex regulatory frameworks. In this exclusive interaction with Tech Achieve Media, Ankur Agrawal, Chief Business Officer at Sinch India, discusses how centralized communication platforms like Sinch Hub are helping businesses meet these evolving demands by integrating compliance, orchestration, and insight into a single, unified solution. Agarwal outlines what it takes to build truly connected customer journeys in an age of fragmented touchpoints and heightened data privacy concerns, which include enabling omnichannel agility in BFSI and retail to addressing the future of CPaaS.
TAM: With customer preferences increasingly leaning towards seamless omnichannel experiences, how do you see the demand for centralized communication platforms evolving, particularly in India’s rapidly digitizing economy?
Ankur Agrawal: Omnichannel is not a differentiator anymore, it’s the new norm. But what businesses usually find it hard to do is not only reach customers through channels but also do so in a coordinated, smart, and real-time fashion. And that’s where the role of centralized communication platforms is played.
In India’s high-volume, mobile-first market, the need for agility and consistency across touchpoints is huge. Platforms that can simplify orchestration, integrate with backend systems, and personalize journeys across WhatsApp, RCS, SMS, email, and voice, that’s where the demand is headed. At Sinch, we’re building for this convergence, where every interaction is not only connected but also contextual and measurable.
TAM: Navigating India’s stringent and evolving regulatory environment is a challenge for enterprises across BFSI, utilities, and e-commerce. How does Sinch Hub enable businesses to balance compliance with the need for innovative customer engagement strategies?
Ankur Agrawal: That’s precisely the gap we created Sinch Hub to bridge. In India, businesses function in one of the most heavily regulated communication landscapes in the world, with DLT standards, consent handling, frequency limits, and channel-by-channel regulations. Meanwhile, customer expectations about personalization and speed continue to build.
Sinch Hub offers a unified platform where compliance is baked into the very nature of communication. It enforces policies automatically, from user opt-in through message templates and delivery logic, so that each interaction is secure, timely, and regulation compliant. All this, importantly, is done without hindering innovation. With capabilities such as automated message conversion and real-time orchestration, companies can build engaging, personalized journeys at scale without concern for backend complexity.
TAM: Could you share examples of how industries like banking or retail have transformed their customer communication strategies using platforms like Sinch Hub? Are there key lessons or insights other sectors can adopt?
Ankur Agrawal: For example, a major private bank implemented Sinch Hub to consolidate its customer communications across SMS, email, and WhatsApp. The bank had previously been using several vendors and experiencing delays because of compliance mismatches and varied delivery. Through Sinch Hub, they consolidated their messaging stack, supporting real-time alerts, conversational paths, and targeted campaigns while remaining fully compliant with DLT and consent frameworks.
In retail, we assisted a top e-commerce merchant transition from reactive, siloed messaging to a proactive, full-funnel experience, initiated by user behavior and coordinated across channels. Their marketing teams now leverage pre-built templates, unified APIs, and real-time dashboards, all from one platform.
The takeaway here is straightforward but potent, if communications are integrated, automated, and powered by insight, companies gain speed, scale, and more meaningful relationships. That’s a playbook that every customer-facing sector can use.
TAM: In your view, what are the major gaps in the current CPaaS landscape, and how does Sinch aim to address these with its offerings?
Ankur Agrawal: CPaaS has evolved rapidly, but there are still obvious gaps. First, most platforms are channel-centric, not journey-centric, resulting in siloed customer experiences. Second, the complexity of integration, analytics, and compliance too often holds back marketing and CX teams.
At Sinch, we are committed to filling those gaps with low-code/no-code solutions that integrate messaging, voice, video, and email with inbuilt orchestration and AI. We are also committed to India-first solutions, from language personalization to telecom-grade infrastructure and regulatory compliance. Our aim is to enable businesses to move fast, remain compliant, and stay connected with customers in meaningful ways.
TAM: As businesses grapple with fragmented customer journeys and increasing data privacy concerns, what do you think is the role of platforms in shaping the next era of enterprise communication infrastructure globally?
Ankur Agrawal: The future of enterprise communication will be influenced by platforms that are merging personalization, privacy, and programmability. Companies no longer desire point solutions, they require smart systems that can learn from customer behavior, seamlessly integrate with internal applications, and enforce rigorous data governance.
We envision platforms such as Sinch to play a pivotal part, not only in making omnichannel communication easier, but in facilitating real-time decision-making, automation, and AI-based insights. It’s about transitioning from campaign-focused to customer-centric communication, where each interaction is on-time, secure, and value-adding.
