“We shouldn’t lose CCM in the marketing jungle. It’s built on trust, compliance, and integrity.” — Saurabh Raj
In this episode of Above the Treeline, I sat down with Saurabh Raj, a rising analyst at QKS Group, for an energizing conversation about the global state of customer communications. Saurabh brings a fresh perspective to a maturing industry, he's not bogged down by legacy definitions, and that makes this dialogue especially important right now.
The big idea: Customer Communications Management (CCM) is evolving into Customer Experience Management (CXM) and beyond. What used to be about regulated documents and static templates is now about data, orchestration, AI, and global scale.
What We Talked About
This wasn’t your average "print to digital" discussion. A few of the highlights from the 38-minute conversation:
GenAI and the end of templates: From document-driven workflows to dynamic, prompt-based content
(14:30–17:00)Journey orchestration is now table stakes: And CCM has a critical seat at that table
(06:00–08:00)Healthcare innovation and notification triggers: What India is doing that the U.S. isn’t
(22:00–24:00)Why preference management is still broken: And how AI might fix, or further manipulate it
(31:00–32:30)Global fragmentation: CCM maturity isn’t uniform, and the U.S. may not be the most advanced market
(26:00–29:00)Data ownership wars: What happens when marketing, ops, and compliance fight over the same stack
(10:00–12:00, 20:00–22:00)
Why It Matters
CCM is being recast as a strategic customer experience and data asset, not just a compliance function. But as Saurabh points out, there's a risk: in the rush to modernize, we can lose what made CCM so powerful in the first place including its reliability, integrity, and role as the system of record.
He also makes a strong case that the most important innovations in CCM/CXM are not coming from the U.S., they’re emerging in markets like India, China, and Southeast Asia, where cloud-native infrastructure and customer expectations are leapfrogging the slow evolution we’re used to in regulated industries.
Bonus: What is SPARK Matrix?
You’ll also hear Saurabh share what QKS Group is building with SPARK+, a new global dashboard that tracks adoption trends, RFP evolution, and how AI is being integrated into CCM platforms. Think of it as the analyst lens on CCM you didn’t know you needed, but now won’t want to work without.
Andy’s Take
This conversation reinforced something I’ve been saying for a while: CCM is no longer a back-office operation. It’s a core business capability, tightly integrated with CX, data, privacy, and growth strategy.
If you’re in print, mail, MarTech, or digital engagement, you need to hear this this conversation.
