“Axonify is a culture connector, it’s not just a learning thing. It’s a tool for all employees.”
Khiawah Pearce, Associate Director at AT&T
Reimagining the Frontline: How AT&T is Driving
Strategic Results Across the Business
How personalized training and communication through Axonify helps
30,000+ employees build the knowledge, confidence and habits to drive
real business results.
$450K
average annual training cost savings
127%
KPI growth 60 days post launch
85%
current knowledge level —up 8% from baseline
Challenges:
AT&T’s frontline teams work in various roles, from in-store representatives to home service technicians and call center agents and customers who engage with them often already have extensive knowledge of products and promotions. To meet customers where they are and uphold the company’s high standards, AT&T’s employees need quick access to accurate information and training to deliver exceptional value.
“Customers buy confidence,” says Mark Gil, Director of Learning & Development Frontline Training at AT&T. “That confidence starts with the level of proficiency our frontline staff have in our products, services and tools.”
When employees aren’t up-to-date on products and services, it impacts more than just customer service: it directly affects the business’s bottom line. AT&T’s 30,000+ frontline employees are accountable for results across nine critical performance indicators (KPIs), including sales of post-paid voice plans, broadband internet plans, upgrades, protection plans and data plans.
In the past, AT&T relied on pulling employees off the floor for 30-60-minute web-based or leader- led training. But this method disrupted their work and didn’t always provide the information they needed when they needed it. These sessions were high-cost and low-impact since it was hard for staff to retain everything they learned and apply it on the job. This one-size-fits-all training also didn’t take into account individual needs.
“One of the challenges is that training wasn’t personalized, so everyone was getting the same content,” says Khiawah Pearce, Associate Director at AT&T. “It was difficult to pinpoint where true improvement was needed and where our efforts were having the most impact.”
Beyond formal training, AT&T employees could find performance support resources—product information and troubleshooting guides—in one system, while their training history was in another. To make things more complicated, a third application was used to track their sales metrics. This fragmented experience meant employees had to switch between multiple tools to get a complete picture of their performance and identify areas for improvement. This clunky process discouraged regular use.
AT&T leadership realized it was time to reimagine the company’s approach to learning and communication. They found a way forward with Axonify.
Solution:
AT&T’s goal was to build staff knowledge and confidence without taking them away from selling and supporting customers. The result is the Signal platform, powered by Axonify, that delivers personalized, bite sized learning, streamlined communication and real-time performance data in one place.
“What better way to build an experience around service than to give a white glove learning experience to our frontline staff?” says Gil.
With Axonify in place, employees access training and messages in just 3–5 minutes each shift through mobile point-of-sale tablets in stores, mobile devices for home service professionals and laptops or desktops in call centers.
The platform personalizes training to the needs of every employee by analyzing a range of data, including individual knowledge gaps and on-the-job performance. This ensures that each employee’s learning path is focused on the most important topics and business priorities, helping them improve in the areas where they need it most.
“Training is centered around all the things that we need them to be experts at when supporting our customers,” says Gil. “What’s really cool is that whether they get it right or wrong, they’ll see that question again at some point in time. Axonify keeps it fresh.”
AT&T is focused on culture of continuous learning. The AT&T Leadership team appreciates that Axonify offers baked-in gamification elements, like badges and leaderboards, that transform training from must-do to something employees look forward to doing.
“One of the reasons we’re using Axonify today is because our people love the tool,” says Pearce. “They say it’s not the same old boring training they consumed in our other LMS. It’s a win-win.”
Axonify also makes it easy for managers to stay on top of their team’s progress. Managers use a dashboard to get a real-time view of their team’s progress. It displays key insights, such as who has completed their training, who needs one-on-one coaching, and the team’s overall knowledge and confidence levels.
Bringing frontline teams together
The platform has become the central hub for all frontline communications. This allows AT&T’s L&D, communications and Operations teams to embed critical updates and training links directly into the Axonify platform, ensuring employees get the right information in a single, easy-to-access location.
“We worked on a strategy focused on getting communications out of the email box and into Axonify,” says Gil. “Before I knew it, we had our Operations partner saying, ‘Well, what else can we put in there?’”
“Axonify is a culture connector,” says Pearce. “It’s not just a learning thing. It’s a tool for all employees. Part of our strategy is making sure everyone’s invested in getting employees to log in regularly.”
“Now we can take data and tell learning stories to senior leadership. They get excited when they see how far we’ve come. Equating knowledge growth to business impact is the fuel we need to prioritize what comes next.”
Mark Gil, Director of Learning & Development Frontline Training at AT&T
Results:
Since implementing Axonify, AT&T’s frontline teams are building the sustained knowledge and confidence needed to deliver standout customer service. The impact is clear: in the data and in front of customers.
Knowledge is growing—and retained
- 69% of AT&T employees log in to Axonify an average of 8 days a month. This high engagement reinforces daily learning and long-term goals.
- The team’s current knowledge level is 85%, which is up 8% from the baseline originally measured in the Axonify platform.
Performance metrics are on the rise
AT&T has also recorded a 7.3% to 9.5% knowledge growth across the nine key KPI topics identified as business-critical, and this knowledge growth is translating into stronger business results. AT&T’s analysis of pre-program and 60-day post-program KPI impact revealed an up to 127% boost in KPI performance.
Smarter training means real operational savings
AT&T reduced training per employee, and the new approach to training saves the business an average of $450,000 per year.
The path forward is paved with proof
AT&T now has proof that training makes a measurable business impact, helping to drive smarter decisions for the business. As Gil notes, “Now we can take data and tell learning stories to senior leadership. They get excited when they see how far we’ve come. Equating knowledge growth to business impact is the fuel we need to prioritize what comes next.”
The success of AT&T’s Signal platform, powered by Axonify, is a testament to the strong partnership between the two companies. During the rollout, AT&T leveraged the Axonify Advantage Program for strategic support, and Pearce says her team continues to consult with Axonify experts weekly.
“The entire Axonify team helps us solve problems and personalize the platform for our needs,” says Pearce. “We often feel unique in our challenges, and they help us understand how we can use the platform to meet those needs.”
This solid alliance ensures that the platform is always evolving to meet the needs of employees who log in daily to “check their Signal strength” and get the information they need to succeed when they need it most.
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