Better Insights, Better Service: Using AWS Glue with Amazon Connect

Leepo Mokoto

Principal Engineer

leepo-aws-bl

Unlocking Your Contact Centre Goldmine with Amazon Connect and AWS Glue

Your Amazon Connect contact centre is generating a massive amount of valuable data with every single customer interaction: call recordings, chat transcripts, agent performance metrics, customer sentiment scores, and more. But is this data actually working for you? Or is it sitting in a data lake, raw and unused?

For many businesses, this data is a missed opportunity. To transform it from raw information into a strategic asset, you need a powerful tool to process it. That’s where AWS Glue comes in.

By combining Amazon Connect with AWS Glue, you can create a powerful automated pipeline to unlock deep insights, elevate customer satisfaction, and drive significant business efficiency.

The Power Couple: A Contact Centre and a Data Refinery

Think of your AWS services as a team:

  • Amazon Connect is your star player on the front lines, managing all your customer interactions and generating a wealth of raw data (your contact trace records).
  • AWS Glue is your expert data refinery working behind the scenes. It’s a serverless ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) service that automatically prepares your raw data for analysis.

Here’s how they work together: AWS Glue can be configured to automatically “crawl” the raw data from Amazon Connect, understand its structure, clean and transform it (e.g., combining data from different sources or converting call recordings to text), and then load it into a data warehouse like Amazon Redshift or a data lake for analysis with tools like Amazon QuickSight.

From Raw Data to Real-World Business Value

Once your data is refined and accessible, the possibilities are endless. You can:

  • Analyse Root Causes: Move beyond “average handling time” and analyse call transcripts to understand why customers are calling, identifying the root causes of common problems.
  • Optimise Agent Performance: Identify your top-performing agents and analyse their interaction patterns to create best-practice training for the entire team.
  • Improve Customer Experience: Pinpoint exactly where in the IVR or call flow customers are getting frustrated or dropping off, allowing you to make data-driven improvements.
  • Enhance Business Efficiency: Gain a holistic view of your contact centre operations, allowing for better resource planning and cost optimisation.

The BlueSky Takeaway:

Stop letting your contact centre data go to waste. By using AWS Glue to automate the ETL process for your Amazon Connect data, you can create a powerful, scalable, and cost-effective analytics pipeline. This turns your contact centre from a simple service department into a rich source of business intelligence that drives efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  1. What is ETL and why is it important for contact centre data?
    ETL stands for Extract, Transform, and Load. It’s a data integration process. Extract is pulling the raw data from a source (like Amazon Connect). Transform is cleaning, formatting, and enriching that data to make it useful. Load is placing the prepared data into a destination system (like a data warehouse) for analysis. It’s essential because raw contact centre data is often complex and unstructured; ETL makes it ready for business intelligence.

  1. Why use AWS Glue instead of other ETL tools?
    AWS Glue has several key advantages within the AWS ecosystem. It is serverless, meaning you don’t have to manage any infrastructure and only pay for the resources you use. It is fully managed by AWS, making it highly scalable and reliable. Most importantly, it integrates seamlessly with other AWS services like Amazon S3, Amazon Redshift, and Amazon Connect, simplifying the process of building a data pipeline.

  1. What kind of skills are needed to set up this data pipeline?
    Setting up a robust data pipeline with AWS Glue and Amazon Connect typically requires skills in data engineering and AWS cloud architecture. A certified AWS partner like BlueSky can help you design and implement a pipeline that is tailored to your specific business needs, ensuring it is secure, cost-effective, and provides the actionable insights you need.
Share

Explore More Insights

Levelling-Up-Together
Levelling Up Together: A Look Inside BlueSky’s Company Culture
What makes a great company culture? Take a look inside our 'Level Up' company conference and see how we invest in our team's growth, collaboration, and success. Interested in joining us?
ExperienceDesign
The Psychology Behind Exceptional Experience Design
Why do some designs just feel right? Discover the psychology behind exceptional experience design, from cognitive biases to the principles that guide human behaviour and create intuitive products.
Fireside-Chat--Business-Innovation-with-AWS
Fireside Chat: Business Innovation with AWS [WATCH ON-DEMAND]
Missed our exclusive fireside chat? Watch the on-demand recording to hear from AWS and BlueSky experts on cloud adoption, data strategy, and business innovation in South Africa.
Tashya-Singh

Tashya Singh

Head of Human Capital

As Head of Human Capital at BlueSky, Tashya Singh plays a pivotal role in shaping a people strategy that empowers innovation, agility and growth. With more than 15 years of experience in Human Capital Management within technology-driven environments, she brings deep expertise in building cultures that align people and purpose.

Tashya is passionate about fostering inclusive, high-performance teams and supporting diverse talent across all functions — from engineering to commercial operations. A proud member of the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP), she is recognised for combining strategic thinking with a hands-on, empathetic approach to leadership.

In a rapidly evolving tech landscape, Tashya ensures that the Human Capital function acts as a key enabler of business outcomes — leading initiatives that attract top talent, develop future-ready skills and embed agility into organisational design and culture. Her focus on data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement helps BlueSky scale effectively while maintaining a people-first ethos.

Outside of work, Tashya is a devoted mother to her two sons, whom she affectionately calls her greatest blessings.

Tracy-Surkont

Tracy Surkont

Growth Marketing Executive

As Growth Marketing Executive at BlueSky, Tracy Surkont drives business growth at the intersection of cloud technology, product strategy and industry transformation. She helps shape go-to-market strategies that align with client needs and position BlueSky’s offerings for measurable impact across key industries.

With more than 20 years of experience in sales and product leadership, Tracy has worked with leading enterprises across Africa to unlock value through innovative product development, strategic engagement and deep industry alignment — particularly in the telecommunications, media and FMCG sectors.

She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Business Management. When not building growth strategies, Tracy enjoys running, travelling and spending time with her family.

Michael-Baxter

Michael Baxter

Head of Finance and Commercial

As Head of Finance and Commercial at BlueSky, Michael Baxter oversees the organisation’s financial operations and reporting, leading the financial strategy to support growth while ensuring fiscal responsibility. He also manages commercial contracts to drive short-term profitability with a clear focus on long-term sustainability.

With more than 20 years of experience in the technology and communications industries — and a background in programming — Michael brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his role. His vision is to reimagine finance at BlueSky through automation and innovation, enabling more strategic decision-making and ensuring that financial insights are readily available to guide business partners across the organisation.

Martin-Cheetham

Martin Cheetham

Business Executive – Experience Design

Martin Cheetham is a design thinker, guitarist, husband and father with a passion for design, technology, music and film. He is dedicated to creating experiences that make people’s lives simpler, easier and more enjoyable.

With over 15 years’ experience, Martin has immersed himself in Design Thinking and human-centred methodologies to uncover people’s deeper motivations and translate insight into meaningful experiences that deliver business value.

At BlueSky, he leads dynamic teams to design innovative products, services and experiences, while remaining hands-on in projects. An experienced facilitator and teacher of Design Thinking, Martin has guided corporate teams, individuals and students through practical frameworks that foster creativity and problem-solving.

Nicole-Adriaans

Nicole Adriaans

Business Executive – Data Analytics AI

Nicole Adriaans is a seasoned Business Executive specialising in Data and AI, with over 20 years of experience delivering transformative solutions across the full business value chain. Since 2009, she has led the strategic design and implementation of data-driven initiatives — from omni-channel optimisation to cutting-edge omni-digital programmes — driving measurable value and innovation.

Passionate about inclusive leadership, Nicole is a dedicated advocate for empowering women in technology, actively mentoring and championing diversity in the tech sector. At BlueSky, she brings a human-centred approach to AI, challenging organisations to move beyond the hype toward real, measurable transformation.

Her forward-thinking leadership and commitment to excellence continue to shape impactful data strategies and foster a culture of innovation, empathy and equity.

Rob-Williamson

Rob Williamson

Business Executive - Amazon Web Services

As Business Executive of BlueSky’s AWS Business Unit, Rob Williamson leads a world-class, customer-centric team of engineers helping enterprise clients embrace secure, scalable and innovative cloud solutions that reimagine their digital futures.

With more than 35 years of experience in the technology industry, Rob has led transformative initiatives across financial services, telecommunications, retail, and the public sector. He is passionate about building high-performance teams, forging strategic partnerships, and inspiring change with clarity and purpose.

Rob holds a BCom in Business Management and is a lifelong learner, guided by Stephen Covey’s philosophy: “To Live, to Love, to Learn, and to Leave a Legacy.” Above all, he is a devoted family man, deeply committed to community development through his involvement in education, sport and his church.

Dave-Thomson

Dave Thomson

Head of Sales

As Head of Sales at BlueSky, Dave Thompson is passionate about people and technology — and about combining the two to deliver value and growth through a strong customer-centric focus.

With more than 25 years of experience across South Africa and the UK, Dave has a proven track record of leading high-performing teams, building lasting relationships and implementing innovative sales strategies in the fast-moving digital transformation landscape.

Outside of work, Dave is a dedicated family man and sports enthusiast. He has played provincial golf, enjoys social padel and loves to travel — guided by his personal mantra to live life to the fullest in both work and play.

Nomfusi Masangwana

Nomfusi Masangwana

Director

Nomfusi is a finance and investment professional with a BCom in Accounting and more than four years of experience in financial management, reporting and compliance. She has developed a strong track record in navigating complex financial processes, ensuring accuracy, governance and accountability across investment and corporate structures.

With extensive experience compiling financial and investment reports for private equity funds and investment companies, Nomfusi delivers data-driven insights that support strategic decision-making. Her methodical and proactive approach ensures that financial and compliance processes are executed with rigour and efficiency.

As a Director at BlueSky, Nomfusi brings a disciplined financial lens, a deep understanding of reporting and governance, and a commitment to excellence in oversight and accountability — strengthening the organisation’s strategic direction and supporting sustainable growth.

Janet Naidoo

Janet Naidoo

Director

Janet Naidoo is a seasoned financial services professional with over a decade of experience across private banking, wealth management and investment consulting. She has held senior roles at Invequity, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, RMB and Allan Gray, where she specialised in managing high-net-worth and corporate clients.

FAIS-accredited (RE1 & RE5), Janet is passionate about building trusted relationships and driving business growth. She brings deep financial expertise, strategic insight and strong leadership to her role as Director at BlueSky.

Rassie-Engelbrecht

Rassie Engelbrecht

Co-CEO

Rassie Engelbrecht is an experienced executive and thought leader with a strong track record in Business and Digital Transformation, Cloud and AI Consulting, and delivering results across multiple industries — including Financial Services, Telecommunications, Media, Automotive, Retail, Public Sector, Mining and Social Enterprises.

An engineer, futurist, strategist, and innovator, Rassie combines technical expertise with a passion for client centricity and empowering people. As Co-CEO of BlueSky, his entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen are central to the company’s ambitious growth plans.

Rassie holds an Engineering degree from the University of Pretoria, an MBA from Aston University in the UK, and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from BMGI. He has also completed various certifications in Agile, Data, Design, AI, Project Management and People Change.

Beyond his professional life, Rassie is dedicated to community upliftment through his non-profit initiatives and enjoys hiking, travelling, and speaking at conferences on future trends. Above all, he values time with his family and believes deeply in relationships, servanthood and stewardship.

Matt-Surkont 2

Matt Surkont

Founder / Chief Executive Officer 

As the founder and CEO of BlueSky, I have helped numerous clients drive their digital and AI transformations by delivering cutting-edge solutions that enhance efficiency, effectiveness and growth. 

As an entrepreneur, having started and invested in numerous technology companies, I am also the founder of a private equity fund, where I employ hands-on venture capital and business building strategies for entrepreneurs. I support startups with focused business resources and lived experience in every aspect of growth. 

I hold a Bachelor of Business Science degree with honours in Information Systems from the University of Cape Town.

When I’m not BlueSky thinking, I enjoy spending time with my family, trail running and fishing.