The State of Gen AI in Customer Service

As Apple Intelligence (the tech giant’s Gen AI-powered service) is primed to reach millions of iPhone users, and NVIDIA becomes the most valuable company in the world due to its status as an AI computing leader, it is safe to say that we’ve officially entered the “AI Era”.

Approximately 80% of enterprises have made significant or initial investments in Gen AI for their operations and customer experience (CX) activities. Another 17% plan to invest within the next year, signaling that the vast majority view Gen AI as a game-changer for their CX teams.

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What’s driving this momentum? Gen AI’s ability to interact at a near-human level makes it a perfect addition to the CX toolbox. In CX roles, Gen AI helps humans produce faster customer insights, streamline self-service offerings, and offer more relevant product recommendations.

The Gen AI projects moving from the pilot to the production phase include agent-assist solutions, automated Voice of Customer (VoC) systems, and conversational IVR / customer-facing bots. These deployments improve efficiency, cost optimization, and, most importantly, customer experiences.

Evolving CX: Trust in Tech

Generative AI also presents opportunities for CX teams to spend their time on more intricate aspects of customer management. According to the Everest survey, 61% of respondents say that Gen AI has freed up their teams to focus on higher-level tasks. Enterprises also anticipate that Gen AI will increase self-service, offer better insights, and capture sales opportunities more effectively, ultimately boosting customer retention and loyalty..

Gen AI will likely transform operations at many enterprises. 75% of business leaders believe Gen AI will change the way they work by creating new roles like AI Trainers and Customer Insight Analysts while reducing other jobs by a small margin. This shift highlights the growing demand for employees skilled in Gen AI, positioning them for an advantage in the employment market.

These new roles will accelerate Gen AI adoption. A lack of skilled personnel is currently holding back the adoption of AI and stunting AI initiatives in many enterprises.. Enterprises are also experiencing challenges related to the quality and availability of data to train AI, as well as cultural resistance and change management. To drive AI initiatives forward, companies need to onboard skilled AI workers and successfully manage the concerns and expectations of their current workforce.

The satisfaction with existing AI deployments varies by region. In EMEA and the Americas, respondents report a 50-60% rate of satisfaction with their ROI on Gen AI. Buyers in APAC, however, are less bullish on their investments, indicating that advanced Gen AI adoption and value realization are still at their early stages in APAC as opposed to Western markets. That creates an opportunity for those enterprises to seize a competitive advantage.

More than 75% of enterprises that are adopting AI are choosing to do so through a partnership with an experienced IT/Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firm rather than managing the transformation in-house. Those opting for in-house implementation do so to control customer interactions and align the tech with their unique business strategies. In contrast, enterprises  partnering with IT/BPO providers do so to ensure expert specialization and management of the tools.

Of the companies that partnered with IT/BPO providers, 61% report satisfaction with their AI partners. Over half of respondents preferred partners with in-depth industry expertise, flexible technology options, the ability to articulate and sequence use cases effectively, and maintenance and model fine-tuning support. Effective deployment, fine-tuning, and maintenance of AI deployments require these specialties. The ability to develop for specific use cases, in particular, is a key component of realizing a positive ROI.

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The survey highlights both opportunities and challenges for enterprises adopting AI in customer experience. It’s crucial to address unique business needs and select a technology partner capable of delivering customized solutions. While AI may replace certain roles, the data shows it will still require human involvement in others.

Keeping Humans in the AI Loop

While Gen AI offers significant potential in enterprise settings, our analysis of less successful deployments reveals the importance of keeping humans in the loop. Human expertise helps mitigate the risk of AI “hallucinations,” ensures response accuracy, and enhances the security of user interactions.

Currently, Gen AI is primarily handling simpler tasks, while humans focus on more complex responsibilities. As AI continues to evolve, we expect it to take on increasingly intricate tasks.

To maximize ROI from AI deployments, we recommend the following strategies:

• Augment, don’t replace, existing talent: AI should enhance workflows by taking over repetitive tasks, allowing human resources to focus on higher-value work. Ensuring executives that AI will not replace employees, but rather increase efficiency, is key to gaining leadership support.

• Expect a learning period: AI requires ongoing training and fine-tuning. Achieving a positive ROI depends on an organization’s willingness to invest time and resources into continually optimizing AI systems.

• Pair AI with human team members: Human oversight is critical for training, deploying, and refining AI models, as well as avoiding errors caused by AI hallucinations. Skilled human operators safeguard against the risks associated with AI technology.

To thrive in the future, enterprises must adopt a blended approach—leveraging AI for what it does best while relying on human support for complex scenarios where AI may fall short. This combination will drive success in AI deployments and ensure optimal outcomes.

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