Is AI in CX Replacing Humans?

Niki Hall at Five9 discusses how AI is increasingly essential for customer experience, but it won’t completely replace the human touch in customer service, as shown in a survey.

For the past couple of years, we’ve heard speculation about how AI could gradually replace jobs. While AI clearly has a place in customer experience, it might not be to the level that news headlines would make it seem.

To get a better sense of the state of AI in customer experience, we surveyed attendees at CCW to understand sentiments toward AI and how CX leaders are or plan to integrate it into their operations.

As it turns out, while there is a strong appetite to use AI in CX, there is an overwhelming belief that AI will not completely replace the human touch necessary to provide exceptional experiences.

One message was clear: AI is no longer a luxury but a necessity for customer experience. However, amidst the hype for AI, questions linger about how to ensure that AI enhances the customer experience.

Some key findings:

Half of respondents are already using AI but they’re not worried

• Large companies (5000+ employees) have the highest level of adoption of AI in the contact centre at 60.23% compared to small companies (100-999 employees) at 40.68%
• A majority (63.33%) of respondents say that AI will not replace the need for contact centres

AI Is All About Improving CX

There’s never been a greater time to invest in AI to optimize customer experience strategies. Companies plan to continue investments in AI (chatbots, IVA, etc.) and a majority are choosing to purchase AI tech from customer experience vendors.

• The most important factor in adopting AI to deliver CX is to enhance customer experiences (48.56%), and improve agent efficiency and productivity (38.94%)
• 37.08% of respondents from large companies (5000+ employees) that plan to invest in AI technologies (chatbots, IVA, etc.) would purchase the AI tech from a contact centre vendor as compared to 17.98% which would plan to purchase from a CRM vendor; 16.85% which would plan to purchase from a standalone AI vendor

AI Is Driving Down Costs While Improving Efficiency and Productivity

• By implementing AI in contact centres, 30.29% of respondents expect to see cost savings by up to 10%; 28.85% expect to see cost savings of up to 20%; and 19.23% expect to see cost savings of up to 30%
• Within large companies (5000+ employees), 29.09% of respondents expect to see cost savings of up to 10% in the contact centre
• Overall, 38.94% of respondents across all company sizes view improving agency efficiency and productivity as the most important factor in adopting AI to deliver CX

While the buzz around AI replacing human agents persists, the insights above underscore a more nuanced reality.

AI is not a threat but rather a tool to enhance CX that we should embrace. Ultimately, AI integration into the customer experience will not only bring increased efficiency and cost-effectiveness but underscores the continued need to have a human touch within CX.