Reducing strain. Alleviating stress. Simplifying work.
Is that how your contact center views AI?
Artificial intelligence should create a seamless partnership between AI and human agents. Unlike models focused solely on deflection, your AI solution should engage customers and provide value at every stage of the conversation.
Think of AI as adaptive cruise control—managers design the system, agents steer the journey, and AI smooths out the ride.
Use AI to simplify an agent’s workload for better customer experiences.
Agents without AI
Customer support agents face significant challenges when operating without AI. One major issue — scaling. Agents aren’t always able to scale up efficiently during peak demand periods. So customers experience longer wait times and poorer resolutions.
Another thing agents deal with is repetition. Low-value tasks like data entry or routing questions can eat up valuable time and leave complex customer issues inadequately addressed.
Lastly, human agents are human. They can’t always be available, have different skillsets, need time to learn new products and features, and are prone to fatigue. And while humans provide the pinnacle of personalized service because they can support from a place of empathy, these are still real limitations that can hinder customer experiences at scale.
AI without agents
AI in customer service also encounters its own set of challenges when operating without human support. These systems often struggle with emotional intelligence, contextual understanding, and handling unforeseen scenarios.
AI also relies on high-quality training. It needs accurate data to not only give correct answers, but to also prevent hallucinations and inaccuracies. And though we may think of generative AI as able to create for us, it does lack creativity and empathy at its core, and must be trained to perform those human feelings.
The value of an AI assistant
Together, human agents and AI form a partnership that is essential for delivering exceptional customer service. AI assistance enhances workload, leading to better customer experiences. Here are four key principles that underscore the importance of an AI assistant in this process:
Immediate engagement
When customers reach out, AI should provide an immediate response. That way, customers get help from the start and agents don’t strain themselves answering a ton of low-level questions.
Context collection
Even if the issue isn’t resolved by AI, it still helps by gathering and sharing critical customer information with the agent.
Faster resolutions
With context already collected, agents can resolve issues more quickly. Resolution times will improve and so will customer experience.
Higher customer satisfaction: AI assistance doesn’t just save your contact center time. It saves customers time, too. They don’t have to repeat themselves. Their questions are resolved in a timely fashion. They’re happier and more likely to trust your company with their time (and money) again.
The value of a resolution
A full AI resolution saves your human agent time, provides a faster solution, and expands your contact center’s ability to help people. That directly translates into cost savings and customer satisfaction. The type of AI your company implements determines how its problem-solving skills grow and develop with your company.
Incentive alignment
It’s best to choose an AI that’s incentivized to continually improve its performance and maximize resolutions. Look for a solution to help you monitor AI performance, identify areas for improvement, and boost resolution rates over time.
Encouraging collaboration
Your AI and your contact center are on the same team, so have some skin in the game. Be motivated to work with your AI solution to boost its performance. The more you teach it, the more it learns, and the more cost-effective its resolutions become for you. It’s up to you to unlock your AI’s full potential.
The value regardless of performance
If resolution rates start low with your AI solution, don’t worry. You can still benefit from using AI by committing to the partnership.
Incentive alignment
Your success is directly tied to your AI’s success. If resolution rates don’t meet your expectations, you’ll look elsewhere. Smart AI providers know that already. That’s why, at Gladly, we’re fully committed to working alongside you to continuously optimize and improve AI performance. By having both sides invested, we’ll achieve the best possible outcomes, creating a dynamic where both you and Gladly have a stake in delivering exceptional value.
Plus, we offer tools and insights that help you identify areas for improvement, making it easy to optimize your AI and achieve better outcomes.
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