In an era where customer loyalty hangs by a thread, businesses are turning to AI to revolutionize customer experience (CX) and gain a competitive edge
Words by Vasudeva Rao Munnaluri
Customer experience (CX) has emerged as a pivotal battleground for businesses, where the repercussions of bad experiences can be profound. According to the 2024 Zendesk CX Trends Report, roughly two-thirds of consumers in India will switch to a competitor after just one bad experience.
The convergence of advancing technology and evolving consumer expectations has elevated its status as a key differentiator for businesses worldwide. The stakes are high, prompting businesses to redefine their approach to CX and turn to AI for its transformative potential.
The impact of AI on CX
The primary role of AI should be to function alongside humans as a strategic ally. After all, AI isn’t just about automating tasks; it’s about empowering agents so that they can become “super agents”.
The biggest opportunity that AI brings to the table is its ability to eliminate vast amounts of manual, repetitive work, freeing up agents’ time to focus on higher value tasks. Doing so makes for happier employees who find greater meaning in their jobs, which in turn is good for business–engaged employees bring in 43% more revenue to the business, according to Culture Amp.
But for this to happen, it is essential that employees adapt to working in tandem with AI. Implementing AI-powered tools comes with challenges, especially when the AI landscape is evolving so quickly that 91% of CX leaders in India say it is becoming overwhelming. That’s why cultivating AI literacy across all levels of the company is critical, especially for brands aiming to stay competitive, increase productivity, and avoid equity gaps.
A balancing act across innovation, personalisation, and the human touch
To build a successful AI-powered CX, striking a balance between innovation, personalisation, and the human touch is paramount. With generative AI, simplistic chatbots with templated responses will evolve into advanced AI agents that are proactive, sophisticated problem-solvers that complement human expertise.
This innovation isn’t just about efficiency, but about redefining how businesses engage with customers to create a deeper, more personal connection with them that ultimately drives better business outcomes. Those who have started leveraging AI are already seeing results–89% of CX leaders in India report positive ROI on leveraging AI and automation for CX, and this goes up to 91% among those using generative AI.
Zendesk’s AI suite leverages proprietary models like intent detection and sentiment analysis, and a partnership with large-language model provider OpenAI. This combination of generative AI solutions, trained against 15 years of unique CX data, provides agents with insights that allow them to deliver personalised and valuable customer interactions quickly so that they can focus on building emotional connections with customers. The increasing need for skilled and empathetic agents make generative AI tools a great way to ensure agents can do their best work.
The AI Journey Ahead
The vision for the future of AI-powered CX is clear: to revolutionise the way businesses interact with customers while preserving the essence of human connection. The best human-automation strategies are those centred around the best utilisation of resources. Even when customer service evolves to become AI-first, humans will play supervisory roles to ensure ethical and responsible AI use. Human touch remains essential, especially in situations requiring empathy and reasoning that AI might not achieve.
Having a well-thought-out human-automation strategy–one that maintains human oversight throughout–will ensure AI is implemented to suit the business’ specific requirements and customer needs. Redefining customer service with AI will ensure brands big and small can access the harmonious blend of innovation, personalisation, and the human touch that can seamlessly provide an unparalleled customer journey.
The author is Vasudeva Rao Munnaluri, RVP for India & SAARC at Zendesk, where he focuses on helping businesses get more out of their CX Strategy.
