Forecast and Insights on how AI will reshape CX (Part 2)

We mentioned in Part 1 of this article that Customer Experience World has continued evolving to a breakneck speed in 2024 and that the upcoming years will bring a significant expansion.

We also wondered what will change in experience centers by 2025 and quickly addressed two focal points: the first one related to the fact that “Customers will start to prefer AI agents over humans to solve simple problems” and the second referred to “Proactive outreach with the potential to increase loyalty with a more integrated and AI-driven approach.”

Finally, we mentioned as well that generative AI will improve the way governments operate and that this could set the beginning of a new transformation wave for government operations.

Let’s continue then with those trends that will be part of this scenario in the coming months.

CCaaS + UCaaS decisions become hybrid work platform decisions

Organizations with on-premise contact center software continue their migration to the cloud, to CCaaS. But as companies start exploring cloud solutions, handling voice interactions, historically a key requirement in an on-premise communication decision, has become just one part of a much broader set of criteria. As AI becomes an increasingly essential element in delivering a quality customer experience, CCaaS and UCaaS have become inexorably linked with data applications, digital & social engagement, workforce engagement management and analytics.

Zoom’s Total Experience message to give an example of what we are working on at Cirion Technologies, will undoubtedly resonate with these companies, as the transition to the cloud promises to maximize unstructured data collection and analysis for AI-level CX and EX use cases.

A customer-centric approach to AI implementation will be critical to driving customer satisfaction

In 2024, every time companies used any type of AI for their customer interactions, they saw CSAT improve by 22.3%, according to Metrigy’s 2024-25 CX Optimization global study of 544 companies. As companies scale and fine-tune their AI deployments, they will see CSAT improvements. However, they must assess and react to consumer feedback. For example, 40% of consumers avoid AI-driven chatbots because bots do not understand what they’re asking and don’t have the answers. Customers are trapped in a loop.  Companies should leverage generative AI and ensure AI agents are properly trained, using them only when appropriate. Additionally, they need to accelerate Agent Assist[1] implementation to improve response quality and speed when addressing customer issues.

A shift from improving agent engagement to improving agent skills as brand loyalty remains a top business priority

Our 2024 CX Customer Survey [2] revealed that for the first time, improving brand loyalty and brand awareness has become a top business priority for 75% of companies across all major industries. Thus, contact center leaders have “a seat at the table.” Companies acknowledge that to retain and onboard new customers, all customer-facing employees need to be more aligned. This means ensuring that agents always have valuable and relevant information at arm’s length.

This approach of providing agents with accurate information to ensure seamless interactions and drive loyalty will result in a shift from improving agent engagement to improving agent skills. Frost & Sullivan is coining the term “professional agents” because, with AI-infused self-service tools handling most of the easier tasks, customers are more likely to call only when they have complex questions. Not only will agents need to be well versed in their products/services and contact center technologies to handle calls, but they will also need to be empathetic and learn to stay calm when customers lash out. Customers may not remember the details of a conversation with an agent, but they do remember how they felt during the interaction, particularly at the end of the conversation. Driving brand loyalty means making sure customers “feel” (sentiment analysis) that they have been taken care of and hang up with a positive attitude toward the company.

Closing Thoughts:

The key is to implement AI in a way that truly improves the experience by allowing customers to move fluidly from channel to channel without repetition, thanks to agents having their entire history at arm’s length. How to get started? First, make your AI personalized and consistent, regardless of how your customers choose to interact. Next, consider that AI facilitates a total experience that extends beyond the contact center, empowering agents and making interactions seamless for customers. Dive a little deeper into our  Cloud Contact Center and AI tools and contact us.

Until our next meeting.

[1] Agent assist is a type of AI-driven software that helps customer service representatives by providing real-time guidance and assistance during customer interactions.

[2] Frost & Sullivan by Alpa Shah for Dec. 2024 Zoom’s Blog.

Zoom AI Expert Assist provides next-step suggestions while the agent receives guidance and sentiment analysis.

Author:
Lic. Fernando Riedel
Voice and Collaboration Specialist
Cirion Technologies
fernando.riedel@ciriontechnologies.com