The debate in the business world and across the media around the impact of AI on customer service continues to rumble on. However, the discourse often fails to address the conversation with the depth of thought and nuance it requires. As with most things, it is never the panacea we might hope for, and it’s not either/or, it’s both – and the usage execution of any technology is critical. What is clear is the need to really make time to think the customer experience through from backstage to execution.
A recent Gartner study found that 50% of businesses that had previously indicated they would use AI to cut service roles are now reconsidering.
While we might hope that this shift is driven by a desire to elevate the customer experience, perhaps the reality is that tech-based solutions come with their own costs – particularly when they fall short of expectations – and their implementation is typically not as straightforward, or as cost-effective, as organisations might expect.
Clearly there is a need to elevate the conversation beyond the AI versus human paradigm – particularly given that cost, rather than innovation or a better customer experience, is often the key factor in decision-making when it comes to the design of the service experience. For me, we are only starting to see the real opportunities for AI to support the customer experience, but we really need to consider how and where we deploy more deeply to achieve the expected outcomes we all want.
Boardrooms increasingly recognise that customer satisfaction is vital to their business’s success. Allocating resources, as well as genuine thought and care, to all aspects of the customer experience, is an investment in future growth.
AI as a strategic tool
It has undoubtedly been a challenging few years for UK businesses, and sometimes, when we’re faced with external pressures, technology can seem to offer more for less.
However, the organisations that are getting it right are recognising that AI is not just a way to be more efficient, but a valuable tool in their service arsenal.
Deployed and integrated well alongside the whole customer journey, tech and AI present a strong opportunity to understand risks and preferences, genuinely understand preferences to personalise, surface important data at key moments and remove repetitive, procedural tasks.
Moreover, it has significant potential to support service workers in delivering operational excellence, streamlining business processes, and defending against cyber risks.
So, the key question for me is this: how do we ensure that better outcomes result from our deployment of AI – and not customer frustration or alienation?
A fusion of AI and human
An important – and perhaps undervalued – point is that language matters. In my view, the term ‘fusion’ best describes how AI can and should be deployed alongside humans – joining two or more things together for a single cause – in this case, to deliver an optimised customer experience.
In the long run, it is the organisations that keep the customer at the centre of tech innovations that will deliver positive, meaningful outcomes for their customers, enabling sustainable growth long into the future. To achieve this, we must engage in proper dialogue: connecting, listening, and taking the time to do so in a human-to-human manner.
We also need to keep asking ourselves: just because we can, should we, and do we fully understand the law of unintended consequences? Never easy in a world that demands immediate answers, instant gratification and simple explanations to complex issues – but as service leaders, we must resist the promise of instant returns to understand the long-term impact.
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