Business leaders expect agentic AI to take over customer service
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Agentic AI is expected to handle more than two-thirds of all customer service interactions with technology vendors by 2028, Cisco projected in a report released Tuesday. Cisco surveyed nearly 8,000 business and technical decision-makers across 30 countries.
A vast majority of respondents — 93% — believe agentic AI will make customer service more personalized, proactive and predictive. Nearly 9 in 10 say agentic AI-led experiences will help their organizations reach their goals.
'With agentic AI reaching a new level of maturity, we're closer than ever to solving some of the most persistent customer pain points in enterprise environments,' Liz Centoni, EVP and chief customer experience officer at Cisco, said in a prepared statement.
Business leaders are bullish on the potential of AI, but they aren't losing sight of the importance of human connection.
Nearly 9 in 10 respondents believe that agentic AI needs to be combined with human empathy and connection to optimize the experience for customers. Three-quarters believe agentic AI as it now stands is unable to recreate human empathy.
Businesses have very high hopes for AI, but there's also low trust, according to Jean-Francois Damais, global chief research officer at Ipsos.
Business and tech decision-makers expect agentic AI to handle more than half — 56% — of customer interactions within the next year.
But customers are skeptical and concerned about the impact AI will have on their experiences. Three-quarters of customers globally think that customer service is becoming too impersonal and too automated, according to a 2024 Ipsos global trends study.
Another Ipsos survey released earlier this month found that 2 in 5 global consumers think companies will be the biggest benefactor of AI. Only 14% think customers will benefit the most.
Transparency and putting the customer first is key to deploying AI, according to Damais.
'An implication for companies will be that they really need to be clear on the benefits that AI will provide, and they need to think about what AI will bring in terms of benefits to customers,' Damais said. 'Will AI really improve the experience, or is it just a way of cutting costs, or appearing to be modern in their delivery, because everyone is talking about AI and everyone wants to implement AI-driven processes?'
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