EDITOR’S QUESTION
SHOULD MORE
BUSINESSES LOOK
TO INTRODUCE
AI TO IMPROVE
THE CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE?
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C
ompanies across EMEA are deploying Artificial Intelligence
(AI) technologies to revolutionise customer service as more
consumers show high acceptance of AI-driven experiences,
according to research from ServiceNow, and Devoteam.
The report, The AI revolution: Creating a new customer service
paradigm, explores how AI is driving a new revolution in service
delivery, drawing on research carried out with 770 IT professionals
responsible for the customer service function in 10 EMEA countries. It
reveals that nearly a third (30%) of EMEA organisations have
introduced AI technologies to customer service and 72% of those
are already seeing benefits that include freeing up agents’ time,
more efficient processing of high-volume tasks and providing always-
on customer support.
“The majority of organisations are offering omnichannel experiences
to customers, but many are struggling to keep up with increasing
consumer demand for service across these channels,” said Paul
Hardy, Chief Innovation Officer EMEA, ServiceNow.
“Early adopters are reaping the benefits of using AI technologies
to deal with common tasks and requests, freeing agents to
shift away from a reactive role to really driving proactive,
meaningful engagement.”
Customer service teams in EMEA struggle to keep pace
with customer demand
According to survey respondents, providing service and support
24/7 is their number one customer service challenge. Customers are
being offered multiple service channels, but they expect responses
30
INTELLIGENTCIO
at any time of the day – and this is pushing organisations to
breaking point:
• Half (50%) of organisations are not available to respond to
customer enquiries 24/7
• 40% of organisations say they struggle to meet the rising
expectations of customer service
• 37% are challenged to answer repetitive questions in an
efficient way
AI will reinvent customer engagement
AI will allow organisations to move beyond handling more queries
more efficiently, to anticipating and acting on customer needs:
• 59% of organisations will extend the range of queries that virtual
customer assistants (VCAs) and chatbots handle
• 47% say AI will enable the customer service operation to become
more efficient
• 37% say AI can be used to provide a higher level of service
“We are only at the beginning of the AI-driven customer service
revolution,” said Debbie Elder, Principal Consultant, Devoteam.
“A powerful development is the ability of AI to help transform high-stress
moments into positive experiences for customers that build loyalty.
“For example, in the case of a flight cancellation, AI can detect the
customer starting a live chat and indicate it is likely to be due to the
cancellation. It can then immediately escalate the interaction to a
human agent to arrange an alternative and deliver a superior service.”
www.intelligentcio.com