EDITOR’S QUESTION
WHAT ARE THE
BENEFITS OF
ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE IN THE
WORKPLACE?
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Companies 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.
T
he 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.”
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INTELLIGENTCIO
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 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.”
AI will empower customer
service agents
While the adoption of AI will increase, these
technologies will only serve to augment the
role of the human agent at the front line of
delivering ‘wow’ customer experiences:
• 37% of organisations say AI can be used
to provide a higher level of service, with
similar levels of employment
• 29% of organisations using AI-based
technology are aware of the need for
upskilling customer service managers
“AI technologies will enable our customer
service agents to focus on the customer
interactions where the human touch is
needed the most,” said Clive Simpson, Head
of Service Management, CDL.
“This gives them greater job satisfaction,
enabling them to focus on VIP customers
and high priority enquiries, as well as
focus on more strategic contributions
within organisations.”
www.intelligentcio.com