(qlmbusinessnews.com . Mon 3rd Nov, 2025) London, UK —
The Future of AI in Call Centers: Reducing Costs and Enhancing Customer Interaction
Inquiries about the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to replace human workers in the customer service sector yield a measured response from AI itself, suggesting a collaborative future. However, human sentiment largely veers towards the pessimistic.
Last year, Tata Consultancy Services' CEO, K Krithivasan, relayed to the Financial Times his view that AI's evolution may dramatically reduce the necessity for call centres in Asia. Concurrently, Gartner, a renowned business and technology research entity, forecasts that by 2029, AI could autonomously tackle 80% of routine customer service inquiries.
The emergence of “AI agents” – sophisticated AI systems capable of independent operation and decision-making – might mark a significant enhancement over the current “rule-based chatbots” that can only respond to a predefined set of queries.
My personal encounter with the chatbot of parcel delivery company Evri, dubbed Ezra, illustrates the limitations of today's non-AI chatbots. Despite promising immediate resolution to my undelivered parcel issue, Ezra could only provide a photograph as proof of delivery – to an incorrect address – with no means of progressing the matter further. In reaction, Evri has disclosed a £57 million investment to refine its service, emphasising the chat facility's efficiency based on internal data.
However, DPD experienced a setback with its less restricted AI chatbot, which ended up criticising the company and issuing profanities to users. This highlights the challenges companies face in finding the right balance between staying on-brand and genuinely aiding customers through AI migration.
Gartner reveals that while 85% of customer service leaders are engaging with AI chatbots in some form, a mere 20% of such initiatives fully meet expectations. Analyst Emily Potosky from Garner alludes to the benefits of a more natural interaction with AI, though warns of potential inaccuracies and outdated information from AI chatbots.
The expense involved in transitioning from human to AI customer service is noteworthy, with Potosky cautioning that AI might not necessarily offer a cheaper alternative. The prerequisite for extensive training data stands as a significant hurdle for businesses considering this shift.
Joe Inzerillo, Chief Digital Officer at Salesforce, notes the invaluable training ground provided by call centres, specifically in low-cost regions like the Philippines and India, for AI learning. Salesforce's AI-powered customer service platform, AgentForce, enjoys usage by diverse clientele, having learned lessons on enhancing the AI's human-like interaction capabilities.
Despite cutting customer service costs by $100 million, Salesforce emphasises the reassignment of a substantial number of personnel to other customer service areas, rather than job losses.
Fiona Coleman of QStory, utilising AI to afford more flexible shift patterns for human call centre workers, expresses skepticism regarding AI fully supplanting human roles. She highlights the irreplaceable nature of human interaction in certain circumstances.
AI's burgeoning role in customer service may soon encounter regulatory challenges. US proposed legislation aims to repatriate offshore call centres and mandate disclosure of AI use, ensuring customers can opt to speak with a human. Furthermore, Gartner suggests that by 2028, the EU might introduce ‘the right to talk to a human' as part of its consumer protection regulations, signalling a potential pivot towards ensuring human interaction remains an integral part of customer service.
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