TECHNOLOGY
“ THERE WILL STILL BE CASES WHERE HUMAN INTERACTION IS WANTED AND NEEDED . IT COULD BE THAT I , AS A CUSTOMER , WANT IT . IT COULD ALSO BE A VERY COMPLICATED OR SENSITIVE CASE WHERE CUSTOMERS WOULD PREFER TO INTERACT WITH HUMANS ”
MATTHIAS GOEHLER CTO EMEA , ZENDESK
While chatbots have been a key focus in recent months , Matthias also emphasises the potential of AI to enhance the productivity of human agents . “ There is a lot of potential in how we can make the life of human agents more productive using AI ,” he states , from leveraging AI for forecasting and scheduling to ensuring the right number of agents are available during peak times and across various channels and languages .
Matthias envisions AI acting as an “ agent co-pilot ,” similar to how chatbots interact with customers . “ The AI can understand the intent , suggest next steps , bring up relevant information and potential answers and guide the agent through processes – while the agent remains in control to focus on customer communication , show empathy for difficult cases .”
In addition to enhancing agent productivity , AI can play a crucial role in quality assurance . Matthias cites the example of Klaus , an AI-powered quality management platform recently acquired by Zendesk , which can perform automated quality assurance on 100 % of interactions , filtering out only those that require closer review . Interestingly , these systems can also assess the quality of chatbot and Gen AI outputs , ensuring they meet defined standards and allowing for adjustments to the algorithms if necessary .
Looking to the future , Matthias sees a “ very broad spectrum with a lot of opportunities still to fully adopt and embrace over the next couple of years .”
“[ AI ] will remain a major theme ,” he concludes , “ driving better customer experiences through automating simple tasks while enhancing human agents ’ performance on more complex interactions .”
160 July 2024