Customers looking for support from companies are increasingly unlikely to speak to a human, as AI proves able to handle most issues instead. — Photo: Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa
NEW YORK: Customer support software company Zendesk believes its new artificial intelligence-based systems, which include voice AI agents, can deal with around 80% of queries without the need for human back-up.
Developed "in response to increasingly complex and high-volume customer and employee interactions," the system is based on chatbots set up to handle "a significant portion" of around five billion issues for over 20,000 customers each year, according to the company.
Zendesk said it has rolled out "fully autonomous AI agents powered by agentic AI" that are "built for voice to understand natural speech, act and resolve without escalation."
"Today’s customers want more than just quick responses – they expect issues fully resolved," said chief executive Tom Eggemeier.
However, the innovation is likely to fuel further concerns about AI replacing people in companies. The new agents are part of a broader shift in the support industry, as AI replaces much of the work that was previously done by humans.
"The world’s going to shift from software that’s built for human users, to a system where AI actually does most of the work," Shashi Upadhyay, Zendesk's head of product, engineering and AI, told technology news outlet TechCrunch, adding that customers reported greater satisfaction following interactions with the chatbot helpers. – dpa
