Customer service is an essential part of the American economy. It is the idea in which employees interact with consumers to meet their needs, answer their questions, and ensure their experience is positive. Without this human-to-human interaction, businesses wouldn’t function in the seamless ways that they do.
With the gradual rise of AI, however, the basic concept of customer service has shifted its dynamic over the last few years. What used to be purely human-centered is now AI-driven, and what previously took hours to accomplish is now being handled in a matter of seconds. Somehow along the way, businesses became purely automated and human teams were forced to produce in completely different directions.
So far, AI in the customer service space has had its share of incredible impacts. On one hand, it has transformed services by leveraging natural language processing and machine learning to handle concerns instantly, reduce wait times, and uncover discrepancies that wouldn’t otherwise be noticeable. On another hand, AI-powered chatbots have been able to operate 24/7, making the service industry that much more convenient and easily accessible.
Data even shows AI in customer service is becoming an increasingly large demand, and according to current trends, its prominence is only going to expand from here. A recent report found that nearly 75% of customer inquiries can now be resolved by AI without human intervention, while 69% of consumers prefer AI-driven self-service tools for quick resolution. About 39% of customers use AI to find products, 49% use it to track deliveries, and 29% use it to make payments.
Despite how transformative AI has been, one expert in the industry, Jason Rosenfeld, Chief Growth and Alliances Officer at NewRocket, pushes back. Ever since AI’s development, enterprises have moved the needle toward automated workflow in great ways, but resolutions have only been resolved at the surface.
"I've watched the enterprise landscape shift from 'Call-First' to 'Self-Service', but today's customers demand something more. They demand instant gratification they experience in their daily lives with AI. In the past, we were held back by poor data, siloed information, and disconnected technology. Now leveraging automation, human agents can partner with AI agents to access data across organizations and the entire enterprise stack,” he says.
If enterprises really want to use AI intentionally, it demands an equal partnership between humans and machines, not the other way around. That includes deploying AI, but then allowing entire teams to disrupt with thoughtful oversight and judgement. That’s the missing piece industries aren’t realizing.
Rosenfeld adds, “This isn't just about answering questions either, it's about orchestrating real solutions and fast. Enterprises of the future have moved beyond painful self-service repetitive disconnected tasks to delivering complete and immediate outcomes for customers. This increases their trust of the enterprise and ultimately customer satisfaction.”
By putting humans back into the mix, enterprises can begin to unlock what AI was actually meant to do in the first place, that is, enhance workflow, discover hidden complexities, and generate meaningful output. When AI is used as a support rather than a replacement, it gives human agents the space to do higher-value work, and one that requires real empathy, emotion, and critical thinking.
Many companies believe integrating AI alone is enough, but in reality, the enterprises that lead in this next era will be the ones that are rethinking how the agents work with people altogether. That means not just investing in AI, but training people right alongside them. It means reskilling where necessary so that teams can step in with authority and control.
Everyone knows AI is transforming the world at alarming rates, and in customer service especially, the agents have proven their efficiency at large. It redefines what’s possible. Makes tasks seem easier. Delivers results no one person can do on their own. That’s something all enterprises can agree on.
But for what it’s worth, humans still need to be part of it. Without them, customer service could derail businesses any minute. We need the meaning, the trust, the accountability, and that’s where people alone make the difference.