AI will impact every CX position, but not the way you're thinking

Perhaps the most obvious use case for artificial intelligence is customer service.

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Simply put: ChatGPT itself basically serves as a “service agent”, acting as an oracle that answers any question.

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This explains the current frenzy in the global customer experience community, something I see and experience in my daily life when interacting with heads and professionals in the field.

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TWO DANGEROUS VISIONS ARE GAINING STRENGTH

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• “Run to the mountains, AI will replace your job”
• “Nothing will beat the human touch in service”

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Both currents are worrying. On a daily basis, I see shallow and sensationalist posts pulling to one side or the other, propagating “truths” that oversimplify such a complex topic.

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What has also been very clear is that the level of optimism or concern varies according to the position of these professionals.

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The latest annual Intercom survey (“Customer Service Trends Report 2024") reveals a not very surprising discrepancy: while 69% of executives believe in the evolution of CX positions because of AI, only 35% of front-line agents share this view.

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And that difference makes perfect sense, after all, part of a C-level executive's job is to look beyond today and anticipate the future, while agents are generally more focused on everyday activities.

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Personally, I understand both sides. If LLMs had emerged early in my career, when I was in more operational roles, I would probably be apprehensive as well. That's why I was born and grew up loaded with privileges, so I'm sure it's even more worrying for those who haven't had the opportunity to access a consolidated support network - both professional and personal.

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But I venture to compare the transformation we are undergoing to the introduction of Excel, which - decades ago - replaced countless manual processes. However, the spreadsheets didn't eliminate the need for human skills; they just redirected those skills to tasks where more value could be generated.

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THE CHALLENGES FOR THE FRONT LINE:

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If a relevant part of your day requires:

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• Perform repetitive and manual tasks;
• Copy, paste, and send the same answers to customers;

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Yes, most likely a relevant chunk of the workflows you execute will be automated.

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And in my opinion you shouldn't think that's a bad thing. Come on, if you work, for example, as a service analyst: you deal with frustrated customers every day and do your best to deliver a wonderful experience on behalf of the company you work for, there are probably N things you have to do every day that consume time and prevent you from being able to have even more impact on your role.

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And your long-term goal probably isn't to stay in your current role forever, you want to grow, to be promoted, to learn new knowledge, and to be challenged.

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So for that, regardless of artificial intelligence, you would need to find ways to generate more value and impact in the context in which you are inserted to grow and gain more opportunities.

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The good news is that A.I. may be your best friend for this. If you learn to actually use it to leverage and have more impact on the KPIs that your area/company is struggling to achieve, it will probably mean growth and recognition (unless you are part of a company with culture 💩)

So do what you should already be doing if you wanted to grow in your area: look for ways to bring more results, bring, test and validate initiatives that can improve the impact on your goals, accelerate flows that take time to leave more for those things that really depend on you to generate results.

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THE CHALLENGES FOR LEADERS

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If you lead customer experience verticals and have people performing operational functions in your structure, you have a greater responsibility than you imagine.

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The same research showed that the top 3 priorities of C levels in the year 2024 are:

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• Increase team efficiency (translation: do more with less);
• Empower clients to solve their problems autonomously;
• Increase customer retention.

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Kind of obvious too right? Your company has ambitions for growth and the more lean and efficient its structure, the healthier your organization will be and the more value can be generated for the world.

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So, regardless of AI, your daily life already requires solving problems and making decisions that will force your team to deliver more with less and generate more impact.

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And if no one has told you yet, allow me: you won't be able to do it alone. Much of the manual and repetitive work will be increasingly automated, but we will need - more and more - people trained to train, educate and evolve these tools in order to get the most out of them.

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And it's already a reality, most global leaders believe that in the coming years we will see a marked growth in new responsibilities related to the use of AI, with these three being highlighted:

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• Chatbot Analyst (think of a person who spends the day analyzing the performance of AI chatbots and the data from those conversations to extract insights and find new opportunities for improving the journey);
• Conversational UX Analyst (This professional will stand out for knowing how to optimize the end-to-end support experience, defining and building automation and human service steps. He is someone who will invest a lot of time “designing” and optimizing these journeys);
• Content Specialist (This person is the main owner of the company's content and support processes. It will always ensure that LLMs are consuming up-to-date policies that are consistent with service flows).

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Within this context, we face an imminent and accelerating transformation, but not instantaneous. It will be a continuous process of learning cycles, where tools will be tested and others discarded, and some will become more crucial to your organization than you ever imagined. However, the real engine of this evolution are people—they who will need to master technology to extract the most of their potential. Therefore, it is urgent that leaders invest time and resources to empower those in operational roles, allowing them to gradually ascend to the innovative 'positions of the future'. That's the path to not only survive the AI revolution, but to thrive in it.

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Author

Bruno Cecatto is one of the founders of Cloud Humans and heads the startup's operations area. The company allows organizations of various sizes and sectors to take advantage of generative artificial intelligence, drastically reducing their support demands. Renowned companies such as Nuvemshop, Insider and CRMbonus are already using “CLAudia”, Cloud Humans' conversational AI. Integrated with support systems such as Zendesk and Intercom and others. CLAudia automates more than 60% of the entire support load of these companies.