Agentic AI Set to Transform Customer Service & Support Landscape, Reshaping Inbound Interactions and Forcing Service Teams to Embrace Automation
STAMFORD, Conn. March 5, 2025 — By 2029, agentic AI will autonomously resolve 80% of common customer service issues without human intervention, leading to a 30% reduction in operational costs, according to Gartner, Inc.
Agentic AI is poised to revolutionize the way service interactions are conducted. While previous AI models were limited to generating text or summarizing interactions, agentic AI introduces a new paradigm where AI systems possess the capability to act autonomously to complete tasks. Both customers and organizations will leverage this technology to automate interactions through the use of AI agents and bots, fundamentally reshaping the relationship between service teams and their customers.
“Agentic AI has emerged as a game-changer for customer service, paving the way for autonomous and low-effort customer experiences,” said Daniel O’Sullivan, Senior Director Analyst in the Gartner Customer Service & Support Practice. “Unlike traditional GenAI tools that simply assist users with information, agentic AI will proactively resolve service requests on behalf of customers, marking a new era in customer engagement.”
Redefining the Customer Experience Through Automated Service Requests and Enhanced Interactions
This shift requires service teams to adapt to supporting both human customers and an increasing number of machine customers powered by these advanced AI tools. For customer service teams accustomed to handling reactive demand from human customers, this transition presents a potential challenge.
“Organizations will need to rethink their approach to managing inbound service interactions, preparing for a future where AI-driven requests become the norm. In this future, automation will need to become the dominant strategy for all service teams,” O’Sullivan said.
For customers leveraging agentic AI, the service experience will undergo a significant transformation. AI agents will not only provide information but will also take action, such as navigating websites to cancel memberships or negotiating optimal shipping rates on behalf of business customers. Beyond these delegated tasks, agentic AI holds the potential for proactive issue identification and resolution.
Service organizations must brace for changes in the nature and volume of interactions, which will redefine the relationship between service teams and their customers, open new avenues for value delivery, and alter the landscape of customer data collection. In order to prepare, customer service and support leaders should:
- Prepare for Automation: Anticipate more automated interactions from AI agents, and invest in scalable infrastructure and optimize self-service channels to manage bot traffic.
- Revise Service Models: Update models to handle AI-driven service volume and implement dynamic routing to differentiate between human and AI interactions.
- Set AI Interaction Policies: Develop guidelines for AI-led interactions, addressing data privacy, security, and escalation.
- Collaborate with Product Teams: Partner to integrate agentic AI into products for proactive issue detection and reduced reliance on external AI.
“As customers increasingly leverage agentic AI-powered agents to initiate, manage, and negotiate service requests on their behalf, service teams must adapt to this transformative shift, embracing new roles and skills to effectively collaborate with these intelligent systems,” said O’Sullivan.
