Businesses see success when they have clean, accessible data and understand where agentic AI can replace live support and where it can’t.
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Agentic AI, at its best, offers a significant improvement over older forms of automated self-service.
Early AI forms “sounded a bit more human-like than a static FAQ page,” Brian Cantor, managing director of CMP, said during a CMP webinar last week. But agentic AI’s ability to process and adapt to context makes the experience feel more natural for the caller.
Despite its many promises, agentic AI too often falls short of expectations for businesses and customers alike. To ensure success, businesses need to get their data collection and storage operations in order, according to experts. Leaders also need to understand where agentic AI can replace live support — and where it should serve in a supporting role to human service.
The key to success is to approach agentic AI with the right mindset
The technology for creating amazing experiences is available, but a lack of a proper framework and vision is holding leaders back, Cantor said. “If you aren’t thinking about it the correct way, that’s really a very negative sign for how you’re going to care about customers.”
Data and people are at the core of agentic AI
Getting into the agentic AI mindset is a matter of information. Businesses need to keep customer data collected and organized, while leadership needs a strong understanding of their contact center workforce.
Every bit of customer data helps when it comes to agentic AI CTO at Inbenta, an AI solution provider. Even minor details help the experience add up to a journey that feels a lot more personal
“Any amount of information you can gain, it’s leverage,” Bise said. “So anything a customer will give you, you should be collecting it, whether it’s addresses, emails, phone numbers. They need to be safeguarded. But the more information, the more power.”
Once companies have the data, teams need to store it securely, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations. Relevant data also needs to be properly structured so AI can access it.
“Just connecting OpenAI or Anthropic or Google to a simplistic database within your organization, expecting to have these magical outcomes is never going to be the case,” Bise said. “If you have any desire to do a true agentic AI at some point, and you’re going to turn a reasoning model loose on poor data, it’s going to behave based on what you give it.”
Successfully deployed agentic AI will replace some live support, but the technology has its limitations Leaders need to have a good idea of their contact center team’s members and their roles to understand what agentic AI can do to maintain or improve the brand’s customer service performance — and what it can’t
“You’re going to have some stuff you’re not going to be able to do,” Bise said. “That’s why it’s critical to get buy-in from all the people that impact your business.”
