How AI Agents Improve Employee and Customer Experiences
Are AI agents replacing human roles? The short answer is no.
AI agents should not replace human touch, but enhance it. While AI agents replacing jobs is a common worry, the importance of human touch is not going away anytime soon.
For many companies focused on customer experience, AI agents can be instrumental in remaining competitive.
AI agents can improve end-to-end customer experiences, while saving employee time and actually streamlining human interaction for complex cases.
This post explains what AI agents are, why human touch remains key, and five ways AI agents boost effectiveness.
AI agents: Key takeaways
What are AI Agents?
AI agents are software programs designed to manage tasks and interact with users using autonomous agent capabilities. They function as autonomous agents in processing and providing information.
By combining advanced algorithms and an extensive knowledge base, they offer precise support.
AI agents use natural language processing (NLP) to interpret user requests quickly and accurately. By applying deep analysis, AI agents refine outputs to match the user’s needs.
Many AI agents serve as a complement to human agents for things such as data processing and organization, customer service and engagement, and other routine tasks.
AI agents can:
- Streamline daily operations by processing information quickly
- Assist human experts in managing routine tasks
- Improve customer engagement through accurate, timely responses
- Collect, organize, and input data
- Combine analytics with human oversight for effective decision-making
Why human touch is necessary
When using AI agents in daily operations, human involvement remains vital. Human agents offer personal judgment and insight that machines cannot replace.
Customer experience data supports this.
PWC research showed that 82% of U.S. consumers want more human interaction.
A recent study by Five9 found that 75% of people prefer talking to a real human for customer support.
While the study also showed that most (84%) of consumers are aware that companies use AI to handle customer service interactions, almost half (48%) do not trust information provided by AI.
In addition, 56% of consumers say they are often frustrated by AI customer service chatbots.
According to a study by Cogito, more than half of consumers prefer a phone call with an agent for complex customer service questions or issues.
AI agents play a role in streamlining the support and service process by quickly engaging customers, gathering customer information, and passing information on to human agents so they are equipped with necessary information.
In this way, they enable faster, more efficient customer service, and make human jobs easier.
“AI has the power to mitigate customer service frustrations, but it’s the human touch that makes the difference. By using AI to automate transactional and routine tasks, human agents can free up time to focus on more complex issues that require critical thinking and sensitivity.” – Niki Hall, Chief Marketing Officer, Five9
While AI can quickly and efficiently help with simple questions and customer service tasks, human oversight is crucial to effectively dealing with complex questions or issues.
Combining both AI and human interaction can boost customer satisfaction and lead to faster outcomes.
Experts also must play a key role in predictive maintenance in order to improve AI reliability and overall performance. This includes:
- Updating AI knowledge base
- Assessing AI performance
- Directing AI agents accordingly
Not only is human touch still very important to consumers, human judgment supports, enables, and quality manages the work of AI agents.
5 ways AI agents enhance jobs
Though human touch is not going away, and AI is not replacing jobs, AI agents can enhance the employee and customer experience in many ways.
Let’s dive deeper into some practical benefits of AI agents.
Scalability
AI agents can help your teams scale to effectively handle a high volume of customer inquiries and support requests.
Fast, effective customer service is often a numbers game. When agents and AI work together, your team can do more with what they have.
AI agents manage large-scale data analysis effectively, allowing teams to identify trends quickly and work to prepare for or mitigate issues before they arise.
By leveraging AI agents, teams can handle increased activity during peak times with greater efficiency and less stress.
Lead qualification
AI agents in sales and marketing enable lead qualification at scale, as AI can filter and qualify leads automatically, saving these teams time.
Utilizing machine learning techniques, AI agents effectively qualify based on preset criteria. They can also update CRMs in a timely and organized manner, which is often a chore for human employees.
Implementing AI agents in lead qualification supports sales by quickly identifying high-value opportunities and helping account executives focus their efforts on hot, qualified leads.
The data that AI agents provide also helps marketing teams better understand campaign performance, including the best sources for qualified leads.
Customer experience
AI agents complement existing customer service routines and improve customer experience by:
- Enabling 24/7 communication
- Ensuring faster service
- Gathering relevant data to inform human reps
- Understanding customer behavior
67% of customers prefer using a form of self-service rather than talking to a customer service representative.
AI agents enable customers to self-serve more efficiently. Many (if not most) inquiries translate into simple tasks that AI can easily complete, such as scheduling appointments or answering general questions.
If a customer needs more help—for example, a quote or a support case—the AI agent can guide them to the next step by noting their information and transferring them to a team member.
As consumer expectations increase, 24/7 availability is a big plus for customer experience. Customers want to feel heard at any hour, and AI agents enable that.
According to PWC, almost 80% of consumers say that speed and convenience are among the most important elements of a positive customer experience.
In a survey, 53% of respondents said that waiting too long for replies is the most frustrating part of interacting with businesses, and they will switch to a competitor if the wait is too long.
When businesses are able to connect with customers when it’s convenient for them, it strengthens their customer relationships and maintains business momentum as their customers are active.
Employee experience
Studies show that employees lose 40% of their time doing low-value, repetitive tasks.
By automating low-value tasks, AI agents allow teams to focus on higher value work. No one wants to create call transcripts or update a CRM all day.
AI enhances employee effectiveness by serving employees helpful data that would have been previously unavailable.
For example, AI can transcribe calls, pull relevant customer data, and note customer sentiment and behavior before the customer reaches a human rep. All of this information is instantly available to the human employees who can use it best.
“Previously, agents would have to manually search for relevant information in different systems or screens. With the use of generative AI, agents can simply ask the question and receive an immediate response, eliminating the need to navigate multiple systems.” – Kelly Pedersen, U.S. retail leader at PwC
AI agents take the power of automation and combine it with the power of humans, allowing employees to do the important work—whether that’s showing up to the booked appointment, closing a sale, supporting a complex case, or crafting a marketing strategy.
Improve visibility and consistency
AI agents assist your team by monitoring and analyzing data, which boosts visibility and consistency in every interaction.
This is helpful for both employees and customers. In the Cognito study, nearly half of consumers who would prefer to speak to a live person said they would feel comfortable if the agent used AI to improve their interaction.
According to Salesforce, 75% of customers desire a consistent experience, regardless of how they engage a company.
AI agents promote consistency throughout customer experiences by noting customer data, eliminating confusion (customers hate starting from the beginning). With the right data at their disposal, human reps are always updated on who the customer is, what they are looking for, and what their previous interactions were.
AI agents’ analytical capabilities can identify discrepancies and trends, supporting more informed decision-making for sales, marketing, service, and support.
Implementing AI agents
If you’re interested in implementing an AI agent for your team, there are many options, including tools like Verse.ai.
Whatever you choose should be in line with your:
- Goals
- Industry
- Team needs (support, service, sales, etc.)
Be sure to thoroughly vet your AI agent tool – here is a checklist of things to consider.
If you want to implement your own AI agent, here are some necessary steps:
- Assess current operations and determine goals for the AI agent. This will help you select the right AI agent to help your team fill any current gaps. Does your support team need help? Do you want to improve speed to lead?
- Prepare a clean and accurate knowledge base. The accuracy and relevance of AI agents are reliant on the data that you provide, so its knowledge base must be thoughtfully crafted.
- Create and test your AI agent to ensure that responses are natural, timely, and accurate. A poorly-designed AI agent can detract, rather than add, to the customer experience.
- Integrate the AI with your CRM and software. Integration is necessary for data to flow, allowing the AI agent to do its job.
- Constantly monitor your AI agent’s performance to ensure optimization and effectiveness. AI is not a one-and-done solution if you are doing it yourself; it requires constant oversight.
- Implement data privacy and security protocol. As AI agents handle tons of customer data, it’s absolutely vital to protect customer data and handle it effectively.
The AI agent for sales and marketing
If you’re looking for an AI agent to amplify your sales and marketing teams, dare we say that Verse.ai is the solution for you.
Verse is an AI-powered platform for instant lead engagement and automatic qualification.
If you’re interested in Verse, check out our self-serve demo center or book a demo today.
AI agents: Frequently asked questions
What is an AI agent?
An AI agent is a software that uses machine learning and data analysis to execute various tasks and support decision-making, improving efficiency and accuracy in operations while adapting to new information.
How do AI agents complement human expertise?
AI agents streamline workflows by automating routine tasks and processing large data sets, allowing professionals to focus on strategic decision-making and creative problem-solving while boosting overall efficiency and accuracy.
Which job tasks benefit most from AI agent assistance?
AI agents offer significant aid in customer support, customer service, sales, and marketing, streamlining workflows and boosting productivity.
What role do human skills play alongside AI agents?
Human skills remain vital, providing strategic judgment and creativity that complement AI agents. They analyze complex challenges, add empathy, manage unforeseen situations, and apply critical insights, ensuring that intuitive reasoning and technology work together.
