6 ways AI in contact centres is transforming CX

The contact centre is often the first and most important touchpoint between customer and company. But customer expectations are rising, increasing pressure on contact centre agents and CX managers who must keep improving satisfaction scores while controlling costs. 

Whether you need to improve customer satisfaction, empower your agents, or scale support more efficiently, these six AI-driven strategies have proven to be effective to help forward-thinking CX leaders transform their contact centres into true customer experience powerhouses.

1. Implement conversational AI that understands context and intent

Conversational AI, such as chatbots and virtual assistants, has redefined how customers interact with contact centres. These tools can manage large volumes of queries simultaneously, offering instant, 24/7 support while seamlessly escalating complex issues to human agents. 

Since implementing AI-powered chatbot ‘Cora’, customer satisfaction at UK’s Natwest bank has surged by 150 per cent. This example demonstrates how the instant support provided by chatbots can improve customer interactions, by speeding up responses to simple queries and escalating more complex questions to a human agent where needed.

Crucially, AI-powered chatbots are designed to understand context, intent, and even emotional tone, making the interactions feel more human.

Pro tip: Choose conversational AI solutions that integrate easily with your CRM and omnichannel platforms, ensuring a unified customer journey across chat, voice, email, and social media. 

2. Use AI for intelligent call routing 

Imagine if it was possible to implement a system where a customer query is matched to the agent best suited to solve their problem based on skills, language, and history. Fortunately this process, called ‘intelligent call routing’, already exists. 

It works by gathering data such as caller ID, location, time of day and past interactions. Using machine learning, it analyses this data against predefined rules including agents’ expertise and workload, before allocating the call to the appropriate agent. 

Vodafone provides a strong case study here. After years of success with its chatbot TOBi, the company introduced ‘SuperTobi’ across Europe in 2024. This new supercharged version of its bot understands 15 different languages and summarises conversations with customers so the appropriate agent can respond without having to repeat themselves, and customers are not passed around without getting their issue resolved. According to Vodafone, SuperTOBi showed a 50 percent improvement in first-time resolution of complex queries like billing issues. 

Intelligent routing isn’t just limited to agents; it can also be used to route customers to the most appropriate channels, for example by sending a link via email or SMS where they can complete their transaction. 

Pro tip: Choose software that integrates with interactive voice response (IVR) software for the most efficient routing. 

3. Personalise customer interactions with AI

One of the most powerful capabilities of AI in contact centres is its ability to deliver hyper-personalised experiences. Customers don’t want generic scripts, they expect recognition as well as responsiveness.

According to research by McKinsey, 71 per cent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalised interactions, and crucially, 76 per cent get frustrated when this doesn’t happen. 

AI can analyse the customers’ messages and ‘remember’ past interactions, enabling it to add greetings with names for returning customers, offer personalised product recommendations, and route them directly to an agent they’ve worked with before. 

Pro tip: Be transparent with customers about how you are using their data. Explain that it is collected for the purpose of providing them with smooth, efficient customer service. 

4. Use predictive analytics to anticipate customer needs

Predictive analytics tools that are powered by AI allow contact centres to move from reactive to proactive customer support. These can analyse past interactions, purchase history, and even behavioural patterns - for example, if a customer clicks an area multiple times in a short time span it could be a sign there’s a problem with your website. 

Imagine offering technical support before a known issue impacts the customer, or proactively suggesting loyalty rewards when churn signals appear. This kind of support builds trust and significantly boosts customer satisfaction. 

Collecting data from multiple sources is key here. For example, to understand their customers’ preferences and prevent negative experiences, fast food chain McDonald's gathers data from touchpoints including its restaurant, kiosks, drive-thru, mobile applications and deliveries. 

Behind the scenes, applications such as workforce management tools can help managers predict call volumes and schedule agents effectively.

5. Automate quality assurance processes

Traditional quality assurance (QA) in contact centres involves manually reviewing a small percentage of calls or chats to help with agents’ training and ensure compliance. As well as being time-consuming, it’s inconsistent, as errors can go unnoticed. 

On the other hand, AI-driven QA platforms can automatically review 100 per cent of customer interactions, using natural language processing (NLP) to flag compliance risks, poor sentiment, or situations where agents could benefit from additional training. These tools can assess tone, script adherence, resolution success, and even customer satisfaction.

Pro tip: Look for platforms that score interactions across multiple metrics and generate auto-summaries for coaching sessions.

6. Use AI in contact centres to empower agents, not replace them

While AI handles many routine tasks, human agents remain crucial for complex, emotional, or high-value interactions. And customers value human interactions - a majority would still rather speak to a human, and a top concern among the public is that companies implement AI to eliminate jobs. 

AI can make agents’ jobs easier by providing real-time assistance during calls, which includes giving them additional context and knowledge, suggesting next best actions, and offering compliance prompts. This allows them to respond faster and more accurately, without scrambling for information.

This not only speeds up interactions but also boosts agent confidence and accuracy, making them feel better supported and therefore engaged with their work, with the added benefit of improving staff retention rates. 

Pro tip: Position AI as a useful tool for agents and invest in training to help staff use it confidently and ethically.

From intelligent call routing to predictive analytics and agent enablement, these six strategies highlight how AI in contact centres is transforming customer experience across industries, by delivering faster resolutions, deeper personalisation, and more consistent service, all while reducing operational costs.

The Future of Contact Centre Agents

Discover how AI is transforming contact centers by empowering agents, not replacing them. This report reveals how to equip your frontline team to anticipate customer needs, boost efficiency, and deliver exceptional service. 

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