The more you automate, the more you own

Automation has yet to reshape enterprises as dramatically as promised. While it’s commonly portrayed as an overwhelming force coming for our jobs, the truth is that most business leaders have approached automation as a means to paper over the cracks, not gain control over broken systems.

 

Now, it would be disingenuous to claim that AI and automation won’t affect the labor market, especially when it comes to customer service. PolyAI’s voice agents can replace more than 1,000 full-time employees in many of its large-scale enterprise deployments, but that doesn’t mean AI won’t shift how work gets done.

The real opportunity is not simply cutting costs or reducing headcount, but reestablishing control over incredibly complex systems: the very systems that impact your customers’ ability to have a conversation with you and get what they need.

 

Greater automation equals greater control

 

Taking the contact center as an example, let’s sketch out how AI and automation put control back into your hands.

First and perhaps most intuitively, rolling out change to automated systems is much more efficient than rolling it out to a huge number of people. With an AI customer service agent (one with proper guardrails around its responses, of course), you can deploy a policy change, new product name, or even updated compliance language within minutes. Better yet, these changes get relayed to consumers the same way every time.

 

Next, a greater degree of automation gives you greater visibility into your operations. As opposed to managing thousands of agents across locations and even vendors, you can essentially get a single viewpoint when you deploy AI agents. You’re no longer guessing what’s being said on the phone or digging through transcripts to analyze conversations between employees and customers.

 

Another way automation can help you take back control is by removing your business from the whims of seasonality. We’re all familiar with how events outside our control can slam our businesses, whether it’s back-to-school, holiday shopping, or tax season. AI doesn’t need a crash course in your product, and it doesn’t need to learn how to speak in your brand voice. You may not be able to send an AI to hang out with your in-laws around Christmas, but you can certainly use it to help your customers during the time periods that stress your business most.

 

Finally, automation can take control back from BPOs and return it to you. The standard survival method for many businesses has been to delegate the contact center entirely to a third party. There is certainly a place for BPOs in the age of AI, but it’s time to think about clawing back your direct relationship with your customers. With AI agents taking on a greater share of conversations, you no longer have to make BPO-related quality and control trade-offs that can hurt how customers perceive your brand.

 

You can’t transform what you don’t own

 

Looking at our contact center example, it’s clear AI and automation can make a major impact on how much command you have over your business operations. 

Like we always say at PolyAI, we’re not building technology for technology’s sake, but to fix real problems. Similarly, your use of automation to gain greater control shouldn’t happen just for the sake of control. The aim is to transform: for your employees, your customers – and, yes, your bottom line. All three will suffer if your business still relies on slow rollouts, old-school analysis, seasonal hiring, and opaque third-party vendors.

 

Whether you’re responsible for the contact center or another critical part of your business, there’s a simple truth (and corollary) to keep in mind: the more you automate, the more you own – and the more you own, the more you can transform your relationship with your customers.

---

To join the enterprises who build, manage, and transform their customer experiences with the only voice-first omnichannel platform, click here.

---

By Nikola Mrkšić, CEO, PolyAI