" CENTERS WHERE AGENTS ARE HANDLING TRANSACTIONAL TYPES OF CALLS WILL PROBA- BLY BE THE MOST IMPACTED, AS THOSE ARE THE EASIEST TO BUILD MECHANISMS FOR AUTOMATION."
STAFFING
DO YOU THINK- AND ARE YOU SEEING- THAT AI, LIKE AGENTIC AI, WILL REDUCE THE NUMBER OF CONTACT CENTER AGENTS NEEDED, RESULTING IN LAYOFFS OR LIMITING FUTURE HIRING? IF SO, HOW AND WHY?
A: I haven’ t experienced that in my business areas, but I would anticipate some shifts in what the future of work looks like for contact center agents.
Initial changes could be efficiency improvements for the contact center agents, notably agent assist features such as:
• Pulling up information from separate systems and combining that information together without the need for separate independent searches.
• Providing possible scripting to relay information about the situations being discussed.
• Giving suggested information to relay to the callers in anticipation of additional questions for those subjects will potentially help to reduce future repeat calls.
To me, the natural progression, after confirming success and completeness of the information being relayed through agents, is to look for automated mechanisms for that information to be available in a self-service format. This would include things like AI-based bots for chats and calls.
Like any tool or process implemented for the contact center that reduces the average handle time( AHT), prevents follow-up calls, or even negates the need for the initial calls, there will be changes to the work that needs to be done to field those questions.
As a result, AI will and should cause changes in future hiring. Centers where agents are handling transactional types of calls will probably be the most impacted, as those are the easiest to build mechanisms for automation.
By contrast, agents working through complex situations or troubleshooting that are rarely alike will be more difficult to address with automation. In either case, working alongside AI tools and capabilities will be increasingly common.
DO YOU SIMILARLY THINK THAT AI WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON AGENT QUALIFICATIONS AND TEAMS, SUCH AS BY DEFLECTING MORE CALLS IN SELF-SERVICE AND / OR HELPING AGENTS MAN- AGE CHALLENGING CUSTOMER PROBLEMS? AND CONSEQUENTLY, LOWER AGENT TURNOVER BY MAKING THE WORK MORE INTERESTING AND LESS STRESSFUL?
A: AI technology will cause a shift in qualifications for contact center agents. As the simpler transactional calls are moved into the technology space, the interactions that remain will be those situations that are more complex.
Successfully handling more complex situations requires a troubleshooting mindset and a better understanding, in most cases, of the systems involved. This has the potential to increase the AHT of each call, but at a lower volume with the simpler items being addressed by technology.
" CENTERS WHERE AGENTS ARE HANDLING TRANSACTIONAL TYPES OF CALLS WILL PROBA- BLY BE THE MOST IMPACTED, AS THOSE ARE THE EASIEST TO BUILD MECHANISMS FOR AUTOMATION."
-- TONY GRACZYK
I find more satisfaction in helping others through more complex tasks, so there is potential for more job satisfaction. One of the common frustrations from contact center agents is related to:
1. The number of steps / systems involved to be able to find information.
2. The stress of coming up with the right words to successfully relay that complex content to the customer.
3. The need to then capture all those details into a CRM so that the next agent can be informed of what was done, should the customer need further assistance, or that something was done to help but was not successful and why.
AI-based technology holds strong potential to address each of these challenges. While navigating the situation can still be mentally taxing, faster and more comprehensive access to relevant information can significantly reduce the cognitive load.
This makes it easier to identify patterns and begin assembling solutions with greater clarity and speed. I like to think about it as figuring out the shapes of the pieces of the puzzle before it can start to be assembled.
CONVERSELY, GIVEN HOW AI IS BEING WIDELY BILLED, WILL IT DAMPEN AGENT MORALE AND PRODUCTIVITY, DRIVING THEM TO SEEK MORE STABLE JOBS?
A: A lot of the impacts on morale and productivity will be dependent on the presentation and execution of the benefits. As with any change, there will surely be some who aren’ t comfortable or willing to leverage AI technology. JANUARY 2026 33