Contact Center Pipeline July 2025 | Page 7

SET THE SCENE. WHAT CHANGES, TRENDS, AND DEVELOPMENTS HAVE YOU SEEN EMERGE OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS THAT IMPACT CUSTOMER CONTACT AND WHAT ARE THEIR DRIVERS?

KEVIN MCNULTY

KEVIN MCNULTY( KMN): Triage is no longer enough. Contact centers are being asked to do more than resolve issues: they’ re expected to deliver proactive, personalized, end-to-end experiences across every channel.

The pressure to meet these expectations without increasing headcount or cost has pushed organizations to rethink their approach to automation and rethink the role of AI.

The conversation has moved beyond simple deflection. AI is now assisting human agents during complex interactions, automating back-office tasks like after-call work, and enabling more seamless, contextual self-service. Generative AI has helped unlock more natural, conversational experiences, but we’ re also starting to see the emergence of Agentic AI, where multiple AI agents collaborate to handle multi-step tasks and support multiple personas across the customer journey. While still early, this shift represents a fundamental rethinking of what’ s possible in customer experience( CX) automation.

Underpinning these changes is a growing emphasis on data: especially unstructured data from voice and chat. That data is being mined not just for reporting, but to discover automation opportunities, improve knowledge, and inform strategy.

SARIKA PRASAD

SARIKA PRASAD( SP): Over the past year, a convergence of transformative trends has reshaped the inbound contact center, led by the rapid evolution of AI and rising consumer expectations.

As companies accelerate AI integration across their operations, contact centers are undergoing a profound shift. AI now enables them to do far more than just answer FAQs. From appointment scheduling to intelligent triage and self-service workflows, AI is streamlining processes, reducing wait times, and enhancing resolution accuracy.

As these solutions become increasingly sophisticated, contact centers are not just becoming more efficient, they’ re building the foundation for stronger customer trust and loyalty and driving revenue.

Further, today’ s consumers are more demanding than ever. Expectations for exceptional CX are sky-high and unforgiving. According to our recent " 2025 Customer Experience Report- Consumer Edition ", 40 % of consumers would abandon a brand after just one poor service experience. That’ s a wakeup call: delivering CX excellence isn’ t optional, it’ s necessary.

To meet these rising standards, leading organizations are embracing the“ Three E’ s” of modern CX: effortless, efficient, and engaging.

This framework centers on balancing automation with human engagement, ensuring experiences are intuitive, fast, and highly personalized. When done right, it doesn’ t just resolve issues, it deepens relationships and drives long-term loyalty.

NEERAJ VERMA

NEERAJ VERMA( NV): Over the past 12 to 24 months, we ' ve witnessed remarkable advancements in AI and automation: transformations that are reshaping the customer service landscape, particularly in the realm of agentic systems.

A standout inbound use case is the evolution of IVR. One of the most important shifts with IVR has been the ability of agentic large language models( LLMs) to genuinely comprehend natural human language and convert it into meaningful, actionable outcomes: crucially, without the need for human intervention.

Historically, achieving this level of understanding required complex, deterministic natural language understanding( NLU) flows that were difficult to build and scale. This shift represents a fundamental change in what’ s now possible with AI and has driven a significant uptick in automation.

IS THERE ROOM TO GROW FOR AUTOMATING THE HANDLING OF CUSTOMER CONTACTS? ARE THERE FACTORS THAT ARE HOLDING IT BACK FROM ANSWERING A GREATER VOLUME OF INTERACTIONS, AND THEIR TYPES AND VALUE?

KMN: There’ s absolutely room to grow, not just in volume, but in the types of interactions automation can handle.

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