BY DONNA FLUSS , DMG CONSULTING LLC
In general , deploying customer-facing self-service capabilities is the most effective way to deflect interactions from live agents and decrease service costs . Providing agents with automation , which came in fourth with 40.9 % of survey responses , is another means to boost productivity . As is the case with Conversational AI ( CAI ) self-service systems for customers , the market is filled with an innovative set of applications to augment agent performance . These Generative AI ( GenAI ) -enabled capabilities enhance the CX as well as the employee experience ( EX ) and improve productivity .
Reducing operating costs came in as the fifth-highest business goal for 2025 , chosen by 40.2 % of survey participants . As total inquiry volumes continue to rise , this is a practical and common goal for service organizations .
Improving employee engagement and updating contact center systems and technology were each selected by 36.4 % of survey respondents and tied for sixth place . During the past two years , fueled by GenAI and large language models ( LLMs ), the market has experienced an influx of tools to assist agents in performing their jobs . This is part of the reason investing in AI to enhance the contact center was selected by 35.6 % of survey participants , landing it in seventh place .
Two years ago , there was great concern that agents would feel threatened by the introduction of AI in contact centers ; instead , it has ushered in a number of applications that make their jobs easier and improve their performance .
Enhancing security and compliance came in eighth place , chosen by 28.8 % of the people responding to the survey . Protecting a company , its employees , customers , and data is a responsibility for every operating department , including the contact center .
As importantly , enterprises need to position their workforce to comply with all applicable internal and external regulatory requirements , which is becoming more complicated with each passing year . New AI-enabled agent-facing tools help reduce fraud losses and increase regulatory compliance while improving productivity and the EX .
Adding new digital channels and integrating contact center and back-office departments both received 23.5 % of votes , tying for ninth place in the study . Organizations continue to expand the number of channels they support , which is now relatively common throughout the industry . However , integrating contact center and back-office operations is an objective that only recently has slowly started increasing in importance and is expected to receive more attention during the next few years . Both goals are essential for enabling companies to deliver an outstanding customer experience cost-effectively .
CHART : TOP 10 CONTACT CENTER GOALS FOR 2025
SOURCE : DMG CONSULTING LLC , JANUARY 2025
Enhancing business continuity / disaster recovery and updating policies and procedures tied for tenth place , both of which were selected by 20.5 % of survey respondents . Each are core activities that should be of importance to every contact center around the world .
Survey respondents also selected migrating systems to the cloud ( 16.7 %), increasing agent compensation ( 12.1 %), reducing fraud ( 10.6 %), and Other ( 6.8 %) as goals for 2025 .
THE UNDERLYING THEME OF THE RESULTS ... IS THE GROWING USE OF AI TO IMPROVE THE CX , EX , AND CONTACT CENTERS OVERALL .
FINAL THOUGHTS
The underlying theme of the results of DMG ’ s 2025 contact center goals and technology survey is the growing use of AI to improve the CX , EX , and contact centers overall . AI technologies provide the means for these departments to be increasingly intelligent , interact more conversationally , respond faster and better to the needs of their customers and prospects , and become better places to work .
Although AI fuels this evolution , people , processes , and operations will enable organizations to fully realize its benefits .
Donna Fluss , Founder and President of DMG Consulting LLC , provides a unique and unparalleled understanding of the AI , people , processes , and technology that drive the direction and performance of the dynamic and rapidly transforming CX , contact center , and back-office markets . As the foremost analyst and visionary dedicated to these markets , Donna has provided expert guidance for over 30 years to operations and technology leaders as well as disruptive newcomers , investors , and enterprises that want to build AI-enabled contact centers . She can be reached at Donna . Fluss @ dmgconsult . com .
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