The future of AI-powered customer experience

Companies are now using AI to personalize customer experiences, improve productivity, and reduce agent burnout—with more use cases emerging daily. But balancing the technological and human issues is one critical issue that companies are still figuring out for their own businesses. 

In a recent webinar sponsored by Freshworks and moderated by Dom Nicastro, editor-in-chief of CMSWire, a panel of industry experts—Mika Yamamoto, chief customer and marketing officer at Freshworks; Marietta Silva Allison,a longtime CX leader; Raj Krishnan, industry digital strategist at Microsoft; Chris Hood, CEO of Synsible AI; and Christian Mitchell, chief digital and information officer at Northwestern Mutual—explored how AI is reshaping customer service.

Here are key takeaways from the conversation, lightly edited for clarity:

AI staying power 

Mika Yamamoto, chief customer and marketing officer, Freshworks: AI isn't new. What's changed is how accessible it's become. At the beginning of 2024, many customers were hesitant, seeing AI as something to dip a toe into. But now they're realizing it's not just an experiment—AI is here to stay. Much like the early days of the internet and e-commerce, companies are moving from trial runs to transforming operations. We're seeing tangible value: increased customer satisfaction, improved efficiency, and reduced costs.

Balancing humans and tech 

Chris Hood, CEO of Synsible AI: There’s a delicate balance between AI and human engagement. While AI increases productivity and speed, it can impact the human connection. Every organization must find its unique sweet spot to ensure customer satisfaction without overly automating the experience.

Human-machine teammates  

Christian Mitchell, chief digital and information officer at Northwestern Mutual: I'm firmly in the camp of AI augmenting humans, as opposed to replacing. AI will give our workforce, our teams, the opportunity to do so much new, cool, creative work that they just don't have the capacity to do right now.

The ‘how’ of AI 

Raj Krishnan, industry digital strategist at Microsoft: Utilizing AI in the right places, integrating it with traditional systems, and finding the optimal way to unify these technologies has become increasingly out of reach for small and medium businesses. The challenge now is to democratize this process, making advanced technologies accessible and affordable for all.

The power of explainability 

Marietta Silva Allison, longtime CX leader: Explainability in AI is a challenge; data scientists often can't fully clarify why a model produces a specific answer, and answers can vary even with the same question. Despite this, smart data scientists are building robust guardrails to mitigate risks. It's fascinating how human-like chatbots can create genuine emotional responses, blurring the lines between human and machine interactions. Behavioral science reveals that people form relationships with bots, even when aware they’re artificial.

Watch the full on-demand webinar here.