The start of a new year is always a good time for reflection and forward thinking. One of the key promises of 2024 has largely been fulfilled: the widespread experimentation with AI in everyday business operations—for both customers and employees. This has been a time to explore, form opinions, and even undergo significant transformation. In the customer experience sector, one thing has become clear: improving processes through technology is no longer a pipe dream—and we shouldn’t stop there. So, what’s next?
Going Further with AI—But How?
After a period of excitement, sometimes bordering on fantasy, about the future of AI, the past year has brought a more grounded understanding of what’s truly feasible and desirable. Many projects failed to deliver the expected results—not necessarily due to technical limitations, but often because of a lack of clarity around use cases. Questions have also emerged about the sustainability of AI-driven business models, especially regarding hidden costs, the difficulty of scaling, and the realization that AI initiatives must align with concrete strategies.
Still, experimentation was necessary. And had we known the true costs from the start, the AI frenzy might have been more measured.
In customer service, this experimentation has revealed some hard truths: humans won’t be replaced anytime soon, use cases are far from limitless, and scaling AI faces real-time operational and data security challenges. That said, some trials have proven successful—particularly in quality control and compliance, where comparing a situation to a standard is a natural strength of AI.
In remote customer service, the next frontier lies in real-time voice analysis at scale and at the right cost. With over 70% of interactions still happening via voice, the race is on to develop real-time coaching tools that can suggest the next best action—bringing the vision of the augmented customer advisor closer to reality.
AI is becoming a must-have—but we need to think more critically about its long-term relevance in business planning, without overestimating its short-term capabilities.
Does Personalization Really Exist?
Year after year, the gap between marketing and customer service teams remains. Traditional marketing focuses on customer segments and personas to tailor messages and journeys, aiming to build the best personalization engine—especially in digital channels. Meanwhile, customer service deals with real people, in all their complexity, uniqueness, and emotion.
This disconnect often leads to frustration: marketers feel their work is ignored when service agents go off-script, while agents feel marketers are out of touch with the reality on the ground—seeing customers as mere statistics or averages. Is it any wonder that some customer experiences fall flat?
True personalization only happens in the moment. CRM tools must enable genuine relational intimacy. Yet even here, marketing and customer service often use the same acronym—CRM—to refer to entirely different systems. Sometimes even the same software vendors are involved, adding to the confusion.
Customer service and experience will never be truly personalized until marketing and service teams—and their tools—are fully aligned. The coming year must be one of awareness and action to bridge this gap and strengthen those connections.
Building New Business Models for Customer Service
As technology and the industry evolve, the customer experience ecosystem must embrace partnerships and models that combine economic efficiency, human connection, and innovation.
The industrialization of AI is prompting a rethink of how brands and service providers work together. With promises of near-zero-cost AI and economic models measured in cents per interaction, the temptation is to focus on cost rather than value. If an AI interaction costs €0.25 or €0.70—compared to €5 for a human one—why not automate everything?
But even if full automation were technically possible (which it isn’t, at least not yet), is it desirable? And for whom? Let’s not forget that in France alone, the equivalent of a city like Dijon works in remote customer service. Who will take responsibility for the social and economic consequences of handing over a brand’s most strategic asset—its customer relationships—to machines?
Still, the shift is underway, and it must be approached with a strong sense of responsibility. The customer service industry must align more closely with the tech world to improve the customer experience—finding synergies that prove the value of combining expertise to strike the right balance between automation and human touch.
But beware: remote customer service is one of the few sectors built on maintaining human connection. The rush to integrate new technologies risks pushing the heart of customer service—the relationship itself—into the background, reducing it to a mere process.
Customer service must always remain, first and foremost, in service of the customer—not just the system.
Martin Dufourcq, Chief Strategy and Solutions Officer, Armatis
Published January 25, 2025, in Siècle Digital
