AI isn’t erasing customer service roles anytime soon, says Gartner

While analysts are sounding the alarm about how AI will eliminate jobs, the customer service sector won’t be having its swan song just yet. A recent report from the U.S. advisory firm Gartner suggests that the widespread predictions of a completely ‘agentless’ future are both unlikely and undesirable. 

According to data released last week, Gartner said none of the Fortune 500 companies will completely replace humans from customer service roles by 2028. Kathy Ross, Senior Director Analyst for Gartner Customer Service & Support practice, described human agents as irreplaceable in terms of handling nuanced situations and building relationships with customers.

“We expect fewer human agents, but not completely agentless organizations,” she said. “The most successful organizations are those that balance technology with the human touch, redeploying their teams to focus on growth and customer satisfaction.”

The firm anticipates that by 2027, about half of organizations that sought to replace their service workforce with AI will abandon these plans. Many of the attempts to remove people entirely from service delivery will also fall short of their staffing goals.

Instead of using AI as a basis for aggressive workforce cuts, Ross advises companies to leverage the technology to help their employees scale support services and focus on more complex customer issues. “Service and support leaders should leverage AI for efficiency, but not at the expense of human talent,” she said. “While AI excels at handling routine and well-defined problems, it often struggles with exceptions and high-risk scenarios. 

AI’s disruptive impact on labour markets – and the resulting fallout – is already being felt in the customer service sector. Swedish fintech company Klarna began rehiring humans in June after an attempt to replace hundreds of its employees with AI tools led to a surge in customer complaints and lower customer experience. 

Australia’s Commonwealth Bank also reversed its decision to let go of customer service staff in August after its AI-powered ‘voice bot’ caused an increase in call volume, forcing team leaders to get on the phones to help.

Ross said that AI will still impact customer service roles in the near future and urged companies to focus on blending the strengths of AI with those of their human employees. “Let technology handle the simple stuff, and reserve human agents for complex, high-risk, or emotionally charged situations,” she said.