How CX Professionals Can Prepare for agentic AI-Driven InteractionsHow CX Professionals Can Prepare for agentic AI-Driven Interactions

Gartner predicts that by 2029, 80% of customer interactions will occur without any human involvement, thanks to the increasing prevalence of agentic AI: autonomous AI agents capable of managing tasks, making decisions, and engaging with brands on behalf of customers.

While the term agentic AI may be relatively new, AI’s role in Customer Experience (CX) is not. For decades, businesses have leveraged intelligent automation to improve efficiency and streamline customer interactions. Most recently, Generative AI has started to support both agents and customers before, during, and after interactions. We are starting to see successful Generative AI use cases, where AI minimizes admin tasks for agents, providing real-time insights and a foundation for more effective self-service through AI chatbots.

As agentic AI evolves, consumers will rely on AI agents to manage routine tasks, make decisions, and engage with brands autonomously. For businesses, this shift presents a new challenge in the CX space, and an opportunity to differentiate their service from that of competitors. To stay ahead, organizations must prepare their digital infrastructure to handle a higher volume of automated interactions and ensure that CX remains seamless and personalized.

As Agentic AI Advances, Here’s How It Impacts CX

Agentic AI focuses on autonomous decision-making, shifting from human-in-the-lead to human-in-the-loop systems, where humans only need to supervise the decisions made by AI technologies, rather than needing to prompt them. Agentic AI capabilities will enable the emergence of a goal-driven machine workforce, working on behalf of customers, who can autonomously make plans and take actions with a degree of sophistication that was not previously possible. 

And as agentic AI adoption accelerates, the nature of customer interactions will fundamentally change. Instead of direct engagement with human agents, consumers will increasingly use and interact with their own autonomous AI agents to solve their queries, creating a surge in automated interactions for organizations. Businesses must prepare for an increase in these kinds of interactions by investing in AI-compatible systems while optimizing their digital touchpoints to accommodate these new engagement patterns.

Failure to adapt quickly could result in overwhelmed systems, frustrated customers, and missed opportunities to strengthen brand loyalty. While there’s a lot of hype around agentic AI, there are some practical steps organizations should take to ensure they are prepared.

Use Agentic AI to Optimize Self-Service Channels and Omni-Channel Interactions

Legacy on-premises systems, designed for human-initiated inquiries, often struggle to keep pace with the speed and complexity of AI-driven queries. Gartner has predicted that 85% of all customer data will be collected from automated interactions facilitated by agentic AI assistants by 2027. Businesses that refine their CX offering to ensure smooth interactions across multiple channels, including chat, voice, and social platforms, will gain a competitive edge by meeting customers where they are, through their channels of choice. Platforms like WhatsApp are already proving popular, with over 200 million monthly active businesses using the messaging app for asynchronous customer communications. Advanced self-service channels can also pre-emptively resolve simple queries and escalate only the most complex problems to human agents, freeing service teams to focus on high-value interactions.

Gartner has also forecasted a rise in agentic AI digital assistants being used across a range of businesses, with autonomous digital assistants predicted to make up 20% of all interactions at organizations’ digital storefronts by 2028. Organizations that refine their self-service frameworks to ensure frictionless interactions between AI agents and backend systems will gain a competitive advantage in delivering seamless, personalized customer experiences.

Scalable Infrastructure Will Be a Must-Have with Agentic AI

As agentic AI becomes increasingly common, businesses must ensure their infrastructure can scale to manage fluctuating interaction volumes, especially with predicted increases in both machine-to-machine (M2M) and human-machine interactions (HMI).

With AI-assisted agents handling increasingly complex tasks, coupled with a surge in enquiries from agentic AI autonomous AI agents, backend systems will need to process, analyze, and respond to a higher volume of simultaneous requests. Without scalable cloud-based platforms, businesses risk service disruptions and compromised data security. Cloud-native solutions, like Content Guru’s storm® platform, offer seamless scalability, allowing organizations to flexibly adapt to peaks in demand. Investing in scalable infrastructure now will not only future-proof operations but ensure that businesses can capitalize on the opportunities presented by AI-driven interactions. brain®, Content Guru’s AI orchestration layer, gives organizations access to multiple best-in-class technologies to be leveraged in a single solution, with the ability to swap in and out as more new AI technologies are created.

To successfully adapt to a future dominated by agentic AI-driven interactions, organizations must invest in scalable infrastructure, optimize self-service channels, and empower their human agents with AI agent-assist tools. Scalable, cloud-based platforms provide the agility, intelligence, and security required to navigate these changes, ensuring that businesses remain competitive while delivering exceptional customer experiences. By preparing now, organizations can turn the rise of agentic AI-driven interactions into a powerful opportunity for growth and differentiation in an increasingly competitive landscape.