AI is helping organisations in Australia and New Zealand meet mounting service capacity demands across a growing range of business and customer touchpoints, according to the newly released Seventh State of Service report from Salesforce.
AI adoption in the customer service sector is accelerating rapidly. Predictive and generative AI are expected to be used by the majority of contact centres in ANZ within the next two years, according to local Salesforce data, while 94% of organisations say they are prioritising technology integration to support their AI initiatives.
At the same time, AI agents, which are propelling conversational, personal interactions with customers at scale, are also helping to drive efficiencies and improve service delivery. AI is also helping organisations redefine customer service to meet rising customer expectations.
Key statistics:
- 94% ANZ organisations say they are prioritising technology integration to support their AI initiatives
- 35% ANZ service centre leaders say keeping up with changing customer expectations is a challenge
- 43% Consumers say a poor customer service experience will prevent them from making a repeat purchase.
- 77% Service leaders say AI agents are essential for meeting business demands
Teams Tackle Rising Customer Demands
Customers are demanding better digital experiences from organisations and service professionals, and Salesforce data shows that 35% of ANZ service centre leaders say keeping up with changing customer expectations is a challenge. It ranks as the top concern for service organisations in meeting their goals.
Service leaders and their teams can already see the value of AI, however the challenge is adopting it at speed. “Customer expectations are accelerating, but customers have also never been smarter because they are also augmented and elevated by AI in their day-to-day lives,” said David Stone, Regional Vice President, Service Cloud and Revenue Cloud at Salesforce. “This is a real challenge. To stay ahead, businesses have to know the customer and the market better than their competition – and act faster.”
“To stay ahead, businesses have to know the customer and the market better than their competition – and act faster.” – David Stone, Regional Vice President, Service Cloud and Revenue Cloud at Salesforce
ANZ customers also desire more personalised service and 89% of service professionals say that building personal relationships with customers is an important part of their job. However, 63% of service representatives’ time is spent not working with customers, and instead are pulled into administrative tasks and internal duties.
The stakes could not be higher for organisations, as the commercial impact is significant; according to Salesforce data, 43% of consumers say a poor customer service experience will prevent them from making a repeat purchase.
AI Agents Redefine Customer Service
Organisations in the ANZ market are prioritising three types of AI: predictive, generative, and agentic, and 80% of services leaders currently use at least one form of AI.
Investment in AI agents is rising in ANZ, and 77% of service leaders say it is essential for meeting business demands. According to the report, 37% use AI agents, and only 7% say they do not expect to within the next five years.
The report also found that humans and AI agents achieve more when they work together. “We are seeing many Australian contact centre teams acknowledge the need for a digital and human workforce that operates in lockstep with one another,” said Stone. “Among the key advantages of AI agents is collaboration between teams and the technology. An effective relationship between the two is truly symbiotic; AI frees service representatives to focus on more complex cases, enhances productivity and helps companies better serve their customers.”
“AI agents are rapidly maturing and transforming the nature of service work. They are driving forward a new frontier in AI development, and can provide proactive customer recommendations along with real-time insights to contact centre teams.”
“AI agents are rapidly maturing and transforming the nature of service work. They are driving forward a new frontier in AI development.” – David Stone, Regional Vice President, Service Cloud and Revenue Cloud at Salesforce
The Seventh State of Service report shows that 90% of service leaders have found AI improves customer satisfaction and experience. With faster, more accurate interactions, improved decision-making and increased efficiency, AI agents are already yielding meaningful improvements to the customer experience.
Salesforce data also shows AI agents increase job satisfaction and makes jobs less stressful for employees. “Employee experience is as important as customer experience,” said Stone. “Given that staff turnover in contact centres remains high, the most successful leaders view AI as an important tool for employees and customers in equal measure”.
AI Gets Conversational with Voice and Multimodal Interactions
AI agents are rapidly advancing with conversational, voice and multimodal capabilities. Stone said Australian contact centres are already embracing this because the capability of the technology is accelerating at pace and there are several advantages they are tapping into. For example, when customers and employees converse with AI, the Seventh State of Service report says it frees up representatives to handle more complex cases and accelerate resolution.
AI agents are also helping organisations drive customer trust in their brand. Customer service is increasingly recognised as a key brand touchpoint and metric of success and, according to Salesforce data, 90% of organisations say that AI is good or excellent at keeping their brand voice consistent.
The reach and impact of an AI agent can be profound; when AI agents are communicating with large volumes of customers, organisations can, at times, communicate with as many customers as its marketing does, Stone observed.
“The challenge – and opportunity – is personalising the interaction in a way that still reflects your brand,” said Stone. “Customers will increasingly expect that level of personalisation, detail and knowledge. Understanding the customer is going to be a real differentiator for organisations now and in the future.”
To learn more, download the Seventh State of Service report here.
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