8 ways AI improves customer experience

Over the next two to five years, 60% of CX leaders expect AI to have a significant impact on operations, productivity, and revenue. Whether streamlining interactions, personalizing recommendations, or automating support, AI is transforming how brands connect with their customers.

This article explores eight specific ways AI can improve the customer experience, driving satisfaction, efficiency, and loyalty.

What is an AI customer experience?

AI customer experience uses artificial intelligence to make interactions smoother and smarter. In addition to speed, AI makes each interaction feel relevant and personal. Technologies like chatbots, recommendation engines, and virtual assistants automate repetitive tasks, enhance service delivery, and tailor solutions to individual needs.

As companies increasingly integrate AI into their customer experience strategies, they’re finding that these technologies do more than improve satisfaction. They also drive meaningful growth by strengthening customer loyalty and retention. This combination of personalization and operational efficiency is essential for businesses aiming to stay competitive and deliver exceptional experiences at every stage of the customer journey.

Eight ways AI makes customer experience better.

1. Offer customer self-service.

AI-powered self-service options are changing how businesses handle simple customer inquiries, making it easier for customers to help themselves. Tools like virtual assistants use generative AI to understand questions and provide accurate, conversational responses. Instead of waiting in a queue, customers can quickly access answers pulled directly from a company’s knowledge base, creating a faster and more convenient experience.

Self-service solutions can escalate issues when needed. If the AI can’t solve the customer’s issue, it can seamlessly transfer the customer to a human agent. This smart handoff ensures that customers aren’t left frustrated, striking a perfect balance between automation and personal service.

2. Provide automated agent assistance during customer interactions.

AI empowers human agents by providing real-time assistance during customer interactions. AI-powered live agent assistance tools offer valuable support through features like automated transcription, sentiment analysis, and suggested responses. These tools analyze conversations in real time, detecting key issues while giving agents insights to respond more accurately and efficiently.

One standout feature is knowledge retrieval, where AI surfaces relevant information from the company’s knowledge base, reducing the time agents spend searching for answers. Plus, AI can suggest next-best actions, such as offering discounts or recommending personalized solutions.

AI-powered customer experience solutions also help agents improve productivity, automating routine tasks and providing real-time support. Features like automated transcription, AI assistance, and knowledge management tools ensure agents have quick access to relevant information during conversations, reducing time spent searching for answers.

​By automating administrative processes—such as logging tickets or categorizing inquiries—AI frees agents from repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on solving more complex issues. Plus, AI-powered platforms offer performance insights, enabling managers to monitor key metrics like AHT and FCR. With actionable insights, businesses can continuously coach and improve agent performance, fostering productivity and job satisfaction.

3. Give customers the fastest possible path to a resolution.

By intelligently routing queries, AI delivers quick, effective resolutions to meet customer needs. For instance, when a customer submits a question, AI-powered systems can instantly analyze the inquiry to determine its complexity. Simple questions, like order status updates or account resets, are automatically directed to self-service tools, where customers can quickly find answers without waiting for an agent.

For more complex issues, AI doesn’t just assign the query to the next available agent; it goes further, matching the customer with the agent most qualified to handle the specific problem. This smart routing ensures customers receive expert-level assistance right from the start, minimizing transfers and reducing the frustration of repeating information.

4. Analyze data to make future customer interactions even more efficient.

The best-performing organizations don’t just handle customer issues—they learn from them. By analyzing customer data, companies can uncover patterns, identify areas for improvement, and fine-tune future interactions. Generative AI plays a crucial role in this process by unlocking actionable insights through customer experience analytics. These insights allow businesses to streamline operations, anticipate customer needs, and continuously improve their service. Here are a few critical KPIs every organization should monitor to enhance future interactions:

• First contact resolution (FCR). Measures the percentage of issues resolved in a single interaction, highlighting efficiency and customer satisfaction.

• Customer effort score (CES). Tracks how easy it is for customers to resolve their issues, with lower effort correlating to higher satisfaction.

• Net Promoter Score (NPS). Gauges customer loyalty by asking how likely they are to recommend the business to others.

• Average handle time (AHT). Monitors how long agents take to resolve an issue, balancing speed and quality of service.

• Customer satisfaction score (CSAT). Directly measures how happy customers are with the company’s products, services, or interactions.

As customer needs evolve, data-driven strategies ensure companies are always one step ahead, delivering better experiences with every engagement.

5. Engage customers across the channels they prefer.

Customers expect flexibility, and an omnichannel experience lets them connect with businesses however they want—whether through phone, email, social media, live chat, or text. Creating a seamless experience across all channels allows customers to move from one platform to another without losing context or having to repeat themselves.

AI makes this possible by connecting different channels and unifying customer data in real time. With an AI-powered platform, businesses can offer proactive, personalized support no matter where the interaction starts or ends. AI also ensures a smooth handoff between channels, tracking conversations across touchpoints to deliver relevant, consistent responses.

Implementing an omnichannel contact center strategy takes thoughtful planning—there’s no one-and-done solution. Here’s how to get it right:

1. Assess existing channels. Identify which platforms are already in use and where improvements are needed.

2. Centralize customer data. Unify all customer interactions into a single system for consistent service.

3. Leverage AI insights. Use AI tools to analyze conversations and offer real-time guidance.

4. Monitor performance metrics. Track key KPIs to continuously refine the omnichannel strategy.

With AI powering the customer experience strategy, companies can engage smarter and build stronger relationships.

6. Improve employee collaboration.

AI customer experience platforms enhance employee collaboration by seamlessly connecting teams across channels. These platforms integrate tools such as chat, email, and video conferencing so different departments can easily share information, updates, and insights leading to more coordinated efforts when resolving customer issues​.

Plus, AI supports collaboration by facilitating internal workflows. AI can even provide real-time coaching and alerts, so agents and managers stay aligned on priorities. This interconnected communication reduces silos, improves teamwork, and ultimately drives better customer outcomes by ensuring every employee is on the same page​.

7. Prevent customers from repeating themselves.

Customers don’t like repeating information, particularly if they’re already frustrated with their product or support experience. AI solutions address this by summarizing conversations at the end of each interaction. These summaries ensure that if a customer’s issue requires follow-up—whether through a different channel or with a new agent—the next touchpoint has the context needed to provide seamless support.

In addition to improving customer satisfaction, this continuity is valuable when customers switch channels or are transferred to a new agent for the same issue. AI-generated conversation summaries ensure agents have the context they need to focus on resolving the problem quickly, rather than re-gathering information. As a result, businesses see benefits on both sides—customers feel heard, and agents are better equipped to provide meaningful support.

8. Learn how customers feel about a brand.

To truly understand why customers are leaving angry or frustrated, businesses can now go beyond traditional sentiment analysis and identify emotional cues to uncover how customers are feeling and why they feel that way. Traditional sentiment analysis typically classifies text as positive, negative, or neutral, offering a broad overview of customer emotions.

Hyperpersonalized AI tools allow businesses to leverage natural language processing to detect subtleties in tone, context, and language patterns providing deeper insights into specific emotions and complex human feelings such as frustration, gratitude, or excitement. Unlike basic sentiment analysis, it identifies the intensity and underlying reasons for a customer’s feelings, enabling organizations to respond to their needs empathetically.

9. BONUS: Power an on-premises contact center.

On-premises contact centers can achieve the same AI-driven advancements as their cloud-based counterparts, without the need for expensive data scientists or lengthy implementation. For instance, intelligent automation streamlines processes like call routing, ensuring inquiries are directed to the most suitable agent. Automated data entry and real-time interaction tracking also free agents from manual tasks, allowing them to focus on delivering quality customer service.​

AI-powered tools provide additional support by offering live transcription, sentiment analysis, and recommended responses during interactions. Plus, managers can use analytics dashboards to monitor performance, identify trends, and make informed decisions to optimize operations.

How does AI improve the customer experience? Four case studies.

Let’s dive into four compelling case studies to see how organizations are leveraging AI to improve customer experience.

Michaels: Transforming agent experience to improve customer satisfaction.

With more than 1,200 stores, Michaels is one of North America’s largest arts and crafts retailers. Michaels came to TalkDesk to help transform its customer experience with AI solutions. Talkdesk Copilot became a cornerstone of Michaels’ AI strategy, offering agents powerful tools for customer interaction management. As a result, Michaels improved service levels from 20% to 89% year-over-year and reduced after-call work by 93%. As Krystal Roloff, director of CX store experience noted, these solutions are a “game changer,” delivering time savings and cost efficiency.

Serta Simmons Bedding: Making agents even more effective.

Leading mattress manufacturer, Serta Simmons Bedding, improved agent efficiency and productivity with AI-powered solutions from Talkdesk. With tools like Talkdesk Digital Engagement for SMS, chat, and voice channels, as well as Customer Experience Analytics and Talkdesk Copilot, agents could quickly access the information they needed, reducing time spent on manual tasks. Additionally, Talkdesk integrations with Salesforce, Confluence, and ServiceNow brought everything into one platform, so agents no longer had to jump between systems.

Municipal Credit Union: Empowering customers to solve their own problems.

Serving over 600,000 members across 15 branch locations, Municipal Credit Union (MCU) has transformed customer support with AI-driven self-service tools. These innovations empower members to resolve issues independently, streamlining problem resolution and reducing reliance on live agents. The impact has been profound: a 25% increase in customers resolving challenges through self-service channels and a notable drop in call volume, allowing agents to focus on more complex, high-priority cases.

Carbon Health: Connecting patients with faster answers.

Carbon Health, a tech-enabled healthcare provider, has significantly improved patient experiences by integrating AI-driven solutions into their operations. Facing high call volumes for COVID-19 tests, vaccines, and travel clearances, Carbon Health transitioned from legacy systems to Talkdesk’s AI-powered contact center platform. As a result, clinic answer rates rose from an average of 50% to 70%, with some clinics achieving a 100% answer rate for the first time. Plus, patient wait times decreased, and call distribution between the central system and clinics became more balanced.

Improve your customer experience with Talkdesk Ascend AI.

An AI-powered contact center helps enterprises deliver modern customer service their way with applications for customer self-service, omnichannel engagement, workforce engagement, employee collaboration, and customer experience analytics.

For example, ServiceTitan partnered with Talkdesk for a more advanced call center solution featuring dynamic call routing, call recording, and workforce management. With Talkdesk CX Cloud integrated with Salesforce, ServiceTitan quickly identifies customer needs and connects them to the right agent without frustrating menu options. Now, ServiceTitan’s first contact resolution exceeds industry standards, the average time to answer fell by seven minutes, and overall call volumes have decreased.

Another excellent example of implementing AI-powered customer service is Quadient. Quadient sought to enhance customer connections by unifying contact centers and implementing self-service CX to handle simple inquiries, freeing agents to focus on complex issues. After launching Talkdesk with Parcel Pending, they achieved a 60% containment rate—nearly doubling the efficiency of their previous system’s 33% rate.

Talkdesk AI solutions seamlessly address key elements of the customer journey to optimize interactions and boost satisfaction:

• AI-powered routing technology. Analyzes inbound voice and digital interactions to direct customers to the most suitable agent or resource quickly.

• AI-powered self-service technology. Uses conversational virtual assistants to handle simple questions and issues, minimizing the need to route these customers to an agent.

• AI-powered agent assistance technology. Provides agents with real-time information during live interactions, ensuring faster, more accurate responses.

Ready to elevate customer experience? Learn more about how the Talkdesk cloud contact center helps enterprises deliver modern customer experience their way.