EP1: Beyond the Bot: The 2026 Mandate for Agentic CX

00:00:00: Welcome to Zoom In on CX, the podcast that gets in the heart of what's really shaping customer experience across Amir.

00:00:16: and Oru, a research director of the Contact Center at IDC.

00:00:20: Together they're tackling some of the biggest questions in CX right now And there'll

00:00:24: explore

00:00:24: why customer experience needs to be a company-wide movement... ...and not just a contact center metric.

00:00:30: So whether you are a CX leader an IT decision maker or simply passionate about where this industry is heading This episode is for you.

00:00:39: Hello,

00:00:39: everybody.

00:00:40: My name's Ben Nioh.

00:00:42: I look after Contact Center here within EMEA and welcome to the Zoom in on CX podcast series that we're creating today!

00:00:49: Today i'm delighted to be joined by Oru Mohddin from IDC who is the research director for contact center and CCAS across EMEa.

00:00:59: Oru thanks for joining us.

00:01:00: how are you?

00:01:02: Good thank you great

00:01:04: Brilliant.

00:01:05: We're really grateful, we do a lot of work with you and you've always got some fantastic insights.

00:01:09: so I'm looking forward to this session.

00:01:11: So my first question around this is from your research in going round the market talking to vendors what's current state of CCAS adoption maturity across Amir right now?

00:01:25: Well there definitely are lots of interest on CCAS.

00:01:29: just sort give you stats for understanding scale.

00:01:34: Currently, it's at sixty-forty.

00:01:37: So, sixty percent have adopted CCAS and forty percent are still on prem.

00:01:41: but then you know, forty percent of those who were on prem.

00:01:45: we're also including private cloud.

00:01:47: so if you want to look as on premises service that would be even less than that.

00:01:53: But more interestingly in about well the next five years adoption will increase to eighty percent.

00:02:02: on-prem will come down to twenty percent.

00:02:04: So we have sixty percent now.

00:02:06: in five years, it'll be eighty percent and On-prem which is forty percent now would come down the twenty percent.

00:02:13: so We are forecasting a growth of twenty twenty percent KGAR!

00:02:17: You can clearly see that there's lot of interest In CCAS And It Is Projected To Grow Very Rapidly.

00:02:25: One Of The Things That Is Fueling This Growth Is AI.

00:02:29: We see it everywhere.

00:02:30: I mean, look AI is fueling growth in every single kind of industry particularly in CX In a market where you know there's been lots of innovation Lots of niche innovations that have driven us off You know sort of improvements within their.

00:02:46: but AI seems to be the next supercharger which Is actually allowing The experience as a customer To Be able to be A lot quicker and easier.

00:02:54: But also the experiences an agent feel a lot simpler As well.

00:02:59: What I would have asked you though, Oro is what was actually real today with AI in the CX world?

00:03:05: What's that actually working and what's aspirational.

00:03:09: Right so frankly speaking if you think agentic AIs are myth or it's in the labs You're wrong because agentic AI very much a reality And It does making inroads to businesses and enterprises and I stress on enterprise speakers For enterprises, reliability and scalability are very important.

00:03:31: And they have started adopting agentic AI.

00:03:35: Now.

00:03:35: having said that I need to clarify That it's not all agentics All the way through right?

00:03:42: They're adopting Agentic AI in small scales Starting with like low hanging fruits Things that they can deploy Um...and then The objective is To spread It across the organization step by step, gradually rather than sort of laying it over the organization as a blanket.

00:04:05: Do you see that internal use cases then, Oru?

00:04:08: Where do they start on some of those?

00:04:10: when he said low hanging fruit what would be the load-hanging fruit to your scene being addressed?

00:04:15: right?

00:04:16: so the lower hanging fruits would be with agent augmentation where Agentic AI is providing context customer history and then guiding the agent along the process, doing some post-call or post interaction administrative tasks.

00:04:37: This is sort of this starting point but it's not that Agentik AI isn't being used for self-service.

00:04:44: Again, Agentik Air is used for basic transactional queries because you know its still learning.

00:04:54: But at the same time, there is a trust factor.

00:04:56: How much of your AI do you trust in terms of addressing complex matters?

00:05:01: So when you're using it for simple cases and self-service... You are teaching your AI And then also developing your trust and familiarity with what needs to be done.

00:05:18: So on two fronts, there's a bit of self-service for inbound as well as outbound.

00:05:23: But there is also agent augmentation supporting an agent during the

00:05:27: interaction."

00:05:28: You know, take them all the way through to completion.

00:05:34: So no one has actually known us to engage with that.

00:05:36: but then the second bit is how can you help the agent and maybe do some agintic tasks around it?

00:05:40: What's the evolving role of a human age in them alongside Agenta

00:05:44: K.I.?

00:05:45: They're not enemies are they Aruv?

00:05:47: I think that's... The media would like us to think about this but there really aren't any.

00:05:51: Right?

00:05:52: so i mean..i think your asking me will agents lose their jobs?

00:05:56: In roundabout way Aruva!

00:06:01: There will be some structural changes, yes.

00:06:05: Because of the things which agents have been doing.

00:06:10: they don't need to do that anymore because it can be done by AI but at the same time we also think about these frustrations when you try and reach out.

00:06:23: your brand is happening as there aren't enough people in contact centers, right?

00:06:29: There are only so many numbers or so many agents available and then you have to wait until an agent becomes available.

00:06:37: Now if you implement Agentic AI that pressure goes away So your brand can take more calls And address more queries quickly.

00:06:49: It could be both In some cases where agents were dealing with Some basic queries, they don't have to do that anymore.

00:06:58: And this could be increasingly done by agentic AI.

00:07:03: but then at the very onset what it would mean for agents is that there will be focusing on things that require human intervention and that requires empathy right?

00:07:16: At also same time It means we'll have support of AI to do their jobs better.

00:07:22: Then moving on, as we go through the process of agentification and you see more and more agency AI across the board.

00:07:33: The roles will shift even more.

00:07:35: instead taking calls themselves or being part of entire processes They will be responsible for approving a request from AI, or they would be responsible monitoring AI.

00:07:53: in which roles will start to evolve for humans and contact centres.

00:08:01: That's really interesting, also I think it is great to hear that because traditionally its been very difficult often for people see a career progress with the contact centre.

00:08:12: everyone thinks you go from an age of doing this into a supervisor but actually even AI isn't taking jobs.

00:08:19: It sounds like what your telling me.

00:08:21: Absolutely!

00:08:22: A new genre career path for agents and make it more interesting.

00:08:31: You have to think about that.

00:08:32: this can be a very rewarding job, right?

00:08:35: I mean you are having the opportunity just speak to someone and resolve their issues and maybe you will have happy customers who will compliment bonds with these customers.

00:08:50: So this can be really very interesting.

00:08:52: at the moment, you know they are stressed and stretched for time and overwhelmed.

00:08:57: With agent AI all of that will go away or most of it would go away And there we'll probably working in an environment which is quite interesting.

00:09:07: now We just think about agents here but within contact centers You have a broader spectrum of roles right so you have supervisors as well right?

00:09:18: Now, it's not the agents whose role will change even supervisor roles with change as well because they don't have to sit there and listen to recordings.

00:09:26: And look at or address calls that haven't gone wrong.

00:09:32: A lot of this can be done by AI.

00:09:35: So what they can do is focus on creating an environment in which agents can thrive, thus from a satisfaction becomes the main goal and then you know they will have more opportunity to address Right, so you can create a modern interesting work culture which supervisors can drive.

00:09:55: So it's not the agents who are benefiting.

00:09:58: Supervisors will benefit too.

00:09:59: I mean they would have more interesting and managerial role.

00:10:03: Really good to hear because as you said, customers benefit from dealing with people on their own channels and hopefully getting there simple queries done a lot quicker if they have to go through two agents.

00:10:12: If agents are happier the experience is better and supervisors can do what they're good at which might be additional coaching on top of that but the delivery of the culture.

00:10:21: I love that.

00:10:22: so when CX leaders now were looking where they going for customer journey?

00:10:27: Are you seeing different things being prioritized while evaluating these kind of decisions at all.

00:10:34: So AI is actually at the very top of their agenda.

00:10:38: Interestingly, we are also seeing CEOs being involved in this process and then some organizations also have chief AI officer who's looking into how AI can be deployed within their organization And I think about eighty percent of the organizations that we surveyed for one service.

00:10:59: they all have center-off excellence which means it's a team or it's a department where they are starting to explore, where they can implement more advanced versions of AI.

00:11:11: So definitely you have like more senior level people getting involved but not just that.

00:11:17: there also dedicated teams who aren't looking at use cases and where do start?

00:11:22: But more importantly I think is up-more complex scenario right.

00:11:27: this is just the data i'm talking about when we talk in real life.

00:11:33: Now, the question is how are you viewing AI?

00:11:37: Is it just something you're doing for operational efficiency or is it for productivity.

00:11:42: Or is it because you want to go in a certain direction and its part of your vision now?

00:11:48: that third point is very important Because The AI we were talking about is very transformational.

00:11:55: It's not doing this same thing in different way.

00:11:58: Its doing things differently all together And it requires changes at two levels.

00:12:04: It's required changes, people level and the tech level.

00:12:11: Often we think about Tech but not People.

00:12:13: It needs to be part of your vision which means understanding why you want this and how it would support your CX.

00:12:22: And when you are thinking about that, You will also have to think About how the roles Will change.

00:12:27: Right?

00:12:27: Something like we've talked about.

00:12:28: and then How would you measure success?

00:12:31: right so all these things Have to be part of your vision and it has To Be Part Of Your cultural Change and change management and alongside That you'll also implement The tech changes.

00:12:43: So It's not just about who is being involved in the decision-making process.

00:12:49: Is it part of your overall vision?

00:12:52: And is the ownership of entire organization, because sometimes when you speak to some IT people or those who are looking at AI they say well I think that's just my product and I am responsible.

00:13:06: That isn't true!

00:13:08: It has a company-wide vision as i said but needs to be owned by everyone.

00:13:13: Everyone is stakeholder.

00:13:15: I

00:13:17: can't agree with you more to be honest on that.

00:13:20: Customer experience now is no longer just a contact center, it's movement and should be your brand sort of.

00:13:27: that is the goal as to create this and everybody's responsible for it.

00:13:31: I really, really believe that if we project forward or like i said crystal ball moment you know what's one thing?

00:13:38: You're seeing that is emerging in an absolute other must have a trend when people are looking out certainly for future with CX

00:13:48: Right.

00:13:48: so increasingly we will be seeing changing architecture And there will be a shift from multi-vendor environment to single vendor environment.

00:14:02: Because that's just how AI works, right?

00:14:05: So one of the things about agentic AI is knowledge layer and orchestration layer.

00:14:13: That works better when it has unified platform And increasingly, as customers or businesses realize the value of AI they will also be making a shift towards single platforms are unified vendor.

00:14:29: Another point that I want to add is this just talking about tech thing and other things like concept vision is where businesses will start to see contact centers as not cost centers, but revenue centers.

00:14:46: Being a critical part of driving revenue in the future... I mean first off all.

00:14:51: if you're just providing good customer service and your customers are satisfied that means your brand loyalty will be higher right?

00:14:59: And that would reduce the chance!

00:15:01: But in addition a three-sixty view of your customer, you're agents can cross sell and upsell.

00:15:09: So again going back to another point we just talked about how will their roles change.

00:15:13: from being agents they could also be actively involved in sales and marketing.

00:15:18: so that's another thing.

00:15:19: So what I'm saying is there will be two parts to it.

00:15:22: One, the conceptual part and vision where they start understanding customer support in driving future growth while moving towards a unified stack.

00:15:35: The more this happens, the more that you see... ...the abilities have a unified approach.

00:15:39: It enables to move quicker and faster.

00:15:41: but of course we're going integrate with things But actually having one place where it orchestrates everything is able to see every thing I think will be really important.

00:15:49: We definitely can see coming as well.

00:15:51: That's part our vision.

00:15:52: This has been awesome Oro by the way.

00:15:54: Last bit What was your final piece of advice?

00:15:58: If somebody were looking at right now what would they give them think about.

00:16:04: And then we've talked a lot of things around there, but I'm a CX leader, I say to you Oruh?

00:16:08: I really want to massively impact my CX experience...I have had my environment for quite awhile!

00:16:14: What do i

00:16:14: do?!

00:16:15: But what would be your one piece of advice that you lead with?

00:16:18: I will say start now right.

00:16:20: so making that move is not always about having the right resources or the logistics.

00:16:28: it's about your confidence Whether you're bold enough to make that move.

00:16:33: So my advice would be, Be Bold Make That Move.

00:16:36: Maybe You Do It In Smaller Scales And Smaller Chunks But Do it Because If You Don't Do It It May Be Too Late and You Will Fall Behind.

00:16:45: Action Bees in action all the time I think and your right this market is moving so quickly Starts Somewhere Get Confident Receive A Benefit.

00:16:54: Is The Foundation For The Next Phase?

00:16:57: Surely

00:16:58: Absolutely.

00:16:58: And the thing is there's support available, right?

00:17:00: So you as Zoom do offer support to your customers who are looking to start afresh or start fresh on something that they're not familiar with.

00:17:10: so it's not like there is no support and their sort of trying figure out what to do when left on-the-roan.

00:17:17: I mean this thing is create a mindset where if you want to do it seek the support then do it.

00:17:25: Oru, I have loved that.

00:17:26: We've gone through a variety of topics there but this is something...I really resonate with what you've talked about and do want to thank for your time.

00:17:33: I hope everybody's listening has enjoyed the short journey through the Contact Center or some other things to think about.

00:17:40: But Oru thanks so much and it was always lovely to speak

00:17:45: to you!

00:17:45: Thank You Ben.

00:17:46: Thank U Ben & Oru.

00:17:47: And What A Conversation That Was The Most Powerful Takeaway That Really Stood Out Was Around People.

00:17:52: AI Isn't Replacing Agents It's transforming what they do, and that is a fundamental shift in how businesses think about CX.

00:18:00: And if this episode resonated with you make sure to listen for the other episodes of this podcast so you don't miss coming next!

00:18:07: Thank You For Listening To The Zoom In On CX Podcast.