Making Service Human: AI’s Journey From Automation to Real Connection

Artificial intelligence is no longer just about efficiency and automation, A customer left waiting endlessly on hold, an overwhelmed service agent managing far too many cases at once, and a call that could derail with a single misstep, these are moments of frustration familiar to many. Artificial intelligence is now being used to smooth out those tense encounters, turning them into customized and efficient interactions that make people feel understood and appreciated.

AI is no longer confined to routine automation. Its new role is in shaping customer experiences that are smarter, more adaptable, and designed with people at the center. Research from Forrester highlights that emotions during customer interactions are critical, how someone feels while engaging with a brand directly affects their loyalty, future spending, and willingness to recommend the company. In other words, empathy can either boost or harm revenue.

When urgency or emotions run high, customers often choose to pick up the phone. Voice interactions dominate in these crucial moments, but companies that fail to prioritize empathetic, person-focused conversations risk alienating their most valuable clients. The next evolution in self-service is being driven by generative AI and agentic AI. Traditional chatbots have had limited adoption, with only a small fraction of U.S. consumers using them regularly. In contrast, new AI models are capable of handling multi-step requests, taking actions independently within safe limits, and delivering faster, more personalized solutions.

Another decisive factor in customer retention is accessibility. If brands are unavailable on the channels customers prefer, they lose business. Providing flexibility across platforms is not just good practice, it’s essential for growth. Insights from a recent Forrester and Mosaicx session underscored a clear trend: proactive, augmented support is becoming the standard for modern customer experience. AI is moving beyond repetitive task completion to empower support teams to create richer, more personal engagements at scale.

According to Vijay Verma, vice president of product management at Mosaicx, the future of customer service lies in interactions that feel seamless and intuitive. This requires recognizing who the customer is, understanding their communication preferences, and anticipating what they need to accomplish.

Verma explained that real personalization at scale is only possible with an AI-native approach. Rather than being tacked on after processes are designed, AI must be deeply integrated into how businesses serve their customers. He emphasized that AI can now guide adaptive customer journeys, tailoring every touchpoint, whether it’s automating a simple request or smoothly passing a distressed customer to a human agent.

This new model of customer care, enabled by generative and agentic AI, allows organizations to resolve problems quickly and anticipate needs before they are voiced. Instead of waiting for customers to complain, companies can proactively identify and address issues.

The ultimate goal, Verma said, is to create interactions that feel human, emotionally resonant, and meaningful, even while operating at scale.

Agentic AI, in particular, has the potential to deliver experiences that are more emotionally intelligent than past automation initiatives. By combining personalization AI, which analyzes customer histories and preferences in real time, with conversational AI, which adapts dialogue naturally and sensitively, companies can create trust and continuity throughout customer interactions.

Agentic AI takes things further by acting autonomously within defined parameters, giving human agents more freedom to focus on empathy and problem-solving rather than repetitive tasks. Together, these innovations allow teams to engage with each customer in a more authentic, emotionally aware way, reducing friction across the journey and elevating routine exchanges into loyalty-building opportunities.

To illustrate this, Verma described how a major airline used AI to turn a disrupted trip into a supportive experience. When a traveler’s connecting flight was canceled, personalization AI identified the passenger’s usual patterns and offered care typically reserved for elite members. Conversational AI initiated contact via text, explaining rebooking options and baggage details in a warm and approachable tone. Without any intervention from the passenger, agentic AI secured a seat on the next flight, issued a meal voucher, and arranged a discounted hotel stay. By the time a human agent engaged, they already had full context, which made the customer feel recognized and valued. This demonstrated how AI can extend empathetic, high-quality service to every traveler, not just premium-tier clients.

Verma also stressed that effective AI-powered CX begins with designing services around what customers actually want, not what is easiest for companies to implement. Being “AI-native” means embedding intelligence directly into the customer journey so routine processes are automated while emotionally charged moments remain reserved for human connection. Importantly, customers should always have an option to reach a live agent to avoid feeling trapped in automated loops.

He argued that businesses need to rethink their measures of success. Efficiency metrics such as handle time or cost per contact are not enough; long-term satisfaction and emotional outcomes must also be tracked. If speed comes at the cost of authentic connection, the approach is failing. Forrester’s CX Index shows that customers who feel recognized and valued are far more likely to remain loyal, spend more, and recommend brands. Tools like sentiment analysis, post-interaction surveys, and loyalty tracking allow companies to measure these emotional outcomes at scale. Agentic AI supports this by taking care of routine resolutions autonomously, giving human agents the space to focus on empathy-driven work.

Traditional personalization methods, Verma noted, are too rigid, often relying on scripted dialogues that feel artificial. Generative AI allows conversations to unfold naturally while still maintaining emotional resonance, eliminating the need to script every possibility. Agentic AI builds on this by working independently toward customer-centric goals, adapting instantly without human input. The result is consistent across all communication channels,  voice, chat, or self-service. Customers receive experiences that feel personal, relevant, and caring without brands having to hard-code every variation. Ultimately, AI’s role in CX is not simply about efficiency but about enabling genuine, human-like interactions that foster loyalty and trust.

For questions or comments write to contactus@bostonbrandmedia.comit is increasingly being used to make customer interactions feel more personal and human. Businesses are shifting from relying solely on AI-driven tasks to integrating systems that build empathy, trust, and genuine connections with customers. This evolution highlights how technology can enhance rather than replace the human touch, ultimately transforming customer service into a more meaningful, engaging, and relationship-focused experience.

For questions or comments write to contactus@bostonbrandmedia.com‍

Source: crmbuyer‍