Customer service viewed as revenue driver this year amid rampant AI use: report

AI integration close to half of service organisations, only 1% has no plans to use AI. 

Eight in 10 Singaporean service professionals predict customer service professionals will contribute more revenue this year, with the vast majority expecting higher budgets and an increase in headcounts to further boost growth, according to a report by Salesforce.

The report showed service professionals are turning to AI to scale service without compromising quality, with 90% already using or evaluating AI, and are planning to increase investments in AI this year. 97% also said AI was a time saver.

Salesforce said 47% of service organisations have fully implemented AI. Meanwhile, 43% were experimenting with AI, 8% were evaluating how to use AI and 1% had no plans at all.

Automated summaries and reports, customer-facing intelligent assistants, and service responses were the top three use cases for AI in customer service.

“Generative AI will allow agents to provide a smoother and more personalised customer service experience, freeing up time to focus on relationship building,” Gavin Barfield, chief technology officer and vice president of solutions at Salesforce ASEAN, said. “At the same time, data and AI is enabling service teams to demonstrate their ability to drive revenue growth through greater efficiency and upsell activities.” 

Rising demands in customer service increased expectations and pressure on service teams, with 81% saying customers have become more demanding than before and 65% expecting a higher volume of cases next year.

72% said improving customer support required better access to data from other teams, while 87% plan on improving data integration this year by increasing investment.

The report surveyed 100 survey professionals in the city-state.