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Contact centres are one of the key touchpoints where brands must strive to deliver a superior customer experience<\/a>. When customers face an issue, the first thing they do is reach out for help. Whether it is a care executive, a chatbot, or an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, they expect quick and effective solutions. If their issue is not resolved at that moment, it can leave a bad aftertaste, making them feel, \u2018This brand isn\u2019t working for me.\u2019<\/p>\n At the ET CX Annual Symposium 2025<\/a>, organised by ETBrandEquity.com, a panel discussion on reimagining contact centres with AI explored how artificial intelligence can elevate customer support and provide seamless assistance.<\/p>\n The session featured Anubhav Mehrotra, vice president, customer experience, Tata 1mg; Dilpreet Singh, head of loyalty, CRM and partnerships, ITC Hotels; Manisha Puri, head of the customer experience centre, Aditya Birla Capital; Raj Nair, head of customer experience, Piramal Capital and Housing Finance; Sathish Krishnan, head of CRM, CX<\/a> & tech support, redBus; Vijay Jituri, head of service excellence, Cred; and Apurv Agrawal, co-founder and CEO, SquadStack<\/a>. The discussion was moderated by Devesh Gupta, content lead, product and community, ETBrandEquity.com.<\/p>\n AI has a huge impact on reducing operating costs, but contact centres offer much more than just cost savings\u2014they have the power to create lasting customer experiences. To truly focus on experience, brands must first understand what problems their agents or AI bots can solve.<\/p>\n Mehrotra explained, \u201cAnything that is repeatable and logic-based will certainly go the AI route. But for complaints requiring a higher level of human interaction or complex software issues, AI has its limits. In healthcare, accuracy is critical\u2014you cannot afford to be wrong, even with 99% accuracy.\u201d<\/p>\n Similarly, in the hospitality sector, the human touch remains crucial despite the growing influence of AI and technology. Customers still rely on emails and calls for various queries. AI can play a key role in enhancing the experience\u2014not by replacing humans but by working alongside them.<\/p>\n Singh noted, \u201cI always say, AI drives AI\u2014actual intelligence powers artificial intelligence. To use AI effectively, you must fully understand your business and what customers may ask. You cannot train an AI model once and expect it to work for a year. Training must be continuous, and constant evolution is key to delivering a better experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Aditya Birla Capital<\/a> aims to predict why a customer is trying to call their contact centre even before they dial the number. By leveraging data, they analyse whether an issue is isolated or if more calls will follow. Based on this prediction, AI can help keep self-service running, though some customers will still need human interaction.<\/p>\n Puri observed, \u201cThe real question is\u2014what are we solving for? A customer issue is often a business problem at its core. This is a never-ending journey, whether with Gen AI<\/a> or ongoing model training. If we already know the problem, why not solve it before the customer calls? Inform them in advance to ease concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n An angry customer using sarcasm with an AI chatbot may be misunderstood, as AI struggles to detect tone and intent. While AI can assist in many areas, some situations are best handled by humans. Customers expressing frustration or sarcasm need specialised agents who can understand emotions and respond appropriately.<\/p>\n Nair asserted, \u201cThere was a time when contact centre routing was solely about availability. Today, it focuses on matching the right agent to each customer. For instance, a customer requiring a NACH update needs a different approach from one shifting their loan to another bank. Intelligent routing ensures every customer is paired with an agent suited to deliver an efficient, empathetic experience.\u201d<\/p>\n RedBus<\/a> has embraced Gen AI through multiple pilots to enhance customer experience. With numerous boarding points in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru, reaching customers is complex. They analyse the customer journey to let AI handle simple queries while acknowledging that AI\u2019s role is still in its pilot phase and remains an ongoing process.<\/p>\n Krishnan remarked, \u201cIf a passenger boards at the first stop, AI can help inform the positioning of the bus, ensuring smoother updates for others. This goes beyond live tracking, which can be unreliable in areas with poor network coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n Cred focuses on the return on investment (RoI) when implementing AI. When deploying AI, they first identify low-hanging fruit\u2014quick wins that yield immediate returns\u2014while also planning for long-term gains. At Cred, significant ROI comes with time. While AI is already in place, refining and fine-tuning it is an ongoing process.<\/p>\n Jituri pointed out, \u201cAs far as AI implementation goes, even simple changes have started delivering strong RoI. For example, instead of agents listening to call recordings or asking customers about past discussions, we use a Speech-to-Text (STT) model to generate conversation summaries. This helps the next agent quickly grasp the context, provide recommendations, and resolve queries faster.\u201d<\/p>\n The implementation of AI in India is driven more by value than by cost efficiency. A value-driven approach to AI can enhance customer experience by eliminating long wait times in contact centres and providing instant support. This ensures that customers receive the help they need without frustration.<\/p>\n Agrawal remarked, \u201cIn the US, when OpenAI originally launched, a seat cost Rs 1.2 lakh, while a contact centre agent cost Rs 3 lakh, making AI a direct cost-saving solution. In India, however, human costs are much lower\u2014about half of OpenAI\u2019s cost. This pushes us to adopt a value-driven approach, creating opportunities for AI to enhance customer service and deliver seamless experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n As AI continues to shape the future of contact centres, its success will depend on how well businesses align technology with real customer needs. Rather than viewing AI as just a tool for automation or cost-cutting, companies must focus on its strategic implementation\u2014ensuring it enhances both efficiency and customer satisfaction.<\/p>\n \n <\/ul>\n<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Contact centres are one of the key touchpoints where brands must strive to deliver a superior customer experience. When customers face an issue, the first thing they do is reach out for help. Whether it is a care executive, a chatbot, or an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, they expect quick and effective solutions. If […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[59538,14205,7766,13090,13620,23693,59543,59542,59541,27475,59540,59539,59536,59537],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-139758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing","tag-aditya-birla-capital","tag-brandequity","tag-centre","tag-contact","tag-creator","tag-customer-experience","tag-cx","tag-cx-annual-symposium","tag-cx-annual-symposium-2025","tag-gen-ai","tag-itc-hotels","tag-piramal-capital-and-housing-finance","tag-redbus","tag-squadstack"],"yoast_head":"\n\n <\/p>\n
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