The adoption of AI across the contact center space is rapidly accelerating.
New research from Metrigy spotlights this trend, with over 70 percent of contact centers increasing their AI spending in 2023 and 2024.
Don’t expect any U-turns in 2025, either, as the graphic below showcases.
Indeed, it seems that most contact center leaders have their feet on the AI throttle.
During a recent CX Today webinar, Robin Gareiss, CEO & Principal Analyst at Metrigy, highlighted the primary driver of this trend. She said:
“The number one reason: AI brings efficiencies. So, contact centers are seeing it, they're measuring it, and they're experiencing it.”
Yet, while driving efficiency may top the list, there are many more reasons why contact centers are pumping funds into AI.
What’s Driving the Surging Investment In Contact Center AI?
Metrigy unpacked five principal drivers for heightened investment in contact center AI in its study.
As noted, unlocking new efficiencies came out on top. But behind that, Metrigy found implementing AI to "improve CSAT" and "increase revenues" to be the second and third primary drivers, respectively.
Interestingly, the analyst found that competitive pressure – and the feeling of not getting left behind – is the fourth most prominent motive.
That worryingly suggests that lots of leaders feel pushed into adopting AI, which may prove risky. After all, many may jump to implement ill-fitting use cases, bloat the CX stack, and fail to achieve all the possible benefits of AI.
Finally, reducing attrition came in as the fifth driver, which is unsurprising given the decades-long tussle that contact centers have had with reducing agent churn.
Thankfully, contact centers are reporting that AI is helping to meet many of these objectives, according to Gareiss. She summarized:
“We see that companies are transforming. They're spending more, and they're using a lot of different technologies with real clear results.”
To drive those results, Metrigy identified eight “top” areas of spending increases in contact center AI, as explored below.
Where Are Contact Centers Investing In AI?
According to Metrigy, the top areas for spending increases in contact center AI are:
- AI for employee collaboration
- Identity verification
- Customer self-service bots
- Contact center workforce engagement management (WEM)
- Triage bots
- Agent-Assist
- Employee self-service bots
- Voice of the Customer (VoC) programs
The top two may come as a surprise, especially as the noise around other AI-led technologies – including virtual agents and assistants – reaches a fever pitch.