Agentic is a type of artificial intelligence that is designed to act autonomously, making decisions and taking actions towards a specific goal. Passive – or now ‘traditional’ - AI responds to direct commands. Agentic AI independently analyzes situations, decides on its response, and evolves from feedback.
Agentic AI has been borne out of advances in generative AI and LLMs research, the increasing availability of large-scale data, and growing demand for AI systems that can operate more autonomously to tackle complex tasks. It’s the next frontier of AI and is set to transform productivity and operations across industries.
Key Characteristics of Agentic AI
- Independent – it operates with a degree of independence, providing reasoning and making real-time decisions without immediate human input
- Goal oriented – agentic AI pursues specific objectives or tasks, often defined by its initial programming, user input, or through adaptive learning
- Adaptability – it dynamically adapts based on real-time data, creating tailored, unique experiences
- Collaboration - AI Agents can collaborate with other AI agents or hand over tasks. They can also check-in with or hand-over to a human agent when the conversation stalls or hits escalation parameters
Applying Agentic AI in the Contact Center
Huge, influential corporations including Microsoft and Salesforce are investing in agentic AI – underlining the confidence the market has in the technology. The potential for this capability in CX is huge – in creating more personalized, efficient, and responsive interactions between businesses and their customers. Here we explore some of the ways agentic AI can be leveraged in CX:
1. Delivering personalized customer interactions
- Dynamic personalization - Agentic AI can autonomously tailor product recommendations, content, or services to individual customers based on real-time data, behavioral patterns, and past interactions.
- Proactive engagement - By analyzing customer data, agentic AI can anticipate a customer’s needs and reach out with relevant offers, support, or information
2. Ensuring automated, intelligent customer support
- 24/7 Self Service – AI has transformed customer service with always-on, available anywhere solutions. Agentic AI is leveling self-service up – managing FAQs and self-service portals so customers can get the information they need on their own terms
- Conversational AI and Virtual Assistants – similarly, this new breed of AI facilitates digital agents to have more human-like interactions with customers and handle more complex tasks. Agentic AI can interpret context, adapt to conversation flow, and solve problems independently, creating a seamless customer support experience
Agentic AI can also better manage the handoff between virtual and human agents. Sebastian Glock, Director of Product Marketing & Technology Evangelist at Cognigy, explains:
“The AI agents have a good sense of what they can and can’t handle. If someone reaches out with an issue that’s outside their expertise, they know to pass it along to a human. They can also pick up on emotions - like if someone’s angry, upset, or sad—and use that as a signal to hand over, making the experience feel more human and supportive.”
The virtual agent can also pose a question to a human in use cases such as:
“When a customer makes a specific request, such as a 10% discount, and the agent is unsure whether they have the authority to grant it, this situation can be escalated to an AI supervisor, which may involve a human decision-maker. The agent communicates the context by sending a detailed message to the human supervisor, including information about the customer’s profile, the nature of the request, and the reasons provided, ensuring informed decision-making while maintaining efficiency.”