Zendesk has introduced an AI Agent Builder as part of a massive release wave across its platform.
The solution allows customer service teams to build bots – or "AI Agents" as Zendesk now terms them – through natural language descriptions.
For instance, a user may type into the AI Agent Builder: "A customer wants to return a product."
With this simple command, the solution will recognize the scenario and develop an AI Agent framework, which the user can review, test, and deploy.
In this example, that framework will contain steps like checking the order number, verifying which items the customer wants to return, and cross-referencing the return policy.
Yet, as Matthias Goehler, CTO for EMEA at Zendesk, told CX Today: "You can define any number of workflows in the same way.
What’s great is that business users can handle this without needing to design complex flowcharts or decision logic.
Still, developers may need to reference an API when devising AI Agents that cross multiple third-party applications.
However, Zendesk has taken much of the hard graft out of the virtual agent design process, allowing its customers to ice the AI cake before deployment.
Other Enhancements to Zendesk’s AI Agents
The AI Agent Builder helps automate customer contacts where the resolution follows multiple steps.
For simpler queries, Zendesk can also connect a single AI Agent to trusted knowledge sources so it autonomously answers them.
Now, the vendor has extended that capability to email and strengthened its Poly.AI partnership to soon bring all its conversational AI capabilities to the voice channel.
"When I first heard a Poly bot, I thought it was a human; it even had subtle dialects and varied pacing," noted Goehler.
This natural-sounding voice, combined with real-time data processing, allows the bot to understand customer intent and guide them through processes.
As Zendesk tones its voice automation muscle, the CRM giant aims to help customers automate up to 80 percent of their customer service queries.
Nevertheless, Goehler accepts that there will always be instances when human interaction is necessary, whether that’s because of case complexity or customer preferences.
That’s why it continues to advance its Agent Copilot, which now boasts several new capabilities.
The "Enhanced" Zendesk Agent Copilot
Perhaps the most exciting new capability within Agent Copilot is its "Procedure" feature.
With this, contact centers can define procedures for the Copilot to follow on behalf of a live agent.
As with AI Agents, users can spell out these procedures in natural language, such as: "Do this first, then this, and finally this."
