The New CX: Deliver Next-Gen Customer Self-Service with Five9 AI Agents

Today's customers expect personalized, human-like interactions — even from automated systems. However, the reality falls short. According to a survey by Gartner,only 8% of customers used a chatbot in their most recent customer service experience. Among those, just 25% expressed a willingness to use a chatbot again in the future. 

Traditional chatbots and virtual agents struggle with rigid, scripted responses, relying on rules and limited knowledge and data. This hinders real-time, comprehensive understanding of customer needs. The result: frequent misinterpretations, frustrating customers who often require human assistance. As customer expectations rapidly evolve, the outdated nature of traditional automation hampers businesses' ability to efficiently scale while handling complex, fuzzy, and dynamic requests.  

The Rise of AI Agents 

AI agents are poised to transform customer self-service, unlocking unprecedented levels of productivity and efficiency. These advanced agents, powered by generative AI, are moving beyond simple automation to execute complex, dynamic conversations.

According to Capgemini's July 2024 report, Unlocking the Value of Generative AI, 82% of companies plan to implement AI agents within the next three years. Moreover, 71% of businesses expect AI agents to boost automation, while 64% anticipate these agents will reduce repetitive tasks, allowing employees to focus on value-driven initiatives. Gartner predicts that by 2028, 33% of enterprise software will incorporate AI agents, up from less than 1% today, enabling AI to autonomously make 15% of daily work decisions. This shift signals a new era in productivity and customer interaction, driven by AI agents, that is poised to redefine self-service and operational efficiency. 

How AI Agents Redefine Self-Service

Delivers Hyper-Personalized CX

Customers now expect automated systems to deliver personalized, human-like interactions. Traditional chatbots, however, rely on rigid scripts, creating limited and often frustrating experiences. Generative AI-powered agents transform this by combining intent detection, entity extraction, and enterprise knowledge integration. They can accurately identify customer goals and retrieve relevant information, delivering precise, context-aware responses. With seamless access to enterprise knowledge, AI agents address customer needs effectively, providing a high-quality self-service experience that boosts satisfaction and loyalty.

Here's an example: A customer contacts a retail brand's AI agent asking, "Can I return my recent order?" Instead of providing a generic response like, "Returns are accepted within 30 days," the AI agent uses personalized data to reply, "You purchased the item 12 days ago, so you have 18 days left to return it for a full refund." The AI Agent tailors the response based on the customer's purchase history, offering a more relevant and helpful interaction.

Unlocks Efficient Automation Rate

Traditional virtual agents, built on rule-based models and decision trees, often lack flexibility as they rely on static responses and limited data. This rigidity hinders their ability to address complex, dynamic customer queries, leading to frequent misinterpretations that demand human intervention. Generative AI transforms this approach by enabling Five9 AI agents to understand complex language patterns, recognize context, and generate more accurate, human-like responses – reducing errors and enhancing overall automation rates in customer service. 

Accelerates Time to Market

Building and maintaining automation systems traditionally demands substantial resources, requiring time, specialized expertise, and continuous support – making it challenging for businesses to adapt and scale quickly as customer needs change. Previously, creating intents in platforms like Dialogflow involved manual effort like adding training phrases, managing multiple tools, and maintaining FAQ data stores. AI Agents streamline this process with a fully descriptive, zero-training paradigm, eliminating the need to upload and train extensive conversation data. This innovative approach reduces the time and cost of development, enabling faster, more adaptable automation for evolving customer interactions. 

Meet Five9 AI Agents: Control Meets Flexibility in Self-Service

Five9 AI Agents redefines self-service by blending cutting-edge generative AI with conversational AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP) models to deliver personalized, human-like interactions across voice and digital channels. Unlike other solutions that are either fully autonomous or strictly pre-scripted, Five9 AI Agents stand out by offering unmatched granular control. This flexibility lets businesses seamlessly manage AI Agents autonomously or with predefined scripts — combining freedom with reliability to fit unique customer needs. 

Another standout advantage of Five9 AI Agents is that it is built into the trusted Five9 Intelligent CX Platform, enabling seamless collaboration with human agents when needed. Five9 AI Agents also integrate effortlessly with the Five9 Genius AI Suite—including AI Knowledge, Agent Assist, and GenAI Studio—offering a unified, scalable, and efficient solution for all self-service needs, all easily accessible through the Five9 web design experience.

Register for our upcoming webinar to see Five9 AI Agents live in action.