Old black-and-white photos of telephone operators, with their headsets and analog switchboards, seem like relics from a geological era ago. Well, modern customer service will soon follow suit. A new study of 1.000 IT professionals around the world offers a stark warning: by 2027, the traditional care model will become extinct, swept away by the advance of artificial intelligence. And then?
The End of an Era for Traditional Customer Service
The picture that emerges from the research of Nexthink (I'll link it here) it's unequivocal: 79% of IT professionals predicts that traditional care services will be unrecognizable within three years. And, as I mentioned, the 77% believes that new technologies will make them completely obsolete by 2027.
But why does this transformation seem so inevitable? The answer lies in the numbers: 87% of IT experts argues that managing technical incidents with traditional methods is no longer economically sustainable. The volume of technical problems is growing exponentially, while human resources remain limited.
The pressure on IT departments has become unbearable. Companies need more efficient and scalable solutions to manage an increasingly complex digital landscape.
Towards a proactive care model
The future of technical support will feature a completely different approach. 96% of IT professionals emphasize the urgency of developing proactive capabilities to anticipate and resolve problems before they arise.
Companies are already taking the first steps in this direction. 95% of IT departments is investing in proactive strategies, recognizing that this transformation is essential to increase the productivity organizational.
The key will be the integration between artificial intelligence e automation, which will allow you to identify and resolve problems before they impact end users.
The Experiential Desk: The Future of Customer Service
But all is not lost for human operators. 92% of those interviewed expect one transformation of customer service into what is called “experiential desk“, a model that focuses on improving the overall employee experience.
“The ultimate value of any technology is how well it enables people to do their jobs and how it impacts the overall productivity of the company,” he says. Yassine Zayed, Chief Strategy Officer of Nexthink.
This evolution will require new skills, and a lot of emotional intelligence. Operators will need to develop a deep understanding of the user experience, master theGenerative AI and also acquire technological training skills. In other words, “dominate with humanity”: also because, if there is no difference with what a machine can do, how can it be done?
The challenges of the transition
The path to this transformation will not be without obstacles. 76% of respondents expect employee resistance to implementing automated IT solutions, while the 75% identifies insufficient training as a significant barrier.
There is also concern (obviously, legitimately) for the professional future: 68% fears that these technological changes could negatively impact their career prospects.
However, there is also a form of optimism: the 96% of IT professionals are excited about the potential of AI-based technologies to improve end-user computing, and believe this makes the sector an attractive career choice.
In short: the “death” of customer service will lead to a necessary but complex transformation
The transition to this new model will require significant investments and a change of mindset. As he points out Zaied, companies are investing billions in digital transformation, but the results are still uncertain.
The biggest challenge will be balancing the efficiency of automation with the human touch that still characterizes quality customer service. The future will not be in eliminating the human element, but in its evolution towards more strategic and high value-added roles.
The question is no longer whether this transformation will happen, but how best to manage it to ensure that technology actually improves the end-user experience.
The fundamental role of continuous training
Transforming customer service isn't just about technology, but also and above all of people. Companies are starting to understand that investing exclusively in tools automation e artificial intelligence is not enough without an adequate skills development program. And it is not just about learning to use new tools, but about developing a completely new mindset, oriented towards proactivity and user experience management.
Operators of the future will need to be able to analyze complex data, interpret behavioral patterns, and predict user needs before they arise. This is a radical departure from the traditional reactive model, where you wait for a problem to occur before taking action.
Towards an integrated vision of support and innovation
The real challenge for companies will be to find the right balance between technological efficiency and human empathy. We cannot afford to lose that personal connection that often makes the difference in solving the most complex problems.
The future heir that will arise from the ashes of the current customer service will have to be a perfect hybrid between advanced technology and human understanding. Operators will become real “architects of the extensive experience digital“, capable of orchestrating complex solutions while always keeping the end user's needs at the center.
We must not resist change, but ride it to create something completely new and more effective.
