Can IT finally save customer service?

For years, many providers of technology tools and services — and a fair share of industry analysts and consultants — have talked about how effective their offerings can be at enhancing customer service.

And yet, examples abound of poor service for both business and consumer customers: long wait times for support, the inability to get hold of a human agent when automated systems fail, poorly functioning or badly designed websites, inaccurate client contact information or preferences, and unresolved issues because of failures in accountability, to name a few.

Despite the efforts of IT organizations working in tandem with business units to make customers’ lives easier, the service that many organizations provide can be frustratingly bad.

“Many industries overlook the post-sales stage when they think about customer service,” says Adrienne DeTray, CIO at Universal Technical Institute, a workforce education provider for transportation, skilled technicians, energy, and healthcare. “Once the deal is done, the relationship should not go quiet, and that’s something we’ve all experienced as customers.”

Too often, companies consider post-sales service as an afterthought

to the sale, instead of the strategic advantage it really is, says Danny Sit, CEO of mobile phone developer NUU.

“Why invest so much effort in bringing a customer into your family, only to lose them because of neglect?” Sit asks. “When customer service is treated as a silo, separate from product, sales, or logistics, it becomes inconsistent and frustrating for everyone involved.”

The latest Customer Service Survey by research firm Gartner reveals a significant gap between customer expectations and organizational performance, says Kathy Ross, a senior director analyst at the firm who supports customer service and support business leaders.

“The top priority for customers during a service interaction is first contact resolution — having their need addressed the first time they reach out,” Ross says. But B2B and B2C customer service organizations on average achieve only a 30% first contact resolution rate, according to Gartner’s research.

“This means that most organizations are not meeting the standards that customers expect for prompt and effective service,” Ross says.

Failures with first contact resolution is only one example of where organizations go wrong with customer service. Clearly, technology leaders at many enterprises need to take steps to enhance customer service operations, either through investment of more effective solutions or better use of existing ones.

Here are a few things for IT leaders and their organizations to consider, according to experts.

Get the most out of data

Enterprises are sitting on more customer data than ever before — with levels of detail unimaginable even a few years ago. Just possessing this data is not enough, however. Even after years of knowing the importance of effective data analytics and data science, many companies are still not getting the maximum benefit in terms of enhancing customer service.

IT leaders can have a hand in turning this tide.

“We use predictive analytics to identify early signs that a student might be struggling or an employer’s hiring needs are shifting, so we can reach out before challenges escalate,” Universal Technical Institute’s DeTray says, for example.

Gartner’s Ross adds that a big part of success with data management is leveraging actionable data for context. “Organizations must use customer data to understand which products and services each customer has, how they are being used, and what the customer’s goals are,” she says.

Hand-in-hand with leveraging data for context is the need to develop and maintain knowledge content for solutions, Ross says. “A dynamic knowledge base enables both human and AI agents, as well as customers, to access accurate, up-to-date information and recommendations for resolving issues,” she says.

These two layers are complex to implement, requiring a blend of technology and process discipline, Ross says, “but they are essential for delivering consistent, high-quality service. Organizations that master data and knowledge content set themselves apart — these are the pillars of exceptional customer service.”

Integrate data sources for context and advanced warning

IT leaders can also help enhance after-sales customer service by integrating the wide range of data sources that can help resolve customer issues and even anticipate problems before requests roll in, says Baris Zeren, CEO of Bookyourdata, a lead generation platform provider.

“Part of how we are doing this is by using customer data to stay ahead of issues,” Zeren says. “With top-level data analytics, we would be in a position to monitor the behavior and interaction of the customers and hence be able to forewarn that a customer would need some sort of assistance, and contact him even before he asks.”

Bookyourdata also uses automated ticketing, in which customers’ questions are grouped and prioritized. “This will ensure that the matters that will need immediate action will be taken first, and this will reduce the possibility of dissatisfied customers,” Zeren says.

The significance of these practices “is that they sensitize us to be responsive and efficient, and at the same time guarantee that we provide a high level of personalized service, which is imperative in the retention of customers,” Zeren says.

At technology consultancy Avantra, “the big thing we wanted to do this year was to make all the contextual information about our support available to any customer support representative,” says John Appleby, CEO.

“We have pulled all of this data — incidents, solution documents, documentation, internal documents — and made it available to our support system in a retrieval-augmented generation [framework], which means when a new incident comes in from a customer, highly contextual information about similar issues found in the past is served up to the support agent,” Appleby says.

The firm saw a dramatic improvement in productivity from support staffers, who are able to provide significantly more contextual first responses to customers and reduce the number of interactions, as well as improve close times and customer service, Appleby says.

Implement agentic AI for better after-sales experiences

Another way enterprises can enhance customer service is to make extensive use of agentic AI, which focuses on autonomous systems capable of making decisions and performing tasks with or without human intervention.

“Agentic AI is transforming customer service by moving from passive response to autonomous action,” Gartner’s Ross says. “Unlike traditional AI, agentic AI can plan and execute tasks on behalf of the customer or company, adapting dynamically to achieve specific goals.”

For example, today a customer looking to cancel a subscription might receive instructions and a link, Ross says. “With agentic AI, the system could autonomously complete the cancellation process, including filling out forms or making necessary calls on behalf of the customer,” she says.

Or a business client, rather than manually comparing shipping rates,

could deploy an AI agent to research providers, negotiate rates, and present the best options — saving time and improving outcomes, Ross says.

Agentic AI implementation can be a decisive factor in simplifying after-sales customer service, “as it is quite efficient in automating routine processes and handling an immense number of customer requests to prioritize the most pressing requests,” Bookyourdata’s Zeren says.

For example, it can be used to analyze the sentiment of messages that customers leave in a short period of time, so support teams can prioritize the tickets that require addressing on a priority basis, Zeren says.

“Besides, the AI chatbots can handle primitive requests and provide the customers with timely and topical information, and thus, the human representatives will have the opportunity to focus on more complex tasks,” he says.

For Universal Technical Institute, it’s not just about adding new technology such as agentic AI, DeTray says.

“We are fundamentally rethinking the experience to nurture the customer experience,” she says. “We’re carefully rolling out AI to make sure it fits that need. As we go forward into [2026] and beyond, we have developed a multi-year AI roadmap to strategically embed emerging technology throughout the entire student, partner, and employee experience.”

Address understaffing issues — and beware the promise of an ‘agent-less’ future

While agentic AI and other automation systems can reduce the need for human intervention, organizations can’t afford to understaff their customer support operations or limit support hours. They need to continuously train customer support professionals so that they understand how to get the most out of tools.

“Despite advances in AI, only 14% of customers can fully resolve their issues without human intervention,” Ross says. “The push for an ‘agentless’ future is shortsighted — well-trained employees remain essential for handling complex or sensitive situations.”

Technology leaders should focus on using AI to enhance, not replace, the human element in customer service, Ross says. “The most successful organizations will leverage AI to empower their teams and deliver new value, rather than simply cutting costs,” she says.

A report earlier this year from Gartner shows that by 2027, 50% of 163 organizations surveyed that expected to significantly reduce their customer service workforce will abandon these plans. “This shift comes as many companies struggle to achieve their ‘agent-less’ staffing goals, highlighting the complexities and challenges of transitioning to AI-driven customer service models,” the report says.

A vast majority of the organizations plan to retain human agents to strategically define AI’s role. This approach ensures a “digital first, but not digital only” strategy, Gartner says, avoiding the pitfalls of a hasty transition to an agentless model.

A hybrid approach, where AI and human agents work in tandem, is the most effective strategy for delivering exceptional customer experiences, Ross says.