Digital sovereignty, the ability for an organization to maintain clear control over how its data is stored, accessed, and governed, has moved from a technical concern to a board-level priority. As organizations expand their digital footprints and accelerate cloud adoption, rising regulatory scrutiny and growing customer expectations are forcing businesses to rethink how they manage data.

Sovereignty means different things to different people, the panelists noted, but the common thread is the need to take control over customer data, which has become essential to maintaining trust. The pressure to demonstrate that control is now shaping transformation plans, vendor choices and long-term customer experience strategies.

Control of Critical Data Is Becoming a Strategic Must

The energy crisis following the invasion of Ukraine exposed the geopolitical dimension of critical infrastructure, reinforcing the need for systems that can operate independently in extreme circumstances.

“Digital sovereignty is about stability and resilience,” said Julia Weberberger, Head of Corporate Strategy at Energie AG Oberösterreich, describing it as a source of power. “[W]e have to make sure that we operate our critical data on our own. We operate our own data center, with emergency power supply, and rely on a multi-provider strategy to create redundancies… It’s also very important that we build expertise in digital sovereignty in Europe, but also within our company.”

Europe is developing a new mindset built on innovation and security, Weberberger said, shaping companies, knowledge, opinions and even social narratives. In this environment, European data sovereignty is becoming a key strategic concern that requires balance.

As Martina Saller, Public Sector Sales Lead at Microsoft Austria said:

“It’s not a black and white discussion. It’s not about choosing the path of sovereignty or choosing the path of innovation. It’s about balancing and orchestrating… a risk-based approach.”

That layered approach should separate highly sensitive workloads from those suited for cloud-based innovation.

Public administrators highlighted that sovereignty is multidimensional: technical, legal, economic and emotional. What customers want above all is visibility and choice. As one leader emphasized, beyond control over data processing and storage, true sovereignty also means being able to choose the parts of a technology package they need rather than being required to buy licenses for bundles, which drives up costs.

Procurement rules, however, are still playing catch-up. With different requirements scattered across the EU, organisations often end up doing the same work multiple times. A more unified approach that allows for shared certifications and tech that plays nicely across borders would make it easier for businesses and public bodies to build modern, sovereign digital systems. And to make sure those sovereignty rules help innovation instead of getting in the way, organizations say they need clear guidance and strong partnerships with their tech providers.

What Customers Need from Cloud Partners

A recurring message throughout the discussion was that sovereignty cannot be achieved in isolation. Customers expect their cloud partners to help them meet changing regulatory, security and operational demands.

As Norbert Parzer, Certified Public Accountant, Tax Advisor and Partner at EOS put it, “first find the companion before you start the journey.”

To address concerns around extraterritorial data access, Jeff Bullwinkel, VP and Deputy General Counsel, Corporate External and Legal Affairs at Microsoft EMEA, detailed the steps the vendor has taken to provide assurance and legal protection.

The tech giant has built the EU Data Boundary for the Microsoft Cloud to “mitigate the risk, or reduce the surface area of risk by just reducing situations in which data is transferring from one continent to another.”

Just as crucial is Microsoft’s assurance that it will resist demands from governments to divulge customer data, Bullwinkel said:

“When Microsoft gets a request or a demand in order for data from any government around the world, we have a contractual obligation to litigate against that order whenever there’s a lawful basis for doing so. And we have quite a history of doing that…with a view toward guarding against that kind of risk and so we will continue in the future as well.”

Microsoft has also expanded its sovereign controls and confidential computing to ensure that customers hold the keys to their data.

The vendor recently announced expanded capabilities for its Sovereign Public Cloud and Sovereign Private Cloud. By the end of this year, customers in four countries—Australia, the United Kingdom, India and Japan—will have the option to have their Microsoft 365 Copilot interactions processed in-country. This will be expanded to 11 more countries in 2026: Canada, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, and the U.S.

These capabilities directly address customer expectations for operational autonomy and regulatory compliance.

Partnerships help empower organizations to keep control over their processes and architecture, so that digital transformations are secure and interoperable. Organizations across sectors are embracing AI, but they need to be sure that the models they use preserve transparency and control.

“There are many areas we see it’s important to have a good collaboration. And for that, trust is… obligatory. It’s the absolutely necessary thing. And it cannot just be a marketing promise,” Weberberger said.

The use of large language models (LLMs) raises critical questions when it comes to maintaining control over customer data, Weberberger noted, highlighting the need for transparency around who trains the data, who defines which information AI models are allowed to use, how ethical principles are implemented and who has the control and influence over the models.

“We need answers in the future when it comes to… how these LLM models are trained. Many providers tell us ‘we don’t use the customer data to train our LLM.’ But for us, still, the question remains, but how do the providers develop their LLMs when they don’t use the customer data to train them? Here we need clear agreements that we all know how it works, and openness to trust.”

For critical sectors like energy, innovation must align with stringent risk-management requirements without compromising safety or resilience.

Data Sovereignty as a Shared European Project

Panelists underscored the need for different regulators in Europe to get on the same page when it comes to digital rules, to create a clearer, more unified set of standards that works in practice and gives organizations the confidence to keep innovating.

“Policy makers and industry representatives should work together on defining clear, understandable and practical frameworks, which has not always happened in the past,” Parzer said.

“It’s about establishing certainty for market participants at the end… They should understand that innovation is not a luxury. It is just an enabler for our economic growth and insurance for our future. So it is all about defining rules that are going to balance innovation with compliance.”

And when those standards line up, it doesn’t just cut down on compliance headaches — it makes it easier for governments and regulated industries to embrace AI and cloud tools, giving them the guardrails they need to move ahead with confidence.

The conversation made one point clear: sovereignty is no longer a static concept. It is a shared responsibility shaped by policy, technology, and partnership. Customers expect cloud providers not only to deliver secure platforms, but also to collaborate, openly and continuously, on the frameworks, tools, and governance models that will define Europe’s digital future.

As the panel demonstrated when customers, policymakers, and technology providers align around transparency, control and trust, Europe can innovate at the pace required to remain resilient and competitive.

“I think we cannot expect this topic is going to go away,” Bullwinkel said. “These things are front of mind, absolutely, for our customers, for our partners, for government leaders… Things we’ve been talking about… around data privacy, around data security, around resilience, around data residency, these are all things that will continue to inform the conversation.”

The IRS will use Agentforce across the Office of Chief Counsel, Taxpayer Advocate Services and the Office of Appeals, Paul Tatum, Executive Vice President of Global Public Sector Solutions at Salesforce, told Axios.

The move follows major staffing cuts at the agency implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has since been quietly disbanded according to reports, as well as furloughs during the recent government shutdown. The IRS lost around 25 percent of its staff between January and May, shrinking from roughly 103,000 employees to about 77,000, according to a report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).

The US Congress has reduced the IRS’s funding under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) from $80BN over a 10-year period to $37.6BN. And proposed budgets for the 2026 financial year would reduce the agency’s annual funding by around 20 percent.

“Completing IT modernization projects, providing quality service to taxpayers, and enforcing tax laws with a reduced workforce and budget will be challenging for the IRS,” the TIGTA said.

That’s where Salesforce comes in. The vendor received FedRAMP High Authorization back in June for Agentforce alongside its Data Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Tableau Next offerings. It launched its Agentforce for Public Sector edition in August, which provides government agencies and local authorities with tailored, pre-built and AI agents.

Salesforce has already been working with the IRS to modernize some basic technology in those departments and will now add AI agents to handle tasks like generating case summaries and searching data to reduce the time it takes to handle customer interactions.

The aim is to help employees process cases so that taxpayers get the information they need faster, rather than to replace them, Tatum said.

The TIGTA pointed out that the agency still needs human staff to manage its complex remit:

“Despite numerous ongoing automation projects, the IRS still needs skilled and experienced employees to interpret tax law changes, investigate criminal activity, prevent fraudulent refunds, and implement complex coding changes for its information systems.”

That puts pressure on employees to deliver all this while providing a satisfactory service to taxpayers.

According to a separate TIGTA report in October, the Inspector General received nearly 250 complaints from taxpayers during the 2024 filing season, from January through May 2024, about interactions they had with IRS representatives.

The TIGTA found that IRS contact center representatives were typically courteous and professional in their interactions with taxpayers. But it identified “some instances where improvements are needed”. In 11 percent of call recordings, taxpayers received poor customer service, such as unprofessional behavior from IRS representatives, long wait times on hold or disruptive background noise. Another 15 percent of calls were either dropped or disconnected.

Why Automated Platforms Are Emerging as a Fix for Government Contact Center Shortages

AI platforms like Agentforce could provide a solution for government organizations like tax agencies that are facing a challenge in staffing contact centers to provide service to millions of taxpayers, especially during peak seasons.

Efforts to boost contact center productivity eventually hit a natural limit, because employers face a challenge in maintaining full staffing. “There’s a ceiling. You can’t make people give 110%. We work with governmental organizations who are losing employees and haven’t got the power or the money to fire into that space,” James Mackay, Regional Sales Manager at conversational AI firm Rasa, told CX Today in a recent interview.

Faced with thinning ranks from retirements, budget cuts or hiring freezes, these agencies are turning to AI to help frontline employees manage the workload. Mackay laid out the scope of the challenge ahead:

“Not reimagining how it works is an existential threat. It’s not like they need to just pay more for people; they can’t get the people. So now they have to figure out how they rationalize that ability to serve these customers. You’ve got a government who can’t afford the contact center, who legally have to provide that service, how are they going to do it?”

For government organizations, changes in service approaches such as scaling back contact center operations are not simply a business decision.

In the UK, HMRC was forced to backtrack almost immediately last year on plans to reduce its customer helplines in an attempt to funnel taxpayers towards its digital services such as chatbots and online forms. The agency stated that was “halting its plans in response to the feedback” from the public, business groups and politicians.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has also come under scrutiny in recent months following layoffs earlier this year, given ongoing taxpayer complaints around long wait times, unanswered calls, and contact center agents providing inaccurate tax information. The CRA has hired back some staff, as the issue has been escalated to Parliament and the Auditor General. An assistant commissioner at the CRA, Melanie Serjak, told MPs in a standing committee in October that the agency is looking at AI, among other technology tools, to assist agents in providing accurate responses.

While AI is often touted as a solution that “makes everything better,” supporting staff in government agency contact centers is one area where there is true potential, Mackay added.

“Is AI the answer to that? It might not be. There might be other ways… like outsourcing has been a favorite way of dealing with that. But AI has a real chance, if used well, to help augment and get rid of—to some degree—some of the requirements for bums on seats.”

For an agency that fields millions of questions, complaints and appeals each year, even small improvements in case handling can translate into noticeable gains in service experience for the public.

Summarizing long case files, retrieving policies instantly, drafting communications, and pulling up relevant data are the kinds of small efficiencies that add up to noticeable real-time savings in understaffed environments.

However, the challenge will be using AI solutions appropriately and avoiding the risk of hallucinations related to tax filing or collection, which could have serious consequences for taxpayers.

Organizations will need to establish clear guardrails around how automated systems handle sensitive financial information, making sure that every recommendation or calculation they make is grounded in verified data. Human oversight will remain critical, particularly if AI is tasked with interpreting complex regulations or communicating with taxpayers.

Salesforce, for its part, recommends deploying AI agents for non-critical tasks and where human experts can easily intervene.

“Salesforce doesn’t advocate for a blind AI processing tax returns without a human being involved in reviewing and supplementing it,” Tatum told Axios. “When the agents are built, there’s a lot of guardrails put in … [they’re not] allowed to make final decisions, they’re not allowed to disperse funds.”

For other government organizations, the IRS’s move offers a case study into how AI might fit into their own service delivery approaches, aimed squarely at relieving pressure on overworked teams.

The agency laid off about 1,800 call center employees in May and June. But it has since brought back roughly 160 and extended others’ contracts, as the issue was escalated to Canada’s Auditor General.

The CRA said it was answering 77 percent of calls by late September, having set a target of 70 percent by mid-October. The agency handles massive call volumes — more than 32 million per year, peaking at 300,000 daily during tax season — making it one of the most heavily used government contact centers in the country.

Since implementing the plan in early September, the CRA has rolled out several self-service improvements aimed at making it easier for Canadians and businesses to access help without having to call its contact centers.

These include extended online chat hours from 08:00 to 20:00 ET, simplifying its website and launching new self-serve options in its digital accounts. The CRA has also reported growing use of its chat tool, with more than 5,400 users between October 6 and 10. An expanded AI-powered chatbot is slated for release in early November to answer a wider range of questions and further reduce call volumes.

The agency also highlighted a national Quality Monitoring Program launched in 2024 that reviews more than 100,000 call recordings annually to improve accuracy and training.

The CRA received a government investment of $400MN in 2022, to support its call center operations in anticipation of call volumes remaining above pre-pandemic levels. This was intended to enable CRA to maintain a service standard of answering 65 percent of calls within 15 minutes of a caller opting to speak with an agent. That standard has been lowered from 80 percent in 2017.

But many Canadians report seeing little improvement in the service, spending hours on hold when trying to call the agency.

As part of its efforts, the CRA added a feature to its website telling taxpayers how long they can expect to wait before they get through to a service agent when they call. But test calls by CBC News at different times and days found its estimates to be wildly inaccurate, a gap that’s eroding public trust. Unlike many private-sector call centers, the CRA still doesn’t consistently offer a callback feature, leaving callers to wait on hold for as long as it takes.

The Minister of Finance and National Revenue and the Secretary of State directed the CRA to implement the plan in early September to strengthen services, improve access and reduce delays. The focus is on four key areas: “increasing call centre capacity, expanding online self-service options, tackling the root cause of service issues, and accelerating service modernization.”

Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson François Boileau said that while the CRA has made progress, he’s concerned about what happens next.

“With some processing delays far exceeding the CRA’s usual service standards, it is unlikely that the CRA will reduce the backlog to a sustainable level by the end of the 100-day period.”

“A longer-term commitment and adequate resources will be necessary. By reducing its processing delays, the CRA could reduce the number of calls it receives and reduce wait times for taxpayers.”

Boileau noted that a report released by the Auditor General this week, found a direct link between staffing levels and service performance, a familiar story for any large contact center. He also questioned what’s driving such high call volumes in the first place, suggesting that better digital design and faster case resolution could reduce the need for people to call at all.

Unsurprisingly, the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) echoed those comments, calling for the CRA to immediately increase its contact center staffing, as well as the training and support it provides its agents. In August, the union launched a national “Canada on Hold” campaign denouncing the job cuts.

The Auditor General’s report shows that staff shortages, a lack of training and pressure on contact center employees are compromising the quality of the service the agency provides to the public, the union stated. Marc Brière, UTE National President, said:

“Our members, who work tirelessly, are often exhausted, overworked, and under pressure to respond to as many calls as possible as quickly as possible, to the detriment of quality service.”

Why Automation Alone Can’t Fix Contact Center Challenges

The CRA’s experience is a textbook case in what happens when contact center staffing, digital experience, and operational design fall out of sync. Even with new automation tools and AI chatbots, poor workforce planning and outdated processes can quickly undermine customer satisfaction.

The agency’s troubles may sound familiar to the UK’s HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), which has wrestled with a similar dilemma — how to shift customers toward digital self-service without alienating them in the process. HMRC has been pushing taxpayers to use digital channels such as chatbots and online forms to reduce call volumes. But when the tax authority announced plans to close its self-assessment tax helpline for half the year, and drastically cut back others, it sparked an immediate public outcry. Within 24 hours, HMRC reversed its decision, conceding that it had misjudged how far it could push customers toward digital-only interactions.

For enterprises in any sector, self-service and digital tools can only succeed when supported by the right human infrastructure. Contact centers need skilled, adequately staffed teams who can handle complex interactions that automation cannot. And, as the CRA’s situation shows, service improvement needs to be treated as an ongoing commitment, not a one-time campaign.

As the 100-day plan wraps up, the CRA faces growing pressure to tackle the systemic issues that continue to generate high call volumes.

Boileau noted, “the CRA is measuring its performance before the peak volumes it normally experiences during tax season.”

“What will happen to the progress it has made after the 100-day plan ends and tax season begins? What will happen when the calls increase? Will the contact centers still have the resources to answer the calls?”

Many of its service users will be watching to see if its attempt to improve service and reduce wait times leads to lasting change.

For government agencies, implementing AI isn’t just about improving efficiency; it’s about doing so in a way that preserves public trust, protects sensitive data, and maintains full transparency. 

With high-profile initiatives like HMRC’s £2 billion digital transformation under public scrutiny, it’s clear that responsible innovation is non-negotiable. 

To better understand how government departments can adopt AI securely and ethically, CX Today spoke with Kyle Birker, Solutions Architect at ComputerTalk. 

Start with a Privacy Framework 

“There’s no one-size-fits-all answer,” says Birker, when asked how government departments can ensure secure and compliant AI systems. 

Instead, he advises agencies to begin with a privacy or compliance framework that governs how data is collected, accessed, and used. 

“It goes beyond just customer data. There’s also internal data, and the systems accessing that data must be compliant too.” 

This includes not just the AI platform, but the entire surrounding architecture. From data ingestion tools to backend services and APIs, every component must meet internal standards and external regulatory requirements. 

Only with that foundation in place can organizations begin building a trustworthy AI ecosystem. 

Transparency Builds Public Trust 

While customers in the private sector often have the option to opt out of AI-enabled services, citizens don’t always have that luxury. That’s why transparency is critical. 

“There’s still a lot of skepticism around AI in the public sector,” Birker notes. 

“People worry about what AI can do, what data it’s using, and how it affects their lives.” 

To shift public perception, agencies must clearly communicate how AI is being used and, crucially, why. 

“Explaining the purpose behind the AI can flip the narrative,” says Birker. 

“If people understand it’s improving their experience – not just cutting corners – they become much more receptive.” 

In practice, this means highlighting tangible benefits like quicker response times, fewer call transfers, and smarter service routing – rather than masking automation behind vague explanations. 

“When people see that AI is improving their experience and doing so securely, they’re far more likely to embrace it.” 

Start Internally to Build Confidence 

According to Birker, one of the most effective ways to foster trust in AI is to use it internally before deploying it to the public. 

“Every employee is a citizen too,” he says. “If they use these tools daily and see the value firsthand, they’re more likely to support them outside of work.” 

This internal-first strategy reduces risk while building a workplace culture that sees AI as a useful ally – not a black box. 

“Once you’ve seen AI streamline your own work, it’s easier to believe it can do the same for public services.” 

It also addresses a common concern: job displacement. 

“Most people don’t want to be answering basic water billing questions at midnight,” Birker says. 

“AI can handle those repetitive tasks, freeing up staff to focus on more meaningful work.” 

A Real-World Rollout 

ComputerTalk recently supported a government agency struggling with an overwhelming, unstructured dataset and limited human resources. 

Instead of rushing a full-scale AI deployment, the team opted for a phased rollout. 

“We started small, with a certified data set and clear guardrails on how the AI would be used,” says Birker. 

“We showed users exactly where the AI was sourcing its information – and what its limits were.”  

That transparency helped build early confidence. As trust grew, the solution expanded incrementally, focusing on the data points that mattered most. 

“They went from feeling overwhelmed to having clear, data-driven priorities,” Birker explains. 

“It was never about launching AI for its own sake – it was about proving value and building trust at every step.” 

Innovation with Responsibility 

Security isn’t an afterthought at ComputerTalk; it’s built in from the ground up. 

The platform provides out-of-the-box compliance and supports “bring-your-own-framework” models — a popular choice among government bodies seeking to maintain control over sensitive data. 

For Birker, “collaboration is key.”   

“It’s not about handing over a product and walking away. We work together to define standards, set guardrails, and ensure compliance on both sides.”  

That includes audit trails, continuous feedback loops with staff and citizens, and regular system reviews aligned with the original privacy framework. 

Final Thoughts 

AI represents a powerful opportunity for governments – but also a potential risk. 

When implemented responsibly, it can improve citizen experiences, reduce workloads, and enhance service delivery. When handled poorly, it risks eroding public trust and exposing sensitive data. 

By establishing robust frameworks, embracing transparency, and taking a collaborative, phased approach, agencies can strike the right balance between innovation and accountability. 

As Birker puts it: 

“Once people see how AI can help – not just what it is – they’re more open to embracing it.” 

For more information on ComputerTalk and its range of services and products, visit the ComputerTalk website. 

You can also learn more about the vendor by watching this interview with Jennifer Sutcliffe, Vice President of Operations and Control, and reading about ComputerTalk’s approach to security in the age of omnichannel and AI contact centers. 

First came Agentforce for Public Sector, swiftly followed by Agentforce for Manufacturing.

The offerings target the respective sectors with a library of prebuilt skills and actions to more quickly configure AI agents.

Both announcements are an extension of Salesforce’s industry-specific strategy, with the CRM leader previously releasing similar solutions for consumer goods, education, financial services, healthcare, and retail.

Salesforce has also developed department-specific Agentforce offerings, covering commerce, field service, sales, service, and – more recently – HR.

The strategies seemingly have the same objective: to get businesses experimenting with Agentforce, securing quick wins, and instilling confidence in AI agents.

In doing so, Salesforce hopes to inspire broader adoption and build an appetite for more mature AI agent approaches.

Such approaches may include chaining AI agents together to mechanize multi-step processes.

Kishan Chetan, EVP and GM for Service Cloud, shared more on the strategy during a press briefing before the launch of Agentforce for HR.

“The reason we created these specialized solutions is to ensure the topics and actions are relevant to each specific workflow,” he said.

“For example… in health and life sciences, it’s about tasks like logging health information, interacting with payers, or requesting provider appointments.

Essentially, the goal is to provide the right actions for each function, while keeping everything on one unified platform.

“If customers want to combine these capabilities and create agents with multiple skills, they absolutely can,” concluded Chetan. “That flexibility is a major advantage.”

Lastly, as vendors make AI agent announcements much faster than most enterprises can execute, these Agentforce offerings can help them catch up.

In this sense, Salesforce is challenging innovation fatigue, which is particularly prevalent amongst its customer base, having released Agentforce 3 little more than nine months after the original platform’s debut.

What Can I Build with Agentforce for Manufacturing?

With Agentforce for Manufacturing, businesses can build AI agents that assist with tasks such as monitoring demand fluctuations, streamlining inventory, and optimizing incentives.

As Achyut Jajoo, SVP and GM of Manufacturing for Automotive and Consumer Goods at Salesforce, explained:

We’re delivering that with out-of-the-box agents that understand their (manufacturers) specific challenges, from preventing asset downtime to aligning sales plans and operations, and immediately work alongside their teams to drive results.

Here are four examples of what manufacturing companies can now more easily build on Agentforce.

1. A Production and Sales Alignment Agent

With a new “Sales Agreement Management” skill, manufacturers can implement an AI agent that monitors build plans and flags significant deviations between planned and actual product sales.

When such deviations occur, the agent can schedule a meeting with key stakeholders, sharing suggested talking points with the account team.

In doing so, the AI agent helps optimize production alignment and resource allocation.

2. An Inventory Checker

Agentforce for Manufacturing enables the development of an AI agent that sales and service teams can use to instantly check inventory during customer conversations.

If necessary, the sales and service team can also request stock replenishment via the agent.

Lastly, the agent may also suggest upsell and cross-sell opportunities in real time, helping boost sales and manage inventory more efficiently.

3. An Incentive Program Analyzer

Manufacturers can also build an AI agent that assists product teams and rebate program managers in tracking incentive programs.

In doing so, the agent surfaces insight into insights into performance, payouts, and profitability.

Additionally, it can aid channel sales teams in spotting underperforming programs, so they can instead focus on those that drive real profits.

4. An Asset Health Monitor

With the “Prevent Asset Downtime with AI” skill, businesses can build an agent that does exactly what it says on the tin: prevent asset downtime.

Indeed, the agent helps service reps and fleet managers by detecting potential asset issues early and automating tasks like generating repair quotes, creating work orders, and sending maintenance summaries.

Alongside that, the agent may also proactively warn customers of problems, reducing downtime and protecting revenue.

What Can I Build with Agentforce for the Public Sector?

With Agentforce for Public Sector, businesses can build AI agents that engage with constituents and employees, accelerate recruitment, simplify complaint management, and more.

Celebrating its launch, Nasi Jazayeri, EVP & GM of Public Sector at Salesforce, said:

With AI agents working alongside dedicated government workers and providing 24/7 support for constituents, helping with everything from routine inquiries to complex, time-consuming tasks, Agentforce will power a more responsive, agile, and effective government.

Here are some examples of the AI agents governments may now develop.

1. An Inspection Support Agent

The new Agentforce offering allows brands to build an AI agent that provides detailed summaries of prior violations and license compliance, helping inspectors conduct more efficient inspections.

Moreover, it could automate documentation and other follow-up tasks, reducing administrative load and supporting overall regulatory compliance.

2. A Complaint Analyzer

One possible agent could help agencies by summarizing and analyzing constituent complaints. It might then identify related past issues and suggest next steps based on policies and regulations.

The agent may also categorize the complaints, flagging frequent and emerging issues so that the agency can improve its services and policies.

3. A Recruitment Specialist

Consider an AI agent that matches resumes, engages candidates, and automates communications.

Agentforce for Public Sector could enable such an agent. It may also assess qualifications, filter candidates for hiring managers, and accelerate the recruitment cycle.

4. A Candidate Assistant

Government agencies may now more quickly build an AI agent that helps improve the candidate experience by matching their CV with best-fit postings.

Indeed, it can gauge their job history, skills, and goals to pair them with relevant postings, so they save time scouring jobs and increase application success rates.

5. A Benefit Advisor

Another possible AI agent could take questions from constituents regards their benefits and eligibility across numerous languages.

From there, it may provide assistance while accelerating their application processing, minimizing process errors, and enhancing policy compliance.

6. A Compliance Supervisor

One final example is an AI agent that works with employees and complainants, helping them spot compliance information and navigate through filing complaints.

In doing so, the AI supervisor ensures the user adheres to regulations, accelerating reviews and chopping down resolution times.

More Changes to Agentforce

Alongside its industry-specific Agentforce offerings, Salesforce is making other moves to drive adoption of its AI agent platform.

For instance, last week, it announced two big changes to the Agentforce pricing model. These introduced pay-as-you-go and pre-commit pricing options.

The former is ideal for those wishing to experiment and ramp. Meanwhile, for those ready to go all-in, the latter is perhaps the better option.

Either way, Salesforce is covering all the bases.

Meanwhile, the CRM leader expanded its Agentforce platform in June to include a Command Center. The solution offers a platform to monitor enterprise-wide AI agent deployments, tracking their adoption, relevant success indicators, and costs.

Salesforce is far from the first vendor to launch such a solution. However, Tableau’s business intelligence heritage and agentic analytics vision give it a differentiator here.

Expect more announcements on Tableau, Agentforce, and Salesforce’s broader ecosystem at September’s Dreamforce conference.

At a time of so much disruption, it promises to be a don’t-miss event.

Today, citizens expect the same frictionless, always-available, and personalized experiences from their local government as they do from their bank or favorite online retailer.  

Meeting that demand isn’t a luxury anymore – it’s a necessity.  

“There’s no waiting this out,” says Kyle Birker, Solutions Architect at ComputerTalk.  

“If you’re still on the fence about AI in customer service, it’s time to move.  

“Citizen expectations are heavily influenced by the private sector, and they’re not going backward.”

And yet, some government departments remain hesitant.  

Concerns around regulations, legacy infrastructure, and the sheer scale of change are real, but so are the consequences of falling behind.  

From personalization to feedback analysis, AI is rapidly proving itself as the key to responsive, accessible, and human-centric public service.  

The Personalization Imperative  

One of the clearest benefits of AI in government CX is the ability to personalize interactions without sacrificing efficiency.  

In the past, citizens were expected to provide their information from scratch each time they reached out. Now, they expect services to remember who they are, why they’ve called, and what’s already been discussed.  

Imagine a contact center experience where, instead of asking for your name and account number, the system already knows why you’re calling.  

It can greet you by name, reference your previous interactions, and even allow you to continue a conversation with the same agent – this is what the right AI tools can deliver.   

For Birker, “Personalization is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s core to good service.  

“But to make that happen, governments need AI tools that integrate seamlessly with existing CRMs, case management tools, and citizen databases.”

ComputerTalk’s approach enables just that.  

By pulling relevant information from multiple sources, summarizing history across channels, and delivering that context to both bots and human agents, the platform ensures citizens don’t have to repeat themselves.  

Not only does this prevent customer frustrations, but it also allows agents to respond with greater clarity and empathy.  

From Passive Listening to Proactive Improvement  

Beyond real-time engagement, AI also plays a critical role in transforming how governments listen to and act on feedback.  

Traditionally, public sector feedback mechanisms relied heavily on post-interaction surveys or manual call reviews, processes that are time-consuming and inherently limited in scope.  

“With AI, you’re no longer relying on five to ten percent of your calls being reviewed by a person,” says Birker. 

“You can analyze 100 percent of interactions across all channels – and you can do it in minutes, not weeks.”  

This shift enables public organizations to hear what’s being said and identify patterns, sentiment, and emerging issues far more quickly. 

Perhaps most importantly, it helps users correct the “cracks” where friction points are silently impacting thousands of citizens without being reported.  

But feedback is only useful if it leads to change.  

That’s why ComputerTalk integrates AI-derived insights directly into CX workflows. 

In doing so, it aligns real-time customer sentiment with agent behavior, script adherence, and process outcomes to highlight what’s working and what isn’t.  

Government-Grade Strategy with a Human Touch  

While AI can transform government CX, successful implementation demands more than smart software. 

It requires a strategy that respects the public sector’s unique challenges – such as data privacy, regulatory requirements, diverse citizen needs – and a partner who understands how to navigate them.  

That’s where ComputerTalk differentiates itself.  

“We don’t just sell a solution – we work collaboratively,” says Birker. 

“We spend time with our clients in the discovery phase, understand their goals, uncover their friction points, and build an iterative rollout plan based on their needs.”  

This collaborative, step-by-step approach ensures that AI adoption isn’t rushed or disruptive. 

Instead, features are implemented gradually, feedback loops are embedded, and teams are supported throughout the change process.  

There is a wider industry lesson that can be learned from ComputerTalk’s approach: many customers aren’t aware of the full capabilities of AI. 

And this isn’t limited to the public sector, it is an issue across all customer experience and service departments.  

In order to combat this, vendors must treat their customers as partners and pass on experience and guidance, not just products. 

For Birker, one way to help customers better understand the technology is to encourage them to interact with it daily.  

As users become more comfortable with the technology, they are more likely to see the benefits and champion it, which can lead to greater adoption.  

Another area that organizations should explore is the use of discovery and cross-industry expertise, which can help customers optimize their current solutions and discover new uses for AI. 

When the professionals charged with utilizing AI are more knowledgeable and engaged with the solutions, it benefits everyone, as Birker explains: 

“Internal employees need to understand what AI can do for them, not just for the citizen.”

Getting AI Right in the Public Sector  

AI isn’t a silver bullet technology, but when done right, it can be a powerful force for more equitable, accessible, and efficient public service.  

For government bodies juggling high demand, limited resources, and ever-rising expectations, AI can fill critical gaps – enabling 24/7 service without compromising on quality. 

In other words, it’s no longer a question of if governments should embrace AI, but how quickly, responsibly, and effectively they can do so.  

For more information on ComputerTalk, you can visit the website today.  

You can also learn more about the vendor by watching this interview with Jennifer Sutcliffe, VP of Operations and Control, and reading about its proactive, above-and-beyond approach to contact center data security. 

Matt McKernan, SVP of Americas at Content Guru, attributes this exceptional achievement to the company’s selective approach to customer partnerships and focus on complex enterprise environments. “We’re pretty particular about who we pursue for our customer base,” McKernan explains. “We work best with more complex environments, a lot of integrations, maybe sometimes those integrations are into older systems.”

The conversation highlights Content Guru’s innovative approach to merging CCaaS with customer data platform capabilities through their Customer Knowledge System (CKS). This solution addresses a critical challenge in customer service by aggregating customer data from multiple sources, eliminating the need for agents to navigate between various systems during calls.

Looking ahead, Content Guru is expanding its workforce management offerings and strengthening partnerships, particularly targeting large federal government agencies requiring Fed ramp high solutions. The company’s commitment to being an “all-in-one omni-channel one-stop shop” reflects their response to customer demands for comprehensive, integrated solutions in the evolving customer experience landscape.

Martin Taylor, Co-Founder and Deputy CEO Content Guru, compares today’s AI landscape to the early days of the Industrial Revolution. “Let’s say we’re at about 1750, not 1900,” he says. “While we’re seeing sparks of transformation, we’re only in the foothills of that AI mountain range.” 

At this stage, Taylor argues, businesses need a flexible, orchestration-led approach. “One size doesn’t fit all,” he stresses, noting that Content Guru remains vendor-agnostic, focused on blending the best tools for each use case. 

“Horizon scanning of the evolving vendor landscape is a critical part of the value CX providers bring,” he adds. 

Ultimately, it’s not about the AI itself – it’s about helping businesses deliver smarter, more competitive customer experiences. So, what does that look like in practice? Let’s take a quick look at how Content Guru is putting this into action with some of their customers. 

Driving Forward: DVLA and AI Orchestration 

A standout example of AI orchestration in action is Content Guru’s three-year transformation of the UK’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), equivalent of the DMV, and one of the government’s largest customer-facing bodies. Through intelligent automation and AI-powered contact operations across voice, chatbot, and digital channels, DVLA became the most improved part of government for CX, according to an independent survey. 

Midway through the program, Content Guru proactively replaced the DVLA’s natural language processing engine, driving further improvements beyond what the client had originally envisaged. 

“We’d already improved their CSAT score significantly,” Taylor shares, “but we noticed a better engine had emerged, so we made the change.” 

For Taylor, it’s proof of the iterative nature of AI deployment: 

“At the start of printing, the machine makers were also the publishers – but then a new class of publishers emerged,” he notes. “It’s the same now: the presumption is that LLM makers will dominate the industry, but history tells us otherwise.” 

The future, he says, requires trusted CX guides – not just tools. 

Fast-Tracking Employment: The DWP’s Restart Program 

Content Guru partnered with the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions to overhaul its Restart program, which supports unemployed individuals in finding work. Previously, the process of building a CV with a job coach involved lengthy back-and-forth. Now, AI generates a resume instantly from a single interview, allowing candidates to start being matched with positions on the spot. 

“That’s taken weeks out of the process,” says Taylor, “and those weeks matter when someone’s relying on UK unemployment benefit.” 

Beyond the improvement for service users, job coaches also report a major quality-of-life upgrade. With AI handling admin, they can focus on having richer, more natural conversations. 

“It’s entirely transformed their job satisfaction,” he shares. 

Breaking Language Barriers with a Multi-Engine Approach 

While real-time AI-powered translation shows lots of promise, doing it at scale across multiple languages remains a challenge. Content Guru, however, is already tackling it: in their ongoing work with government customers, they build multi-engine environments tailored to diverse linguistic needs. 

“Usually, no single language dominates more than 15% of user interactions,” Taylor says.  

“We’re dealing with eight to nine core languages, sometimes with major dialect differences, and many are still poorly supported by mainstream AI engines.” 

Rather than rely on a single model, Content Guru matches the right engines to the right tasks. While human translation still plays a role, AI is gradually helping to bridge the gap – especially for speakers of underserved languages. 

“Ironically, it’s the people least supported by tech who need these services most,” he adds. 

Staying Ahead in the AI Race 

“Having the omni-data, the various channels of communication gathered together in an already-optimized environment, makes the CX industry the ideal place to deploy AI,” Taylor concludes. 

“I think we should be proud to be in the vanguard of that change, many years ahead of other fields.” 

As AI continues to evolve rapidly, providers like Content Guru help businesses identify and implement the best engines to meet their goals, with the flexibility to adapt as technology, business needs, or regulations shift. 

To learn more about Content Guru’s CX solutions, visit their website. 

In this exclusive interview, Andrew Casson, VP of Public Sector at Content Guru, explains to CX Today’s Charlie Mitchell why this achievement is transformative for organizations handling sensitive data. While many vendors claim FedRAMP certification, most only meet Low or Moderate standards, which represent approximately 90% of the marketplace.

“FedRAMP is now the law,” explains Casson, highlighting that the certification took over four years and millions of dollars to achieve. The investment positions Content Guru as the only CCaaS provider capable of meeting the strictest security requirements needed for mission-critical applications.

Content Guru already provides emergency services solutions requiring 100% uptime and has maintained continuous service for cabinet-level agencies for up to 20 years. Casson shares compelling success stories, including how their embedded CRM capabilities replaced expensive third-party systems while cutting handle times by approximately 50%.

The FedRAMP High status serves as a “trust signal” not just for government agencies but across all sectors where security compliance is paramount, reinforcing Content Guru’s position as the “preeminent CCaaS provider” for security-conscious organizations.

Unlike past digital ID initiatives, EUDI mandates interoperability between national wallets, ensuring seamless cross-border use. This shift presents challenges and opportunities for governments, universities, financial institutions, as well as GovTech and Customer Communications Management (CCM) enterprises, requiring secure, scalable, and compliant solutions. 

e-Boks, known for its trusted platform for digital communication services, envisions a future where secure communication and verified credentials converge—creating a seamless, user-friendly digital identity ecosystem. 

The Digital Wallet: Common Use Cases 

Before diving into the benefits of integrating digital wallets with digital postboxes, let’s explore how EU citizens can use digital wallets to simplify and secure everyday tasks. 

Government Identity and Services: Digital wallets will allow citizens to securely store and receive documents like national IDs, driver’s licenses, and digital passports—eliminating physical paperwork while reducing government costs and enhancing security. 

Banking and Finance: Banks and their customers will be able to use digital wallets for KYC (Know Your Customer) processes and digital banking access. This, in turn, can reduce onboarding friction, improve GDPR and eIDAS compliance, and enhance security in digital banking. 

Education and Student Credentials: Wallets will be able to store key university documents, such as digital student IDs and diplomas, allowing students and graduates to share them as needed. This should eliminate fake credentials, simplify employer verification, and enhance alumni engagement. 

Travel and Cross-border Verification: Digital wallets will streamline identity verification for government and business transactions across borders, enabling the issuance and sharing of visas, travel insurance, and boarding passes. This will provide a seamless experience for travelers and simplify processes like loan applications, accessing public services, and verifying employment for citizens of other member states. 

Digital Postboxes & Digital Wallets: A Powerful Synergy  

A digital postbox and a digital wallet serve distinct yet complementary roles in managing secure digital identities. While digital wallets allow users to store and share verified credentials, they do not store credentials permanently. 

“If a user loses their device, they must manually retrieve and re-import credentials—a process that can be time-consuming and complex,” explains Helena Cimber, Product Director at e-Boks. 

A digital postbox has the potential to offer a seamless solution by acting as a secure backup system and audit trail, aligning with eIDAS 2.0, GDPR, and EUDI to ensure legal certainty, fraud prevention, and user privacy. 

“If a credential was originally received via the postbox, users could simply press a button like ‘add to wallet’ to restore it, eliminating the need to search multiple portals or reapply for lost credentials.” 

Beyond backup and recovery, digital postboxes enable institutions to push verified credentials directly to users’ wallets. Government agencies, universities, and financial institutions can proactively issue documents like digital diplomas, student IDs, or residency certificates. 

“Users will receive notifications in their secure postbox, ensuring they not only get the credential but also any relevant instructions or context—and they can ask questions if needed,” Cimber suggests. 

This integration will create a more streamlined and user-friendly experience, bridging the gap between credential storage, secure communication, and document management. 

e-Boks: Shaping the Future of Digital Identity 

The transition to digital wallets is already underway, with the first implementations appearing this year. By 2026, government portals and major institutions like banks and insurers will be required to support them for authentication. 

As part of this evolving ecosystem, complementary services like credential issuance and validation will enable institutions to issue credentials that seamlessly integrate with wallet standards. 

“Ultimately, the goal is to make identity management seamless, secure, and convenient for everyday life,” Cimber concludes. “And e-Boks is thrilled to help shape this future.” 

Want to see how the e-Boks e-wallet fits into the future of digital identity?

Explore the e-Boks e-wallet and discover how it supports secure, user-centric solutions.