Yet, they are also tussling with emerging issues, including increased pressure to build relationships with IT and adjacent departments, support new employee needs, and implement AI.

Indeed, 77 percent of customer support leaders feel pressure from executives to deploy AI, per Gartner, with “the typical leader” expected to add five new full-time-equivalent (FTE) roles over the next 12 months to help manage these AI projects.

Such challenges are common across the contact center landscape. However, some sectors experience particular problems more acutely, and some face their own additional, unique obstacles.

Given this, let’s consider three divergent business sectors, assess the most common contact center challenges across each, and raise possible solutions. 

Public Sector

Many public sector bodies don’t have a single, unified contact center. Often, they have siloed teams handling different contact types — inbound calls, emails, walk-ins, etc. — across departments such as revenues, benefits, housing, and adult care, alongside internal IT and HR helpdesks.

As such, each department tends to run its own processes and tools, creating inefficiencies galore. Unifying teams behind the same customer journeys, workflows, and solutions is, therefore, top of mind for many support leaders in this sector. That’s not just a technology challenge, it’s also an organizational and cultural one.

Recognizing this, Paul Hughes, Head of CX Sales for UKISA at Mitel, told CX Today: “The priority has to be unifying service teams around the customer journey.

“That starts with understanding that journey, then building better integration, shared data, and smarter workflows that connect everyone, from contact center agents to caseworkers.” – BLOCK

Of course, that’s a mammoth task. However, starting small is okay. After all, Mitel has seen local authorities introduce omnichannel and AI in just one department, improving first contact resolution (FCR) by up to 40 percent, and then scaling gradually from there across the organization.

As Nick Hanna, Head of UK Central Government & Enterprise Sales for Scotland & Ireland at Mitel, summarized: “It’s about identifying high-friction journeys and targeting those for improvement, not ripping everything out and starting over.”

Retail

Differentiation in retail is notoriously difficult, as products are often commoditized and easily replicated. This reality makes customer experience (CX) a powerful differentiator and one of the few ways retailers can stand out in a crowded marketplace.

To achieve this, many retailers are investing in advanced agent enablement tools. Some even combine real-time agent-assist technology with competitive analytics, using AI to scan social media, customer reviews, conversations, and pricing data. As a result, agents gain instant access to insights, talking points, and rebuttals that help them highlight the brand’s unique value during customer interactions.

However, while CX is a clear priority, support budgets in retail remain tight. Thin margins and rising operational costs make lean service models essential. Consequently, many contact centers now deploy AI to automate identity verification, auto-populate agent desktops, and streamline after-call work, saving both time and money.

Lastly, changing channel preferences are hitting retail particularly hard, as marketing and commerce keep introducing brands to new channels, where they’re also expected to provide support. Given this, they’re having to extend their omnichannel strategies, with an emphasis on maintaining context across channels and tailoring experiences especially for younger customers who have different expectations.

Financial Services

Financial services contact centers struggle to balance two opposing customer demands: seamless, automated digital experiences and reassuring human-led advice.

This tension highlights the importance for leaders in the sector to understand their demand drivers, distinguish between transactional and consultative interactions, and orchestrate omnichannel journeys accordingly.

However, developing omnichannel journeys is a challenge in itself, even for seemingly transactional queries, as repeated authentication and context loss create frustration and inefficiency.

Strict regulatory requirements further complicate matters by making data integration across CRM, ERP, and other systems more complex.

To address these issues, many financial institutions turn to virtual agents that identify customer intent, authenticate users, and triage interactions while preserving context. This approach allows contact centers to better analyze demand, introduce targeted self-service for transactional queries, and gather additional information upfront for more consultative interactions.

That strategy may also provoke support leaders into working with other enterprise leaders to pool critical data sources into one source of truth for agents – both human and AI – and gather the information necessary to aid the resolution of specific customer queries.

All the Other Sectors…

Of course, there are many more sectors to consider. For instance, education typically struggles with dispersed helpdesks. Meanwhile, healthcare faces surging contact volumes. In the UK, NHS 24 had to hire over 100 new call handlers earlier this year to stem the flow, despite implementing an online triage system.

Few contact center technology providers understand these problems like Mitel. Sure, it has a long heritage in the space. However, it also delivers sector-specific solutions, integrations, and preconfigured workflows across all the aforementioned verticals (and many others).

Now watch the new guide on best practices for workforce management in the AI-era.

To delve deeper into its enterprise communications portfolio, visit mitel.com

To dig into the challenges and opportunities of customer journey mapping, Charlie is joined by:

Katie Stabler, Founder of CULTIVATE Customer Experience by Design
Paul Hughes, Head of CX Sales for the UK, Ireland & South Africa at Mitel

Early in the discussion, Stabler emphasizes why journey mapping often falls short, and how bias, poor data application, and siloed thinking can derail CX efforts.

From there, the panel explores:

• Where Should Businesses Start with Journey Mapping? Stabler shares how to unify the business behind customer journey maps, not just the frontline, and why that’s a critical first move.
• How Culture and Technology Fit Together: Hughes highlights how siloed technology stacks can fragment customer journeys, and why stitching applications together drives visibility and efficiency.
• Can AI Build Customer Trust? Both guests stress the importance of applying AI mindfully, starting with customer and employee needs, so it strengthens trust rather than undermines it.
• Why CX Must Be a Movement, Not a Project: Stabler explains how piecemeal, tactical CX initiatives fail to deliver ROI, and why embedding customer experience into culture is the only way forward.

Now watch the new guide on best practices for workforce management in the AI-era.

For more on how to stich together the applications behind journey maps, visit: mitel.com

Joining Charlie for this conversation are two leading experts:

• Wayne Butterfield, Partner for AI, Automation & Contact Center Transformation at ISG
• Christoph Börner, VP of Engineering at Cyara

Together, they unpack how AI is transforming not only customer service, but also how contact centers buy, test, and trust technologies.

Why Is IT Taking Over Contact Center Procurement?

Butterfield and Börner explore why less than one in five AI buying decisions are now made by the contact center, and how the complexity of modern AI tools has shifted decision-making power toward IT.

The Expanding AI Use Case Landscape

From agent assist to AI-driven training and hybrid customer journeys, both experts share real-world examples of how AI is changing the agent role, and creating both opportunities and challenges.

Why Do Customers Still Distrust AI?

Despite the innovation, customer sentiment toward AI-driven service remains negative. The panel discusses why, pointing to poorly tested conversational journeys, missing micro-intents, and trust gaps between humans and machines.

Building Trust & AI Assurance

Börner highlights why trust is the “new currency” in AI engagement, and how rigorous testing and quality assurance can help avoid bias, inaccuracy, and reputational damage.

For more on testing AI and CX Assurance, visit: https://cyara.com/

Together, they uncover the real challenges, the biggest opportunities, and the practical steps public sector organizations can take to deliver modern, citizen-centric experiences.

Here’s a quick look at some of the key talking points:

• Legacy Systems Are Holding Public Sector CX Back – Modernization is more than a technology upgrade, it’s also about changing processes and culture. The discussion explores why starting small can lead to meaningful improvements.
• AI’s Growing Role in Public Sector CX – From chatbots and voice recognition to real-time translation, learn how AI is helping services become more efficient, inclusive, and responsive.
• Security and Trust in an AI-Driven World – How can organizations protect sensitive data while adopting new technology? The conversation looks at best practices for balancing security with accessibility.
• Keeping the Human at the Center of Transformation – True transformation isn’t only about tools, it’s about people. Hear why maintaining trust and designing around human needs is key to lasting success.

Now watch the new guide on best practices for workforce management in the AI-era.

Discover more about Mitel’s solutions for public sector CX.

Yet, the needle is starting to move. Soon, talking to AI will feel just like having a normal conversation, and success rates will continue to grow.  

Gartner even predicts that by year-end 2027, conversational AI applications will automate approximately 70 percent of customer support interactions within enterprises.  

“Voice AI is quickly approaching human parity, as it does adoption is going to accelerate quickly” said Jake Tyler, AI Market Lead at Glia, a leading Voice AI provider for banks and credit unions. “This pattern is playing out in other markets already, from translation services to driverless cars, and contact centers and customer service will be next.” 

The contact center economic model will shift with that change. Leaders will need to rethink who works there, how many people are required, and what they do. At Glia, Jake and his team are helping bank and credit union leaders reconfigure how their contact center and frontline teams are positioned to best support the communities they serve in the AI-era.  

It’s not an easy conversation, it’s downright uncomfortable sometimes, but it’s one many companies need to have. 

The Three Options Businesses Face 

Don’t skip ahead to 70 percent of customer support conversations. Consider: what if AI did half the work? If AI takes on this much labor, what happens next? 

In this scenario, a business would have three options (which they may blend). 

1. Reinvest

This is the crowd pleaser. In this scenario, the contact center would keep its headcount flat and reinvest the savings in its people.  

The classic example is to give agents more time to interact with high-value customers and graft away at meaty, complex issues.  

Yet, there are other ways in which a fully-staffed contact center can add value.  

For instance, leaders could rearchitect customer journeys. Here, a contact center may pass an issue that is possible to automate over to a human representative, if it’s particularly emotive. The rep could then offer warm, firm reassurance to boost loyalty. Similarly, they can have humans answer contacts that have high upsell or cross-sell potential.  

In addition, the contact center could expand its customer and community outreach. 

Consider a financial institution. It could contact customers to explore new opportunities to grow loans and deposits. Meanwhile, it may reach out to the community to promote financial literacy programs and other initiatives. 

Case Study 

Busey Bank has expanded its customer base by 25 percent. Yet, because of voice AI, it managed to keep its headcount steady.  

In fact, it even managed to reskill two frontline employees, placing them into more strategic research roles.  

As its AI exploits continue it even plans to offer career advancement for other reps into areas like career advancement in areas like treasury and commercial. 

As Caitlin Drake, SVP and Director of CX & Support, said: 

“By investing in technology, we can put our people on a career path that opens more doors for them and allows them to serve the company at a higher level.”

2. Right-Size

From the crowd pleaser to the town villain. Right-sizing is not an easy conversation to have, but it’s a realistic one.  

After all, a business may sense the opportunity to significantly reduce or even eliminate costly overflow and after-hours contact centers.  

Perhaps a more sensitive approach, however, is to stop backfilling agents who churn, aligning the strategy with forecasts and AI performance insights. 

Alternatively, for brands experiencing high growth, there’s the option to simply stop adding headcount. Whatever the case, the workforce management team will be busy!  

Case Study 

Service 1st Federal Credit Union implemented its virtual agent, “Scout”, to interact with customers across voice. But, it didn’t stop there. It also provided real-time conversation transcription, automated agents’ post-call processing, and streamlined managers’ quality assurance (QA) tasks to eliminate busy work.   

Since it has decreased human-handled monthly contact volumes by 29 percent, it has also cut average wait times by 71 percent, slashed average speed of answer times from three minutes to 18 seconds, and cut call abandonment from 25 to 1 percent. 

That’s all while its service headcount has dropped. However, Service 1st didn’t dramatically cut employees; it reduced its headcount with natural attrition and continues to work with Glia to unlock new efficiencies as staff trickle out of the business, as they inevitably do in contact centers. 

3. Reallocate 

Finally, the contact center could reallocate reps, starting with those wanting to try something new or those looking for a long-term career path.  

In doing so, the business could grow its other customer-facing functions. At a bank or credit union, this could include fraud prevention, financial planning, or proactive outreach. 

Alternatively, the firm may assign personnel to lead business development projects within the community or invest in branch modernization. There are options aplenty! 

Case Study 

Sticking to finance, Granite Credit Union is a successful credit union out of Utah. After implementing a virtual agent, it achieved a 60 percent containment rate while saving 1,400 hours of manual work in only four months.  

Like the other examples, Granite also implemented agent assist tools to boost that reduction in manual work, again lowering its labor requirement.  

So, it invested in reskilling its excess staff and started training employees to work in branches, collections, and fraud prevention. 

As Cindy Clark, CIO of Granite Credit Union, summarized:  

“With Responsible AI, we can keep pace with the industry, while still doing it right.”

Don’t Skip Too Far Ahead…  

The contact centers furthest ahead are thinking about how to reinvest AI’s efficiency gains into innovation and human potential. 

For many, that’s going to be a struggle. As Justin Robbins, Founder & Principal Analyst at Metric Sherpa, said:  

“AI is becoming table stakes, but too many leaders are still running old playbooks. Until contact centers both measure their strategic impact and have a stronger hand in AI decisions, they’ll leave enormous value on the table.” 

Capturing that “enormous value” requires a fundamental shift in how businesses align people, processes, and measurement. 

For more on how brands can do that, check out Robbins’ latest whitepaper: The New Equation: Redefining Value, Effort, and Impact in the AI-Era Contact Center 

In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2027, half of all businesses will abandon plans to shrink their customer service teams.  

Cavell goes even further, forecasting that global human contact center roles will grow from 15.3 million in 2025 to 16.8 million by 2029. 

Such statistics underscore how live agents remain a contact center’s most valuable asset.  

Yet, they’re also a contact center’s most costly asset. Indeed, people typically account for up to 80 percent of their expenses.  

These costs rise whenever an agent leaves, as the business pays for recruiting and training replacements. Meanwhile, the contact center also loses efficiency. That impacts customer satisfaction (CSAT).  

Additionally, understaffing creates stress for remaining agents, which often leads to more turnover. It snowballs quickly, and that cycle is costly.  

As such, agent retention is critical to improving not just business outcomes but also cornerstone customer and employee engagement outcomes.  

While improving retention is tricky, there is a tonic: an effective agent empowerment strategy. Such a strategy starts by acknowledging a hard truth… 

The Hard Truth 

Here’s the hard truth: very few people aspire to be a contact center agent. It’s not typically on anyone’s vision board. Most people land in customer support roles by circumstance, not because it was a lifelong goal. 

That reality can create resentment over time. Agents start questioning whether their work matters, whether they’re making an impact, or if they’re meant for something “better” – and, honestly, they might be. 

Contact center leaders can’t fight this. But they can reframe the agent role, so instead of seeing the contact center as a dead end, agents see it as a catalyst for the future.  

Think of it this way: this is a role where people learn communication, problem-solving, empathy, and resilience. These skills apply everywhere.  

So, leaders must ask themselves: where does this person want to be, and how can we help them get there? By thinking this way, the job becomes more about development and growth, and less about performance metrics.  

As such, the job isn’t just tolerable; it’s meaningful. 

Focus on how this experience shapes them for what’s next, and accept that “next” might be outside the contact center. 

That empowers the agent; they become the boss of their own future and are determined to stay with the business, as long as they perceive that they’re moving forward.  

As Paul Hughes, Head of Customer Experience for the UK/I/SA at Mitel, explained: “Agents should feel they’re learning and adding value. 

“Involve them in designing training and coaching programs. It’s not just a matter of adding tools, it’s about building new habits, roles, and expectations.” 

Yet, a comprehensive agent empowerment strategy has three more essential elements.  

These are all about giving agents more control over: when they work, where they work, and what they do. Here’s a closer look at each. 

1. When They Work

Agents will stay longer if they can fit their work around their outside lives.  

As such, learning their schedule preferences is becoming a much more normalized activity. But, it’s what the contact center does with that data that makes the difference.  

Many have turned to automated scheduling software to wrap agent shifts around these preferences. But don’t just sit back and rely on the tech. Consider: can we add extra shift patterns that align with these preferences?  

For instance, many contact centers have implemented slant schedules, where instead of agents working eight hours, five days a week, they work ten hours on Monday with an hour less every day. So, by Friday, they work just six hours. These schedules align with inbound demand, which typically drops throughout the week, and many people’s preference to build toward the weekend. Meanwhile, the agent’s core hours stay the same.  

Alongside new shift options, think about the extra flex mechanisms that are possible to build into the schedule. Shift-swaps are the classic example. However, offering overtimes when the contact center is overrun, with the option of taking it back at a time that suits, is another possible lever.

2. Where They Work

It is key to understand preferences for in-office, remote, and hybrid work and consider how the contact center can support them.  

However, there’s another often-overlooked part of this conversation: which channels are agents most often working on, and do they align with their preferences?  

Also, agents must be empowered to move conversations across channels. For example, if an issue isn’t clear after a chat exchange, the agent should be able to switch to a call and resolve it quickly without losing any of the case context on their screen. 

Meanwhile, an AI assistant should work alongside them, every step along the way, considering all that omnichannel context.  

As Hughes summarized: “AI workflows can trigger actions during interactions, no matter where they happen. Yet, teams must trust the tools, and leaders must integrate AI as part of how work gets done, not as an afterthought.” 

3. What They Do

AI is simplifying processes, cutting through the noise and distractions. But, before diving in, contact centers must define what meaningful work looks like for agents. 

 “If we remove tasks they enjoy, that can feel threatening,” Hughes noted.  

“So, involve agents from the start, including in the design phase. We do a lot of discovery with agents, not just IT leaders.”

In bringing interested agents into the fold here, contact centers can also offer an opportunity to boost their AI knowledge and personal development.  

Beyond processes, contact centers can also take a step back and ask: what contacts do you prefer to handle, and would you like to take on more?  

From there, they can adjust the routing mechanism so that agents take on more of the contacts that most interest them.  

Work With a Contact Center Provider That Gets It 

“Without empowered agents, even the best technology won’t deliver great experiences,” summarized Hughes.  

“Job satisfaction rises when agents feel trusted, have clarity, and maintain control. AI can support that, but only if the culture allows teams to own the change.”  

As Hughes suggests, the human experience comes first for Mitel. Its AI assistance tools are designed to give agents fast, accurate insights. Yet, it’s not only delivering artificial intelligence, it’s supporting the human intelligence and culture behind the implementation.  

That’s crucial. After all, it’s where transformations often fall short.

Now watch the new guide on best practices for workforce management in the AI-era.

Discover more about how Mitel can help empower agents and transform contact centers, here: www.mitel.com  

In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2027, half of all businesses will abandon plans to shrink their customer service teams.  

Cavell goes even further, forecasting that global human contact center roles will grow from 15.3 million in 2025 to 16.8 million by 2029. 

Such statistics underscore how live agents remain a contact center’s most valuable asset.  

Yet, they’re also a contact center’s most costly asset. Indeed, people typically account for up to 80 percent of their expenses.  

These costs rise whenever an agent leaves, as the business pays for recruiting and training replacements. Meanwhile, the contact center also loses efficiency. That impacts customer satisfaction (CSAT).  

Additionally, understaffing creates stress for remaining agents, which often leads to more turnover. It snowballs quickly, and that cycle is costly.  

As such, agent retention is critical to improving not just business outcomes but also cornerstone customer and employee engagement outcomes.  

While improving retention is tricky, there is a tonic: an effective agent empowerment strategy. Such a strategy starts by acknowledging a hard truth… 

The Hard Truth 

Here’s the hard truth: very few people aspire to be a contact center agent. It’s not typically on anyone’s vision board. Most people land in customer support roles by circumstance, not because it was a lifelong goal. 

That reality can create resentment over time. Agents start questioning whether their work matters, whether they’re making an impact, or if they’re meant for something “better” – and, honestly, they might be. 

Contact center leaders can’t fight this. But they can reframe the agent role, so instead of seeing the contact center as a dead end, agents see it as a catalyst for the future.  

Think of it this way: this is a role where people learn communication, problem-solving, empathy, and resilience. These skills apply everywhere.  

So, leaders must ask themselves: where does this person want to be, and how can we help them get there? By thinking this way, the job becomes more about development and growth, and less about performance metrics.  

As such, the job isn’t just tolerable; it’s meaningful. 

Focus on how this experience shapes them for what’s next, and accept that “next” might be outside the contact center. 

That empowers the agent; they become the boss of their own future and are determined to stay with the business, as long as they perceive that they’re moving forward.  

As Paul Hughes, Head of Customer Experience for the UK/I/SA at Mitel, explained: “Agents should feel they’re learning and adding value. 

“Involve them in designing training and coaching programs. It’s not just a matter of adding tools, it’s about building new habits, roles, and expectations.” 

Yet, a comprehensive agent empowerment strategy has three more essential elements.  

These are all about giving agents more control over: when they work, where they work, and what they do. Here’s a closer look at each. 

1. When They Work

Agents will stay longer if they can fit their work around their outside lives.  

As such, learning their schedule preferences is becoming a much more normalized activity. But, it’s what the contact center does with that data that makes the difference.  

Many have turned to automated scheduling software to wrap agent shifts around these preferences. But don’t just sit back and rely on the tech. Consider: can we add extra shift patterns that align with these preferences?  

For instance, many contact centers have implemented slant schedules, where instead of agents working eight hours, five days a week, they work ten hours on Monday with an hour less every day. So, by Friday, they work just six hours. These schedules align with inbound demand, which typically drops throughout the week, and many people’s preference to build toward the weekend. Meanwhile, the agent’s core hours stay the same.  

Alongside new shift options, think about the extra flex mechanisms that are possible to build into the schedule. Shift-swaps are the classic example. However, offering overtimes when the contact center is overrun, with the option of taking it back at a time that suits, is another possible lever.

2. Where They Work

It is key to understand preferences for in-office, remote, and hybrid work and consider how the contact center can support them.  

However, there’s another often-overlooked part of this conversation: which channels are agents most often working on, and do they align with their preferences?  

Also, agents must be empowered to move conversations across channels. For example, if an issue isn’t clear after a chat exchange, the agent should be able to switch to a call and resolve it quickly without losing any of the case context on their screen. 

Meanwhile, an AI assistant should work alongside them, every step along the way, considering all that omnichannel context.  

As Hughes summarized: “AI workflows can trigger actions during interactions, no matter where they happen. Yet, teams must trust the tools, and leaders must integrate AI as part of how work gets done, not as an afterthought.” 

3. What They Do

AI is simplifying processes, cutting through the noise and distractions. But, before diving in, contact centers must define what meaningful work looks like for agents. 

 “If we remove tasks they enjoy, that can feel threatening,” Hughes noted.  

“So, involve agents from the start, including in the design phase. We do a lot of discovery with agents, not just IT leaders.”

In bringing interested agents into the fold here, contact centers can also offer an opportunity to boost their AI knowledge and personal development.  

Beyond processes, contact centers can also take a step back and ask: what contacts do you prefer to handle, and would you like to take on more?  

From there, they can adjust the routing mechanism so that agents take on more of the contacts that most interest them.  

Work With a Contact Center Provider That Gets It 

“Without empowered agents, even the best technology won’t deliver great experiences,” summarized Hughes.  

“Job satisfaction rises when agents feel trusted, have clarity, and maintain control. AI can support that, but only if the culture allows teams to own the change.”  

As Hughes suggests, the human experience comes first for Mitel. Its AI assistance tools are designed to give agents fast, accurate insights. Yet, it’s not only delivering artificial intelligence, it’s supporting the human intelligence and culture behind the implementation.  

That’s crucial. After all, it’s where transformations often fall short.

Now watch the new guide on best practices for workforce management in the AI-era.

Discover more about how Mitel can help empower agents and transform contact centers, here: www.mitel.com  

One of the most powerful — and often overlooked — applications of AI lies on the outbound side. AI Agents can initiate conversations that are proactive, personalized, and revenue-driving, all while reducing inbound volume and turning the contact center into a true growth engine. 

Of course, there are valid considerations around compliance, consent, and the evolving regulatory landscape. For example, in February 2024, the FCC classified calls using AI-generated voices as “artificial” under the TCPA, meaning written consent is required for cold calls. But with the right strategy and technology partner, outbound AI isn’t a risk — it’s a competitive advantage. 

Setting the Foundation: What to Consider Before You Launch 

To successfully implement outbound AI, you need a thoughtful approach. Start by partnering with a proven provider — one that not only understands regulatory complexities but has real-world experience deploying outbound AI at scale for enterprises like yours. 

Look for partners that can: 

• Demonstrate domain expertise and compliance readiness — including data privacy, consent workflows, and secure voice authentication. 
• Show a clear vision for voice AI’s future — including safeguards against deepfakes and mechanisms for verifying authenticity. 
• Support controlled testing and iteration — with sandbox environments that allow your team to refine use cases and validate performance before going live. 

The goal isn’t just efficiency. It’s delivering outbound experiences that customers welcome — because they’re relevant, timely, and valuable. 

Where AI Can Take the Lead: Three High-Impact Use Cases

1. Proactive Issue Resolution

AI Agents can detect signals in your backend systems — like delays, outages, or eligibility changes — and proactively reach out before the customer even contacts support. 

• In travel, an AI Agent might see that a traveler will miss their connection, automatically rebook the flight, and notify them of the new itinerary. 

• In banking, AI could proactively alert customers to a better loan option and walk them through an application, — with minimal friction. 

This turns service from reactive to predictive, strengthening loyalty while reducing inbound demand.

2. Courtesy and Engagement Outreach

Courtesy calls are often the first thing cut when contact centers get busy. But they’re incredibly valuable — and AI Agents can bring them back at scale. 

An outbound AI Agent can check in after a new product launch, follow up on an abandoned call queue, or notify customers ahead of a renewal. These moments build trust, resolve issues before they escalate, and open the door to upsells and cross-sells — all without adding human workload.

3. Intelligent Sales Outreach

As contact centers evolve from cost centers to revenue drivers, outbound sales becomes a critical growth lever, — and AI can supercharge it. 

AI Agents can analyze customer behavior, digital engagement, and social signals to identify buying intent and trigger hyper-personalized outreach. Instead of cold calls, your sales teams can deliver timely, relevant conversations that convert. And because AI handles the heavy lifting, reps can focus on high-value interactions and deal acceleration. 

The Verdict: AI Should Absolutely Power Your Outbound Strategy 

The future of outbound isn’t about replacing humans — it’s about amplifying them. With a clear strategy, defined use cases, and the right technology partner, AI can deliver proactive service, intelligent outreach, and measurable revenue impact — all while strengthening your customer relationships. 

NiCE Cognigy is leading this transformation. Our enterprise-grade AI Agents integrate across systems, automate complex workflows, and deliver personalized, compliant outbound experiences that scale. From proactive service notifications to high-impact sales campaigns, we help brands like Adidas, Nestlé, and Toyota transform how they connect and grow. 

Watch a short demo of NiCE Cognigy’s outbound AI in action: 

Outbound AI isn’t just a feature. It’s a force multiplier — and the next frontier of customer engagement. 

To learn more about NiCE Cognigy’s AI agents, visit: www.cognigy.com 

• Zeus Kerravala, Principal Analyst at ZK Research
• Liz Miller, VP & Principal Analyst at Constellation Research
• Rebecca Wettemann, CEO & Principal Analyst at Valoir
• Shelly Kramer, resident & CEO at Kramer & Company
• Michael Fauscette, Founder, CEO & Chief Analyst at Arion Research
• Derek Top, Senior Analyst at Opus Research

During the discussion, the panel dives into three major CX stories:

ServiceNow Unveils “AI Experience” 

ServiceNow has launched a unified AI platform designed to bring together data, workflows, and automation across the enterprise. The analysts unpack what this means for platformization, adoption, and the move toward truly role-aware, embedded AI in the flow of work.

Oracle’s New Role-Based AI Agents 

Oracle rolls out AI agents for service, sales, and marketing within its Fusion suite, at no extra cost for customers. The panel explores what this means for the rise of specialized, task-focused agents and the future of multi-agent collaboration. 

Qualtrics Acquires PG Forsta for $6.75 Billion

Qualtrics doubles down on the Voice of the Customer (VoC) market with a blockbuster acquisition, combining three of Gartner’s top five leaders (as PG Forsta recently snapped up InMoment). Our analysts discuss how this reshapes the VOC landscape.

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Of course, some can offer a better voice platform, data strategy, and integration portfolio than others. Still, since the dawn of cloud-native solutions, the scope for differentiation has narrowed.  

As this trend accelerates, hyperscalers – including AWS, Google, and Microsoft – have crowded the space, sensing an opportunity.   

Meanwhile, tech providers in adjacent markets – such as CRM, UCaaS, and even CPaaS – have thrown their hats into the ring.  

However, few of the newer names to the marketplace have fared as well as Sprinklr.  

After it swept into the CCaaS space in 2022, Sprinklr soon picked up major clients, including BT, Deutsche Telekom, and EE. Meanwhile, it raced into the Forrester Wave for CCaaS, outranking many industry stalwarts.  

The report isolates Sprinklr’s chief advantage: its CCaaS solution sits on a broader platform.  

The Platform Advantage 

Sprinklr didn’t suddenly pivot into the CCaaS market when it entered three years ago. According to Amitabh Misra, Chief Technology Officer at Sprinklr, the move was part of a longer-term shift set out 15 years ago, when the company first aspired to build the world’s best Unified CXM (Customer Experience Management) platform. 

That platform also comprises social media management, voice of the customer (VoC), and conversational AI solutions that encapsulate its CXM vision.  

By cross-pollinating its platforms, Sprinklr leverages its broader platform to develop unique innovations, beyond what many pure-play CCaaS vendors can provide.  

That differentiator accelerated Sprinklr’s CCaaS mission, per Misra. “Customers were asking for AI capabilities and unified solutions rather than stitched-together point products,” he said.  

“Because our platform already combined all these capabilities — voice, digital, AI, and cloud — we could offer something unique: a 360° view of the customer across all channels, well ahead of traditional CCaaS players.”  

As service teams go further to share insights and align strategies with adjacent departments, that deeper customer view and broader product functionality set Sprinklr apart.  

A Deeper Dive Into Sprinklr’s Strategy 

Sprinklr’s VoC solution allows CX leaders to interact with their feedback. It pools insights and lets CX leaders ask questions such as: “How is my brand sentiment trending globally?” Or: “What are my customers currently most happy/upset with?” It then provides instant, contextual answers.  

Such a capability could transform contact center reporting. Imagine not only viewing static outputs, but being able to question that data, unpacking what’s driving numbers up and down, before making more contextual, targeted actions to improve key goals. That’s the future, and Sprinklr is building it.  

Also, consider Sprinklr’s conversational AI arm. Its team is switching much of its attention to the CCaaS marker, building AI agents that can independently handle tasks like transferring calls, taking inbound or outbound calls, and managing multi-step interactions.  

Additionally, they’re plotting out the future of hybrid human-AI contact center teams. Misra stated: 

“For example, when an AI agent struggles with a task, it can escalate to a human agent. Supervisors can also monitor how both AI and humans interact in real time, improving guardrails and learning loops.”  

“These systems will also be self-learning, constantly improving through feedback and supervision,” Misra concluded.  

With Sprinklr, the only vendor to feature in both the latest CCaaS and conversational AI Forrester Wave reports, it’s pulling these two realms together in exciting new ways.  

Yet, the provider isn’t only paving the future of contact center automation and reporting. It’s also rethinking the conventional CCaaS architecture.   

It’s Not All About Voice Anymore  

Most customer service solutions center in on a core voice platform and routing engine. Everything is built around that. Fitting workflows around the core is an afterthought. 

However, thanks to SaaS tech, ecosystems, partnership programs, and APIs, brands can plot out their ideal service experiences and key workflows before pulling in key operational systems, like voice.  

Sprinklr’s approach seizes this opportunity. It recognizes that voice remains essential. However, its Voice Connect solution is composable and reimagined for the modern AI era. 

As such, contact center teams can design their ideal journeys and mould the platform around it. That’s a significant step forward in an era where ACD systems are no longer the foundational contact center tech purchase.  

More from Sprinklr 

At its recent CX Unifiers event, Sprinklr made several more moves to unite the world’s contact centers, voice of the customer, and conversational AI. 

For more on its latest innovations and CCaaS vision, visit: sprinklr.com