By Alan Ranger, Cognigy
People are worried about AI replacing jobs, particularly in contact centres. Headlines claim that if AI doubles productivity, then jobs will halve. It’s pure sensationalism; lazy maths written to drive clicks. It barely holds true even if everything else were to remain the same.
But things aren’t staying the same. AI doesn’t exist in a vacuum. New technologies continue to change and shape how we work, often incrementally, other times fundamentally. Computers and the internet turned the world on its head. But with them, entire new industries and even a new stratum – the middle class – were born. AI has much the same potential. It is a catalyst for immense change and opportunity, redefining how we approach work.
It is true: AI improves productivity. That is a good thing. We need to improve productivity. It’s why AI is central to the UK’s productivity plan. But AI is a tool. And like all tools, it is only as good as the person using it.
So, we need to equip frontline workers with the skills to use it. And to do that, we need to provide learning pathways. We need to expose them to these tools, build familiarity, and give them room to grow and evolve. We need to democratize access. That is how you improve productivity and create opportunity. That is how you dispel the fear and anxiety surrounding AI.
Fortunately, it’s easier than you might think…
The upskilling gap
Using automation technology is not a new concept for contact centres. Most already use it in some form. But AI has such mystery surrounding it that it feels alien, something to be kept separate. As a result, 59% of contact centres currently provide no AI training to their staff.
This separation creates a gap between AI capabilities and workforce readiness. It’s pure, untapped potential. And because of it, the narrative remains fixated on job losses instead of job evolution.
But evolve into what?
First, any new function must address a genuine need. And if employees are to succeed, they need to play to their strengths.
The need in contact centres is three-fold: Empathy, understanding, and resolution. Customers have an objective or an opportunity, and they need assistance. They might be unsure, or even unaware of the situation, or in a position where they lack the necessary permissions.
Now, if we’re using AI to help meet the needs of contact centres, they, in turn, need training. And who better than frontline workers to do it? They know all the intricacies of the business. The workflows and escalation procedures. They are people-oriented, empathetic, understanding. Skilled at breaking complex problems down into logical steps; recognizing nuances, and extenuating circumstances. They live this day in and day out.
Yet the majority of their time is spent on routine requests, requiring untenable levels of scale for minimal return. There is a clear need for AI, and a need for it to imitate their skill sets.
This particular role is called a conversational AI designer. It is itself an evolution of the traditional conversation designer for deterministic systems such as chatbots. You still shape dialogue, tone, and personality to suit your brand’s voice, but with more focus on orchestration, understanding intent, and humanising dynamic interactions – all to ensure customers receive satisfactory service.
Increasingly accessible
Training AI agents to approach this level of competence requires a guiding hand. Fortunately, the training programs, both for users and the AIs themselves, have become far more accessible and intuitive. We ourselves have just launched a comprehensive mastery program to help equip teams with the skills needed to build multi-agent teams. It’s never been simpler for enterprises to provide opportunity and democratise access to frontline workers.
So far, we’ve only focused on shaping conversational AI in contact centres. But any AI adoption is multifaceted. Countless new jobs are emerging that didn’t exist only a few years ago.
There are roles in responsible development and accessibility, for example, encompassing anything from language support to catering for speech, hearing, or visual impairments. It’s all so personal, so human. It’s what makes call centre employees, who work and engage with all walks of life, prime candidates to help inform and shape AI systems. They have so much practical knowledge and experience.
There are, of course, key standards in place, such as ISO 42001. It promotes ethical AI development practices, focusing on rights and privacy, transparency and accountability, and data handling. Similarly, the European Accessibility Act sets common rules to ensure better societal participation and inclusivity. But these all need people behind them, driving their implementation, building upon them, and improving them.
Organisations, including the CCW and CCMA, are educating their members about this approach to AI adoption and the opportunity it presents. But there’s so much more to be done to help tackle the hysteria.
An AI-enabled future
While AI is transforming contact centres, there is also a limit to its scope. The majority of immediate value lies in its handling of routine and straightforward inquiries. Human agents will remain vital for complex or sensitive cases. Indeed, many front-line agents will simply become “super-agents”, workers supported by AI systems, delivering enhanced levels of service and focused on the cases that demand a human touch. It’s about achieving more, driving productivity. For some organizations and industries, human agents may even become a brand differentiator. But balance, enablement, upskilling, and creating value will remain central as AI evolves our approach to work.
Call centres sit on a huge opportunity to build richer, specialised career ladders for their workforce. The tools are there; the learning resources are ready; the systems, simplified. While the future may feel uncertain, behind all the sensationalism and mystery lies huge potential. The AI-enabled call centre is one of redeployment, not replacement.
