Eighty-five percent of customer service leaders will explore or pilot a customer-facing conversational generative AI (GenAI) solution in 2025, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc.
A Gartner survey of 187 customer service and support leaders conducted in July through August 2024 found 44% of leaders report exploring a customer-facing GenAI voicebot, in addition to 11% who are already piloting this technology, and 5% who have this solution deployed.
“More than seventy-five percent of customer service and support leaders said they feel pressure from executive leadership to implement GenAI,” said Kim Hedlin, Senior Principal, Research in the Gartner Customer Service & Support Practice. “The customer service function has a growing level of influence over AI initiatives. This historically people-and-process driven function has evolved into a technology-focused one.”
Customer Service & Support Leaders to Prioritize Technology Literacy in 2025
The customer service and support function is playing a leading role when it comes to GenAI – for some responsibilities, more so than IT. The survey found customer service leaders have primary responsibility for identifying new AI opportunities, roadmapping the evolution of AI activities and driving adoption (see image below).
Source: Gartner (December 2024)
Under pressure from executive leadership to make GenAI adoption a success, customer service leaders are committing to improve their technology literacy in 2025. Sixty-four percent of service leaders said they plan to spend more time learning about technology next year, compared to just 3% who plan to spend less time.
GenAI a Top Priority for Service and Support Leaders, But Many Face Barriers to Effective Adoption
Despite leaders’ eagerness to implement GenAI, many face barriers to effective adoption. Many customer service and support leaders will deploy conversational GenAI that relies on a well-maintained knowledge library. However, 61% of leaders say they have a backlog of articles to edit, and more than one-third of leaders have no formal process for revising outdated articles.
“Service and support leaders are eager to deploy conversational GenAI, but they cannot ignore existing issues with knowledge management,” said Hedlin. “To overcome these challenges, service and support leaders need to dedicate resources to building an AI-optimized knowledge base in order to achieve their objectives.”
Gartner clients can read more in: “2025 Top Priorities for Customer Service and Support Leaders.”
About Gartner for Customer Service & Support Leaders
The customer service and support function is vital to maintaining customer loyalty and influencing brand perceptions. Gartner for Customer Service & Support Leaders provides indispensable insights, advice and tools needed to achieve service and support leaders’ mission-critical priorities, specifically improving the customer experience while managing costs; designing an optimal service channel strategy; measuring and reducing customer effort; and how to hire, develop and retain high-potential frontline talent.