If You Want Fast Change, Do Something Different

When you want change to happen quickly, you usually need to do something clearly different. This shakes the organization into thinking – and often forces it to act differently. That said, there’s nothing wrong with going back to your previous way of working. In fact, most often, organizations return to an improved version of the old model – and that’s already a big win.

One of the most well-known examples in recent years is Klarna’s radical shift in customer service: replacing humans entirely with AI agents. Now, Klarna has announced it’s reintroducing humans to its support operations. Customers simply weren’t ready for a fully AI-driven experience, as Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski puts it: “It’s so critical that you are clear to your customer that there will always be a human if you want.” (Source: Fortune.com)

I’ve often compared the state of AI in customer service to the automotive industry. Right now, the winning approach in both is the same: a hybrid model. Combining future-ready technology with current, proven practices is what gets results.

In my view, the greatest benefit of AI in customer service is its always-on availability – 24/7, in the channel the customer prefers, and in their own native language. Recently, voice channels have been added to the mix as well. AI also helps organizations with resource allocation by handling the simpler cases. Ideally, the customer gets the right answer directly from AI. At the very least, they feel heard and know their issue is being worked on.

Of course, the organization must have solid processes in place to ensure the issue is actually resolved – as agreed. From what I’ve seen, this – along with proper data structure – is currently one of the biggest challenges. New models are being adopted before organizations are truly ready for them. I believe Klarna is now ready – they had the courage to make a bold move, and they’ll likely come out of this experiment stronger than before.

The direction is clear – both for customer service and the automotive industry. What no one can say for sure is how long we’ll be operating in hybrid mode. My guess: in customer service, we’ll rely on hybrid models for another 3–4 years. After that, AI will handle around 80% of the volume. In the automotive sector, Western countries may reach 60–70% electric vehicle adoption within the next 10 years.

One thing’s for sure: the next generation is always smarter than the last. The world evolves – and so do we.