Yesterday, news broke about a business acquisition in which Zendesk acquired Ultimate.ai, a Finnish-origin customer service automation specialist. The acquisition didn't come as a surprise, as the customer service industry has been undergoing significant changes since the release of Chat GPT.
Artificial intelligence is set to permanently change the working models of several industries within the next 2-5 years. Many tasks, particularly those involving repetitive routines, will become obsolete. While various RPA solutions have been popular for the past 5-7 years, AI can now tackle problems and operational models that defy routine classification. Typically, these tasks in customer service have been handled by humans, who investigate, inquire, and seek solutions to problems.
Organizations have readily outsourced tasks related to routine work to their partners. Traditional outsourcing companies, mainly engaged in renting out resources, have thrived for decades, but now they are surely puzzled by the solutions brought about by AI.
Additionally, numerous consulting firms, which have helped their clients consider different human roles, tasks, required staffing levels, etc., must now increasingly explain to their clients why humans are still needed as part of customer service.
Then there are countless technology companies that have built various technological solutions for various customer service needs. Many customers have dozens of different systems in daily use, and now AI enables the replacement of numerous these systems with 1-2 systems.
Ultimately, customers are the most important. To them, every current partner claims to be capable of doing anything with AI, and emails are inundated with messages attempting to sell AI solutions for any purpose. Customers face questions like whom to proceed with on projects, what to pay for these projects or services, and whether to join the AI hype or wait for best practice operational models. These are good questions with no definitive answers.
At Fluentic, we aim to focus on our existing customers and listen to them with the utmost attention. Together with our customers, we strive to find and decide what actions to take now. Fluentic certainly doesn't try to do "everything" but, together with our partners, we attempt to find the best solution for the customer, one that would have a lifespan of several years ahead and bring maximum business benefit to meet the customer's needs.
2024 promises to be very interesting, filled with many question marks. However, it's likely that we will see several more Zendesk-Ultimate.ai-like business acquisitions throughout the year.