As GenAI becomes more common in mobile devices, customers may rely on these AI-driven tools instead of official customer service channels. Research firm Gartner predicts that by 2028, 70% of customer service journeys will start and end with third-party assistants built into mobile devices.
“The integration of GenAI into mobile devices is set to disrupt traditional customer service channels by offering a more efficient and intuitive user experience,” Patrick Quinlan, industry analyst and executive advisor for customer support and success, said in a blog post. “As customers increasingly ask their devices to help solve service issues, companies will need to decide whether to compete with these experiences or embrace third-party support.”
Gartner said that if companies choose to compete, they must improve their mobile apps with conversational tools that can access knowledge databases and resolve issues efficiently. If they embrace the shift, they will need to gather insights from customer interactions and ensure their public knowledge bases are accessible to third-party services.
“In either case, companies should prioritize simplifying customer journeys by pivoting from omnichannel strategies, which have become convoluted, to omni-modal strategies,” Quinlan said.
He noted that an omnimodal strategy enables customers to communicate with a company through a single digital channel using their preferred mode of communication, whether it’s text, voice, video, or images.
AI agents
While outsourcing customer service to third-party AI tools could cut costs and improve response times, it also raises concerns about data security and brand control.
“It is entirely possible that a customer could defect from a brand because they received an incorrect answer from a third party — without the company ever knowing,” Quinlan said. “To mitigate these risks, companies must establish robust knowledge management systems that ensure accurate and consistent information is available to third parties while implementing stringent security measures to protect data integrity.”
As AI technology advances, large language models (LLMs) and large action models (LAMs) may allow AI agents to take on more complex customer service tasks.
“While current third-party GenAI tools mainly handle simple queries using public information, future advancements could allow AI agents to perform complex tasks autonomously, such as navigating portals and completing transactions,” Quinlan said. “Although it’s early to predict the full impact, customer service leaders should prepare for a future where third-party AI systems manage more sophisticated interactions, potentially increasing service volume through third parties and elevating customer expectations for seamless service.”