AI in call centres could save businesses $80bn

Replacing human agents with AI chatbots could save the call centre industry up to $80bn in labour costs per year by 2026 and $240bn by 2031, according to a new report by Gartner which also predicts $1.99bn will be spent by the sector on AI this year alone. The report predicts that the number of interactions between customers and a call centre handled by AI will go from 2% in 2022 to more than 15% by 2026, and double to 30% by 2031. About 17 million contact centre agents are working around the world today with 95% of costs associated with a call centre due to staffing. Daniel O'Connell, VP analyst for Gartner and author of the report, says that organisations are both struggling to recruit and needing to reduce those costs. "Conversational AI makes agents more efficient and effective, while also improving the customer experience," he said.