AI in customer service: Will bots replace humans or will they coexist smartly?

India’s pandemic crisis of 2020 created human misery and economic havoc. However, out of this crisis came the rapid shift to digital and large-scale adoption of new technologies like AI to improve efficiencies and adapt to the circumstances created by lockdowns and social distancing. Customer service is one of the many areas where AI has come to the rescue at a time when call centers shut. However, besides helping cope with the pandemic-sparked challenges, the use of AI in customer service also helps improve customer experience, cuts a company’s customer service costs, and customer churn. Further, with internet penetration rising in India over 2020, multilingual voice AI appears to be the way for smart customer support. Given this exciting business landscape, the second dispatch of our special series, “Decoding AI opportunities in the Covid Age and beyond”, explores how AI has been changing the face of customer service in sectors like financial services, e-commerce and logistics. Catch Sourabh Gupta, CEO and Co-founder, Vernacular.ai; K.V. Dipu, President, Operations and Customer Service, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance; Prasad Dhumal, Vice President IT, DHL Express India; and Saurabh Tiwari, Chief Technology Officer, Policybazaar.com in an insightful panel discussion.