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AI agents are now calling customer service. And increasingly, AI may be on BOTH sides of the call.

Writer: Ram Srinivasan
Ram Srinivasan
3 hours ago
3 min read

AI agents are now calling customer service. And increasingly, AI may be on BOTH sides of the call.


Business Insider reports that AI agents are already sitting on hold, negotiating bills, canceling subscriptions, and calling insurance companies on behalf of customers. And, Forbes reports people are already using agents to save real $$.


That points to a much bigger shift.


I have been writing about this for the last five years: Substitution creates capacity. Reinvention determines what that capacity becomes.


Here's the tension ->


1\ Substitution:


Customers deploy AI agent to save time, companies deploy AI agent to serve customers. Now both sides have more intelligence, more speed, and more capacity.


For me this creates a new design question: What should the interaction itself become?


The same thing is happening on the web. AI agents can use browsers to navigate websites built for humans. That works. BUT agent-native interfaces go further. APIs, connectors, and other machine-readable interfaces let agents exchange intent, context, authorization, and transactions directly.


The telephone call may become the legacy interface for certain tasks. The website may become the legacy interface for certain tasks. The next interface may increasingly be agent to agent.


This transition will NOT be frictionless. If an AI agent calls a bank, insurer, or retailer, the central issues are not simply convenience. They are authentication, delegated authority, fraud, accountability, and whether the agent is permitted to complete a transaction. Customer-service providers are already grappling with those questions.


2\ Reinvention:


IKEA shows what happens when the capacity created by substitution gets reinvested. Its Billie AI assistant now handles 74% of customer queries. IKEA retrained roughly 8,500 customer-service workers into complex-resolution roles and interior-design sales advisors.


Those remote-sales centers generated €1.25 billion last fiscal year and have grown 15% to 20% annually over the past three years.


The direction of travel is fascinating.


Automate the repetitive -> Create capacity -> Move humans to higher-value interactions.


Then ask the BIG question: What becomes possible now that wasn't possible before?


I see this as the opportunity with AI across every industry.


Substitution is often the first step, reinvention is where the new capacity compounds.


AI's call to action is reinvention.


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Until next time,

Ram


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Ram Srinivasan

MIT Alum | Author, The Conscious Machine | Global Future of Work and AI Adoption Leader published in Business Insider, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, MIT Executive Viewpoints and more.


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A Message From Ram:

My mission is to illuminate the path toward humanity's exponential future. If you're a leader, innovator, or changemaker passionate about leveraging breakthrough technologies to create unprecedented positive impact, you're in the right place. If you know others who share this vision, please share these insights. Together, we can accelerate the trajectory of human progress.


Disclaimer:

Ram Srinivasan currently serves as an Innovation Strategist and Transformation Leader, authoring groundbreaking works including "The Conscious Machine" and the upcoming "The Substrate Shift."


All views expressed on "Substrate" and across all digital channels and social media platforms are strictly personal opinions and do not represent the official positions of any organizations or entities I am affiliated with, past or present. The content shared is for informational and inspirational purposes only. These perspectives are my own and should not be construed as professional, legal, financial, technical, or strategic advice. Any decisions made based on this information are solely the responsibility of the reader.


While I strive to ensure accuracy and timeliness in all communications, the rapid pace of technological change means that some information may become outdated. I encourage readers to conduct their own due diligence and seek appropriate professional advice for their specific circumstances.

 
 
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