The human touch: A CIO’s wake-up call on customer service AI
Summary
Sarah Amsler warns that widespread adoption of AI in customer service — often used as a cost-cutting measure — is eroding service quality and customer satisfaction. Large firms have significantly reduced customer support headcount, replacing people with automated systems that frustrate customers who still want human interaction. Surveys from Verint and Gartner show many customers prefer speaking to humans and may even switch providers if they can’t reach one. While AI can reduce costs (McKinsey estimates up to 30% in call centres), the loss of empathy, personalisation and easy human escalation risks higher churn and greater acquisition costs.
Key Points
- AI is increasingly embedded in customer service, but its use as a headcount-replacement is linked to declining service quality.
- Major companies (Atlassian, Klarna, Salesforce, Sky UK) cut large numbers of support roles; some have had to rehire after service issues emerged.
- Surveys show a strong customer preference for human agents: 56% prefer humans (Verint) and 64% would rather companies not use AI for support (Gartner).
- Only a small portion of customer journeys remain wholly in self-service channels — human intervention is often required.
- AI can save costs (up to ~30%), but replacing humans can increase churn; retaining customers is far cheaper than acquiring new ones.
- Recommendation: use AI to assist employees, not to replace them; always provide an option to escalate to a human agent.
Why should I read this?
Because if you’re a CIO or business leader tempted to slash support roles to hit short-term savings, this is the reality check you need. Customers still want people. Lose the human touch and you’ll likely lose customers — and those are far costlier to replace than the savings AI might bring. Consider this a short, sharp nudge to design AI as a helper, not a human replacement.
Author style
Punchy and direct: Amsler frames the debate as urgent for executives who must balance cost-efficiency with customer loyalty. If you care about retention and brand reputation, the details here are worth your time.