In the era of digital transformation, more and more companies are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance efficiency and economic benefits. Jurgita Karčiauskaitė and Daiva Nariūnienė, students of the Executive MBA program at ISM Executive School, are exploring in their thesis how companies can better prepare for the impact of AI on customer service operations.
Jurgita Karčiauskaitė, Chief Sales Officer at Venipak, states that this research can help companies understand how AI technologies can be integrated into customer service departments in a way that creates added value – improving customer experience, reducing operational costs, and increasing employee satisfaction. According to her, it is crucial that technological innovations serve as an aid rather than a competitor to employees.
“Our research results provide businesses with practical recommendations on how to properly implement AI services in customer service departments while maintaining a balance between technological advancement and human factors,” says J. Karčiauskaitė, co-author of one of the best 2024 Executive MBA theses.
Daiva Nariūnienė, Head of the Public Sector Division at Telia, emphasizes that although companies are not yet fully prepared to use AI technologies, they must already have a clear strategy and goals for working with AI and ensure that all employees are informed about it.
Key findings: the time to prepare for AI is now
The mixed-method study conducted by the ISM graduates involved 168 customer service professionals from various industries in Lithuania. Their qualitative and quantitative analysis led the authors to conclude that Lithuanian companies are not yet ready to adopt AI technology. Representatives from different sectors acknowledge the lack of a clear strategy for leveraging this innovation for business benefits.
According to respondents, the benefits of AI are evident – it optimizes operational processes, reduces the likelihood of errors, and provides continuous 24/7 service, positively impacting customer and employee satisfaction as well as company financial performance.
However, there are also significant challenges. These include the need for employees to develop competencies in working with and interpreting AI-generated data, ensuring data security and reliability, and integrating AI into existing systems.
“This indicates that now is the perfect time to start preparing customer service and other employees to work with AI technologies. In the future, employees handling AI will require higher skills and competencies,” say the researchers.
J. Karčiauskaitė and D. Nariūnienė point out that employees who familiarize themselves with AI and apply it in their daily tasks are more likely to embrace and utilize the technology at work. Moreover, the findings reveal that age is not a limiting factor in utilizing AI’s potential – proper training plays a more critical role.
To use AI effectively for improving work processes and customer satisfaction, companies must ensure their employees develop the necessary competencies. The authors stress that the implementation of AI requires specialized knowledge to distinguish between clean and useful data that can be leveraged in service delivery.
Recommendations: what is needed for a breakthrough?
For companies looking to harness AI’s potential, J. Karčiauskaitė and D. Nariūnienė offer several recommendations:
- Include AI in strategic goals – companies should integrate AI into their strategic objectives and communicate this to all employees. Conducting a SWOT analysis can help assess the current situation and define a vision for AI implementation.
- Evaluate AI knowledge levels – companies should assess the current and future AI knowledge levels across different departments. Creating a competency and knowledge maturity map will help identify gaps in AI expertise and address them through training programs. According to the ISM graduates, this review would also help identify top talents who could act as company ambassadors and trainers.
- Focus on employee education – service-oriented businesses should invest in educational initiatives, adapting training programs to different age groups to ensure smooth understanding, adoption, and active usage of AI innovations. Companies should also establish qualification improvement and retraining programs, keeping up with the latest AI technologies to enhance employees’ confidence and competencies.
- Invest in training – organizations should provide training programs that not only teach employees how to use AI technologies but also continuously develop their understanding of how these technologies can benefit and be applied in daily work.
- Develop AI adaptation strategies – companies should create AI adaptation strategies that consider employees’ knowledge levels, business needs, and customer expectations. These strategies would help integrate AI more smoothly and efficiently.
- Monitor technological advancements – businesses should actively track AI innovations in customer service and gather employee and customer feedback on AI applications to ensure continuous improvement.
- Karčiauskaitė notes that this research has deepened the understanding of AI’s impact on the labor market, as AI not only automates customer service processes but also enables a shift in job responsibilities. Employees who can use AI effectively can focus on more complex and creative tasks instead of routine inquiries.
“What surprised us the most is that preparing for this change does not require anything extraordinary – just the application of a well-known change management plan and organizational consensus on the importance of readiness to maintain job positions and service quality,” says Venipak representative.
According to D. Nariūnienė, now is the perfect time to start preparing customer service professionals of all ages to work with AI technologies.
“With proper employee training, age is not a significant barrier to understanding and using AI effectively,” she adds.
M. Zabarauskas: AI brings great opportunities, but risks remain
Mantas Zabarauskas, Head of Analytics and Data at Surfshark and Non-Executive Director at AMLYZE, observes a strong trend among B2C businesses seeking to exploit AI’s potential.
“We see a major shift from traditional call centers to AI-driven automation and standardization. <…> Implementing AI can significantly reduce customer service costs,” he asserts.
He notes that in some cases, AI implementation has allowed companies to save around 50% of their customer service expenses.
However, he also highlights the risks – AI still generates errors and cannot be fully trusted. While various tools are emerging to improve AI-generated responses, the risk remains and could potentially harm a company.
“For example, if an AI chatbot provides incorrect information about subscription renewal options, the company could suffer reputational and financial losses,” he explains.
To mitigate risks, some companies choose a safer route by implementing internal AI chatbots that assist customer service representatives in finding the best answers. However, such solutions may not deliver the same cost savings.
D. Karpovič: we are still in the stone age of AI in customer service
Daniel Karpovič, co-owner and head of the UBSolar Polska division, argues that AI in customer service is still primitive and often leads to frustrating experiences for customers.
“As a customer, I find it disappointing. I always ask to speak with a human agent because chatbots usually ask generic questions and fail to understand specific issues. <…> We are still in the Stone Age,” he states.
Despite this, he believes AI has significant potential to transform the sector if integrated properly with IT infrastructures that can support decision-making.
“AI can process vast amounts of data and respond to queries much faster than humans. The real challenge is not AI’s development but creating the right IT ecosystem around AI to make it work efficiently,” he explains.
He provides an example from the telecommunications industry, where AI could automatically resolve simple issues like internet connectivity problems, which constitute about 30% of customer service calls.
Karpovič concludes that many industries, including energy and telecommunications, could benefit from AI advancements, yet its implementation is not a priority for most companies. He speculates that if one company in Lithuania takes the lead in AI-powered customer service, others might follow, but for now, such a shift seems unlikely.
