Research from Cisco has revealed that while the benefits of agentic artificial intelligence (AI) are clear, a human connection remains essential and robust governance is non-negotiable.
The race to an agentic future: how agentic AI will transform customer experience study surveyed 7,950 business and technical decision-makers in organisations with a turnover of at least $10m, with 55% of respondents working in organisations with a turnover of at least $100m.
Interviews were conducted in 30 markets with respondents working across a range of industries, including IT, manufacturing, financial services, retail, business services, engineering, construction, healthcare, transportation, and media and communications. All respondents worked in job roles where they interacted with customer experience services and support provided by B2B technology businesses.
The future of agentic customer experience, according to the report, results in a world in which customers never need to reiterate situations to new support agents, where issues are resolved before they are experienced by the end-user, and where interactions are tailored to individual needs and business outcomes. And while the benefits are clear and compelling, Cisco states that the readiness of organisations to adopt agentic AI are muddled.
The report also questioned how comfortable customers were to interact with AI agents instead of humans, despite their eagerness to reap its rewards, and what the effects are on the customer relationship if something doesn’t work exactly as planned.
Cisco stated that the findings confirmed some preconceived notions while totally challenging others. It noted that while AI was progressing at speed and changing nearly everything about how we work, live and communicate, it didn’t anticipate AI’s ripple effect across customer expectations, and the urgent need for technology suppliers – many of whom are at the beginning of their journey using agentic AI in customer experience – to accelerate their strategies.
There are three key takeaways from the report, according to Cisco. First are the benefits and soaring demand for agentic AI, with 93% of global respondents believing the tech will enable B2B technology suppliers to deliver more personalised, proactive and predictive services, improving productivity and cost savings. This demand was intensifying, with 56% of respondents expecting their customer experience interactions to be handled by agentic AI within 12 months – with that number jumping to 68% within three years.
Second, despite the excitement around AI, people still needed people. The report highlighted that customers want to combine the efficiency of agentic AI with human connection to optimise customer experience. Some 96% of respondents said that human relationships are very important when interacting with B2B technology partners, therefore finding the right balance between human and machine is a top challenge for leaders today.
Third, customers understand that AI must be deployed responsibly, with 99% of respondents stating that it’s important for technology partners to demonstrate robust governance arrangements to deliver ethical use of agentic AI. They demand transparency, security and a commitment to eliminating data bias.
Liz Centoni, Cisco executive vice-president and chief customer experience officer, said that it was no surprise that the research uncovered “overwhelming appetite” and excitement for agentic AI-led customer experience – what was surprising, however, was the velocity.
“Business and technical decision-makers are expecting their technology partners to pivot to an agentic future faster than anyone anticipated,” she said. “Customer experience is entering a new era, with agentic AI as the transformative force leading the way.
“Agentic AI will fundamentally change the very nature of services, enabling customer experience teams to make every interaction personalised, proactive and predictive across every customer touchpoint. We can now deliver on our ultimate goal: making every customer feel like they are the only customer.”