When artificial intelligence (AI) arrived on the scene, it promised to be a cool new tool that would change the game for customers and service representatives across industries.
But the customer experience (CX) industry was skeptical. It’d been burned by tools from the past that made similar promises: instant resolutions, human-like interactions, and all without sacrificing satisfaction. Instead, we got clunky automation systems that were more work than they were worth.
When AI promised to replace those clunky automation systems, many industries were relieved to find it could really deliver on its promise. 86% of CX leaders who have tested AI in CX agree that AI will utterly transform the customer experience in the next three years.
In January of 2024, we surveyed 512 companies in the U.S. to see how AI adoption was going. Using those findings, we’ll determine which industries were the most successful early AI adopters based on metrics like customer satisfaction, deflection rate, and more.
Finance
Finance companies of all types have to follow many compliance rules and use a lot of specific financial jargon, which makes it challenging to answer customers in plain language while staying compliant.
Much of the industry adopted AI in part to let their teams spend more time on sensitive questions that could put them at risk of noncompliance instead of getting stuck with a queue full of questions like, “What’s your checking account interest rate?” or “how do I make a trade?” The goal was for automated agents to deflect any repetitive transactional questions.
As a result, survey respondents from the finance industry boasted the highest overall CSAT score. 89% of their customer interactions surpassed their customer satisfaction (CSAT) goals.
One company, Abra, was using its help center’s built-in chatbot before switching to an AI-powered automated agent. It wasn’t deflecting many issues—customers usually ended up with a rep anyway. Plus, it was hard to update and gave customers almost no insight into their knowledge base.
Now, their automated agent, named Ava, answers repetitive questions about what to do with a particular asset or how to withdraw cryptocurrencies to another account. The tool also automated workflow creation, which freed up even more of the team’s time while ultimately deflecting 40.7% of tickets.
Q4 Inc. used AI in a different way to raise customer satisfaction. Their platform helps publicly traded companies, investors, and investment banks communicate so they can make more efficient decisions.
Before AI, they manually routed hundreds and thousands of tickets to only 60 agents. Some agents were assigned dozens of tickets simultaneously, and others none. Agents and managers were both burning out from the load.
Eventually, Q4 switched to an AI-powered ticket routing system that automatically categorized tickets based on content, context, and urgency. Their first response time (FRT) increased by 98%, and as a result, CSAT increased by 20%.
The takeaway here is clear: AI isn’t just a nice-to-have in finance—it’s becoming essential for maintaining compliance and customer satisfaction. By letting AI handle routine questions, companies like Abra and Q4 have freed up their teams to focus on more complex tasks, improving efficiency and morale.
If you’re in finance, this is a great reminder that adopting AI isn’t about replacing your team but empowering them to do their best work. The real magic of AI lies in its ability to boost both your customer satisfaction and operational efficiency, so if you’re not exploring it yet, you might be missing out.
Software
According to our survey, the software industry tied with finance for the highest CSAT score after adopting AI—89% of their customer interactions beat expectations. That could be because they had similar problems to solve.
Much like the finance industry, software companies had reps answering a combination of complicated products alongside simpler ones like “How do I reset my password?” They’d already tried solving this problem with automated chatbots that famously frustrated customers when they needed real help and couldn’t find a way to get connected with an agent.
One software company, Upwork, has two main customer profiles: freelancers and companies. To rapidly scale the number of freelancers signed up for their platform without adding additional agents or sacrificing customer satisfaction, Upwork replaced an old chat widget with an AI-powered automated agent.
Before the switch, customers were frustrated by incorrect responses based on keywords and decision trees. Instead, Solve uses AI to understand the meaning of each inquiry and craft the perfect response based on accurate support documentation.
Upwork’s original chat widget solved tickets at a 45% self-serve rate, compared with Solve, which has a rate between 52 and 65%. This increase came with satisfied customers who were no longer frustrated by the limitations of their old chat widget.
The success of AI in the software industry shows just how much potential it has to solve real customer service problems. Upwork’s shift from a frustrating chat widget to an AI-powered agent is a great example—it’s all about using AI to understand the context of customer inquiries rather than relying on simple keyword matching.
This not only improved customer satisfaction but also boosted their self-serve rate. If you’re in the software space and not using AI yet, you’re missing out on a way to handle repetitive tasks and free up your team for more complex issues. AI can be the key to scaling without sacrificing quality.
Telecommunications
Telecommunication companies are infamous for their customer service. The sheer size of many companies in this industry makes it impossible to hire enough agents to satisfy customers.
AI offered a way forward for companies plagued with this problem for years. Our survey shows they had the lowest overall customer satisfaction—only 70% of their customer interactions beat expectations. However, their satisfaction has improved more than any other industry using AI. 67% of respondents saw increased satisfaction when they made the switch.
The telecommunications industry still has room for growth, but AI offers a much smarter solution to automated customer service than frustrating call menus that customers have come to dread. Companies like Verizon have shown that even an industry plagued by inefficiency can see real improvements with the right tools.
If you work in telecom, investing in AI can help you avoid repeating past mistakes and finally move toward a more customer-friendly future.
Education
The education industry is a big umbrella. It includes everything from primary education to college and online learning. In particular, online learning has faced challenges due to a huge growth spurt during the pandemic. Now, thanks to AI, they can handle fluctuations in their user base without similar fluctuations in team size.
Education was one of the industries with the highest representation in the respondent set. When they set out to train AI with their own data, CSAT rose from 8% to 63%.
Kajabi, one online course platform, faced a surge in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, Kajabi had a support staff of about 150 and was determined to maintain a very high level of service even as it grew.
An AI-powered automated agent lets them do so while maintaining its high level of customer support, reducing ticket backlog, and keeping agents motivated. Over several months, their customer service team deflected 18 to 20% of nearly 80,000 tickets while keeping their CSAT score stable.
D2L, another online learning platform, was in a similar situation. Its inefficient knowledge management system kept its agents guessing. Instead of giving them information about a library of courses for a wide range of clients, it confused them with conflicting information.
They gave their team an AI-powered personal assistant to find real-time, contextual information based on different client types’ specific needs. This reduced ticket handle time by 13.7% and increased their ticket closure rate by 32%.
The education industry’s embrace of AI highlights one of the most important lessons from this tech shift: AI doesn’t just help companies scale; it helps them maintain quality during rapid growth.
The surge in online learning, particularly during the pandemic, overwhelmed many platforms, but AI offered a way to handle massive demand without burning out teams. AI isn’t just a short-term fix—it can be a tool to ensure growth doesn’t come at the cost of quality support.
Real estate
Real estate agents are all customer service, in a way. They handle property listings, rental applications, and even schedule viewings. They also identify qualified leads and upsell opportunities while offering personalized property recommendations based on customer preferences. Our survey shows they’ve achieved the highest average deflection rate by far, at 46%.
It’s working so well that, according to Deloitte’s 2024 commercial real estate outlook survey, over 72% of participating real estate owners and investors worldwide have already or intend to commit significant budgets to some type of AI-enabled solutions.
According to another report from Fannie Mae, mortgage lenders’ focus has shifted toward improving operational efficiency with AI. After initial success automating customer-facing processes, emphasis on using AI for back-end tasks like compliance and fraud detection has grown, too.
Real estate investors’ rapid adoption of AI shows that this isn’t just a tech trend—it’s a fundamental shift in how the industry operates. AI empowers agents to be more strategic and customer-focused, making it essential for anyone in the real estate business to invest in these tools to stay competitive.
AI has the potential to impact every industry
It’s natural to be skeptical of new technology, but AI isn’t just another flash in the pan. It’s transforming industries, giving customers a low-touch alternative, and making life easier for support teams everywhere.
When you look at the industries adopting AI, it’s clear that AI’s value comes from how it helps businesses focus on what they do best while making them more efficient—all without sacrificing the “human touch” customers still want.
92% of CX leaders already recognize that adopting AI is essential. While AI-powered agents could someday handle the bulk of customer interactions, human agents will continue to take on more complex problems that require empathy and expertise.
AI isn’t just about automation—it’s about making customer service more sustainable as these industries grow. While AI won’t replace your agents, it will amplify their ability to deliver better, faster service while giving businesses room to evolve without overwhelming their teams.
And hey, if you’re still skeptical, that’s okay. We love a good challenge. Get a demo of our suite of AI-powered solutions today, and see how we can help your industry manage your customer experience more effectively.
