Almost All Customer Service Leaders Under Pressure to Implement AI This Year

Customer service and support leaders are facing increased executive expectations to invest in artificial intelligence, according to a Gartner.

The research firm reported recently that 91 percent of service and support leaders feel pressure from executive leadership to implement AI, marking a sharp increase in urgency for AI-enabled transformation. Leaders identified improving customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and self-service success as their top priorities for 2026, and many are now turning to AI to support first-contact resolution, reduce customer effort, and guide customers through more seamless service journeys, evolving beyond traditional use cases focused solely on back-office efficiency, the firm said.

"Service organizations are entering a period where AI and human expertise must work in tandem," said Kim Hedlin, director of research in the Gartner Customer Service & Support practice, in a statement. "Leaders are not just deploying AI; they are redesigning service models to ensure that technology enhances the customer experience while humans provide context, empathy, and judgment."

Service and support leaders also expect to significantly reshape front-line roles, with nearly 80 percent of organizations planning to transition at least some agents into new roles, driven by expected automation of routine tasks and the need for human expertise in complex or emotionally sensitive interactions, according to Gartner. Additionally, 84 percent of leaders plan to add new skills to the agent role and adjust hiring profiles to support this shift, it found.

As organizations scale self-service, leaders are also prioritizing knowledge management improvements. Gartner's survey showed 58 percent of service leaders aim to upskill agents into knowledge management specialists, acknowledging the need for accurate, continually updated content to support both AI systems and customer self-service interactions.