Observed Signal · Jul 8, 2025 · Analysis · Source: CMSWire · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
Contact Center Agents Fear Leadership, Not AI
The article synthesizes extensive Reddit feedback and industry studies to argue that contact center agents' primary concerns stem from poor leadership and lack of support rather than AI technology itself. It highlights that AI tools often increase workload through hallucinations and clunky workflows, feel invasive when used for surveillance, and create distrust when implemented without transparency. The piece references a Harvard Business Review Analytic Services study conducted for Infobip showing that while 93% of executives recognize the importance of positive conversational experiences, only 36% say their organization is highly effective at it. It also cites a market forecast projecting the conversational AI market to grow from $17.05 billion in 2025 to $49.8 billion by 2031. The article concludes with an action plan for leaders to communicate proactively, upskill agents, and design AI that supports rather than replaces humans.
Provides insights into agent sentiment and challenges of AI integration in contact centers, relevant for MarTech/CX leaders and AI vendors.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- 93% of executives acknowledge the importance of positive conversational experiences, but only 36% say their organization is highly effective at it.
- Only 11% report being highly effective using AI to deliver human-like conversations.
- The global conversational AI market is projected to grow from $17.05B in 2025 to $49.8B by 2031, a 192% increase.
- A study titled 'Customer Service Representative’s Perception of the AI Assistant' was published on arXiv, reporting that AI tools often create extra work for agents.
- Infobip released findings from a study conducted by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services on July 7, 2025.
Connected Companies & Entities
4 Entities mapped“Cloud communications platform provider Infobip released findings from a new study conducted by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services....”
“The Research and Markets report includes top vendor profiles for Cognigy, IntelePeer, SESTEK, Teneo, UJET and Verint Systems....”
“The Research and Markets report includes top vendor profiles for Cognigy, IntelePeer, SESTEK, Teneo, UJET and Verint Systems....”
“Infobip released findings from a new study conducted by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services....”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Central European VCs Debate Bootstrapping, AI, and Exit Strategies
At the Infobip Shift conference in Zadar, Croatia, Central European venture capitalists discussed key startup topics including bootstrapping versus VC funding, the trend of founders seeking larger rounds for prestige, and the pitfalls of 'building for a flip'. Jure Mikuž of South Central Ventures cautioned against raising rounds too small for strategy, while David Clark of Tera Ventures noted that bootsrapping is now easier with AI tools. Réka Hidas of Portfolion emphasized choosing VCs that offer more than capital. On AI, Florian Binswanger of Vercel advised founders to integrate AI deeply into their product rather than adding superficial chatbots, and to use model routers to avoid vendor lock-in. Nina Trejos of Stripe highlighted the importance of adopting usage-based AI pricing early. Infobip's CTO Izabel Jelenić shared lessons on co-founder dynamics. The event highlighted a closing gap between Western and Central European startup ecosystems.
TELUS Digital Partners with Cresta for AI Agents
TELUS Digital announced a partnership with Cresta to offer Cresta’s unified customer experience AI platform to enterprise clients, with TELUS Digital serving as a preferred implementation and services partner. Enterprises will contract directly with Cresta for the platform and engage TELUS Digital for implementation, integration, change management, managed services and other professional services. TELUS Digital will deploy and optimize Cresta features including voice and chat AI agents, real-time human augmentation, and AI-driven conversation intelligence, and may integrate Cresta alongside its proprietary tools, hyperscaler technologies and CCaaS platforms. The announcement cites a survey (commissioned by TELUS Digital and conducted by Ryan Strategic Advisory) showing AI-augmented human agents are the leading delivery model for CX, while only 32% of enterprises have automated QA and coaching tools.
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