Chris Goodwill, Business Development Director, EMEA and APAC at TTEC Digital, explains below that whilst AI is transforming the contact centre, the human connection still matters. Chris is speaking at DTX + UCX London on 14th October 2026.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing the contact centre.
We now have the ability to automate routine interactions, reduce the pressure on customer service teams and give people much faster access to the information they need. Overall, AI is introducing exciting changes to the industry which significantly benefit both contact centres and their customers.
However, there is still a danger that, in the rush to automate, we forget what customer service is actually supposed to achieve.
We have all experienced the frustration of navigating a chatbot, going through an IVR system, eventually reaching a human and then having to explain the same problem several times as we are passed between different people.
AI gives us an opportunity to fix these issues.
For small and medium-sized businesses, customer service teams are often stretched. The people answering customer enquiries may also be working across administration, HR, sales or other areas of the business. As organisations grow, those workloads become increasingly difficult to manage.
Automation and AI can ease pressure by taking care of repetitive tasks and giving employees more time to deal with complex problems. Importantly, it can also give them more time to provide the human interaction that customers still need.
I don’t believe the future of the contact centre should be about removing human agents, in many ways, humans are more important than ever.
We also need to think carefully about accessibility.
Younger generations are increasingly digital-first and may prefer to interact through messaging, chat or other online channels. But that doesn’t mean every customer wants, or is able, to interact in the same way.
Imagine being 70 or 80 and suddenly discovering that the service you rely on can only be accessed through an app, email or chatbot. We risk making customer journeys simpler for one group while creating additional cognitive load and frustration for another.
Organisations therefore need to design customer service around people, rather than around the technology.
Digital channels can be brilliant, but there should still be a timely route to a human when somebody needs one. And when that person does step in, modern technology should mean they already have the information required to help. Customers should never have to start their story again.
At UCX London, I’ll explore how Microsoft’s contact centre landscape is evolving, from the Queues app and Teams Phone Agent through to certified third-party solutions and Dynamics 365 Contact Center, and where the different options fit.
But the technology is only part of the conversation.
Ultimately, the opportunity presented by AI isn’t just automating more customer interactions. It’s to remove the mundane, support the people delivering customer service while making the overall experience better for everyone.
Chris is speaking at DTX + UCX London on 14th October 2026 at 3.45pm.
Join him on the Future of Employee and Customer Experience Stage at 3:45PM – 4:15PM for his session titled “Navigating Microsoft’s contact centre landscape. Still need a compass?”, where he will explain how the Microsoft contact centre ecosystem is evolving rapidly and how organisations can benefit from these advances.
