Unpack AI’s Impact on Customer Service with Hui Wu-Curtis

Boasting over two decades of leadership in customer contact, Dr. Hui Wu-Curtis brings deep expertise in driving operational excellence and scalable growth. Committed to continuous innovation, she integrates AI into her everyday strategy and empowers fellow leaders to do the same—enhancing efficiency, elevating performance, and future-proofing operations.

Shiwon Oh: How does agentic AI impact the customer contact field differently from generative AI?

Hui Wu-Curtis: Generative AI creates responses, content, and interactions based on input data. It focuses on creativity and output generation rather than decision-making. In contact centers, generative AI enhances chatbots by producing more natural, human-like responses and assisting agents by summarizing calls, drafting responses, and suggesting next-best actions.

However, AI is moving beyond simple automation. It’s starting to think, plan, and act independently; that is where agentic AI comes in. Unlike traditional AI, which follows pre-set rules, agentic AI adapts, plans, and interacts autonomously to perform tasks with minimal human intervention. Agentic AI will impact the customer contact center industry in the following ways:

• Integrate multiple systems such as CRMs or databases to resolve inquiries without escalation
• Proactively initiate interactions based on customer behavior (i.e. renewals, loyalty levels, troubleshooting issues before escalations)
• Automate complex workflows, handling customer requests end-to-end (i.e. booking appointments, processing refunds, rescheduling appointments)
• Reduce the need for human intervention, improving efficiency and lowering cost

Hence, the evolution of AI has allowed agentic AI to truly leverage all the data collected in CRM and databases and shift contact centers towards autonomous problem-solvers, executing tasks and making decisions to resolve customer issues fully.

SO: What is the biggest misconception about agentic AI, and how can we reshape the narrative?

HWC: The biggest misconception about agentic AI is that it operates with human-like reasoning and autonomy, making it self-sufficient. While the technology can make decisions within predefined constraints, it relies on programmed logic, data inputs, and human-defined objectives. It doesn’t possess conscious intent or creativity like humans. It’s not always right and can make errors based on biased, incomplete information or unexpected scenarios. 

And although businesses and executives would love to believe that agentic AI can eliminate human roles, it functions best alongside humans for exception handling, ethical oversight, and quality assurance. Lastly, like many tools, it is still task-specific and constrained by its design.

SO: What is one major use case where AI is revolutionizing digital communications?

HWC: Within the contact center space, one major use case we’re seeing where AI is revolutionizing digital communications is AI-powered real-time language translation. Whether used for language translation or to neutralize accents, it is changing how contact centers can provide service and support to its global customers through technology vs. geography.

SO: How can leaders leverage AI-assist solutions to enhance both the customer and employee experience?

HWC: Leaders can maximize AI to transform interactions between humans and their tech through several means:

• AI analyzes customer behavior to deliver tailored recommendations, proactive support, and predictive solutions
• Sentiment analysis detection identifies customer emotions, predicting propensity of interaction to escalate and being proactive with that customer interaction
• AI suggests best communication channels based on customer preferences in an omnichannel environment
• AI facilitates faster, smarter issue resolution

AI-powered agent assist tools:

• Suggest next-best actions, reducing agent stress and training time
• Automate note-taking during customer interactions
• Streamline routine tasks, AI handling administrative burdens, freeing employees for higher-value work
• Reduce burnout and increase job satisfaction by eliminating tedious tasks
• Drive efficient training and coaching sessions
• Analyze performance data to identify skills gaps and suggesting and customizing training

SO: In what ways can AI empower women leaders in their pursuit of continuous growth and advancement?

HWC: Continue to learn and keep your knowledge up to date. You don’t need to be an expert, but seek to understand what it is and how you can integrate it into your overall IT roadmap. Learn how it can lead to more intelligent decision-making and strategic insights via AI-driven data analytics to equip you to make informed data-backed decisions in business, finance, and strategy, 

You can also use AI tools to: 

• Provide predictive insights, helping leaders identify trends and opportunities for growth. 
• Automate time-consuming tasks, allowing women leaders to focus on high-impact work. 
• Streamline your workload to improve efficiency. 
• Create personalized branding strategies to refine your content and engagement for LinkedIn, other social media platforms, and overall executive presence. 

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