A recent survey by Gartner, Inc. indicates that 85% of customer service and support leaders will explore or pilot conversational generative AI (GenAI) solutions by 2025, reflecting the sector’s pivotal role in driving AI adoption.

The survey of 187 customer service leaders, conducted between July and August 2024, found that 44% are exploring GenAI voicebots, with 11% piloting and 5% already deploying these solutions. Executive pressure is a key driver, with over 75% of leaders feeling the push to implement GenAI.

“Customer service functions are transitioning from being people- and process-driven to technology-focused,” said Kim Hedlin, Senior Principal at Gartner. “These leaders are increasingly at the forefront of identifying AI opportunities and driving adoption, even beyond IT’s traditional scope.”

To meet the challenges of AI adoption, 64% of customer service leaders plan to focus on improving their technology literacy in 2025, while only 3% intend to reduce this focus.

The report further reveals that many conversational GenAI deployments depend on robust knowledge libraries, yet 61% of leaders report a backlog of content to update, and over one-third lack formal processes for maintaining knowledge bases.