Customer support teams are communicating more than ever—and feeling the pressure. With higher ticket volumes, more communication channels, and customers expecting fast, high-quality responses, today’s support agents are being pushed to their limits.
The result? Burnout.
In fact, 62% of support professionals say the expectation to always be connected is contributing to their stress and burnout. Over three-fourths of support agents say they’re communicating more at work than they were just a year ago, and 68% are doing it across more channels. This constant context switching—between chat, email, calls, and internal tools—leaves little time for deep focus or strategic customer care.
Unlike other knowledge workers who can spend more time on asynchronous work, CX teams are expected to be “always on,” ready to respond to customer needs in the moment. In fact, customer-facing teams spend 66% of their workweek communicating in real time—17% higher than the average worker. Yet despite these growing demands, many CX teams are still operating without the tools they need to keep up.
AI can help—but adoption is lagging
Here’s the good news: Data shows that AI can help support teams reclaim their time, reduce repetitive tasks, and communicate more effectively. The not-so-good news? Many CX teams haven’t effectively put AI to use.
Our latest report, The Productivity Shift: AI Support for Customer Support Teams, found that 84% of support agents say they lack the resources or knowledge to communicate and work effectively. And while AI adoption is growing, only 68% of CX workers use AI tools, the lowest rate among all job functions surveyed. Almost one-third (32%) of agents avoid AI altogether, 10 percentage points higher than the cross-functional average.
What’s holding them back? A portion (38%) of them aren’t sure if their company has approved AI tools for use. Others worry about privacy, compliance, or losing the human touch in customer interactions.
The hesitation is understandable—but it’s also solvable. For the teams that have adopted AI, the results are clear: It’s helping them save time, reduce workload, and improve both productivity and morale.
Where AI can make the biggest impact for CX
So where should support leaders focus their AI investments? Here are three high-impact areas to provide AI support to your customer support teams:
1. Agent communication
AI tools like Grammarly that integrate seamlessly into CX workflows help agents draft clear, on-brand, and mistake-free responses—fast. This leads to better customer understanding and a more consistent support experience. In fact, 99% of business leaders say better communication improves customer understanding, and 98% say it helps deliver more attentive support.
2. Agent productivity
From suggesting responses to surfacing relevant knowledge base content, AI can dramatically reduce the time it takes to resolve issues. 98% of leaders say better communication speeds up resolution times, and 96% say it contributes to repeat business.
3. Brand compliance
Maintaining a consistent brand voice is tough across hundreds of customer interactions per day. AI tools help agents stay on-brand while reinforcing compliance standards: 97% of leaders say improved communication boosts brand reputation, and 94% say it ensures brand guideline compliance.
What comes next
The demands on customer support teams aren’t slowing down, so their tools and workflows need to catch up. AI is no longer just about automation. It’s about enabling human agents to do their best work: responding with clarity, confidence, and speed.
The Productivity Shift: AI Support for Customer Support Teams offers a detailed look at where support teams are struggling—and how the right AI tools can make a measurable difference.
