How Generative AI Will Transform Contact Centers and Shape Your Career

The following are excerpts from the transcript of Brad’s recent keynote address to Contact Center Expo, hosted by ICMI, the International Customer Management Institute, May 16 and 17, 2023.

Hi everyone. Thanks so much for joining us.

Generative AI is taking the world by storm. And I want to make some observations and offer some recommendations. But first let me share some context.

Did you know that this year marks the 50th anniversary of contact centers? Yep, half a century ago, two developments gave birth to the call center (contact center) industry as we know it today.

In 1967, AT&T introduced 800 numbers, and then, in 1973, the company Rockwell Collins developed the automatic call distributor (ACD). This system allowed calls from customers to be automatically routed to a pool of agents, enabling quick and effective handling of customer interactions.

Now, 50 years may sound like a long time, but our profession is relatively young when you look at other developments.

The first electronic digital computer was unveiled in 1946.
The Internet has been around since 1969.
Of course, telephone, television, and communication satellites, all pre-date contact center by many years.

The central promise of contact centers—to give customers the ability to quickly and easily get the help and expertise they need—is not going away.

But clearly, we have seen a lot of change. And there’s far more to come. The conversations and predictions around AI and, specifically generative AI, have reached a fevered pitch. What do we make of all the buzz? And is there anything we can learn from other advances we’ve seen?

I’ll offer 3 predictions and suggest 4 recommendations. But first, here’s a personal experience I remember like it was yesterday.