Insights from the CX Ops Peer Council

The CX Ops Peer Council, sponsored by Movate, is a vibrant peer-to-peer community made up of the who’s who of customer experience operations leaders. It is a unique business forum created and facilitated by Hilary Hahn, SVP – Partnerships at Movate to exchange strategies, tactics, & best practices in a fast-paced tech landscape.

In Q4 2024, the forum saw participation of CX operations leaders from diverse industries as they shared their views and responded to polls. Meeting operational goals seems to be a common sentiment as the year 2024 draws to a close.

Here are takeaways from the recent council meeting.

Top discussion points

AI and data governance: AI integration and data governance emerged as primary challenges, with 56% of council members identifying AI and automation integration as a major hurdle. Successful AI deployment requires robust data quality and cross-departmental collaboration, as accurate data governance underpins effective AI outcomes​.

Conversational AI and workforce optimization: Council members highlighted the growing role of conversational AI in enhancing customer interactions, including applications like language translation and real-time intelligence. These AI tools help manage high call volumes, especially during peak times, allowing human agents to focus on complex issues and improve customer satisfaction​.

Process enhancements and tech upgrades: To overcome operational challenges, 63% of council members stressed the need for better technology and tools, while 50% emphasized improved workflows. This reflects a strategic focus on optimizing processes and leveraging AI-driven insights to streamline operations and boost efficiency​.

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“With the big push for AI in the company, the CEO mandate for every VP is to share use cases on how their implementing AI & saving resources.”
 – Council member

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Key challenges & concerns

Council members emphasized the importance of robust data governance and cross-department collaboration for successful AI deployment. Poll results showed that 56% of respondents identified “AI and automation integration” as a top challenge, underscoring the need to ensure seamless integration while addressing technical hurdles.

A focus on understanding customer interactions was seen as crucial for effective AI integration, aligning with the 44% of council members who prioritized “customer acquisition and retention.”

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“…quicker retrieval of responses from AI-powered knowledge bases to provide the customer a personalized and holistic response instead of just answering the question. It’s about integrating info from various sources to help the associate understand the request better. And help associates from external cloud-based collaboration platforms.” – Council member

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Additionally, 33% of respondents indicated that staffing and agent retention remains a challenge, suggesting that AI can help mitigate workforce issues by handling routine tasks, allowing human associates/engineers to focus on more complex queries.

There was also a specific focus on hybrid work and return-to-office compliance, with council members sharing their efforts in navigating the balance between remote and in-office work and discussing the need for concerted efforts to create structured policies for managing this transition.

Using on-demand tools and platforms was considered crucial for handling seasonal fluctuations without compromising on customer experience, further supported by the interest in flexible workforce solutions.

Managing large seasonal teams, especially in certain industries, was recognized as a significant challenge, with AI and self-help tools seen as vital for maintaining customer service quality during peak times. This finding resonates with 22% of members who identified “maintaining service quality during peak times” as a key issue.

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“The focus is on leveling up a seasonal workforce and making associates as trusted advisors, so they add “value” in their conversations. Apart from the self-help community world, the team is leaning into AI in the training and skilling of associates.” – Council member

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Key demands & requirements

While members feel confident about their ability to tackle contact center challenges, with 67% indicating they are ‘somewhat confident,’ improving data quality was a recurring theme to prevent AI project failures.

AI-driven tools were highlighted as essential for enhancing customer service and managing high call volumes, with AI playing a significant role in understanding and improving customer journeys. According to the poll, 63% of respondents emphasized the need for “better technology/tools” to overcome these challenges.

The importance of data governance and analytics was a central theme in discussions, with council members recognizing that clean, well-governed data is the backbone of successful AI integration. Poll responses reflected this sentiment, with 50% identifying “improved processes and workflows” as a key need, showing a clear focus on optimizing operations through data-driven insights.

The CX Ops Council agreed that conversational AI is playing an increasingly vital role in improving contact center operations by reducing call volumes and addressing customer pain points. AI-driven self-help tools were highlighted as valuable to augment human support.

The poll results revealed a balanced interest in applying conversational AI across multiple functions, including “language translation” and “real-time intelligence” (both selected by 33% of respondents). This indicates that conversational AI is seen as versatile, with opportunities to improve customer-facing as well as agent-facing operations.

Members discussed the potential of speech analytics to enhance customer experience by extracting insights from conversations, supporting future automation initiatives.

The discussions at the CX Ops Council meeting underscore a pivotal moment for organizations as they navigate technological advancements and evolving customer expectations. As we move into 2025, these insights will be crucial for shaping effective customer engagement strategies that not only meet current demands but also anticipate future trends in the industry.