Gartner forecasts that by 2028, 30% of Fortune 500 companies will provide customer service through a single AI-driven channel capable of handling text, images, and sound.
Today, managing service across multiple channels is costly and often leaves customers frustrated. To simplify interactions, many companies are rethinking their omnichannel strategies. They are turning to advanced AI systems, especially those with voice capabilities, to streamline the customer experience.
Rather than juggling separate channels, businesses will adopt unified AI systems that seamlessly switch between formats—like voice, chat, or video—during the same interaction.
“As GenAI continues to mature and facilitate seamless voice interactions, voice-based customer service isn’t going away. It will instead evolve to meet customers’ needs for a more simple service experience,” said Patrick Quinlan, Senior Director Analyst, in the Gartner Customer Service and Support practice. “Service and support leaders must pivot from a long-held focus on which channels customers use, to a focus on how customers want to communicate.”
Gartner made additional predictions about customer service trends leading up to 2028:
- By 2028, 70% of service interactions will start and finish within third-party virtual assistants on mobile devices.
- Increased use of generative AI has shifted how people find and process information.
- A 2024 Gartner survey found that 45% of respondents use generative AI at home, work, or both.
“Official customer service channels are higher-effort and more complicated, and customers will be drawn to third-party AI platforms that offer quick fixes and more seamless navigation,” said Quinlan. “If a customer can simply ask their phone for the answer, organizations will need to evaluate if their investments in self-service portals are paying off and consider possible customer-facing conversational AI solutions.”
Gartner also highlighted a rise in security risks. By 2027, fraud attempts targeting service channels are expected to increase by 300% compared to 2023.
Fraudsters are likely to exploit conversational AI to breach systems and deceive agents. To counter this, companies will adopt stricter identity verification methods and multiple security layers, even for basic tasks.
