It’s 2025, but many contact centers still rely on IVR systems and scripted chatbots. These tools require human intervention for complex issues. They often can’t deliver seamless, end-to-end automation.
What is the shift to Agentic AI?
Agentic AI is a game changer in contact center technology. It includes autonomous, goal-oriented agents that can understand context, make decisions, and execute tasks without human oversight. Gartner predicts that by 2028, Agentic AI will autonomously resolve 80% of customer service queries, resulting in a 30% reduction in operational costs.
Agentic AI increases contact center efficiency and ensures seamless operations. It offers a transition from reactive support to proactive, intelligent service delivery. In this blog, we will explain how agentic AI automation can help contact centers provide a seamless customer experience (CX) and increase profits.
What is Agentic AI?
Agentic AI is an integration of AI into operations, enabling it to handle high-pressure environments in your contact centers. It is a class of intelligent systems built around autonomous agents. Agentic AI perceives the business environment, understands goals, makes decisions, and acts independently to achieve those goals. They don’t wait for human commands. Agentic AI agents assess context, plan tasks, and execute multi-step processes independently in real-time.
Qualities of Agentic AI Agents
Agentic AI doesn’t stick to scripts or rigid workflows. These agents are:
Goal-driven: They grasp what you want to achieve and work on it.
Context-aware: They make smart decisions, remembering and interpreting past interactions.
Autonomous in execution: They manage conversions individually, right from confirming identity to processing returns.
Continuously learning: They evolve and become better over time without the need to reprogram them every week.
Why does Agentic AI matter now?
Because customer expectations are at an all-time high, according to industry data, 80% of customer service queries are expected to be resolved without human intervention by 2029. Businesses that adopt Agentic AI early will gain a first-mover advantage in reducing operational friction, improving customer satisfaction, and delivering truly scalable support.
From reactive to proactive: The new AI mindset
Traditional contact center automation operates like a rule book. If a customer presses 1, route the call here; if they type “refund,” send a canned reply. It’s reactive, rigid, and only works well when inputs are predictable. However, if you have a completely lost input, no arrangement. Customers can either select from the given options or speak with an agent.
Agentic AI changes this as it plans, prioritizes, and adapts. It learns on the job. It:
- Understands the context of the situation
- Weighs options based on goals (like customer satisfaction, resolution time, or escalation thresholds)
- Makes decisions autonomously and learns from results
- Course-corrects mid-task when new information becomes available
This allows Agentic AI to handle ambiguity, recover from unexpected events, and deliver consistent service without constant human oversight.
In a high-volume contact center, these differences matter. Agentic AI agents continue to operate 24/7/365, thinking, deciding, and acting just like your best-trained representatives would.
Traditional Automation vs. Agentic AI: At a Glance
| Feature | Traditional Automation | Agentic AI |
|---|---|---|
| Logic Type | Rule-based, scripted | Goal-oriented, adaptive |
| Flexibility | Low | High |
| Handles Multi-Turn Interactions | No | Yes |
| Requires Human Oversight | Frequently | Minimal |
| Learning Capability | Static unless retrained | Continuously self-improving |
Core capabilities of agentic AI in contact centers
Agentic AI comes with numerous capabilities that traditional automation can’t match. These capabilities enable AI agents to handle complexity, think in context, and optimize themselves. Let’s break down these capabilities in detail.
Dynamic routing and escalation
Traditional contact center automation relies on static rules and decision trees that enable only a particular set of actions. In contrast, Agentic AI dynamically routes conversations in real-time based on context, customer sentiment, and evolving goals. It doesn’t require human-written logic for every possible scenario. If escalation is needed, it happens seamlessly, with the full interaction history carried forward to the agent.
Understanding past, present, and intent
Customers need to repeat themselves to conventional bots, which is frustrating. Agentic AI solves this by maintaining a rich contextual memory. It understands where a conversation started, how it’s evolved, and what the customer’s intent is. The memory is carried across interactions and channels for a smooth and human-like continuity.
Handle full conversations end-to-end
Agentic AI takes action independently, like authenticating a user to process a refund or updating records in back-end systems. These autonomous AI agents can resolve maximum customer requests without live agents.
Multi-agent collaboration
Agentic AI can work with multiple AI agents parallelly. It connects with an agent who specializes in a specific part of the process in real time.
Example: One agent handles authentication, another retrieves account data, and a third resolves the issue. Agentic AI here operates more like a coordinated team than a linear script.
Self-optimization through continuous learning.
Most rule-based systems are static and built on a predefined logic. It stays that way until you manually update it. Agentic AI continuously learns from real-world outcomes, user feedback, and interaction patterns. They improve over time without reprogramming.
Business outcomes: what leaders care about
Agentic AI turns your contact center into a high-efficiency, customer-centric engine without additional operational costs. Here’s what it brings for business leaders.
40–60% Cost Reduction
Agentic AI reduces human escalations, automates end-to-end workflows, and shortens average handle times. Businesses require fewer live agents per interaction, and those who are involved can focus on higher-value tasks.
24/7 consistency with empathy
Agentic AI works 24/7/365. They don’t get frustrated and always deliver consistent service. If trained to mirror your brand tone, understand the sentiment, and respond with empathy. Customers consistently experience the same high-quality, human-like support.
Faster time-to-resolution
Autonomous AI agents retrieve data, update records, and take quick actions. Businesses cut resolution time from minutes to seconds. With AI, customers receive effective answers from start to finish, eliminating the need to listen to hold music or juggle between teams.
Improved CX and NPS scores
Customers don’t judge businesses for intentions; they want experience. Agentic AI offers fewer transfers, smarter interactions, and real-time personalization. Businesses improve both customer experience and Net Promoter Score (NPS) with it, turning frustrating service into moments of loyalty.
Scalability without linear hiring
Most contact center growth strategies rely on adding more agents. However, agentic businesses can scale to meet demand spikes without increasing headcount. Contact centers enjoy more volume, the same workforce, and higher output.
How to transition to agentic AI: A leadership roadmap
Agentic AI is how the new contact center thinks, operates, and delivers value. But like any meaningful transformation, it requires intentional leadership and a step-by-step approach. Here are steps to take if you are planning for AI implementation:
Evaluate your current workflow
Begin by asking, ‘Where is our AI today, really? Are you running rule-based bots with limited context? Are interactions still routed based on rigid logic?’ Mapping your current capabilities against what autonomous AI agents can do will highlight the gaps and reveal opportunities for improvement.
Watch out for “AI washing.”
Check for vendors who say “AI-powered” on legacy workflows. True contact center automation with Agentic AI means context-aware, goal-driven, continuously learning agents. It is not fancier scripts with voice recognition.
Start with one high-impact process
Begin small with a clear, well-defined process, such as order returns, customer support, or account updates. Here, you can measure outcomes as workflows are repetitive. Use this as your Agentic AI pilot. Learn from results, prove value, and then expand.
Align IT, CX, and operations from the start
Agentic AI can intersect technology, customer experience, and day-to-day service delivery. You’ll need early alignment between IT leaders (for integration and security), CX strategists (for design and measurement), and ops managers (for implementation and feedback) to function successfully.
In the years to come, AI agents will interpret context, make informed decisions, and continue to learn. BACS Omniconnect specializes in building seamless solutions that integrate easily into your operations. It provides end-to-end support, from intelligent query resolution to multi-agent orchestration, across the entire customer journey.
Want to explore how Agentic AI could reshape your operations? Let’s talk.
