"As agentic AI spreads across industries,” states Rishi Rana, the Chief Executive Officer at Cyara. “Everybody is curious to understand how that is going to transform customer experience across all the channels?"

In this episode of the Tech Transformed podcast, Shubhangi Dua, the Host and Podcast Producer at EM360Tech, talks with Rishi Rana, the CEO of Cyara, about how agentic AI is changing customer experience (CX). 

They look at how AI has developed from simple chatbots to advanced systems that can understand and predict customer needs. Rana spotlights the need for ongoing testing and monitoring to make sure AI solutions work well and follow the regulations. 

They also discuss the obstacles businesses encounter when implementing AI, the importance of good data, and the future of AI agents in improving customer interactions.

Agentic AI Transforming Customer Experience (CX)

Customer experience (CX) is changing quickly and significantly, thanks to the rise of agentic AI. These advanced systems go beyond the basic chatbots of the past. 

While such a change may offer a future equipped with a smart, proactive customer journey, it doesn't come without its challenges. These obstacles require organisations to thoughtfully plan and carefully execute strategies.

For years, chatbots provided a basic type of automated customer support. However, Rana explains that the evolution of AI is pushing boundaries. "AI in customer experience (CX) is changing from a basic level of chatbots that have been present for the last five or 10 years. Now they are turning into fully agentic systems that operate across voice, digital and human-assisted channels," said Rana. 

Moving Beyond Basic Chatbots

Chatbots’ lucrative development lies in the strengths of Large Language Models (LLMs) like Google's Gemini, Meta's Llama, and OpenAI's ChatGPT. This is because the AI-backing models are facilitating "voice bots" and other AI agents to move beyond simple response automation to intelligent orchestration. 

Intelligent orchestration results in anticipating user needs, adjusting in real-time, and guiding customers to hybrid solutions where AI and human agents work together. Ultimately, the goal is to greatly improve the customer experience (CX). Studies suggest that 86 per cent of people are willing to pay more for the same service, no matter what it is, when the customer experience is better.

Advancements don’t come without a price. Rana believes the lack of proper guardrails is a cause for concern. "AI is great, but you need to have guardrails and ensure the intent behind the questions and the objective behind the customer interaction is getting answered." 

This requires ongoing testing and monitoring across all channels to ensure consistency and avoid problems like hallucinations, misuse, or bias. These issues can result in major financial losses and damage to reputation. For instance, Rishi Rana mentioned that over "$10 billion in violations and liabilities due to incorrect information given to customers" occurred in 2024 alone.

To successfully execute agentic AI, enterprises must shift left with AI by...