As Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly used as a tool to enhance productivity and business efficiency, it is also reshaping the workplace from within. While employees recognise the benefits of AI in improving efficiency and saving time and effort, they are also grappling with the balance between their anxiety about being replaced by AI and the desire to deliver more meaningful work. 

In this latest conversation between People Matters and Matthias Goehler, EMEA CTO at Zendesk, we explore how AI has the potential to make a real difference. However, Matthias added that it must be embraced ethically and transparently, so employees feel supported and empowered, not threatened by the possibility of being replaced.

Read the in-depth insights below:

In your dual role as CTO and global lead for workforce management solutions, how do you see AI playing a role in balancing business efficiency with employee satisfaction and engagement?

AI is set to transform the way we live, work and interact with brands. In the CX industry, leaders are anticipating a five-fold increase in customer interactions by 2027. The only way businesses can stay on top of this and still deliver quality customer and employee service is through the use of AI. 

Businesses have the opportunity to leverage AI-powered solutions to offer fast and efficient support and automate mundane and repetitive processes, freeing up employees’ time to work on more meaningful, business-critical tasks. 

AI also makes their lives easier, with tools like intelligent triage, automatic workflow triggers, content creation, and real-time data analytics. When applied to workforce management (WFM), it becomes an operational game changer. From accurate workforce forecasting to precise workforce scheduling, AI-powered WFM provides immediate insights into cost issues and efficiency opportunities. Better WFM translates to reduced burnout and turnover. 

European business leaders understand the positive impact AI will have on the business; in fact, 80 per cent of them plan to increase their budget for more strategic workforce management tools, according to our CX Trends report.

Ultimately, AI ramps up productivity and collaboration across departments, helping companies identify areas of opportunity, and continuously improve their employee service. 

With widespread anxiety among workers, how can leaders demystify AI for the workforce to ease these concerns and show it as a tool for support, not replacement?

Even as AI is set to radically change the way we work, humans will play a vital role in supervising the AI to ensure accurate, ethical and responsible usage. Everything we know about CX will change, and that includes the roles of agents and employees. In fact, two thirds of CX leaders in EMEA believe the skill set of their team will look radically different than today, indicating an evolution of agent and admin roles towards more analytical, higher value work. While AI excels in eliminating large amounts of manual, repetitive work, it can never truly replace the human touch. 

Retaining the essence of human connection remains important, so business leaders keen on leveraging AI in their workforce need to be clear and transparent with employees on their human-automation strategy, guidelines on AI usage and how they plan to support them through the changes. Cultivating a culture that values technology and encourages innovation also goes a long way to motivate employees to approach AI with more optimism.  

How do you see AI acting as a “co-pilot” for employees? Can you give some real examples of how AI is being used to support, not replace, workers in the EMEA region?

Printemps, one of France's leading fashion, luxury and beauty retailers, is putting innovation in customer and employee experience at the heart of its strategy in collaboration with Zendesk. Zendesk's AI has already won the company over by improving the quality and speed of agent responses, enabling them to focus on more complex queries. 

NEXT is a British multinational clothing, footwear, accessories, and home products retailer. The company is currently using Zendesk AI’s Tone Shift, Expand, and Summarise features, which has helped drive a 4 percentage point improvement in an already-high quality rating and an 11 per cent reduction in email Average Handling Time (AHT).

Another advantage of using AI in customer service is the improvement of processes through automation. Complex, multi-layered processes in multiple languages can be easily mapped through automation; a chatbot can help the human agent to select the appropriate process or recognise exceptions. An example: Eurail, provider of Eurail and Interrail passes for train travellers, works with AI to speed up processes and make them more efficient. In this case, the AI recognises written customer requests for refunds that do not normally comply with company policy. Certain terms such as “emergency” or “bereavement” are flagged and the requests are sent directly to senior customer service representatives who are authorised to grant refunds in exceptional circumstances. A great help for customers with a sensitive request and at the same time a relief for service teams. The digital agent acts as a proactive advisor that continuously learns from past interactions. It supports human employees in optimising their workflows, anticipating customer needs and improving future interactions. 

What key things should be considered when creating AI solutions that support, rather than disrupt, the employee journey? How do you make sure these benefits also improve employees’ day-to-day experiences?

The best human-automation strategies are those centred around the best utilisation of resources. That’s where having a well-thought out human-automation strategy–one that maintains human oversight throughout–comes in. This ensures AI is implemented to suit the business’ specific requirements and employee needs. 

Leaders looking to implement AI solutions within the workforce should bear these key considerations in mind: 

• Complement, don’t replace: AI should enhance employee’s capabilities, automating routine tasks while empowering them to focus on complex or creative work. 
• User-centric design: Involve employees early in the design and testing phases to ensure the AI tools align with their actual needs and workflows on ground. 
• Training and upskilling: Ensure employees are adequately equipped with training on how to use AI tools effectively. AI adoption should go hand-in-hand with upskilling programs that ensure employees grow alongside technology, preparing them for more strategic, higher level roles. 
• Transparency and trust: Ensure that AI decision-making processes are transparent. Employees need to trust AI to make ethical, reliable decisions. Clear communication about how AI works and why it makes certain recommendations will foster deeper trust. 
• Continuous feedback loop: Establish channels for gathering employee feedback on AI solutions regularly. Such feedback can inform improvements needed, ensuring the technology evolves to better meet employee needs and evolving workflows. 
• Ethical considerations: Prioritise fairness and inclusivity in AI algorithms to avoid bias in decision-making, data privacy issues and the potential impact on workplace dynamics. 
• Scalability and flexibility: AI tools should be scalable and adaptable to different roles and teams within the business, supporting diverse employee needs rather than offering one-size-fits-all solutions. 

By focusing on these principles, AI can be a supportive tool that enhances employee engagement and productivity, without detracting from the employee journey and adding friction. 

What are the key ways AI can help businesses, especially in workforce management? 

In workforce management, AI can predict staffing requirements by analysing historical data. Its ability to process large amounts of data in real-time allows it to assess market trends, forecast industry-wide shifts in customer demand, recognise seasonal patterns, and anticipate skill gaps. AI can also plan for unforeseen workforce changes to put in place succession plans. AI-driven workforce forecasting provides leaders with insights into future workload demands and required staffing levels, and it automates team scheduling accordingly. With these data-driven insights, business leaders can manage teams more efficiently, reducing waste and saving both time and money.

Another crucial aspect of Workforce Engagement Management (WEM) is Quality Assurance (QA), which focuses on reviewing customer interactions to enhance performance and boost customer satisfaction. Typically, companies can only manually assess 2-5 per cent of support interactions, but AI-powered QA tools can evaluate 100 per cent of interactions, including those involving AI agents. These tools can identify opportunities for training and development, and even prioritise the most impactful conversations for review, enhancing the effectiveness of the QA process.

Performance management works in tandem with workforce management and QA. AI provides real-time and historical data on agent performance and productivity, as well as early detection of potential issues like customer churn. By delivering these insights automatically, AI enables managers to address problems before they escalate.

How can businesses create a more positive and collaborative approach to AI adoption in the Workplace?

To foster a positive and collaborative approach to AI adoption in the workplace, businesses should focus on three key strategies.

First, transparent communication and employee involvement are crucial. Clearly explaining how AI benefits both the company and employees can address concerns like job security. Involving employees early in the design and implementation process helps them feel a sense of ownership and control.

Second, investing in upskilling and training is essential. Offering programs that help employees understand and use AI tools effectively ensures they can grow alongside the technology, which builds confidence and reduces fears about job displacement.

Finally, promoting collaboration and providing ongoing support are vital. AI should be presented as a tool that enhances human work rather than replaces it. Appointing AI champions within teams to guide the adoption process and offering continuous support helps integrate AI smoothly into daily workflows.

These approaches encourage buy-in, reduce resistance, and help employees see AI as a valuable asset rather than a threat.

With growing concerns about AI ethics, especially in employee management decisions, how do you make sure AI is used ethically and transparently?

It is important for businesses to be upfront about how the AI works, what data it collects, and how that data is used. Such transparency is necessary to build trust in the technology. Businesses can ensure the ethical use of AI in the workplace by prioritising AI transparency from every angle. This involves leaders setting clear ethical guidelines that govern the use of AI in employee management settings to ensure its responsible use, developers training the AI on diverse data with protocols to mitigate bias, and establishing an ethics committee to regularly audit AI systems. 

Ultimately, leaders need to recognise that AI can still make mistakes and should provide mechanisms for employees to appeal or seek clarification on AI-driven decisions. Doing so ensures employees have an avenue to address potential issues or errors in AI decision-making. 

Looking ahead, what advancements do you see in AI-powered employee services that could further transform the workforce? How are you engineering for this future?

AI technology is advancing at a rapid pace, and we have barely scratched the surface. Major advancements in predictive analytics and natural language processing (NLP) hold significant promise to transform the workforce. Businesses will be able to better anticipate employee needs, potential issues and even career trajectories, allowing for more proactive and targeted workforce management and talent development. At the same time, improvements in NLP mean more intuitive interactions with AI systems. This will make virtual assistants and chatbots more adept at understanding and responding to complex queries and emotional nuances, thereby improving overall communication and support for employees. 

Another future scenario to point out could be the future state of “bot on bot” where the whole customer service interaction will be automation on automation. We expect to see more automation within businesses and in our personal lives in which a personal assistant can return a sweater – starting from finding the order number in your email to drafting an email to the retailer to start the return process, and eventually more. We are preparing for this scenario in which there will be LLMs talking to LLMs, and exploring what that infrastructure looks like across channels, products and APIs.

At Zendesk, our mission is to power exceptional service for every person on the planet. That's why we remain very focused on innovating in this space and leading the market in AI for CX. Our Zendesk AI solution is actually the fastest adopted product in Zendesk history, and with the technology advancing as rapidly as it is, we’re constantly on the lookout for new ways to improve customer and employee service with AI.