AI revolutionises customer service in Australia by 2025

Zendesk's latest report delineates key changes influencing the landscape of customer service in Australia, primarily driven by advancements in artificial intelligence (AI).

Zendesk's 2025 Customer Experience (CX) Trends Report indicates a significant shift towards AI interactions with a human-like quality, showing a majority of consumers prefer AI agents manifesting human traits. Notably, 57% of consumers desire such traits, while 39% report enhanced trust in AI systems that present them.

The report highlights five trends influencing customer service transformations. Australian consumers are notably expecting interactions driven by personalised AI, such as Siri or Alexa, indicating a 39% readiness to entrust tasks like order tracking to personal AI assistants. Furthermore, voice AI is becoming a favoured medium for dealing with complex customer service inquiries, with 59% finding it simpler than text communication.

Australian companies that effectively leverage AI are noted as "CX Trendsetters," a group that is seeing substantial benefits from AI integration. According to Zendesk, 76% of Australian customer experience leaders believe that organisations must adopt AI at scale to survive over the next five years. These companies report a positive return on investment from their AI tools, crucial in a landscape where 73% of consumers see customer service as essential to brand loyalty.

Tom Eggemeier, CEO of Zendesk, stated, "AI should be more than just another technology we use—it's a way to bring companies and customers closer, and it's redefining the relationships we can build. At Zendesk, we believe that AI should be in service to humans and help companies understand and better connect to their customers as individuals."

Kellie Hackney, Regional Vice President at Zendesk Australia and New Zealand, echoed these views, noting, "Australian consumers have told us they expect companies to be embracing human-centric AI across all aspects of the customer journey. For companies that already are, consumers have noticed the difference."

With 92% of Australian CX Trendsetters reporting positive returns from AI tools for customer service agents, the use of AI copilots is on the rise. However, 38% of agents admit to employing shadow AI, posing challenges to privacy and security.

In the realm of loyalty, consumers are increasingly drawn to personalised service, with 53% expecting AI-driven engagements to feel specifically tailored to them. This expectation brings challenges to businesses as 52% of consumers state they would consider switching to competitors after a single poor experience.

Stuart Cole, General Manager of Retail Operations at Freedom Furniture, remarked on the operational improvements his company experienced after implementing Zendesk's AI: "More importantly, having access to AI is empowering our agents to build more human and personal connections with our customers as we strive to set a new benchmark for great customer service in the industry."