The real power of AI is its ability to support, not replace, employees – giving people more time to focus on the parts of their job that rely on uniquely human skills, according to Datacom MD Stacey Tomasoni.
Developments in automated and AI-powered tools and support including the recent launch of ChatGPT, the OpenAI chatbot, have added to concerns about the prospect of machines replacing human workers.
But when you talk to those on the frontlines of the automation revolution, they will tell you nothing can replace an actual person. And they are not trying to.
The driving ambition with the best AI projects is to make space for people to spend more time on the work that matters and, ultimately, enhance human connection.
Compassion, professionalism, diplomacy, and optimism are intrinsically human skills that make people feel valued and heard when executed right. AI can be the tool that ensures our customer support teams can prioritise their focus and energy on people who most need their help.
Focusing on the things that matter
As the Managing Director of Datacom Connect, which creates and delivers meaningful customer experiences for over ten million customers every year, it is my privilege to watch our customer service teams deliver critical support to people when they need it the most.
Our teams were part of the disaster relief effort during the catastrophic floods in 2022, helping answer questions and connect people with the help they needed. I recall one of our team talking to a man whose house had been destroyed. His cat had died in the floods, he had his dog under his arm, he was calling from his mobile phone, and he had no money left.
The customer service representative not only talked him through the process ahead but did so with genuine empathy and warmth; ‘it’s going to be okay, here’s what we are going to do’.
It was inspiring to witness such an important human interaction when compassion was most needed. It is moments like these that keep me on the path to finding ways to use technology to enable people to focus on what really matters: human connection.
Too often in workplaces we find that instead of staff being able to focus on the things that matter, time is spent on low-stakes, administrative tasks that technology could fulfil.
The 2019 Thodey Review found that approximately 40 per cent of public servants’ time is spent doing highly automatable work, leading to frustration and dissatisfaction from customers and employees.
The review suggests that much of the time spent on administrative tasks could be devoted to higher-value roles. This challenge is relevant in every industry.
What if a clinician was freed up to spend more time with a patient to address the root cause of their problems, rather than filing paperwork? What if a claims assessor could focus solely on complicated claims, or apply data and analytics to pinpoint preventative actions in common accidents?
In customer service, automation has particularly noticeable benefits. At Datacom we see many of the organisations we work with juggling the dual pressures of a highly competitive job market and a customer base expecting greater levels of personalised and immediate service.
The introduction of virtual assistants (VA) can ease these dual pressures – after one successful implementation, automated conversations with a VA now account for over 40% of all customers interactions. That leaves the more complex queries – where human interaction really counts – for the customer service teams to focus on and translates into people spending more time operating at the edge of their potential and carrying out more satisfying work.
Which is why Datacom is so driven to identify the right AI solutions to support organisations and create space for employees to maximise their meaningful interactions with customers.
Some of the simplest ways to achieve this include automating billing and booking processes so clinical staff can spend more time in face-to-face consultations; digitising the triage process for customer calls to reduce wait times; and automatically updating customers on enquiries.
While these are just small changes, they can shift people’s focus away from admin and towards work that can fundamentally shift outcomes for our customers. It also reduces the time needed to fix human errors. A recent study of automation implementation in a nursing unit found that data errors decreased from approximately 20 per cent to zero.
The same study showed that reducing manual administration increased job satisfaction among employees. For companies struggling to retain talent, this is crucial.
There is no replacement for genuine human connection. I’m yet to see an AI-powered assistant show the same empathy as our customer service representative supporting that flood-affected customer, and nor is that the aim.
Instead, we want to ensure we use AI to its full potential, to make workplaces more human, not less.
