Artificial intelligence (AI) is celebrated as the ultimate cure for any and all operational challenges — faster service, reduced costs, improved customer experiences, etc. Yet despite these promises, many organizations are finding that AI alone can’t solve the deeper systemic issues facing their workforce. One critical factor stands out: burnout and attrition.
In a recent SWPP-hosted webinar entitled “AI Won’t Save Your Agents from Burnout: Why Fixing Attrition is the Key to AI Success,” Actionary, a UK-based research and advisory firm, reframed a crucial customer service industry misconception: high employee turnover isn’t a necessary evil — it’s a solvable problem and a vital key to making AI investments truly pay off.
According to Forrester, 39% of brands reported significant declines in their customer experience (CX) scores in 2024 — more than double the drop recorded in 2023. Even elite brands are struggling, with many seeing stagnant or falling scores. This is due to inefficient customer service, digital experience gaps, and underwhelming chatbot interactions that leave customers frustrated and disappointed.
Behind these metrics lies a more human story. Contact centers have enthusiastically adopted AI to automate simple tasks, but this has left human agents to handle only the most complex and emotionally demanding interactions. Without adequate support, these roles become more stressful and draining, leading to rising attrition rates and a spiraling cycle of service degradation.
Gallup data shows that low employee engagement costs the global economy billions of dollars each year. In contact centers, this disengagement manifests as burnout, absenteeism, and high turnover — all of which undermine AI initiatives. When customer service agents feel unsupported and overwhelmed, they disengage. They’re less likely to embrace new AI tools or deliver empathetic, high-quality customer experiences. In the Actionary webinar, the panelists emphasized that AI isn’t a stand-alone solution, but a tool that must be integrated into a broader strategy focused on employee well-being and retention. The webinar panelists highlighted that AI is not a stand-alone solution, but rather a component that needs to be woven into a broader strategy that prioritizes employee well-being and retention.
Contact centers operate in real time, yet many organizations still rely on outdated forecasting and rigid scheduling models. A schedule that is built in advance was once good enough, but today it can quickly become irrelevant as conditions shift. By optimizing schedules dynamically and providing real-time support, organizations can significantly reduce agent stress and improve service levels.
Intradiem, for example, enables real-time interventions — whether reallocating staffing to handle surges, enabling micro-breaks, or delivering targeted coaching exactly when it’s needed most. This agility transforms day-to-day operations, making both the agent and customer experience smoother and more predictable.
As agents face increasingly complex and sensitive inquiries, their need for empowerment and support has never been higher. Empowered agents — those who feel skilled, valued, and supported — are more likely to resolve issues on the first interaction and represent the brand confidently. Conversely, unempowered, burned-out agents create friction, longer resolution times, and dissatisfied customers.
The Actionary webinar explored how integrating wellness programs, predictive burnout models, and targeted upskilling into the AI roadmap is essential to break the burnout cycle and build a sustainable, high-performing contact center workforce.
The session presented concrete, actionable insights, including how to:
Each of these steps aligns with service priorities that modern contact centers can no longer ignore, including improved operations, lower hiring and onboarding costs, better resolution rates, and ultimately, happier customers.
Agents are among the most significant operational expenses in a contact center — but they are also its most valuable asset. When employee well-being is neglected, costs spiral: high attrition leads to more recruitment, training, and onboarding expenses, while disengaged employees damage customer trust and loyalty.
Investing in employee resilience isn’t just about compassion; it’s a smart business move. By addressing burnout, organizations can make their AI investments go further, improve customer satisfaction, and increase ROI. Intradiem’s experience illustrates this: by integrating real-time data and agent support, their customers report both operational cost savings and substantial improvements in CX scores.
The future of customer service delivery isn’t just automated — it’s agile, empathetic, and human-centric. AI can and should be a powerful force multiplier, but only if paired with a serious commitment to agent experience. By investing in well-being, dynamic support, and real-time responsiveness, companies can finally break the burnout loop and unlock the full potential of both their people and their technology.
For more information, you can view the webinar on the SWPP website at www.swpp.org/sponsor-web-seminars.
At Intradiem, we believe the best technology is technology that supports humans. We are the only people-first customer service solution that has a real, long-lasting impact on your people, your customers, and your brand. We uncover, in real time, the untapped capacity in your contact center and give you the ability to use that capacity where it has the most impact. Time for Training, coaching, and wellness breaks — at the right time, every time. Automatic schedule updates. Call handling support. And with hard dollar savings that more than pay for itself. Intradiem: Contact center automation designed by humans, for humans. Learn more at www.intradiem.com.
