Tie Technology’s Jim Eckes explains why companies betting on AI before fixing broken customer service processes are setting themselves up for failure – and what they should do instead.
While companies rushed to replace customer service teams with AI, Eckes warned that implementations would fail. Now, with Amazon cutting 16,000 roles and Forrester reporting that 55% of employers regret AI-related layoffs, his predictions are proving accurate.
The problem, according to Eckes, isn’t AI itself. Companies are laying off workers before addressing the fundamental customer service issues that frustrated people in the first place.
“You have a reduced headcount and you’re not resolving the broken system or the process that’s in place,” he says.
“It really exposes that customer service dysfunction rather than correcting it.”
The Personalization Gap
Eckes argues that AI is useless for most organizations right now because it lacks something customers actually want: a personalized touch.
He points to the common frustration of disconnected systems that force customers to repeat information multiple times, only to hear ‘my system is running slow’ from an agent who still can’t pull up their account.
The solution isn’t adding another layer of automation. It’s integrating core systems like CRM and telecom platforms so that when a customer calls, the agent already knows who they are and why they’re calling.
Eckes recalls a recent conversation at a birthday party where someone said they’d gladly pay more to work with companies that recognize them when they call.
That kind of loyalty can’t be automated away.
Where AI Actually Fits
Eckes isn’t anti-AI. He believes it will become a fixture in customer service, but only after companies fix their foundational issues first.
His advice for CX leaders: marry your phone system and CRM tools together first. Then determine where AI genuinely adds value. Make the customer experience the priority, not an afterthought.
Because people don’t want to talk to machines; they want to be heard. And until that changes, rushing into AI will keep breaking more than it fixes.
