8×8 has launched 8×8 Smart Assist, an AI-powered product that puts real-time guidance, next-best actions, and automated post-call summaries directly inside the 8×8 Agent Workspace.
In a nutshell, instead of agents toggling between systems to find answers mid-call, the relevant context and recommended actions come to them. The result, 8×8 says, is faster resolutions, fewer errors, and less time spent on wrap-up once the customer hangs up.
Early deployments have already delivered a 23% reduction in agent onboarding time, suggesting the embedded scripting and contextual workflow layer is doing some of the heavy lifting for teams bringing on new agents.
Speaking about the new solution, Hunter Middleton, Chief Product Officer at 8×8, was clear about what the company was trying to solve:
“8×8 Smart Assist is built to solve real problems, not just to check the ‘AI box’. We’re embedding AI where it actually makes a difference: directly into the agent workflow, eliminating the need for tab switching and ensuring full context throughout the customer interaction.
“With 8×8 Smart Assist, agents can onboard faster, reduce average handling times, increase first contact resolution, and drive better outcomes.
“Agents already have a tough job; the guidance provided by 8×8 Smart Assist supports agent confidence and increases job satisfaction.”
What it Actually Does
The product covers three main areas.
During live interactions, agents receive real-time guidance and next-best actions, along with sentiment detection to flag how a conversation is trending.
After the call, AI-generated summaries handle the note-taking and wrap-up, cutting down the time agents spend on administrative tasks between interactions.
There’s also CRM integration that preserves context across channels, so if a customer has already explained their issue once, the next agent they reach doesn’t need to ask them to repeat it.
For contact centers that have been told by customers that repeating themselves is one of their biggest frustrations, that feature alone has practical value.
The after-call work reduction is arguably where the day-to-day productivity gains will be felt most immediately.
ACW is one of the more persistent drains on contact center capacity, and automating summaries has a direct knock-on effect on how many interactions an agent can handle in a day.
The Business Case
8×8 is backing the launch with data from Metrigy, which found that 62.7% of companies credit AI assistance with improving agent performance.
Robin Gareiss, Chief Executive Officer and Principal Analyst at Metrigy, went further, pointing to what happens when AI is embedded into the workflow specifically, rather than sitting alongside it:
“When companies embed AI capabilities directly into the agent workflow, we see improvements across the board – in improved agent efficiency, elevated CSAT, more upsell revenue, and even lower turnover rates.
“By delivering real-time guidance, automated summaries, and next-best actions within the 8×8 Agent Workspace, agents resolve problems more quickly, opening the door for additional actions.”
“For example, 63.8% of companies are applying the time saved toward acquiring more customer insights, and 43.4% are adding AI-guided upsell pitches during calls.”
The upsell angle is worth paying attention to.
Contact centers have historically been treated as cost centers, and the ability to free up agent time during a call for revenue-generating conversations shifts that framing.
If the guidance is good enough that agents are more confident in the moment, there’s a credible case for those interactions becoming more commercially productive over time.
Where Smart Assist Fits
8×8 Smart Assist is part of the broader 8×8 Platform for CX, which combines contact center, unified communications, and communication APIs into a single platform.
The launch represents a deliberate move to push AI further into the core of the agent experience, rather than treating it as a reporting or quality management layer that sits outside day-to-day work.
For contact center leaders, the metrics 8×8 is targeting with Smart Assist – handle time, first contact resolution, attrition, CSAT – are the same ones they’re being measured on.
Whether those early onboarding gains hold at scale will be the real test, but the focus on practical outcomes rather than headline AI features gives the product a clear angle in a market that has no shortage of agent-assist tools.
For teams weighing up their options, the 23% onboarding number is the one worth benchmarking against their own data.
