The promise of 24/7 customer service is colliding with operational reality. While brands rush to claim they’re “always on,” many are simply offering diminished service outside business hours—relying on AI bots without the human backup customers need for complex issues.
Nerys Corfield, Director at Injection Consulting, tested this during peak Christmas trading. She called four major UK retailers at 8:15 PM. Only two had live advisors available.
The challenge isn’t just customer-facing. Resourcing overnight teams is notoriously difficult, requiring net-new hires who often work from home with minimal support. When bots can’t resolve issues overnight, day teams inherit a backlog of frustrated customers—the “morning hangover.”
However, AI is finally driving legacy system migration. Leaders who once resisted cloud platforms are now motivated by fear of missing out on AI capabilities like auto-summarization and sentiment analysis.
The biggest concern ahead? As AI handles transactional queries, human agents will increasingly absorb the emotional weight of customer interactions—anger, confusion, and complexity. This “pressure valve” role requires new support structures to protect frontline teams from burnout.
True “always on” service means parity of experience, not just keeping the lights on.
