Podcast ¦ Punk CX: Transforming CX with predictable AI and workflow automation – Interview with Rebecca Miller of Pega

Key Take Aways

• Pega has launched a new agentic self-service offering called the Self Service Agent, embedding enterprise workflows into diverse service channels.

• The solution leverages Pega’s blueprint platform, allowing rapid generation and testing of enterprise workflows, updated bi-weekly.

• Combining workflow automation with AI (including predictable and generative AI), the platform transforms static workflows into reliable, interactive self-service experiences.

• The approach aims to mitigate risks associated with unmanaged AI agents, particularly in regulated industries, by ensuring adherence to protocols and governance.

• The solution provides true predictability and control, enabling organisations to monitor performance, measure efficacy, and reduce black-box AI risks.

• It supports complex customer interactions, capable of handling multi-step processes and resolving inquiries autonomously, without human intervention.

• Multi-language functionality is built into the system, supporting global deployment across languages like Turkish and Spanish, and across various channels such as web, WhatsApp, and RCS.

• Pega Blueprint facilitates seamless migration from legacy systems, even those built on legacy tech like COBOL, enabling smooth modernisation.

• Early customer feedback indicates strong appetite for automation, with some organisations planning to reduce contact centre staffing levels.

• The new release is available now via Pega Blueprint, with broader general availability expected in early autumn across Pega Customer Service and Pega Infinity 25.

• The enhanced platform reduces development cycles from months to days, fostering rapid deployment and iterative testing.

• Industry outlook suggests a significant transformation in customer service roles, where front-line functions will reduce but shift towards higher-value, knowledge worker activities supported by AI.

Key Statistics

• Pega’s blueprint platform is updated on a bi-weekly basis, enabling fast development cycles.

• Client stories, such as Verizon, report a circa 20% improvement in customer satisfaction and a reduction in average handle times.

• LA County’s AI programme to identify and assist high-risk individuals has resulted in a 71% reduction in shelter admissions.

Key Discussion Points

• The market is saturated with AI-driven agents, but many suffer from limitations such as siloed deployment and lack of governance.

• The current challenge with AI agents lies in unpredictability and risk, especially regarding compliance and regulatory adherence.

• Integrating workflows with AI allows for greater predictability and control, reducing enterprise risk.

• The solution supports handling complex customer queries, including multi-step processes like insurance claims and billing, autonomously.

• Organisations operating across multiple geographies can deploy multilingual, channel-agnostic self-service workflows.

• The platform allows rapid transition from legacy to modernised systems leveraging blueprint ingestion, saving time and cost.

• User feedback reflects a desire to automate contact centres further but with controls to prevent unmanaged AI deployment.

• Industry trends forecast a reduction in traditional contact centre operations, replaced by more experience-centred, knowledge-based roles.

• The future of customer service involves proactive, pre-emptive support via statistical AI and advanced risk modelling.

• Organisations value governance combined with AI automation, ensuring compliance and reducing the risk of “rogue” AI behaviour.

• The solution aims to enable collaboration and design thinking between business and technical teams through visualisation tools.

• The industry is still at an early stage of broad AI adoption, with significant transformation expected over the next three to five years.

Podcast Description
This is a podcast focused on the evolving landscape of customer experience technology, with insights into innovative solutions that combine workflow automation and AI. Hosted in a professional, strategic style, it covers current market challenges, new product launches, and industry trends, providing senior managers in financial services with a clear understanding of how emerging tools like Pega’s Self Service Agent are shaping the future of customer service. The podcast aims to facilitate informed decision-making around digital transformation, governance, and operational efficiency in a rapidly changing environment.