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Gartner: 87% of Customers Say Human Agent Is Essential With GenAI Service
Gartner research finds 87% of customers consider access to a human agent essential when companies use generative AI in customer service, while only 27% would try a chatbot again after a bad experience.
Customer-service automation is advancing as agentic AI shifts from assisting staff to acting and transacting on customers’ behalf. Businesses are concentrating on what can be automated next, but the Gartner figures suggest that some may be pushing the removal of friction too far.
The research data places human presence at the center of the debate. Eighty-seven percent of customers said access to a human agent is essential when companies deploy generative AI in service. After a negative chatbot interaction, just 27% said they would attempt to use one again.
The tension appears in everyday retail and hospitality settings. A restaurant diner can scan a QR code, order on a phone and complete a meal without a staff member saying hello. That process removes friction, but it may also remove part of what customers valued about going out.
As AI takes on more tasks, the findings highlight a trade-off between cost and efficiency gains and the human contact customers still expect. The scarce element in increasingly automated interactions is presence, and scarcity can make it valuable.