The AI Revolution in Customer Service and Support

Ross Smith is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, Co-Founder of the Future World Alliance, the author of The Practical Guide to Defect Prevention and holds seven patents. He is a PhD scholar at University College Dublin’s SMARTLab program, focused on AI, automation, worker displacement, and the future of work. To further this effort, he is a co-founder of the Future World Alliance, a nonprofit committed to responsible AI for the next generation. He has been part of the White House Champions of Change. He has worked at Microsoft for over 30 years.Emily McKeon is currently a Communication Director at Microsoft focused on global strategic business and executive communications designed to strengthen employee engagement and drive value for the Customer Service and Support business. Simplifying the complex is her superpower, developed over 25 years at Microsoft through a variety of roles across communications and HR disciplines. She has vast communication experience and a strong depth of knowledge in customer support, global diversity & inclusion, and employee engagement.Mayte Cubino Gonzalez is the EMEA Director for MS Office and Project/Planner Technical Engineering Support at Microsoft, and the Site Lead and board member of Microsoft Portugal (1,700+ employees). Prior to joining Microsoft in 2021, Mayte worked for 15 years at Cisco where she held a variety of leadership and engineering roles. Her passion for people and technology has driven her to lead several Employee Resource Groups/Orgs at a regional and global level, as well as numerous award-winning initiatives in the area of Diversity and Inclusion (Disabilities, Women, STEM, Latino/Hispanic) and Employee Experience. She was recognized in 2016 with the European Disability Champion award for her work in raising awareness about hidden disabilities and workplace adjustments.

• Part I: Introduction to AI and Its Applications in Customer Service and Support 1          The Seeds of an AI Revolution2          Overview of Generative AI and Data Science Machine Learning3          Application Areas of AI in Support Part II: Building AI Models Using Proprietary Content: The 6Ds Framework4          Vision of Success5          Discover: Laying the Foundation6          Design: Building the Blueprint7          Develop: Crafting the Solution8          Diagnose: Ensuring Effectiveness9          Deploy: Launching the Solution10        Detect: Monitoring and FeedbackPart III: Organizational Considerations for AI Model Creation and Deployment  11        Responsible AI and Ethical Considerations in Customer Support12        Culture Considerations 13        Defining the Metrics that Matter in This New Era of AI14        Utilization of AI for Operational Success15        Evolution of Support Roles with AIPart IV: Gamified Learning and the Future of Work in Support 16        Games, Play, and Novelty in the Age of AI17        Leadership Excellence in the Era of AI18        Future of Work: Navigating the AI Revolution19        Next Steps and ConclusionGlossary

"Insightful & comprehensive - if you run a service & support operation, put this book on your essential reading list right now!"- Phil Wolfenden (Cisco, VP, Customer Experience)"The authors of this book are undoubtedly on the front lines of operationalizing Gen AI implementations in customer support environments… and they know undoubtedly that at its core, support is about people and genuine human connections. This book walks you through their journey to keep people at the center of this technical tsunami."- Phaedra Boinodiris, Author, AI for the Rest of Us“This book is both timely and relevant as we enter an unprecedented period in our industry and the broader world driven by Generative AI. The magnitude and speed of change we’re experiencing is astounding and this book does an outstanding job balancing technical knowledge with the people and ethical considerations we must also keep front of mind.”— Bryan Belmont, Microsoft, Corporate VP, Customer Service & Support