AI to drive contact center market towards significant growth — Gartner
CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES — Despite an expected brief downturn caused by business instability, the rise of generative and mature conversational AI is predicted to catalyze the overhaul of contact center systems.
According to consulting firm Gartner, the global contact center (CC) and CC conversational AI and virtual assistant end-user spending could reach $18.6 billion in 2023, up 16.2% from 2022.
The conversational AI and virtual assistant market, the fastest-growing segment within the contact center sector, is projected to fuel a 24% growth in 2024. The increase in investment in conversational AI technologies is due to a growing desire to lessen dependency on live agents.
Nonetheless, Gartner forecasts that in 2023, only 3% of interactions will be fully managed by CC AI, a figure expected to rise to 14% by 2027.
Economic and geopolitical uncertainties in 2023 might constrain budgets and slow the pace of premises-based contact center updates and replacements. However, customer-facing initiatives critical for revenue retention and creation could garner easier access to investment.
Megan Marek Fernandez, Gartner’s Director Analyst, indicated that customer service and support ventures capable of enhancing the customer experience or streamlining operations could gain easier funding approval.
She also anticipates that projects for contact center as a service (CCaaS) will tap into larger digital transformation budgets, spurring quicker growth in CCaaS investments.
