Customer Support in 2026: What to Prioritize?
On-demand webinar: Customer support in 2026
Automation has reached maturity, but customer trust continues to erode when interactions feel generic. Workforces need sharper judgment. Operations need more agility. And AI delivers real value only when the groundwork is right. This webinar by Simply Contact discusses the theory and practice of navigating these realities.
The next phase isn’t about “AI-first” or speed alone, but about confidence, clarity, and responsiveness. Learn how your teams can stay ahead, capture silent signals, and maintain the emotional continuity that truly differentiates your brand.
Session summary
Clients are now asking Simply Contact to automate up to 80% of customer support interactions, a figure COO Anna Bielikova expects to keep climbing as the tools mature. Automation is concentrating the remaining volume into harder cases: Superhuman’s Iryna Shevelova said teams are left handling only the enquiries too complex for a bot to resolve, which raises the bar for critical thinking rather than removing the need for it. Moderator Jerry Angrave cited a study reported in The Economist showing generative AI tools lifted new agents’ productivity by 34%. Both panelists agreed AI-based quality scoring cannot yet review a full transaction end to end: sentiment analysis is the most it reliably does today, with the rest still needing a human reviewer.
Key points discussed
- Why automating the easy tickets leaves agents with only the hard ones
- AI as multiplier, not solution: why messy processes just get automated faster
- Copilot over full automation: where AI assistance actually holds up today
- Blending voice and written channels without losing agent skill depth
- Training agents to work with AI, not just training AI itself
- Reading unspoken signals: what frontline teams see that surveys miss
- Navigating cultural and market nuance across European delivery teams
- Getting support operations genuinely ready for 2026, not just AI-ready
Speakers
CX Advisor, Member of the British Aviation Group, Ex-Lloyds Banking Group
Empathyce
A CCXP who has worked with airlines and airports across Europe and the Middle East for over a decade. Founder of CX consultancy Empathyce, which he set up in 2012 after senior CX and marketing roles at Lloyds Banking Group.
Head of Enablement, Customer Care at Superhuman (formerly Grammarly)
Superhuman
Head of Enablement, Customer Care at Superhuman (formerly Grammarly), where she built the function from scratch. Over 15 years in support leadership, eight of them at Grammarly.
Customer Support Operations Expert
Simply Contact
Chief Operating Officer at Simply Contact from 2024 to 2026, with over 12 years in customer service operations. Has built support operations for 20+ clients across retail, e-commerce, technology, tourism and finance.
