How to Design a Modern Support Model for an AI-First World

AI now resolves a substantial share of customer interactions. Gartner has consistently reported that automation and AI handle the majority of routine service requests, fundamentally changing the role of human agents.

Forrester and McKinsey both emphasize that the remaining human interactions are more complex, emotional, and high-impact - requiring judgment and empathy rather than speed alone. This shift makes traditional volume-based staffing models increasingly inefficient.

This article explores how organizations are redesigning support models to reflect the emerging 80/20 reality.

Key considerations explored in this article include:

• Why human support work is becoming more specialized
  
  

• Designing support for quality over volume
  
  

• Aligning cost, flexibility, and customer trust
  
  

Supporting research:

• Gartner, Customer Service AI and Automation Research
  https://www.gartner.com/en/customer-service-support/research
  
  

• Forrester, The Future of Customer Service
  https://www.forrester.com/customer-service/
  
  

• McKinsey Digital, AI in Operations and Service
  https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights
  
  

Recommended next step: Elastic Support Model Self-Assessment