Ray Wang is one of the market players that PLM&ERP News readers have encountered on several occasions. At Cognizant’s Executive Connect event, he conducted one of the most popular sessions of the day.
A Dialogue Between Intelligent Agents
He painted a vision of the agentic internet, where future interactions are no longer screen-based or search-driven, but driven by AI-to-AI conversations. He predicts that the future customer journey will be neither linear, manual, nor entirely manual. Instead, we will see a dialogue between intelligent agents, where the ability to interpret context, intent, and timing is crucial.
According to Constellation Research, over 55% of all consumer purchases will be AI-driven by 2030. Strategies that do not take agent-based interactions into account risk becoming irrelevant to the customer journey, as it is no longer the customer who makes the choice, but their digital representative.
What does this mean for the manufacturing industry?
For marketing managers in the manufacturing industry, this is a paradigm shift. Several key questions need to be addressed:
– What does an agent-friendly interface look like?
– How do we design a buying journey where AI agents, not users, are the first to engage?
– How do brands stay visible and relevant in a world where AI filters every interaction?
The strategic shift: $4 trillion in AI-powered purchasing power
According to Cognizant, AI agents will soon handle a significant share of global purchases. In the US alone, agent-driven consumer behavior is expected to reach $4 trillion by 2030, a clear signal that it’s time to act.
Geroge Evans concluded by summarizing the new situation:
“The customer experience of the future is not an interface. It’s a conversation. And that conversation is no longer between you and me, it’s between our AI agents.”
New AI Bet Together with Google Cloud
Generally speaking, Cognizant is investing heavily in developing AI in general and the agent side in particular. Most recently, s before the midsummer weekend, the global consulting giant announced an interesting partnership with Google Cloud. It is launching a new AI-powered contact center solution, Cognizant Autonomous Customer Engagement, to deliver hyper-personalized customer experiences across multiple industries. The solution combines Cognizant’s expertise in business processes and contact centers with the intelligence of Google Cloud’s Customer Engagement Suite, offering interactions that are personalized, intuitive, and responsive.
Of course, AI agents also play an important role in this: The solution uses advanced AI agents to anticipate customer needs and handle inquiries in real time across both voice-based and digital channels. Cognizant Autonomous Customer Engagement is designed to quickly understand and respond to customer questions – leading to shorter wait times, faster resolutions, and lower operating costs.
“Consumers demand seamless and positive experiences. Cognizant Autonomous Customer Engagement is focused on delivering these at scale,” says Sandeep Bhasin, Global Head of Intuitive Operations and Automation at Cognizant. “Through this innovative partnership with Google Cloud, we aim to create a new level of customer experience using AI agents and humans.”
Cognizant’s AI-first approach
Cognizant uses an AI-first approach with human assistance. Virtual agents handle the bulk of customer interactions, while human agents step in when needed for nuanced decisions or emotional intelligence. This model enables seamless switching and enhances the overall experience.
“Businesses can use AI-powered agents to radically improve customer support, increase personalization and efficiency,” said Victor Morales, VP of Global System Integrators Partnerships, Google Cloud. Our partnership with Cognizant enables next-generation support experiences.
Cognizant Autonomous Customer Engagement offers capabilities such as:
– Omnichannel Support: Integration of voice, chat and messaging on a unified AI-powered platform.
– Continuous Learning: AI models evolve with every interaction, improving accuracy and customer understanding.
– Scalability: Cloud deployment and integration for organizations of all sizes.
– Data Security: Google Cloud infrastructure with encryption, threat detection and regulatory compliance.
– Integrated Transaction Management: Adaptation to local products and preferences – improving accuracy and reducing response times.
– Predictive and Prescriptive Analytics: Proactive customer engagement and revenue optimization, especially in retail through loyalty and consumption data.
– Cloud-based telephony platform: Global support with reduced costs and increased focus on internal experiences.
– Future-proof expansion: Ready to scale up via Google Cloud’s AgentSpace.
