How Freshworks Is Transforming Customer Experience with AI Despite the advancements in AI, Priya Subramani, the VP & Product Management acknowledges that there are affairs where human agents are irreplaceable—especially when empathy or complex problem-solving is involved

In an era where technology evolves at breakneck speed, businesses worldwide are grappling with how to keep up, especially regarding customer experience (CX). Businesses worldwide have started leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to interact with customers.

One such player is Freshworks which is enhancing productivity and improving customer, employee, and agent experiences with AI. The Girish Mathrubootham-Shan Krishnasamy-founded software company offers customer service, IT service, and customer relationship management (CRM) to over 60,000 business clients including Carrefour, Databricks, 7-Eleven, Tata Digital, Bridgestone, PhonePe, and Blusmart.

While AI adoption booms worldwide, different concerns are cropping up such as privacy issues, cybersecurity threats, and lack of human empathy. For Priya Subramani, VP & Product Management, Customer Experience Products, Freshworks, the key is knowing customers very well, "Our belief is that you need to know everything about the customer to be able to resolve their issues, upsell effectively, and provide the best possible service."

As 2023 marked a dramatic shift, largely due to the rise of generative AI, Subramani and her team were quick to recognize the potential of this technology, integrating it deeply into their products.

Empowering Human Agents with AI

Despite the advancements in AI, the VP & GM acknowledges that there are affairs where human agents are irreplaceable—especially when empathy or complex problem-solving is involved. To bridge the gap between automation and human interaction, it introduced the Freddy Copilot. The tool acts as a coach for agents, providing them with real-time information, suggested responses, and even tone adjustments based on company preferences.

"The Copilot can summarize lengthy conversations, generate responses, and even proactively coach agents on quality before a reply is sent. This feature ensures that agents are equipped with everything they need to provide top-notch customer service, even in high-pressure situations," she says.

Building Trust in AI

As AI becomes more integrated into customer service, concerns around cybersecurity and data privacy have grown. Subramani emphasizes taking these concerns seriously. "We have something called Freddy Guardian, a layer in our architecture that keeps everything secure," she explains. This system ensures that sensitive information is filtered and protected, giving businesses and customers confidence in the security of their interactions.

Transparency is also key to building trust in AI, the software giant ensures all AI-generated responses include citations, allowing users to verify the information provided. "It's important for people to know they're talking to a bot, and to feel confident in the information they're receiving," she explains.

Breaking Language Barriers With AI

India presents a unique landscape for CX, with diverse customer segments spanning tier-one, tier-two, and tier-three cities. She says India is one of the markets eager to adopt AI, much like other technology it adopted earlier, including laptops, mobile phones, etc. "India is likely to be very AI-first," she says, citing the example of fintech companies like PhonePe, which have automated nearly all their customer interactions.

She further added that one of the biggest challenges in serving a diverse market is overcoming language barriers. And they've tackled this by leveraging AI for real-time language translation and sentiment analysis. "We can detect tone, and sentiment, and even handle mixed language sentences, making it easier for businesses to connect with customers across the country," she adds.