The Contact Center Model is Shifting Fast

Customer service within a Contact Center is no longer just about people answering phones or responding to emails. It’s about building a unified, AI-powered service experience where humans, AI agents, and Copilot work side by side.

According to Gartner, by 2028, 60% of customer service organizations will move to unified suites. Which is up from less than 5% today. That’s a seismic shift. And it’s happening faster than most leaders expect. By 2029, Agentic AI will autonomously resolve 80% of common customer service issues without human intervention, leading to a 30% reduction in operational costs.

Those numbers from Gartner aren’t just impressive; they’re should be a wake-up call. Moving from less than 5% adoption to 60% in just a few years signals the end of fragmented systems. Leaders who still think they have time to “wait and see” are already behind. What’s even more striking is the role of Agentic AI. If 80% of common issues can be resolved without a human by 2029, that cuts costs of humans. It also redefines the role of the customer service agent. Organizations that will thrive will be the ones that don’t treat this shift as optional, but as a requirement to adjust service models, retrain, and embrace AI.

Introducing Agentic Service

AI isn’t here to replace people (you are thinking, yeah right). It’s here to work with them. The new model introduces “agentic service,” where Copilot and AI agents step in as digital colleagues.

• Level 1 – Human with Assistants
  Every employee has an AI Copilot to streamline tasks.
• Level 2 – Human-Led Agents
  AI agents join as team members, taking on specific jobs while humans stay in control.
• Level 3 – Human-Led, Agent-Operated
  Humans set the direction; AI agents run the workflows, checking in only when needed.

A Unified Contact Center

The old “Frankenstein stack” of disconnected tools is being replaced by unified platforms.

A modern contact center combines:

• Channels
  • Live chat, social, email, SMS, voice, Teams
• AI Agents
  • Smart IVRs, proactive engagement, intent discovery
• Routing Intelligence
  • Sentiment, skills, and availability-based routing
• Unified Desktop
  • Customer 360, automated case creation, in-the-moment guidance
• Operations
  • Workforce management, analytics, reporting, low-code customization

What Smarter Service Looks Like

Here’s the “before and after” of AI-driven service:

Why D365 Contact Center matters

For leaders, this isn’t just about technology, although some is about spend. It’s about people and outcomes. The shift frees agents to focus on complex issues, smarter self-service, and gives leaders one system of truth.

The contact center of the future isn’t just a platform it’s a partnership between people and AI.

Related Links

• Phone Matching in Dynamics 365 Contact Center
• Microsoft 365 Adoption in Financial Services
• Copilot Chat: Real Conversations, Real Impact
• Gartner Predicts Agentic AI Will Autonomously Resolve 80% of Common Customer Service Issues Without Human Intervention by 2029
•  Gartner Innovation Insight: Unified CRM CEC and CCaaS Lays Foundation for Future of Customer Service, ​
•  Microsoft Work Trend Index Annual Report, 2025: The Year the Frontier Firm is Born

The post The Contact Center Model is Shifting Fast appeared first on Pat Petersen.

Original Post https://patpetersen.com/2025/08/16/dynamics-365-contact-center-with-copilot/