Agentic AI to handle 68% of customer service interactions by 2028

A new global study from Cisco reveals that agentic AI is on track to handle 68% of all customer service and support interactions with technology vendors by 2028, signalling a major transformation in how customer experience is delivered across the tech industry.

Based on feedback from nearly 8,000 business and technical leaders across 30 countries, the report, The Race to an Agentic Future, outlines overwhelming support for agentic AI, AI agents capable of independently learning, reasoning, and taking action with minimal human oversight.

Key findings of the report include:

• 92% of organisations say vendor support and services are more critical than ever due to rising IT complexity.
• 93% believe agentic AI will deliver more personalised, proactive, and predictive customer experiences.
• 56% expect more than half of their vendor interactions to already be handled by agentic AI within the next 12 months.
• 89% emphasize the importance of combining AI with human connection for optimal outcomes.

“With agentic AI reaching a new level of maturity, we’re closer than ever to solving some of the most persistent customer pain points in enterprise environments.

“For instance, a significant share of network issues stem from misconfiguration, something agentic systems are poised to eliminate. That shift will lead to smarter networks, stronger security, and more productive teams. As an industry, we’ve been talking about these concepts for decades, and while we’ve made incremental progress, AI – and especially agentic AI – is making that vision a reality.”

Unlike earlier AI solutions that required human coordination, agentic AI can autonomously interpret tasks, adapt, and take action, freeing up support teams to focus on complex issues and high-value client engagement.

The report also stresses the competitive urgency for vendors:

• 81% of respondents say vendors who lead with ethical, secure, and effective agentic AI will gain a competitive edge.
• Vendors lagging behind risk losing customer trust and facing higher churn.

At every phase of the technology lifecycle – from planning to operations – respondents foresee agentic AI delivering productivity gains, cost savings, improved analytics, and stronger alignment with digital transformation goals.

Yet, even amid AI’s rise, human relationships remain paramount with 96% of respondents saying that human connection remains vital in B2B support relationships, while 99% demand robust governance and transparency in AI deployment.

With the clock ticking, Cisco’s report urges tech vendors to accelerate their agentic AI strategies or risk falling behind in an AI-first support landscape.