Service automation and human judgment: the key to successful use of AI

Automation speeds up processes and exploits potential. Ideally, this also increases customer satisfaction. However, human judgment must remain part of the process – customers will thank you for it.

Efficiency gains with agentic AI are a key issue for companies. Thanks to agentic AI, many processes can now be automated. This starts with responses to simple customer inquiries such as a change of address. But even complex processes such as claims processing can be largely automated.

For example, BSI customer agents at insurance companies are able to process claims independently. Employees then only need to review and confirm the prepared decisions. BSI's AI agents are given guidelines in advance: Complex cases, for example those involving high reimbursement amounts or legal intricacies, require early intervention and review by customer service representatives.

The advantage of automation is clearly evident in the results. Experience in real-world use cases shows that the majority of standard inquiries can be processed automatically. This results in more efficient processes and time savings. With the support of AI agents, service employees gain time and flexibility for personal interactions and individualized advice. At the same time, customers enjoy greater convenience: They can choose their preferred channel and receive faster and more consistent responses. Quality improves because the system guarantees the same standards for similar requests.

The BSI Customer Suite proves how automation and process optimization can be practically implemented. The smart service center focuses on both of these aspects and offers automatic issue recognition as well as the categorization and prioritization of service requests. Three factors ensure satisfied customers and employees:

⭐ Omnichannel approach: BSI’s Customer Agents are not limited to individual channels and only need to be configured once for all channels. Customers benefit from a wider range of communication channels.

⭐ Intelligent automation: Service requests are analyzed, categorized, and routed with the help of Customer Agents. The Service Agent reviews the request, decides on the degree of automation and, if necessary, provides all relevant information to the service staff. After that, everything happens automatically again.

⭐ BSI Companion: This Customer Agent supports service employees with a generative 360° view of the customer. The BSI AI Agent “understands” the customer's situation, can automatically categorize requests and summarize them clearly. The automation of standard processes such as issue recognition saves resources, enables quick assignment and creates time for personal contact.

Service automation is based on all available customer data and provides new information that can be used directly in subsequent processes. That is why data sovereignty and digital sovereignty are key prerequisites for the use of AI. Accessing, processing, and storing data must follow clearly defined rules.

Digital sovereignty goes further: It is the ability to make independent decisions about technologies without falling into critical dependencies. Companies that want to maintain their data sovereignty need technological freedom of choice when it comes to cloud and AI. This is the only way to combine compliance, efficiency, and customer proximity in CRM and CX processes.

This is also required by the EU's AI Act and DORA. Both acts establish legally binding requirements for the security and traceability of AI systems. Companies must ensure that their data flows and decision-making processes comply with these rules. Both create clear guidelines for the safe use of AI. Our white paper on the compliant implementation of AI (available in German) provides further information.

The family-run fashion retailer Walbusch proves that smart automation takes the pressures of the team and enhances the customer experience.

With the BSI Customer Suite, the service team was gradually freed from routine tasks. Thanks to AI-based issue recognition, over 90% of inquiries are immediately routed to the right place and resolved. The result: Queries and forwarding to external service partners were reduced by 50%. This means a significantly faster response to customers.

The next step in 2026 is the AI-based Order Agent, with the goal of automatically handling over 75% of order calls in the future.

Since June 2025, the Federal Network Agency has reduced the switching period between two energy suppliers to just one day, meaning that all recovery activities must take place within this narrow time window. The challenge lies in quickly validating cancellations, identifying reasons and immediately submitting a suitable, compelling offer.

With the BSI Elements for customer recovery, energy suppliers can initiate all steps fully automatically upon receipt of a cancellation – from recording and valuation to individual contact. Depending on customer value, an outbound call or personalized e-mail is sent, while customers with poor credit ratings are immediately excluded. The process ends with a follow-up, a satisfaction survey, and further measures to strengthen loyalty in a targeted manner. 

The case studies show that automation offers great benefits for designing efficient customer service, making it faster and more cost-effective. However, 100% automation is not envisaged in all processes in Europe. Employees with specialist expertise will continue to play an important role, for example in consultations with high legal or financial relevance or with sensitive and emotional issues. The EU AI Act also provides for the so-called “human-in-the-loop” approach.

Automated processes ensure consistent quality. Humans are deployed where creativity, empathy, and situational judgment are required. The deliberate “non-automation” of individual process steps then becomes an advantage for companies – through high customer satisfaction and better customer loyalty in the smart service center.