Contact centre leaders have been warned that the biggest barrier to AI transformation is not the technology itself, but a critical shortage of expertise required to implement it effectively.
Speaking at the UK National Contact Centre Conference this week, Stuart Dorman, Chief Innovation Officer at Sabio, said that while the AI market continues to mature, most organisations underestimate the complexity of real-world deployment.
“Big tech wants you to believe AI deployment is simple – just plug in and transform your operation,” said Dorman. “The reality is starkly different.
Anyone can build a demo bot in an afternoon, but scaling AI to handle thousands of voice interactions at high performance levels requires expertise that many organisations simply don’t possess.”
Dorman highlighted that 95% of enterprise AI initiatives fail to reach production, not because of system limitations but due to the lack of multidisciplinary skills needed to deliver them successfully.
Effective implementation, he noted, requires a mix of user experience design, linguistics, prompt engineering, data science, systems integration, and a deep understanding of contact centre operations.
He added that while AI technology is becoming more accessible, the expertise to exploit it is increasingly scarce. “The cost of AI technology is plummeting – ChatGPT tokens have reduced 1,000-fold in just three years for example – but expertise to exploit this technology is difficult to find as demand outstrips supply.
It’s particularly becoming harder in the contact centre, where organisations are struggling to find the skilled resources required to bring AI to life within a CX transformation.”
This growing talent gap has created what Dorman described as a paradox – falling AI costs contrasted with rising demand and competition for specialist knowledge.
“Most AI deployments are internally facing ‘knowledge agents’ and these are great as a starting point, but they are only scratching the surface of what AI can do,” he said.
“There are lots and lots of exciting potential use cases where AI has an external focus and this is where the true potential for AI technology lies. That’s something that we’re actively discussing with our customers at the minute.”
Challenging assumptions about digital-first dominance, Dorman predicted that voice will become the fastest-growing AI-powered service channel within the next three years.
“We speak at 150 words per minute but type at only 40,” he told delegates. “As AI eliminates traditional channel boundaries, customers will naturally gravitate towards voice interaction. The future isn’t about replacing phone support – instead it’s about making every digital touchpoint conversational.”
He added: “That’s providing organisations stop trying to prevent customers from speaking to them by hiding phone numbers and forcing the use of poorly implemented chatbots.”
According to Dorman, advances in AI-driven voice technologies could unlock major productivity gains, transforming how contact centres balance automation with human-led support.
Dorman urged organisations to focus less on budget size and more on implementation strategy and expert guidance.
“The organisations thriving in AI transformation aren’t necessarily those with the biggest budgets,” he concluded. “They’re the ones who recognise that expert guidance through the complexity of real-world deployment is non-negotiable.”
The UK National Contact Centre Conference took place on 30 September at the QEII Centre, Westminster, bringing together leaders to discuss the evolving role of AI in customer service and the future of contact centre operations.
For more information about Sabio - visit the Sabio Website
About Sabio
Sabio Group is a global digital customer experience (CX) transformation specialist with major operations in the UK (England and Scotland), Spain, France, Netherlands, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and India. Through its own technology, and that of world-class technology leaders such as Amazon Connect, Avaya, Genesys, Google Cloud, Salesforce, Twilio and Verint, Sabio helps organisations optimise their customer journeys by making better decisions across their multiple contact channels. Find out more about Sabio
Author: Hannah Swankie
Reviewed by: Xander Freeman
Published On: 10th Oct 2025
Read more about - Latest News, Sabio
