New research from Elephants Don’t Forget (EDF) suggests that while interest in AI Agent Assist continues to grow across contact centres, many organisations remain uncertain about its long-term impact on agent development and performance.
The findings were shared during a recent industry webinar featuring Steve Morrell, Managing Director at ContactBabel, Elaine Lee, Director at Reynolds Busby Lee, and Ben Scales, Head of Sales at Elephants Don’t Forget.
Polling conducted during the webinar found that none of the 46 contact centre leaders who responded said they were confident that AI Agent Assist was working well within their organisation.
Of those surveyed, 70% said they were not yet using AI Agent Assist and were still evaluating the technology, while 30% said they had already implemented it but were unsure whether it was supporting long-term agent development.
The results come as adoption of AI Agent Assist continues to increase. According to ContactBabel data discussed during the webinar, usage has risen from 14% to 21% over the past year, with 59% of organisations planning to deploy the technology within the next two years.
Commenting on the findings, Ben Scales said:
“AI Agent Assist can surface information instantly, but access to information isn’t the same as understanding. The opportunity isn’t to replace human judgement, but to combine AI with genuine competence and confidence to deliver better customer outcomes.”
The discussion also explored customer perceptions of AI-powered support. Research from ContactBabel cited during the webinar found that 69% of consumers believe AI understands their issue less effectively than a human agent, while 59% feel the quality of resolutions is worse. Speed was identified as the area where AI performed most closely to human support.
Reflecting on the current state of adoption, Steve Morrell said:
“We are at the start of the AI revolution. This technology will improve, but current experiences are not tremendously positive from a customer perspective.”
Alongside technology adoption, speakers highlighted the importance of continuing to invest in frontline employees. Elaine Lee argued that organisations should consider how efficiency gains from AI are reinvested.
“I think we could and should be investing in our people. The time saved by AI should be reinvested into coaching, regular one-to-ones and ongoing development, ensuring areas like vulnerability are continually reinforced rather than treated as a once-and-done training exercise.”
The webinar also referenced data from EDF’s Clever Nelly platform, which analysed more than 200 million interactions and found average competence levels among users stood at 54% before the introduction of continual assessment and reinforcement programmes.
The findings suggest that as AI becomes more widely adopted across customer operations, many organisations are still working to understand how technology can complement, rather than replace, human skills, judgement and ongoing development.
For more information about Elephants Dont Forget - visit the Elephants Dont Forget Website
About Elephants Dont Forget
Elephants Don’t Forget is the home of Clever Nelly — a multi-award-winning, AI-powered continual assessment platform that helps organisations maintain consistent frontline performance, reduce risk, and improve operational KPIs. Find out more about Elephants Dont Forget
Author: Hannah Swankie
Reviewed by: Robyn Coppell
Published On: 12th Jun 2026
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