February 17, 2026

How AI Can Make Customer Experience More Human Featuring Vinod Muthukrishnan

24 minutes

Blending AI Efficiency with Human Insight

Shep interviews Vinod Muthukrishnan, Vice President & General Manager of Webex Customer Experience at Cisco. He talks about how AI is moving from a technology tool to a collaborative coworker that helps businesses personalize service, automate routine tasks, and close the customer experience gap.

This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more:  

How can AI create a human-centered customer experience?

How is artificial intelligence transforming customer service interactions?

What are the most effective ways to use analytics to improve customer support and reduce unnecessary contact center calls?

How can automation help resolve frequent customer complaints, such as long wait times or repetitive interactions?

Why should companies rethink traditional metrics, such as average handle time, when evaluating customer service performance?

Top Takeaways:  

AI has evolved from being just a tool to becoming an actual coworker. It can handle routine tasks and take on responsibilities like note-taking during meetings, freeing up a lot of employees' time. This shift is radically transforming how we engage, connect, collaborate, and communicate with customers.

Brand interactions should aim to feel like engaging with a favorite human. The best experiences remember customers' history, never making them repeat themselves, and understanding their unique preferences. They also minimize wait times and meet customers on their channel of choice.

Customers are understanding when they know you genuinely care about their issues and are actively working to resolve them. But if they have to call three times for the same issue, it becomes another problem.

If you use AI to solve problems the right way, you bring customers to your side of the equation. Instead of asking the generic ‘How can I help you?’ when they’ve already called multiple times, AI can help you acknowledge their frustration by providing customer history and knowledge base in real time, and guide you on the next best step to fixing the issue.

Using AI and analytics to predict, prevent, and preempt issues by proactively giving customers the information they need before they even ask creates a seamless experience where people rarely need to call for help.

Call containment and call deflection with AI do not mean companies stop talking to customers. It means letting AI handle routine tasks like password resets or payment verifications, so that when customers reach a human agent, the conversation can focus on more important tasks, like resolving complex issues or exploring new products.

Plus, Shep and Vinod discuss why brands that go “all-in” on AI for customer support often end up reversing their decisions. Tune in!

Quote: 

"We have to start looking at AI not as a tool or a product, but as a teammate."

About:  

Vinod Muthukrishnan is the VP & GM of Webex Customer Experience at Cisco. He is an expert in AI and innovative technology to transform how brands engage with customers, ensuring experiences are more human and personalized.

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio.  

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By Shep Hyken & C-Suite Radio

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