Cisco has revamped its customers’ digital experience with an extensive rollout of generative AI.
The networking giant has quietly used artificial intelligence to build and train data science models to create predictive ‘next best experiences’.
The team started blending generative AI into its data infrastructure last year to improve customer experience significantly. The project centred on two objectives: understanding customers better by listening across products, platforms, and partners and streamlining how customers engage with Cisco, both digitally and in person.
“AI has deepened our understanding of customers, and with gen AI, we can create personalised and impactful customer and partner experiences,” explained Andrew Carothers, CCXP and customer experience leader, Cisco.
Gen AI automates content creation, boosts troubleshooting, and optimises internal processes through A/B testing.
“With the integration of gen AI, Cisco CX aims to provide customers with digital first, self-service options for engaging with the company, while using AI models to customise those interactions based on who customers are, what they need, and where they are in their lifecycle,” said Carothers.
The integration of gen AI enables Cisco to personalise content across regions and technical levels, speed up issue resolution in its technical assistance centres (TAC), and increase internal efficiency. For instance, AI now handles 50% of TAC cases, automating root cause analysis and documentation.
For example, gen AI is used to do a lot of the “customisation of the specific material for the user based on their customer ID. So if a user prefers short format video content to help answer their query, that is what they will be served.
A core component of Cisco’s AI-powered CX strategy is the predictive analytics system, which collects customer feedback across channels, like social media and surveys. Armed with customer insights, Cisco can predict customer needs, tailoring engagement to provide meaningful support.
“We’re using AI to predict what customers need in their adoption journey and trigger more direct and helpful experiences,” said Carothers.
In addition, Cisco utilises AI-powered agent augmentation to enhance problem resolution. Support engineers, for instance, leverage gen AI to troubleshoot issues and generate automated customer summaries. Community managers and customer success managers (CSMs) also benefit from AI by sending personalised content to customers, helping them in their product adoption journey.
Despite its advantages, implementing an AI-driven transformation is never without challenges. Some of the main obstacles included employee training and concerns over responsible AI usage. Cisco established an AI Council to oversee innovation, providing guidelines through its responsible AI framework.
The framework outlines rules for safeguarding customer data, mitigating biases, and making sure that humans review all AI-generated materials before sharing.
Carothers emphasised the importance of transparency, stating that customers are informed whenever AI is used to generate content or insights. “We’ve created a responsible AI framework to protect customer data and mitigate risks, [and] empower[ed] our employees with AI knowledge through training,” he added.
Cisco also created a sandbox environment for testing AI tools while securing all sensitive data from public exposure. Dubbed “BridgeIT,” the system enables teams to experiment with AI applications in CX workflows.
The results of Cisco’s AI initiative have been impressive. Customer support issue resolution times dropped by 85%, and non-English-speaking community response times dropped from one week to one day.
AI-augmented teams answer half of the community questions, and digital engagement has significantly boosted customer retention.
Artificial intelligence has helped Cisco extend its digital reach by 15%, with a 10-point increase in digital engagement and a 22-point improvement in customer adoption. Customers with at least one digital interaction experienced a 22-point higher renewal rate.
“We’ve seen a 300% increase in customer adoption rates through AI-driven digital engagements,” said Carothers.
Cisco’s work since 2023, helped the networking giant to claim gold in the Best Digital CX and Best B2B CX- Strategic Approach at the USA CX Awards.
The same nomination also won gold in the Best Digital Customer Experience category at the European Customer Experience Awards.
The extensive rollout of AI has also been accompanied by some painstaking, face-to-face journey mapping work. “There’s the data element… the other element comes from bringing in the voice of the customer directly,” commented Carothers.
“We bring it in directly when we’re building our new journeys or when we’re optimising existing journeys,” he added.
Cisco aims to build on this success by adding an AI-powered customer assistant. The AI assistant will have access to customers’ purchase history, renewal dates, and support cases, enabling personalised, real-time assistance.
“Our goal is to have an intelligent agent ready to solve most customer queries, from serial numbers to adoption instructions,” Carothers explained.
Cisco’s digital transformation has not only improved customer experiences, but driven internal efficiency and productivity. By integrating AI into each touchpoint, Cisco has set a high standard for CX in the digital age, and the results speak for themselves — improved customer retention, faster support, and highly personalised engagement.