| | SEPTEMBER 20198CIOReviewSeveral years ago, I had a defining moment at Tokyo airport. Entering the duty-free store to arm myself with some last-minute gifts, Pepper greeted me. A robot standing about 4 feet high, she greeted me as I entered the store and, armed with speech and visual recognition, attempted to help me locate the gift of my dreams. Now the interaction didn't get very far as my grasp of Japanese was pretty limited, but at that moment, I was confronted with the question ­ will technology and robotics be the entire service experience of the future. Are humans in service a thing of the past?Fast forward three years and the industry is innovating and advancing at breathtaking speed, but our people are still a vital element of success in delivering and creating engaging service experiences. Fueled by what we can refer to as the Amazonification of expectations, customers are looking for much more than just an answer. We all function as consumers across multiple industries and typically the highest levels of speed, personalization and insight is what sets the bar for every service interaction we engage in. If Amazon can deliver same day, why can't every other organization I participate in? If my bank knows me and anticipates my wants even before I know about it, why can't every company? Customers want products that work or services that add value and feel highly personalized. This creates an experience gap for many organizations, the difference between customer expectations and the reality of the experience for our users. And so, our challenge is to create care experiences that are proactive, personalized and emotionally connected and do it in such a way that it feels natural. We need to walk in our customer's shoes and ensure that we truly understand the experience, looking beyond the metrics and staying close to what our is essential.Gartner predicts that 85% of interactions will be without human engagement by 2020, and this trend has already been seen across many industries. The rise of digital care experiences, which provide answers and insights within expertise is central to IN MYOPINION By Fiona Blakesley, Director Customer Care, IntuitTECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMATION IN CUSTOMER SERVICE
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