{"slug": "contact-center-ai-faces-its-resolution-test-as-metrics-fall-out-of-step", "title": "Contact center AI faces its resolution test as metrics fall out of step", "summary": "Gartner projects conversational AI will cut contact center labor costs by $80 billion this year, but theCUBE Research principal analyst Bob Laliberte and ZK Research founder Zeus Kerravala said at theCUBE's \"The AI ROI in Contact Center Summit\" that knowledge management, workflow redesign and virtual-to-human agent handoffs now determine whether that investment pays off. Kerravala said legacy metrics such as average handle time and first call resolution \"don't, I don't think, matter as much anymore,\" pushing brands toward outcome-based scoring. Laliberte said organizations should focus on high data quality, integrations and process redesign, warning that a poor AI interaction can increase customer effort, damage trust and hurt the brand.", "body_md": "### Contact center AI faces its resolution test as metrics fall out of step\n\nArtificial intelligence is moving out of the pilot phase in customer service, and knowledge management is emerging as the constraint that decides whether the investment pays off. Contact centers combine high interaction volumes, heavy labor costs and visible moments of truth with customers, which makes them the clearest test of where the technology delivers [measurable returns](https://siliconangle.com/2026/09/09/contact-center-automation-summit-contactcentersummit/).\n\nThat pressure is reshaping how suppliers position their platforms, from Cisco Systems Inc.’s bet on [AI agents across collaboration](https://siliconangle.com/2026/06/02/cisco-bets-ai-agents-redefine-workplace-collaboration/) and customer workflows to a wave of voice agent launches in the cloud contact center market — Gartner projects conversational AI will cut contact center labor costs by $80 billion this year. These environments are demanding and highly measurable, which makes them worth studying, according to [Bob Laliberte](https://www.linkedin.com/in/boblaliberte90/) (pictured, left), principal analyst for networking and observability at theCUBE Research.\n\n“Contact centers have large volumes of interactions. There [are] significant labor costs and direct moments of truth with customers,” Laliberte said. “When something fails, the consequences are also pretty highly visible, and a poor AI interaction can increase customer effort, right? Damage trust and ultimately hurt the brand.”\n\nLaliberte and [Zeus Kerravala](https://www.linkedin.com/in/zkerravala/) (right), principal analyst and founder of ZK Research, a division of Kerravala Consulting, spoke during theCUBE’s coverage of [“The AI ROI in Contact Center Summit”](https://www.thecube.net/events/thecube/the-ai-roi-in-contact-center-summit). TheCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, explored how AI is changing customer experience economics.\n\n### **Knowledge management and new metrics for AI value**\n\nThe measurement frameworks the industry has relied on for decades are the first thing to break. Legacy targets reward speed and containment, even when a customer’s problem goes unsolved, and that gap is pushing brands toward outcome-based scoring, Kerravala noted.\n\n“Historically, we’ve measured success in the context of things like average handle time, first call resolution,” Kerravala said. “And those metrics don’t, I don’t think, matter as much anymore. We’ve had such a focus on average handle time in this industry, but is that shorter call actually a good thing if the issue remains largely unsolved, right?”\n\nMoving from assistants to autonomous agents raises the bar on testing, governance and data foundations. Companies including Five9 Inc. have leaned on implementation playbooks and voice AI agents to shorten time to value, but the groundwork still sits with the customer.\n\n“Organizations should be listening for some practical answers on the importance of high data quality, the integrations that need to be done,” Laliberte said. “Being open to redesigning their process, right? There [are], I think, some issues around knowledge management that need to be addressed as well.”\n\nSuccess ultimately rests on knowledge management, workflow redesign and the handoff between virtual and human agents.\n\n“It’s important to understand that the brands that lead will not be the ones that simply automate the most, right?” Kerravala said. “They will be those that turn AI into a better, more consistent set of outcomes, but will also be able to earn employee and customer trust.”\n\nHere’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of [“The AI ROI in Contact Center Summit”](https://www.thecube.net/events/thecube/the-ai-roi-in-contact-center-summit):\n\n##### Photo: SiliconANGLE\n\n# A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:\n\nSupport our mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. **Join theCUBE’s Alumni Trust Network**, where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities.\n\n- **15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos** , powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more\n- **11.4k+ theCUBE alumni** — Connect with more than 11,400 tech and business leaders shaping the future through a unique trusted-based network\n\n### Are you an AWS customer?  Support SiliconANGLE financially by buying your AWS services from our Marketplace portal page and links: [https://siliconangle.com/aws-marketplace/](https://siliconangle.com/aws-marketplace/)\n\n##### **About SiliconANGLE Media**\n\n[SiliconANGLE](https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsiliconangle.com%2F&esheet=54119777&newsitemid=20240910506833&lan=en-US&anchor=SiliconANGLE&index=9&md5=646b1b564e2259100a2b8638aab0a552),\n\n[theCUBE Network](https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecube.net%2F&esheet=54119777&newsitemid=20240910506833&lan=en-US&anchor=theCUBE+Network&index=10&md5=7de2a85f95ab4a4a495cede20b8cb1da),\n\n[theCUBE Research](https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fthecuberesearch.com%2F&esheet=54119777&newsitemid=20240910506833&lan=en-US&anchor=theCUBE+Research&index=11&md5=7bb33676722925eb57d588ec343e4f6f),\n\n[CUBE365](https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cube365.net%2F&esheet=54119777&newsitemid=20240910506833&lan=en-US&anchor=CUBE365&index=12&md5=d310fb35919714e66ad8d42c9c0c1bc6),\n\n[theCUBE AI](https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecubeai.com%2F&esheet=54119777&newsitemid=20240910506833&lan=en-US&anchor=theCUBE+AI&index=13&md5=b8b98472f8071b23ebb10ab9a8dd0683)and theCUBE SuperStudios — with flagship locations in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange — SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology and AI.\n\nFounded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a dynamic ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands that reach 15+ million elite tech professionals. Our new proprietary theCUBE AI Video Cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/contact-center-ai-faces-its-resolution-test-as-metrics-fall-out-of-step", "canonical_source": "https://siliconangle.com/2026/09/11/knowledge-management-contact-center-ai-contactcentersummit/", "published_at": "2026-09-11 17:29:17+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-11 17:43:20.890619+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-products", "ai-agents", "artificial-intelligence", "ai-tools"], "entities": ["Cisco Systems Inc.", "Gartner", "Bob Laliberte", "theCUBE Research", "Zeus Kerravala", "ZK Research", "Five9 Inc.", "The AI ROI in Contact Center Summit"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/contact-center-ai-faces-its-resolution-test-as-metrics-fall-out-of-step", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/contact-center-ai-faces-its-resolution-test-as-metrics-fall-out-of-step.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/contact-center-ai-faces-its-resolution-test-as-metrics-fall-out-of-step.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/contact-center-ai-faces-its-resolution-test-as-metrics-fall-out-of-step.jsonld"}}