Table of Contents
Contact center leaders are no longer purely managing operations—they’re driving company-wide transformation. Yet, the industry struggles to shake its old reputation. For years, businesses have viewed contact centers as cost centers rather than strategic drivers. And in a lot of ways, they’re not wrong.
But that perception is starting to shift.
In our report, AI in customer service trends report 2025, we surveyed CX and contact center leaders at enterprise companies with annual revenue of $500m+ and found that 33% of contact center leaders think their organization now sees them as value drivers. While this stat is promising, a staggering 65% still feel their work is measured by cost-cutting alone.
So, how do leaders break free from outdated expectations? Below, we’ll look at some of the key findings from the report, including how AI is reshaping careers, unlocking value with data, and defining the future of contact center leadership.
AI is redefining the contact center leader’s role
With AI handling more routine interactions, leaders can prioritize business-impacting initiatives, like driving revenue, improving customer loyalty, and influencing business strategy. Unfortunately, many still struggle to balance enhancing CX against financial constraints.
Align CX investments with business impact
Contact centers face constant pressure to do more with less. While 47% of leaders prioritize increasing revenue, and 50% focus on reducing costs, recent studies indicate that companies viewing customer service as a value center achieve 3.5 times more revenue growth than those viewing it as a cost center. To make the investment case, leaders must connect CX improvements to tangible business outcomes, including higher customer lifetime value and reduced churn.
Drive efficiency without sacrificing experience
Automation isn’t just about reducing costs; it’s about elevating service. Identifying high-volume, repetitive tasks for AI-driven automation improves efficiency and frees up customer service reps for more meaningful interactions. On a recent episode of the Tech Transformed podcast, Nikola Mrkšić, CEO & Co-Founder of PolyAI, asserted that a cost-cut-first mentality doesn’t adequately address ineffectual customer service, “I think many start from cost-cutting as the primary high-level explanation for what’s going on, but we’ve found that is not the case. It’s one of the corollaries, not necessarily where people start. They’re not doing customer service well enough.”
Leaders who take a customer service first approach position AI as a business growth enabler, not just a cost-cutting tool.
AI is revolutionizing the way we think about customer service
See what 100 CX and contact center leaders have to say about AI in customer service in 2025
Read the reportCreating value with AI is a top career goal
There’s a lot of noise around AI in customer service, but quantifying real impact is hard to achieve. Analysts estimate that up to 90% of AI proofs-of-concept won’t make it into production, putting ROI at the top of leaders’ minds.
It’s no surprise then that more than a third of contact center leaders said their career goal over the next 5-10 years is to implement an AI solution that demonstrates clear ROI.
Driving revenue starts with prioritizing customer experience. When companies design AI solutions to serve customers effectively rather than just cut costs, efficiency naturally follows. If automated interactions deliver value, customers won’t feel the need to escalate to a customer service representative.
When AI can effectively resolve issues, first-call resolution increases, routine queries cost less to handle, and agents can focus on more complex, high-value interactions. This shift improves customer satisfaction and strengthens the business case for further AI investments, positioning CX and contact center leaders at the forefront of contact center transformation.
Leveraging customer insights to influence strategy
AI is transforming contact centers into powerful sources of business intelligence. Every customer interaction generates valuable data that reveals market trends, pain points, and buying behaviors. Leaders who can analyze and present AI-driven insights to finance, product, and marketing teams position themselves as key contributors to business growth.
Traditionally, most companies view support as a function focused on resolving individual customer problems. But AI shifts this dynamic. Instead of just processing complaints, structured conversational data uncovers trends that highlight broader business issues.
For example, if customer insights show that 15% of calls are related to billing confusion, proactive leaders can use that data to advocate for changes—such as simplifying invoices, adjusting pricing structures, or improving customer education. In this way, support evolves from being reactive to driving meaningful business improvements.
Your contact center is more than a hub for customer inquiries—it’s a goldmine of insights. But too often, its value goes unnoticed by the wider business, with teams like brand, marketing, and digital CX operating in silos.
Get our guide to learn how contact center leaders can break down barriers and drive impact across the entire organization.
The future of contact center leadership
The line between customer service and CX leadership is blurring. In the next five years, 75% of contact center leaders expect to take on broader CX roles, and some even see AI in their future, with 12% predicting a shift to Head of AI. To step into these expanding roles, CX and contact center leaders need to drive strategy and communicate the value of AI-powered customer engagement.
To take on a leadership role in an AI-driven contact center, it’s important to:
- Deploy AI successfully – Show tangible results by using AI to improve efficiency, revenue, and customer experience.
- Become a customer insight champion – Use AI-driven data to uncover trends that impact business strategy, not just support metrics.
- Leverage and communicate data effectively – Present clear, actionable insights influencing executive decisions.
- Collaborate across teams – Work closely with marketing, product, and leadership to ensure AI drives company-wide improvements.
- Position yourself as a strategic leader – Frame AI adoption as more than automation – it’s a tool for business transformation.
The contact center isn’t just about solving customer problems. It’s the front line of business intelligence. Leaders who use AI to gather structured conversational data not only position themselves to shape support strategy, but they also have the potential to influence every department in an organization with their insights.
Is your organization ready for AI leadership? Our podcast episode, Deep Learning with PolyAI: The rise of CAIOs and AI competency centers, explores the potential future of AI leadership within enterprise.
Jumpstart your CX leadership journey with AI
AI is rapidly reshaping the contact center, and leaders who harness its power position themselves for significant career growth. By effectively deploying AI, leveraging customer insights, and driving cross-functional collaboration, contact center leaders can shape business strategy and secure their place at the forefront of organizational transformation.
In the coming years, we may see the rise of Chief AI Officers (CAIOs), with many originating from the contact center. There has never been a better time to lead the way. PolyAI can help you implement the world’s most lifelike and adaptable AI agent to deliver business-impacting insights, drive impactful operational change, and kickstart your leadership journey—get started today.
