As the pursuit of innovation accelerates globally, companies in the technology industry—from hyperscalers to start-ups—require strategic partners with the ability to design and scale sophisticated global customer support operations quickly and efficiently. [1] After all, technology is spawning a whole new range of consumer devices, and customer management solutions must keep pace. Enterprises will need to figure out how best to provide high-quality support and assistance in managing deployments, configurations, data usage, and security solutions for everything from smartphones to emerging mixed reality headsets or eyewear. [2]
But even as digital transformation continues to race forward, human beings remain central to the support process. According to Teleperformance’s 2024 Global Insights Survey, almost two-thirds of consumers show clear preference for human support. [3] As it happens, AI-powered systems in tandem with skilled advisors offering human-centered support are enabling more personalized, seamless customer journeys.
Three Key Developments
In 2024, three themes in the technology sector are worth pondering:
- The Global Race to Innovate. The race to innovate has become a global phenomenon that extends from the United States, to China, India, the Middle East, and beyond. This competition will have profound effects on the technology space. But the pursuit of innovation is also When it comes to implementing AI in the workplace for example, there’s a general sense of confusion pervading businesses. Separating hype from reality is no easy task.
- Investing in Cloud Capacity to Super-Power Human Interactions. The race to the cloud aims to super-power the CX with responsible, human-centered AI at scale. Going forward, the customer contact ecosystem will depend more and more on cloud platforms and contact center as a service (CCaaS) to enable AI, automation, and people-based support. And in 2024, Big Tech firms are obliging by investing billions of dollars in cloud infrastructure in the form of data centers to expand hyperscaling capacity.
- The Advantage of Strategic Partnerships. Enterprises are looking outside their organizations for innovative solutions to a rapidly changing customer contact environment. According to McKinsey, in 2024, “Outsourcing, once viewed primarily as a way to reduce costs, is increasingly seen as an effective source of additional skilled capacity and innovation capabilities. Fifty-five percent of the companies in our survey currently outsource part of their customer care operations, and 47 percent of those organizations expect to increase their outsourcing over the next two years.” [4]
TP and the Human Touch
It’s in this context that TP sees opportunities to deliver seamless support for the high technology industry. But while the company recognizes that the dynamic nature of novel digital experiences requires agile solutions, it’s also worth reiterating a major theme—that while technology will augment and improve customer experiences, human beings remain at the center of the support process.
As TP points out in its 2024 Global Insights Survey, “How do consumers feel about brands using generative AI tools for support? The main consensus among consumers is that genAI tools need human oversight. Although there is much agreement on the benefits of genAI for simple issues, most consumers disagree that genAI can provide the same level of support as a human and they largely prefer human interaction most of the time or always, supporting a good case for AI-enabled human interaction.” [5]
In a world of exponential technological change, innovators large and small depend on fast, agile, scalable support from providers that put the latest technology solutions in the hands of the best subject matter experts (SMEs).
For more on innovation within the technology industry, see the new report, TECHNOLOGY TRENDS: HYPERSCALING IMPACTFUL BUSINESS OUTCOMES, a TrendzOwl Industry Spotlight Report in Partnership with TP.
[1] TrendzOwl & TP, 2023 Industry Spotlight Report, “Make Way for the Immersive Digital Experience.”
[2] TrendzOwl & TP, 2023 Industry Spotlight Report, “Make Way for the Immersive Digital Experience.”
[3] TP Business Insights Lab, Global Insights Survey, 2024, slide 35.
[4] McKinsey & Company, “Where is Customer Care in 2024?” Eric Buesing, Maximilian Haug, Paul Hurst, Vivian Lai, Subhrajyoti Mukhopdhyay, and Julian Raabe, March 12, 2024.
[5] TP Business Insights Lab, Global Insights Survey, 2024, slide 43.
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