Quote · The MongoDB Podcast
Don't Build Your Own AI (Unless You Have To)
Where this was said
Zendesk's Three AI Product Shifts and Their Results
At 12:33 · chapter starts 11:37
Akshaya walks through the three shifts that define Zendesk's AI-first redesign. The first is intelligent triage: what once required human review now happens in seconds, getting customers materially closer to resolution faster. The second is the move from macros — rigid, rule-based automations — to Copilots that provide dynamic, context-aware guidance to agents in real time. The third is workforce management, where load balancing and staffing optimisation become fully automated rather than siloed in a contact centre operation. The results speak loudly: in extreme cases, early adopters have cut email handle time by 92% and slashed customer question response time by 74%. [1] — Akshaya Murthy "92% email handle time reduction: Early Zendesk AI adopters cut email handle time by 92% using intelligent triage and routing powered by AI." 09:56 The through-line, Akshaya stresses, is a fundamental reframe: Zendesk has moved from building better ticketing software to delivering measurable business outcomes for customers.
Customer expectations have shifted from 'soon' to 'now'. They want instant resolution, full context of their history, and service that feels human — even if it's AI. Fail any one of those three and you've already lost them.
A 2025 survey found 90% of companies say AI is central to customer loyalty, yet loyalty drops sharply when customers discover they are talking to a bot.
Building AI from scratch is losing the argument in most enterprises. Integration wins on speed-to-market, TCO, and talent access — and you'd need months to years plus massive CapEx to match what you can get up and running in two weeks.
