Navigating AI At Conferences: The Right Questions to Ask Vendors About Their Conversational Ai and Agent Assist

Attending a contact center conference can be overwhelming. Rows of vendors promise AI-driven solutions to boost efficiency, enhance CX, and reduce costs. But how do you quickly separate those who can genuinely help from those who can’t?

The key is asking the right questions. Instead of getting lost in flashy demos and buzzwords, focus on business outcomes and real capabilities. Here are five essential questions to guide your conversations:

1. How does your Conversational AI solution align with our key business objectives? Many vendors offer AI-driven chatbots, voice assistants, and agent assist solutions, but do they address your specific challenges? Whether your goal is reducing handle time, improving data, centralizing data, increasing first-call resolution, improving self-service adoption, security or enhancing agent productivity, the vendor should clearly demonstrate how their AI solution helps achieve it.

2. Can you share real-world success stories with companies like ours? Case studies and references help validate a vendor’s effectiveness. Ask for specific examples within your industry or companies of similar size to understand what success looks like in practical terms when using their Conversational AI, including agent assist tools, voice biometrics, LLM optimization, and user interface for administration at every level.

3. What level of effort is required for implementation and ongoing management? A powerful AI solution that is difficult to implement or manage can become a burden. Clarify how much internal IT and operational support is needed, and what kind of training and onboarding they provide to ensure seamless AI adoption, particularly for agent assist functionalities. No one should have to add staff engineers to lift and shift a customer journey to a more Ai friendly strategy.

4. How do you measure and report on success? Metrics matter. Ask what key performance indicators (KPIs) they track and how they report progress. A vendor that doesn’t offer clear analytics and reporting may not be able to prove their AI’s value. For agent assist, look for metrics like agent productivity gains, reduction in average handle time, and improvements in customer satisfaction scores.

5. What makes your Conversational AI solution different from others in the market? With many vendors offering similar capabilities, this question helps surface their unique strengths. Look for differentiators in natural language processing, integrations, accuracy, adaptability, pricing models, or customer support. Specifically, ask how their agent assist technology stands out in terms of real-time guidance, automation, and knowledge management.

By using these targeted questions, you can cut through the noise and identify Conversational AI vendors that are truly positioned to help you achieve your business outcomes. Happy conference networking!