Always On Business: How 24/7 AI Is Redefining Customer Expectations

Ryan Johnson is the chief product officer at CallRail, an AI-powered lead engagement platform that serves over 225,000 businesses worldwide.

​Customers don’t care if you’re an enterprise business with a global footprint or a mom-and-pop shop down the street. What they care about is whether they can access the products and services they want, when and where they want them. The same applies to getting their questions answered before or after a transaction.

Instant replies and personalization used to be differentiators, especially for small businesses that could provide that level of service. With the rise of AI, however, those experiences are quickly becoming the baseline.

The Always-On Customer

If one brand can help a customer find the information they need after hours using AI, they then expect the next company they interact with to offer the same level of convenience. This reset in expectations is what’s driving the always-on customer.

These customers now expect an answer when the need strikes, whether it’s over the weekend or late at night. Our research highlights this shift in customer behavior. Increasingly, customers are turning to AI for recommendations and moving directly from a question to a phone call.

What once required multiple searches and browser tabs can now happen in seconds. The result is a compressed buyer’s journey. But the shift doesn’t end at conversion. It also extends to the ongoing relationship between customers and businesses.

Zendesk’s latest report reinforces this trend, finding that 74% of customers now expect 24/7 customer service.

5 Ways AI Is Reshaping Customer Expectations

But speed is not the only expectation that has changed. The quality and personalization of each interaction matter just as much. As customers become accustomed to AI, they increasingly expect businesses to recognize their needs and carry over context from one interaction to the next. Here are five ways AI is reshaping their experiences.