Difficult conversations play to voice AI's strengths

High-stakes, complex, or emotionally charged conversations are often where businesses bringhumans in earlier: 31% of leaders whose escalation approaches were coded say they do so inthese situations.

But these interactions are not universally considered human-only territory. Just 9% ofleaders say they would keep voice AI agents completely out of these kinds of conversations.

For some leaders, the qualities that distinguish voice AI from human agents can become advantages when conversations get difficult. They point to consistency and patience: an agent does not become rattled by an aggressive caller, rush an interaction to meet a time-basedmetric, or forget a required disclosure. It can maintain the same approach even when the conversation becomes tense.

35%

say voice AI can be the better option for high-stakes conversations

Leaders describe voice AI agentsthat can stay with a difficultinteraction, maintain a consistentapproach, and deliver requiredinformation without beingaffected by a caller's emotionalstate.

The findings suggest that where businesses draw the line around high-stakes conversations can depend on the interaction itself and the qualities needed to handle it well.

"Agents, frankly, can spend as much time on the call as they want. They're not prompted to try to end the call quickly or move on to another call because they have goals, like a human may. They're not programmed to match the energy level of the customer, they're programmed to try to defuse the situation, or remember when to say the right disclosure at the right time."

— President, Financial Services SaaS on why agents stay patient in tense conversations

"When you have a rowdy customer on the phone who's very disrespectful, I have employees that would quit after a couple weeks because they did not know how to handle the confrontation. Agentic voice can help take care of that. But because they don't have any."

— Registered Nurse and Director, Healthcare on letting agents absorb confrontational calls

Insight 4: When voice AI represents the business, brand harm becomes the risk

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Insight 6: Fear of falling behind competitors drives agentic voice AI adoption

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Executive summary Foreword Introduction Insights Conclusion Methodology

Insight 5

Difficult conversations play to voice AI's strengths

"When you have a rowdy customer on the phone who's very disrespectful, I have employees that would quit after a couple weeks because they did not know how to handle the confrontation. Agentic voice can help take care of that. But because they don't have any."

Insight 4: When voice AI represents the business, brand harm becomes the risk

Insight 6: Fear of falling behind competitors drives agentic voice AI adoption