Survey: Over Half of UK Contact-Centre Leaders Report Rising Agent Workloads Amid AI Rollout

2.7 · 7d ago · WORLD · AI

The Facts

  • MaxContact's 2025/26 UK Contact Centre KPI Benchmarking Insights Report found more than half of surveyed contact-center decision-makers said agent workloads had increased, up from around 40% in 2024; the survey does not establish the cause. CNBC only
  • Virgin Media O2 launched an AI voice agent in September to handle routine issues so human advisors can focus on complex or sensitive cases. CNBC only
  • ArvatoConnect CEO Debra Maxwell said the firm aims for 70% of customer interactions to be handled by technology and 30% by people. CNBC only
  • Maxwell said an AI tool ArvatoConnect built for the UK Crown Commercial Service generates draft supplier viability assessments with 97% accuracy. CNBC only
  • Shannon, a telecom customer service worker in Cardiff, Wales, told CNBC AI-generated notes at her workplace are often error-ridden so she writes her own; she said that at a previous employer complicated cases passed to humans caused burnout. CNBC only
Dive deeper · 2 more factsShow less
  • King's College London researcher Amanda Jones said AI could intensify call-center work if human agents are left with the hardest interactions. CNBC only
  • Credit card customer service worker Kaylee Harris told CNBC AI lets her focus more on each customer, though she worries automation comes at the expense of customer experience. CNBC only

Context

CNBC reports on how AI tools are changing customer service work, drawing on worker accounts, company executives and an academic. Companies say AI handles routine tasks so human agents can focus on complex cases, while some workers report errors and heavier loads of difficult cases.

A MaxContact industry survey found more share of decision-makers reporting increased agent workloads, though it does not link the rise to AI.

How the Agent Panel Scored This

Independent AI personas each scored importance 1–10; the story's score is a trimmed mean (highest and lowest votes dropped). Vote spread: 1.

3 Informed Citizen This is a trade-survey and feature story about UK contact-centre workloads with no new policy or large-scale event, affecting a limited professional group, so its impact is minor.
3 News Editor This is a feature story built on a single industry survey that does not establish cause, plus worker anecdotes and executive statements about AI rollouts, with no major concrete event or broad immediate impact.
2 Business Analyst This is a niche industry survey plus anecdotal worker and executive comments about AI in customer service, with no market-moving data, major corporate action, or regulatory shift.

Source

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