Goodbye, AI Agent Assist. Hello, Next-Gen Knowledge Assistant!

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) promises new levels of agent productivity, introducing solutions that range from real-time coaching to pre-generated responses to a particular customer inquiry. Unfortunately, not all agent assist technology lives up to its potential. Financial services organizations are left determining fact from fantasy, scrambling to implement AI that actually keeps its promises.

For many, this means turning to more effective knowledge management and answer retrieval tools. These customer service must-haves offer relevant information at the right times. The goal is to help each human agent focus on service instead of prolonged fact-finding — and the outcome is often increased customer satisfaction.

These solutions differ from AI agent assist tools, which will generally transcribe a conversation and provide real-time guidance to improve agent efficiency. Such solutions often emphasize instructions over information, distracting the agent experience rather than empowering natural talents and instincts.

Here’s a look at the difference between agent assist tools and solutions like our Knowledge Assistant.

Understanding AI Agent Assistants

Today’s customer service teams can lean on AI agent assistants to essentially think for them in certain cases. This undoubtedly has its benefits; after all, technology can review thousands of data points and make informed decisions almost instantaneously. This frees agents to focus on more complicated work while machines “run the numbers” and provide statistically significant recommendations.

Take, for example, popular AI agent assist tools, which provide live feedback during sales or customer support calls. The idea is to empower agents with prompts, tips and suggestions they may not otherwise remember in the heat of the moment. Coaches and leaders can also more easily identify areas for improvement, indicating potential gaps in onboarding and training processes. 

Theoretically, this should create numerous advantages, including improved call effectiveness, agent performance and customer satisfaction. Much of the value may be derived from prioritizing a better customer experience. These tools urge agents to follow prescribed steps, which helps reduce uncertainty, hesitation and delays — but the same approach may also lead to a focus on corrective action instead of authentic conversations.

So, are AI agent assist solutions the best utilization of intelligent technology — not to mention agents’ focus and talents? 

The Limitations of an Agent Assistant

While there is clear value in allowing machines to do what they’re best at — particularly synthesizing and analyzing huge amounts of data — there are equally clear limitations. Unfortunately, agent assist products can leave much to be desired.

Here are a few key issues:

Minimal Time Savings

Agent assist tools are often built on the assertion that agents spend too much time typing questions during a customer interaction. However, that’s not always the case. A contact center agent will likely have more trouble sifting through results to find answers that are specific, relevant and accurate — meaning that these tools miss the mark when it comes to time savings.

Ineffective Solutions

Although live call transcription may be helpful in some cases, it doesn’t address the underlying problem for many support agents: fast access to necessary information. Essentially, agent assistant tools are treating symptoms instead of fixing the main cause — and that can lead to ongoing frustration.

Increased Distractions

Information popping up here and flashing over there can quickly distract from a customer conversation. Studies clearly show the detriments of multitasking — but that isn’t the only issue. Agents must ultimately choose whether to focus on AI directions or the interaction itself, often compromising the flexibility, agility and decision-making that enables their success. 

Limited Applicability

Agent assist solutions are generally limited in scope, failing to support teams outside the call center. While this is great for customer service agents, it doesn’t benefit a financial services organization’s broader needs and goals. This doesn’t just limit the tool’s return on investment (ROI); it may also create bottlenecks, disconnection and increased friction between departments that rely on one another for success.

Obstructive Prioritization

It seems reasonable to prioritize the customer experience when choosing contact center technology. However, smarter solutions strike a balance between customer and agent experience, acknowledging that the latter is necessary for the former. When agents are encouraged to follow prompts and automated recommendations, their instincts, autonomy and natural talents are sidelined, undermining their foundational confidence. 

This indicates that agents likely don’t need tools that oversee and micromanage their work. Instead, they need solutions that empower them to find relevant information and make informed decisions on their own. 

That’s where Knowledge Assistant comes in.

Know the Difference: Agent vs. Knowledge Assistant

In many ways, agent assist tools operate on the assumption that your teams are going to do something wrong. The underlying technology focuses on resolutions and remedies, not necessarily empowerment.

Knowledge Assistant, on the other hand, is a foundational solution that unites an effective knowledge base with a powerful search capability. Through a user-friendly, conversational interface, Knowledge Assistant provides instant answers from your internal data sources. That means employees can streamline their daily work without getting distracted or delayed by “information rabbit-holes.”

Perhaps most importantly, Knowledge Assistant is a solution that connects people with data across your organization. That means any team member can find key information from another department without having to message peers or manually search through databases with different structures. This is more than a single source of truth — it’s a way to empower people by providing answers instead of prescribing specific steps.

Here are a few ways Knowledge Assistant addresses the gaps left by agent assist tools:

• Time savings: With Knowledge Assistant, employees can search for information without having to sift through irrelevant results. The focus is on finding and utilizing data, not reducing the time it takes to type questions — and that can help cut search time by 93%.
• Solutions: If contact center agents have an issue, it can often be traced back to a lack of easily accessible information. Knowledge Assistant addresses these problems at their source rather than covering them up. 
• Distractions: Instead of demanding attention with popups and prompts, Knowledge Assistant lets employees decide for themselves when they need to use it. That means they can time their searches more efficiently and keep from splitting their focus.
• Applicability: Knowledge Assistant acts as a single source of truth across your financial services organization, making it a powerful company-wide resource — and a far better technology investment.
• Prioritization: Although Knowledge Assistant supports the customer experience, it doesn’t do this at the cost of the agent experience. Instead, it empowers the latter to better support the former.
• Risk management: Knowledge Assistant protects data through role-based access control, required identity authentication, rigorous encryption standards and more.

Knowledge Assistant puts your agents and other employees in the driver’s seat. By giving them fast access to relevant, accurate information, this solution informs your teams’ natural talents. It enables them to make connections and navigate customer inquiries based on instincts, training, context and more — and that autonomy helps them do more of what clients expect from human agents. 

After all, if customers wanted a service that exclusively follows a list of prescribed steps, they’d stick to virtual assistant tools and chatbots. 

Elevate Your Team’s Knowledge With AI-Driven Insights

Posh’s generative AI Knowledge Assistant is more than a data repository or search tool. It doesn’t just facilitate access to existing information — it also enhances your knowledge base with AI-generated insights. 

That means you get the best of both worlds: helpful recommendations without micromanagement, all sourced from a knowledge base that answers to your employees (not the other way around).

Better yet, Knowledge Assistant provides in-depth logs of every search. This includes:

• Who initiated the search.
• Whether an answer was located.
• Any feedback the searcher left.

Our system aggregates this data while intelligent AI systems summarize it to help identify key takeaways. That means your teams can help improve the process with every search.

For these reasons and more, Knowledge Assistant holds a competitive advantage over tools like an Agent Assist product. Such solutions can be prescriptive, distracting and even frustrating to teams, unintentionally undermining their natural talents. However, Knowledge Assistant empowers your whole organization to make better decisions with the right information, using AI to support human agents instead of limiting them.

Knowledge Assistant is a valuable tool for fostering an informed, efficient and focused workforce. It makes connections between people and data, helping financial services organizations operate more effectively in competitive, tech-driven markets. 

Are you ready to save time, eliminate distractions and address core issues across your workforce? Posh’s Knowledge Assistant can transform your approach to customer service and knowledge management. See for yourself and get started today.