In a recent webinar, 2025 Trends in Customer Insights Driving Revenue Growth, industry leaders tackled a question on every business leader’s mind: How do we use AI effectively to improve customer interactions and drive revenue?
One thing became clear from the conversation—AI-driven conversational intelligence is no longer just a nice-to-have. It’s here, evolving fast, and businesses that fail to adapt will struggle to compete. Why? Conversational Intelligence helps businesses make sense of customer interactions, including phone calls and other offline conversations that are often ignored. It turns unstructured data into useful insights, making it easier to understand customers, improve decisions, and create better experiences.
AI and Customer Conversations: More Than Just Automation
Every customer call, text, and chat contains valuable insights. But without AI-powered analytics, businesses may be missing opportunities hidden within those conversations. Conversational intelligence—powered by AI—can now analyze phone calls, help to optimize marketing spend, detect customer sentiment during a sales call, identify industry-specific pain points from a support call, and even uncover missed revenue opportunities.
According to Rachael Kornegay, Senior Account Manager at Marchex, many businesses assume they know where their biggest customer challenges lie. However, when they begin using AI-driven sentiment analysis, they often uncover unexpected gaps or sometimes are able to objectively validate their guesses. Instead of relying on hunches, companies can now make data-driven decisions to improve customer experiences and optimize their operations.
One of biggest advantages of using Marchex’s AI-powered conversation intelligence solutions is the ability to transform raw conversation records into actionable data. It’s not just about automating tasks; it’s about gaining deeper visibility into what’s really happening when customers reach out.
The Rise of AI Agents—Are They Ready?
One of the hottest AI trends today is using AI-powered agents to handle customer inquiries. Businesses are racing to implement AI to manage scheduling, lead qualification, and even customer service calls. But are AI agents truly ready to replace human interactions?
Alissa Yeganeh, VP of Customer Success at Marchex, emphasized that while AI agents have improved significantly, human agents still deliver a stronger customer experience in many cases. A recent analysis at Marchex found that, in many cases, human-handled interactions had significantly higher sentiment scores than AI-driven conversations. She noted that while AI can handle simple, repetitive tasks, customers often become frustrated when AI agents fail to understand nuance or get stuck in a loop after a customer asks to speak with a human agent and ends up re-routed back to the AI agent.
For businesses, the key is not replacing human interaction altogether but enhancing it—using AI agents to handle basic inquiries while ensuring that complex conversations can still benefit from a human touch.
It’s also important to measure the performance of both AI agents and human agents. Sentiment analysis is a valuable tool for tracking customer interactions and spotting areas for improvement, such as when an AI Agent needs to pass the conversation to a human. These insights can help businesses fine-tune AI responses, train human agents, and create better customer experiences that drive growth.
Overcoming AI Hesitation: Why Some Businesses Still Hold Back
Despite AI’s benefits, many companies remain hesitant. Dan Claps, CEO of Voda Cleaning & Restoration, initially dismissed Conversational Intelligence as just another chatbot—an impersonal tool with little real value. However, after taking a few demos, he saw firsthand how much the technology had advanced.
Dan shared that his company started small, testing AI-powered solutions with minimal investment. However, after seeing the impact on customer insights and operational efficiency, they have now committed to a major AI-driven initiative. His experience reflects a growing trend: companies that explore the capabilities of Conversational Intelligence often transition from skepticism to full-scale adoption.
The Role of AI in Enhancing—not Replacing—Customer Service
Lucas Wilson, CEO of Signpost, highlighted that AI is making teams more efficient, not obsolete.
He explained that at the beginning of 2024, his company barely understood how AI could improve internal processes. But within 10 months, they launched a fully functional AI-powered agent—one that helps streamline customer interactions and improves service quality.
For Lucas, the takeaway is clear: AI adoption is happening at an unprecedented speed. Businesses that embrace it now will have a competitive edge, while those that hesitate may struggle to keep up.
How to Stay Ahead of the Conversational Intelligence AI Curve in 2025
The panelists agreed: The worst thing a business can do is wait too long to explore AI. Instead, they shared a few steps companies can take today to stay competitive:
- Start small, but start now. Test AI-driven call analysis on a small scale and then expand quickly to more advanced, broader solutions.
- Evaluate AI-powered solutions like you would a new hire. Not all AI is created equal—ask for demos, compare models, and ensure the AI-driven tool aligns with your specific business needs and can handle your industry’s nuances.
- Focus on quality, not just automation. AI can enhance customer service, but only if it’s implemented thoughtfully. Prioritize tools that monitor and improve experiences, not just cut costs.
- Keep up with AI trends. AI is evolving rapidly. Businesses that stay informed will be in the best position to adapt and thrive.
The Future of AI in Customer Conversations
As AI continues to transform customer interactions, businesses have a choice: harness its power to improve service and grow revenue, or risk falling behind competitors who do.
Alissa emphasized that AI isn’t just a passing trend—it’s becoming a fundamental part of how businesses interact with customers. The companies that figure out how to integrate AI effectively will have a massive advantage in the years to come.
To hear more expert insights, real-world examples, and predictions for the future of AI-driven customer conversations, check out the full webinar recording of 2025 Trends in Customer Insights Driving Revenue Growth.
The future of AI isn’t coming—it’s already here. Is your business ready?
