From call centre to AI hub: the silent revolution in customer service

The demands on energy companies are constantly increasing: rising customer expectations, growing complexity due to electromobility, smart meters and the IoT, as well as a persistent shortage of skilled workers, are presenting service departments with enormous challenges. At the same time, modern AI technologies now offer possibilities that go far beyond traditional automation – especially through so-called AI agents.

These virtual agents are based on a combination of conversational AI and generative AI and are able to understand and process simple to moderately complex queries in natural language and integrate them into existing system landscapes. This means that they not only answer questions, but also perform tasks – around the clock, across channels and in over 100 languages.

What AI agents can do for utilities

The possible applications are diverse: contract changes, meter readings, billing questions, outage information or starting and stopping supply relationships – AI agents take over repetitive processes reliably and consistently, thereby reducing the workload of human service staff. At the same time, they significantly improve the customer experience through fast response times and personalised responses.

The advantages are obvious:

• Cost savings through automation of standard processes
• 24/7 availability across all channels
• Scalability with consistent service quality
• Reduction in average handling time (AHT) and reduced workload for human call centre agents
• Higher customer satisfaction and first contact resolution

AI agents are the ideal complement to human employees – they take over routine tasks while humans can concentrate on more complex issues. The result: less burnout, lower staff turnover and increased efficiency.

Success in action: the example of E.ON

A look at how it works in practice shows the potential: energy supplier E.ON uses Robin, an AI agent that supports its Dutch subsidiary Essent with tasks such as meter reading, contract changes and invoice enquiries. With over 200,000 conversations per month, an automation rate of 70 per cent has been achieved. The result: significant cost savings, noticeable relief for service teams and an increase in customer satisfaction (NPS +37).

Smaller and medium-sized utilities can also benefit from such a setup – especially thanks to pre-trained skills and standardised integration modules that enable rapid implementation.

AI agents as the answer to labour shortages

Many contact centres are understaffed – a trend that is set to worsen according to studies. At the same time, the number of customer contacts is increasing due to new technologies and products. AI agents offer a sustainable solution here: they can be introduced quickly, require no training and are available 365 days a year. This means they can immediately and measurably reduce the workload of existing teams.

AI agents also help to improve the agent experience (AX) through automated summaries of conversations, intelligent assistance functions (such as proactive suggestions during customer dialogues) and the reduction of monotonous tasks.

Implement AI agents with adesso AgentSpace

The path from vision to concrete application can only be achieved with a structured approach and an experienced partner. With adesso AgentSpace based on Google Cloud, we offer a powerful platform for implementing AI agents in the energy industry quickly and in a practical manner.

The solution combines Dialogflow CX, Vertex AI, Cloud Functions and other GCP services in a modular architecture. Companies benefit from:

• Individually configurable, generative AI agents with natural language
• Fast time to market thanks to reusability and pre-built modules
• Seamless integration into existing backend systems (e.g. CRM, billing, ERP)
• Scalability from initial pilot cases to company-wide rollouts

Whether as a supplement to existing services or as a starting point for digital transformation in customer contact, AgentSpace enables energy companies to create the technological basis for future-proof customer service.

Conclusion: The time is now

AI agents are no longer a vision of the future – they are an indispensable part of a modern, scalable service infrastructure. In an industry where quality, efficiency and scalability are equally important, they provide the right answer. The key is to gain experience early on and start with practical use cases – instead of waiting for the next technology hype.