The AI Agent Assist Failure You Can’t Unsee
What if agent assist revealed the real problem isn't teaching AI your policies, but having policies worth teaching?
We deployed Agent Assist. Fed it 87 documents. Every policy, procedure, and FAQ we had.
Six weeks later, agents were using it for exactly one thing: proving to their supervisor they'd "checked everything."
The Implementation Reality:
Week 1: "This will revolutionize agent efficiency"
Week 2: "Why isn't it surfacing the right answers?"
Week 3: "Let's add more 20 documents. Make sure they’re structured just right.”
Week 4: "Maybe we need better intent tagging"
Week 6: “Um, can we get a refund on this thing?”
What Actually Happened:
The AI worked maybe worked ok. It revealed that our documentation was 87 different versions of "it depends."
Policies had exceptions. Procedures had workarounds. And the real information was still buried in someone’s Inbox and our Agents’ heads.
We didn't have knowledge to manage. We had years of band-aids documented as gospel.
The Beautiful Irony:
Agents were un-phased. Not because the tech failed, but because it proved what they'd always known: their job isn't following documentation. It's navigating the chaos between what we say and what we do.
The Uncomfortable Truth:
AI can't assist agents when your business rules are more like business suggestions. It surfaces exactly what you documented: institutionalized confusion.
Agents don’t need automated checklists and playbooks or their attendance policy to surface when a caller is running late for an appointment, because someone uploaded the company handbook into the same knowledge base as the “how to reschedule” FAQ.
The need precision support when it matters.
What if agent assist revealed the real problem isn't teaching AI your policies, but having policies worth teaching?
Your agents aren't worried about AI because they know something vendors don't: Most of their job is compensating for your company's inability to make clear decisions.
AI isn’t coming for their jobs. It can't even find the right policy.
They're safer than they've ever been.
My first question is, did AI write this? It is almost unreadable. Second, why would anyone treat their call guidance tools this way?
Call Guidance, deployed correctly will have a dramatic impact on your call center. Just loading your documents isn't enough, and I would question the software provider. Finally, you don't just upload documents willy nilly and then let the tool just run. People need to verify the information, and if uploading the companies HR policies led to a mistake, redact it!
This isn't a failure of the tool, it is a failure by the tools user to understand what they are using, and how to use it. Similar to thje way chat was handled by call centers 15, 20 years ago, not understanding the tool and how it works will lead to garbage in, garbage out.
We have been using Call Guidance in our call center for 8 years, and it is without a doubt, the most impactful tool we have ever deployed. AI isn't comming for your jobs, but it can handle this type of function very, very well.