Barbara Schulz, VP of International Customer Experience at GoTo: “The customer services space must avoid implementing AI for AI’s sake”

“Why did the customer service agent bring a ladder to work? Because they heard the customers were reaching new heights of frustration!” To ChatGPT, that’s what passes for a joke, which is just one reason why we wholly agree with Barbara Schulz, VP of International Customer Experience at GoTo, when she says that humans won’t be replaced by AI in customer services teams. At least, not entirely.

“Humans have an innate need to feel cared for, share a joke, and truly connect,” said Barbara, “which means there will continue to be a need for some services to be run by people, for people.” That’s why she sees the best possible customer experience coming from AI and humans working together.

And, as it happens, yesterday GoTo announced the launch of GoPilot for GoTo Resolve, which it claims is the first AI assistant for end-to-end IT management and support.

In this interview, Barbara goes into greater depth on the challenges and benefits of using AI to improve customer journeys. As the person in charge of customer experience at a customer experience company, you have to wonder: is there anyone in a better place to do so? (And no, ChatGPT, that isn’t a joke.)

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Could you please introduce yourself to our audience? What motivated you to pursue a career in customer experience, and how did you embark on your journey in this field?

I started my career in marketing and sales, before joining the CSM community in 2011. I knew I’d found the right fit with customer success because of how energised and enthusiastic I felt doing the role. I have always believed that putting customers first is essential to any business and the key to building lasting brand loyalty. Now, all these years later, I still love working in the service of our customers and inspiring our experienced teams to be passionate about achieving our customers’ next level of desired outcomes.

What are your thoughts on the escalating integration of AI in customer experience and its potential influence on the future of customer service at large?

AI is no longer an unproven concept. As evidence of its potential to streamline business expenditure and boost the bottom line grows, so too does the pressure to embrace advanced tech transformation. Almost every firm is — or soon will be — using digitalisation to scale, with the majority of companies already planning to invest in AI this year, and contact centres taking a particularly strong lead with the adoption of limited memory AI. 

At the same time, however, the customer services space at large must avoid implementing AI for AI’s sake. Humans have an innate need to feel cared for, share a joke, and truly connect, which means there will continue to be a need for some services to be run by people, for people. AI used most effectively will complement the agents and workers, so they can offer an even better customer experience.

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How do you ready yourself for an AI-driven landscape as a customer experience leader? What new skills do you need?

Probably the greatest challenge for leaders is determining how machine and human-led interactions can seamlessly blend to deliver cohesive customer experiences. As AI development progresses at speed, some are also finding that many of the best practices and approaches they have followed for years are undergoing major transformation. 

Effectively navigating this fast-evolving landscape and enhancing customer experience is going to require sharper agility, swifter decision-making, and sharper analytics skills.

Do you anticipate any significant disruptions in customer experience technology for 2024? If so, what are those disruptions and why?

While I believe AI is an unstoppable force that will become increasingly integral to the way companies serve their customers, there is still work to be done with leveraging smart tech at a day-to-day level. Many organisations – including GoTo – have opted to build up AI by developing digital engagement practices that automate repetitive tasks and reactive support. We also strive to be at the forefront of innovation by experimenting with carefully considered integrations. For instance, embedding AI into GoTo’s contact centre solution and our virtual phone systems is helping us to take the lead in building new best practices and designing cohesive AI strategies in customer experience.

What core values have played a pivotal role in shaping your approach to customer experience?

The obvious answer here is a focus on maximising customer value in itself. Empowering our customers to realise their goals is at the heart of everything we do, whether that’s helping them to bolster revenue or decrease costs. As simple as it might seem, cultivating a shared mentality at the heart of organisational culture and across teams is the number one key factor in lasting success.

What major hurdles have you encountered as a customer experience leader, and how did you surmount them?

At the start of my customer success journey, I faced the dual challenge of scaling quality customer experience in multiple global markets, while ensuring regional relevance and sensitivity. AI certainly would have been a silver bullet for achieving that task, but the manual method still produced good results. 

In today’s machine-assisted world, difficulties are more about combining digital and human touchpoints into one holistic package. But now, as then, embracing change and working across departments to share skills and align on strategic goals is paramount.

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How do you ensure you’re up to date with the latest customer experience trends and technologies, and how do you integrate them into your strategies?

Luckily, the customer experience community is thriving and collaborative, with plenty of conferences to learn best practices and exchange views. At GoTo specifically, we apply a growth mindset when it comes to managing and optimising a customer’s lifecycle – and yes, much of that involves being agile and fast. 

In fact, we have just launched a new digitalised engagement which is driving powerful, on-topic bi-directional engagements between a new 30-strong team of service managers and our customers. The extremely fast rollout – taking just two months from ideation in November 2023 – wasn’t necessarily easy, but its speed is a testament to our well-synchronised team and the herculean effort of our analytics and operations teams.

What piece of advice would you offer to fellow customer experience professionals that has been particularly beneficial to you personally?

An open mind is crucial. In addition to welcoming change, it’s important to seek advice on innovation and best practice from your own network, and the wider experience community. And, as a leader, you also need to loop your team in and bring them with you every step of the way. Customer journey digitalisation through AI is happening, but human employees have a huge role to play in this strategy shift; making your customer service staff feel included and valued will help them to evolve and grow.