Customer service stories

flydubai partners with Amperity to unify passenger data and accelerate a shift to modern, Offer-Order-based airline retailing.

eDesk names Gareth Cummings as CEO, tasking the AI veteran with leading an ‘AI-first’ expansion drive across EMEA and North America.

Kick ICT has appointed Steven Brown as chief executive, succeeding retiring founder Tom O’Hara as the group targets its next growth phase.

European banks expect AI to shrink staff only slightly, with most projected job losses coming through routine attrition, not mass cuts.

Elyos AI raises USD $13m to grow its AI agents that answer calls, book jobs and automate admin for trades and field service firms.

New Zealand launches an AI advisory pilot, offering up to NZD $15,000 co-funding to help small firms plan and safely adopt AI tools.

Hayo upgrades its National Mobile Registry with real-time tools to detect SIM swap fraud, stolen phones and illegal devices on networks.

Rimini Street secures multiple awards for agentic AI, customer service and leadership, as Hitachi Vantara client also earns industry honour.

Australian online florist LVLY is shortlisted in three customer service and online retail categories at the 2026 Inside Retail awards.

Newo.ai and IONOS have launched a plug-and-play AI receptionist, promising SMEs 24/7 call handling, missed lead recovery and quick setup.

Sage has embedded its Copilot generative AI into Sage Operations to surface supply chain risks earlier and cut manual fulfilment checks.

Manhattan rolls out embedded AI agents across its Active suite, promising real-time automation and custom agent creation for retailers.

Shadow AI and shaky data foundations are undermining UK corporate AI rollouts, with leaders warning of weak controls and executive blind spots.

FourKites has created a manufacturing advisory board of senior supply chain leaders to steer its product roadmap and AI-driven logistics tools.

Five9 and Google Cloud unveil a joint AI-powered CX platform, unifying contact centre workflows and customer data across all channels.

StarHub has launched a compact fast-service store at Suntec City, targeting office workers and city shoppers seeking quicker, human-led support.

Babeltext debuts MC-ML-AI, a standard to turn multilingual, multichannel customer chats into completed bookings, transactions and cases.

Partners Life has appointed experienced insurance leader Debbie Eyre as chief operating officer, with her role to begin in February 2026.

Chargebacks surge after record online holiday sales, with USD $181 billion in returns putting retailers’ first-quarter profits at risk.

Forrester says AI will cut US jobs but stop short of apocalypse, driving 6% of losses by 2030 while reshaping millions more roles.