Zendesk, now marketing themselves as the “AI-powered customer service software”, offers users the ability to utilize AI agents on their platform with any paid plan. There are many benefits to being able to implement AI in customer support, and the possibilities for how we can evolve with AI in the future are near endless. 

However, there has been some confusion regarding how and what Zendesk is offering with their AI alternatives. They refer to Generative AI, AI Agents, and Advanced AI, which can easily tangle users’ understanding of what exactly they are looking for and paying for when they sign up for their plans and add-ons. 

We’re going to break down what exactly you receive with the base plans or add-ons, and what the difference is between Generative AI (also referred to as just Zendesk AI) and Advanced AI. We’ll also summarize some of the advantages and disadvantages of the Zendesk AI offerings.

What AI is available with Zendesk?

Zendesk offers Generative AI and Advanced AI. Their AI is designed to upgrade the way their automated bots are able to reply and process inquiries, as well as assist human agents with their support tasks, like creating help center documentation, suggesting macros, and more. 

Zendesk describes their AI with several key use cases:

1. Using AI to empower agents and improve efficiency

2. Using AI to route tickets and provide faster service

3. Using AI to strengthen your knowledge base and deliver answers

4. Using AI to provide 24/7 service and build smarter AI agents

However, a significant portion of these use cases and the features they are based on are only available with the Zendesk AI add-on.

Differences at a glance

Generative AI built into the plans is a foundation that the Advanced AI upgrades from. Generative AI features are limited and only scratch the surface of what AI is capable of providing for a business. Advanced AI provides premium features that have a greater impact on support agents' tasks rather than just customer inquiries.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Weighing up the pros and cons can help highlight ways your company may benefit from each type of AI on offer. The advantages can help improve your agents' efficiency and boost the resolution time and satisfaction levels of your customers inquiries - as long as you're able to optimize your usage, and you're okay with the price associated with Zendesk's AI.

Zendesk Advanced AI

Features:

1. Intent Recognition: Accurately identifies customer intents from their queries.

2. Automated Ticket Routing: Directs tickets to the most appropriate agent or department.

3. Smart Ticket Categorization: Automatically tags and categorizes incoming tickets.

4. Sentiment Analysis: Detects customer sentiment to prioritize urgent or sensitive issues.

5. Predictive Analytics: Forecasts trends and potential issues before they escalate.

   
   

Zendesk AI (Generative AI)

Features:

1. Natural Language Processing: Understands and generates human-like text responses.

2. Multi-lingual Support: Likely capable of understanding and responding in multiple languages. (Although there have been some reported issues with this feature.)

3. Context-Aware Responses: Generates relevant replies based on conversation history.

4. Dynamic Knowledge Base Integration: Can pull information from existing help center documentation to formulate responses.

5. Personas: Bot tone and emojis to match brand voice.

Pricing

Zendesk has graciously included Generative AI into their existing plans, which is a great way to start testing AI and exploring how it impacts the experience of your customers.

However, there are limitations on the number of automatic resolutions that come with your plan. Starting at 5 and increasing to 15/agent/month with the highest tier plan. After which, each automatic resolution costs between $1-2 per resolution.

Advanced AI is an add-on for Professional Plans and higher, and costs $50/agent/month. This add-on does not increase the free monthly automatic resolutions. 

You can find a detailed description of the AI pricing here.

Key Differences

1. Advanced AI focuses on operational improvements and analytics, while Generative AI emphasizes natural language interactions.

2. Advanced AI is ideal for streamlining backend processes and providing insights, while Generative AI excels in direct customer communication and query resolution.

3. Advanced AI is an add-on that requires users to be paying for a higher tier plan and increases in price as you increase your agents.

4. Advanced AI integrates more deeply with Zendesk's existing analytics and operational tools, while Generative AI mainly just offers flexibility in crafting responses.

Both solutions aim to enhance customer service, but Generative AI lacks the depth and analysis that Advanced AI offers. Advanced AI optimizes operations and provides insights, while Generative AI focuses on improving direct customer interactions. The choice between them (or using both in tandem) would depend on specific business needs and customer service strategies.

Making users choose between depth and cost-effectiveness is a choice that has convinced many Zendesk users to consider alternative apps instead. These apps can provide the complex features and level of analysis that Advanced AI offers, alongside improving the customer interactions that Generative AI assists with. Apps like eesel AI offer more customization, more integrations, and more flexibility, at a fraction of the cost.