Salesforce State of Service Report: Customer Service Enters the Agentic AI Era

Salesforce’s global survey of 6,500 service professionals shows that AI is no longer a complementary technology in customer service but has become a workforce partner positioned at the center of operations. The findings indicate that AI is fundamentally transforming how teams work, make decisions, and develop new skills. Responses from 300 professionals in the United Kingdom make the real-world impact of this shift even more visible.

By 2027, the Digital Workforce Will Redefine the Service Model
AI has risen significantly on the priority list of service leaders in the UK over the past year. Previously ranked 11th, it is now among the top six focus areas. Yet the core objective of service teams remains unchanged: improving customer experience is still seen as the most critical priority. What has changed is how this experience is delivered. To meet rising expectations, teams are making AI an integral part of the service model.

Service teams estimate that AI resolves 27% of cases today. By 2027, this figure is expected to reach 50%. This growth signals the shift toward what is known as the “agentic enterprise,” where human teams and autonomous AI agents work side by side. Professionals in the UK expect agentic AI to increase upsell revenue by 15%.

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One of the study’s most striking findings is that AI significantly improves how service agents work. Agents using AI spend 20% less time on routine cases, which translates into roughly four hours saved per week. With agentic AI, teams can dedicate a quarter of their week to the most complex cases, focusing on decisions and initiatives that require higher levels of judgment.

George Pokorny, Global SVP of Customer Success at OpenTable, summarizes the scale of this impact:
“Even a two-minute gain in a ten-minute call creates room to strengthen customer relationships.”

These gains directly reshape how representatives work. Teams using agentic AI take a much more active role in areas such as mentoring, cross-functional projects, and process improvement. They also have higher chances of working with high-value customer segments and progressing into leadership roles.

The data supports this picture:

• 85% of agents using AI say it creates growth opportunities.

• 84% report acquiring new skills.

• 80% state that their roles have become more specialized after AI adoption.

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Data Integration Remains a Core Driver of AI Success
The State of Service report clearly shows that integration is a decisive factor in the success of AI projects. Organizations that can bring service data together on a single platform achieve significantly higher returns from AI. According to the report:

• Service teams using a unified platform report 1.4× higher success in AI applications.

• 44% of service leaders say technology silos delay or limit the scope of AI projects.

• 88% of companies view technology integration as a top priority to support AI investments.

Organizations with strong integration describe their AI initiatives as “highly successful,” while those with siloed structures show a significantly lower perception of success.

Salesforce Service Cloud GM Kishan Chetan summarizes this shift as follows:
“Customer experience remains the North Star for teams, but the way we deliver that experience is evolving. AI agents are no longer tools that simply generate automated responses; they are systems that understand context, take action, and adapt in real time. This allows representatives to focus on complex issues that require expertise.”