The Evolution of Voice Platforms with Agentic AI – CCW Vegas Panel Recap

At CCW Las Vegas, PTP’s Chance Whittley led a panel discussion focusing on how voice platforms are evolving and using Agentic AI to enable smarter, more efficient conversations. Shri Nandan, VP of AI Products and Experience for Comcast, and Sourjo Basu, VP of Customer Support for Ouro, joined Chance to share their expert views on this evolution. The panel explored how voice platforms are evolving using Next-Generation Interactive Voice Response (IVR) platforms with agentic agents. They also discussed how organizations have been able to transform their voice channel into an intelligent engagement hub, rather than just an operational cost center.

Chance shared two key insights to set the stage for the main discussion point — voice still dominates with customers:

1. Voice delivers unmatched first-contact resolution, which is a top satisfaction driver. In fact, a recent Zendesk study found that 71% of Gen Zs still prefer to pick up the phone when they need support.
2. A recent Evaluagent study revealed that ~65% of contact center traffic across industries in the US and the UK is still handled through the voice channel.

Enter: Next-Generation IVR

These stats supported the panel’s position that voice is not dying and led into a discussion of modern voice platforms, specifically the next generation of IVRs. These IVRs are part of a conversational platform that meets your existing technology where it is and where it sits — whether on prem, hybrid, or cloud. It allows enterprises to leverage the most innovative applications and voice products without being locked into a specific vendor. 

The panelists shared how a modern, enhanced voice platform supports their organizational mission. They also discussed how the platform differed from a traditional IVR, pointing out how traditional automation supports repetitive rule-based tasks, are highly dependent on IT intervention, and are not always scalable. Today’s CX-focused organizations need modern automation models that learn, change, and respond in real time.

In addition to increased flexibility, the team shared other benefits of a next-gen IVR:

• Enables brands to deploy AI-powered solutions that improve self-service and agent productivity
• Does not require a “rip and replace,” but merely involves disconnecting the old and connecting the new when required
• Promotes long-term adaptability by minimizing vendor dependency

Powered by Agentic AI

Agentic AI is a key component of a next-gen IVR. Agentic AI refers to systems that can autonomously plan, make decisions, and take actions to achieve specified outcomes rather than just responding to prompts or queries. They behave more like live agents and have agency to make decisions — hence “agentic.”

Agentic AI can significantly enhance IVR systems by enabling them to move beyond the traditional, rules-based approach. Incorporating AI technologies like natural language processing and machine learning, Agentic AI allows IVR systems to understand and respond to callers in a more natural, human-like manner. Agentic agents can have conversations from start to finish, or they can continue a conversation from an IVR flow that does not have a lot of automation; this makes the IVR appear smarter to the customer.

The panelists also talked about the differences in training AI agents vs. humans. Training and tuning an Agentic AI is not that different from training and monitoring a human agent, but the benefits can be exponentially greater. For example, you can train one Agentic agent to handle many interactions instead of training one human agent to handle a single interaction. The Agentic agent accelerates the update cycle — quickly ingesting policy changes, streamlining validation by business users, and enabling rapid deployment to production. This process is much faster than updating deterministic flows or retraining live agents. 

Preparing the Business for Success

As with any initiative, business readiness and success measurement are of utmost importance. The panel shared proven ways to prepare the business for this new technology, particularly in the planning phase:

• Assess the landscape: Understand where you are today and where your voice platform needs to be in the future.
• Think cross-functional: In addition to Operations, IT, and Product, also include Legal, Compliance, HR, and (if applicable) your business partners in the effort to ensure the plan is comprehensive and you have enthusiastic buy-in.
• Engage early and thoroughly: All stakeholders should be present for the initial concept and planning phase to avoid future roadblocks.
• Define a small scope: Start with a simple use case that can be iterative and expanded.
• Test and learn: Apply the scientific method to A/B test in an isolated environment.
• Identify the sweet spot: Balance AI and human touch, identifying where human-in-the-loop protocols need to be applied.

The panel agreed that getting the entire business ready to leverage next-gen IVRs with Agentic AI is a cultural shift across the board — from executives to the front line to the customer. The goal of such a project should be channel symmetry between voice and digital, and an understanding that both need to have the same capabilities and consistent information. The panelists recommended several metrics to measure performance and identify optimization opportunities: 

• Increased channel containment 
• Reduction in customer and employee effort  
• Increased customer and employee satisfaction 
• Improved customer confidence with services and products
• Recognized utilization and redistribution of human-agent resources

Instead of going away, the voice channel is getting smarter. As our panel revealed, next-gen IVRs and Agentic AI are helping organizations turn a traditionally static channel into a dynamic, intelligent one. As voice platforms evolve, businesses must rethink customer engagement by exploring AI enhancements that improve interactions, offer hyper-personalization, streamline operations, and support human agents more effectively.

Emerging AI capabilities are transforming existing voice platforms, and whether you’re just starting your journey or scaling advanced deployments, success lies in thoughtful planning, deep understanding of current and desired performance, and the right partnerships. The panel concluded with sage advice to the session participants: Find the right partner to help you better understand the landscape of changes that will be needed, and make sure that partner has the experience and expertise to help guide your journey to success.