Zendesk is changing how businesses pay for artificial intelligence. Rather than charging by the number of people using its software, the customer service company will charge for the problems its AI solves. The shift was announced Tuesday at Zendesk's AI Summit in San Francisco, as part of a new Outcome AI Platform.

How does Zendesk's pay-per-result AI pricing work?

Under the new plans, customers set an “Outcome Budget” and pay for each eligible issue the AI resolves or task it completes. Zendesk checks each result for quality and completeness, so customers can see exactly what counts toward their budget. Businesses can start small and spend more as the AI takes on more work.

Zendesk has pushed this idea before. Earlier this year, the company argued alongside Sierra that AI agents should be paid per result, not per seat. OpenAI has also started trying a similar approach with some customers.

Tapan Patel, a research director at IDC, said the change reflects how business buyers now want to pay for AI. Tying cost to verified results, he said, makes it clearer what customers are getting for their money.

A public directory for AI assistants

What is Zendesk's Open Service Directory?

The platform is also built for a future in which people send their own AI assistants to deal with companies. To support that, Zendesk is launching the Open Service Directory, a public list where brands can register their official support channels. AI assistants can use the directory to find verified help, even for brands that do not use Zendesk.

Brands decide what they share and when a human must step in. The directory does not access private customer data or take any action on its own. Early members include Betterment, ElevenLabs and Telekom Payment. The directory is launching soon.

Bridge puts guardrails on outside agents

Zendesk Bridge lets businesses connect AI agents and apps of their choice, such as ChatGPT, to Zendesk's systems. Setup begins with a name, which is kept for audit logs, along with a plain description of what the outside agent should and should not do.

How does Zendesk Bridge control what AI agents can do?

Administrators then choose exactly what each agent may do, such as reading, creating, answering, updating or merging tickets. An assistant called Admin Copilot suggests which tools to switch on, based on that description.

Every action passes through Bridge, which checks permissions and company rules and asks for human approval where needed. An observability page shows how many requests came from AI agents and how many came from people, along with which requests were blocked and why. Bridge also includes a kill switch. It is in early access.

“People don’t think about which channels, systems, or departments they need to navigate to interact with a business,” said Zendesk chief executive Tom Eggemeier.

Other tools, now generally available, help teams build and improve their AI agents. AI Agent Launchpad studies past customer conversations and suggests where AI could take over. In a Zendesk demo for a scooter rental firm, the tool proposed a step-by-step process for rides that will not end, using a connected billing system such as Stripe. Agentic Analytics takes a different route, letting managers ask questions about their data in plain language, such as how many tickets are still open. They can then see whether changes are cutting repeat contacts.

The launch reflects changing consumer habits, according to a Zendesk survey. It found that 52% of consumers are comfortable relying on personal AI assistants for everyday tasks. Even so, 84% said human help should always be available.

The announcement follows Zendesk's purchase of Forethought, its biggest deal in two decades, as the company builds out its AI agents.

Cet article a été rédigé avec l'assistance de l'IA.
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