Zendesk integrates AI to boost customer service with Klaus Acquisition

Global Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform Zendesk, on Tuesday, announced its definitive agreement to acquire Klaus, a quality management platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The acquisition is expected to be finalised in the first quarter of 2024, pending regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, the company said in a statement. 

Zendesk has nearly 3.000 clients in India including Ola, Shaadi.com, OLX, Pharmeasy and ITC Foods, among others. The US-listed company with its office in Bengaluru competes with homegrown players, Zoho and Freshworks, both of which have also expanded to the US.

Klaus is an AI-powered quality management platform that helps companies drive revenue through customer service. Headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, Klaus was founded in 2018 by Martin Kõiva, Kair Käsper and Egon Sale and has nearly 100 employees. 

By integrating Klaus into its platform, Zendesk aims to enable its customers to provide consistent and high-quality service across all channels, including both human and digital agents (bots). This collaboration will also leverage the potential of everyday customer interactions to enhance customer loyalty. 

Adrian McDermott, the Chief Technology Officer of Zendesk, stated that the combination of Zendesk AI and Klaus' capabilities will assist businesses in navigating complex and high-volume scenarios, ensuring that both digital and human agents deliver personalised and empathetic service. 

Unlike most QA software that can only score a small percentage of interactions and fails to identify systemic trends, Klaus' AI has the ability to score 100% of customer support interactions. It can identify conversations with positive or negative sentiment, outliers, churn risks, escalations, and follow-ups across all conversations, even those conducted by outsourced teams. 

Martin Koiva, the CEO and founder of Klaus, emphasized the critical role of QA software in maintaining consistency, assessing the performance of both human and digital agents, and providing actionable insights for strategic planning. As part of Zendesk, Klaus will continue to develop and deliver these essential capabilities on a larger scale. 

Furthermore, Klaus will be a valuable addition to Zendesk's existing workforce engagement management (WEM) solutions, which already include Tymeshift, a modern workforce management tool exclusively designed for Zendesk. 

Advancements in technology and the adoption of AI have rapidly changed the landscape of customer service. As businesses continue to prioritise providing a better customer experience, AI tools for customer service have emerged as essential solutions for delivering efficient and effective support. 

One of the most apparent trends in AI-powered customer service is the increased adoption of chatbots. According to a recent report by Grand View Research, the global chatbot market size can reach $27,297.2 million by 2030, registering a compound annual growth (CAGR) of 23.3% from 2023 to 2030. Experts believe, chatbots are cost-effective compared to hiring and training human customer service reps. Juniper Research reports that chatbots will bring $11 billion in combined cost savings for the retail, banking and healthcare business sectors as a replacement for customer service representatives by the end of this year.