Simplicity and speed: How top customer support teams are thriving with AI
Freshworks’ 2025 Customer Service Benchmark Report shows key characteristics that distinguish CX leaders from their peers
Customer service support teams are embracing a new battle cry in the age of AI: Less is more, and speed wins.
In an area of business that has long been hampered by bloated, mediocre tools and fragmented systems, Freshworks’ 2025 Customer Service Benchmark Report shows a significant shift underway. Teams that are the furthest along in integrating AI in support operations are seeing resolution times plummet—in some cases from 30 hours to 30 minutes. They’re achieving that not through multiyear “digital transformation” programs, but with simpler, easier-to-use AI tools that don’t replace human effort, but allow it to shine.
“This report reflects what I’m hearing from customers every day,” says Jenny Petersen, senior director of CX product management at Freshworks. “The conversation has shifted from ‘Should we use AI?’ to ‘Where do we start?’ That urgency is paying off: Companies are resolving issues faster, agents are focusing on more complex problems, and customer satisfaction is rising.”
[Hear from Jenny Petersen and more experts at Refresh Virtual Summit on June 12, 2025: Reserve your spot today.]
Venki Subramanian, Freshworks’ senior vice president of product management, acknowledges that the challenges of digitally powered customer service can “feel like navigating a maze.” But the report data suggests there’s a simpler path. “We believe the future of customer service should be radically different: clearer, faster, and easier to scale, without added complexity,” says Subramanian. “AI is enabling these outcomes better than ever before.”
3 tiers of performance benchmarks
By analyzing a year's worth of data from 2024, Freshworks discovered that some organizations are outpacing others by embracing a new approach to AI-powered service that significantly reduces resolution times and boosts business outcomes and results. The report categorizes companies into three groups:
Trendsetters: Companies in the top 20th percentile of performance metrics for key customer service benchmark indicators
Performers: Companies hitting median performance metrics; good but not great.
Aspirants: Companies lagging behind peers with longer resolution times, lower satisfaction scores, and inefficient processes.
Freshworks’ analysis reveals that while some companies are merely using AI to cut costs and handle increasing ticket volumes, others are deploying it to enhance customer journeys and touchpoints, speeding resolution times. Getting this right can help companies solve a key pain point for customers, says Shep Hyken, bestselling author and longtime customer experience researcher.
“When customers have to spend time with your company’s customer support, it’s not something they plan to do, it’s something they end up having to do,” Hyken says. “The shorter that time, the better. Today’s customers aren’t just appreciative of speed, they expect it, and they will take their business elsewhere if companies don’t deliver it.”
The Freshworks report offers business leaders insight into where their customer service stands among industry peers, and guidance on where to focus AI initiatives to improve customer experience.
The AI adoption wave is cresting
The survey data reveals an important table-setter: AI adoption in customer service is reaching a tipping point. Already, 1 in 3 companies (32%) are using AI tools to support customers. And nearly half of those not yet using AI (47%) plan to implement it in 2025. By year’s end, 79% of companies expect to be using AI in customer service.
That’s a wake-up call for those at the back of the pack. With 53% of customer service professionals citing growing ticket volumes without headcount increases as their biggest challenge, AI has become an operational necessity. The gap between those using AI effectively and those still struggling to implement is creating a new competitive divide.
Today’s customers aren’t just appreciative of speed, they expect it.
Average resolution time for real-time conversations:
Companies without AI assistance: 41 minutes
Those using AI copilots: 2 minutes
Average resolution time for service tickets:
Companies without AI assistance: 36 hours
Those using AI extensively: 32 minutes
Speed is one-half of the equation; personalized response is the other.
“AI is allowing agents to get information quicker, relay it quicker, and communicate in the style the customer wants,” says Hyken. “The result is that engagement with customers improves. It's a win-win where top companies are finally able to deliver the best of both worlds—speed with the human touch.”
AI copilots are helping agents fly
Is it possible to completely eliminate wait times for customers? AI agents and copilots are helping companies get closer to that holy grail.
When AI systems instantly surface relevant customer context, prior interactions, and likely solutions, they’re not just saving agents’ time, they’re making it easier on customers, too. This explains why agents using AI copilots spend 56% less time summarizing tickets while delivering substantially higher quality resolutions.
“When AI helps you to respond faster and get to the resolutions faster, we see that customers are much more satisfied, and it shows that customers are comfortable with AI,” says Petersen.
In the retail sector, for instance, AI agents can deflect up to 53% of queries, the highest rate across industries. But that’s not just a victory for scalability. Leading retailers using AI agents achieve 94% CSAT ratings, while companies without them leave more than half of customers (52%) dissatisfied.
Messaging channels are fast lanes for great CX
Even as companies build sophisticated chatbots on their own sites, meeting customers wherever they are has become a critical differentiator. The data shows that utilizing all main messaging channels—web, social, and mobile—is crucial to elevating customer satisfaction.
Across all messaging channels, trendsetters are seeing first-response times under 20 seconds on average. Here’s the breakdown by channel:
Facebook Messenger: 4 seconds
Mobile apps: 8 seconds
Web widgets: 10 seconds
Instagram: 14 seconds
WhatsApp: 18 seconds
Resolution times reflect the same speed advantage:
Web widgets: 3 minutes, 45 seconds
Mobile apps: 2 minutes, 1 second
WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram: Under 2 minutes
This speed translates directly into top customer satisfaction scores:
Web widgets: Nearly 100% CSAT
Instagram: 97.92% CSAT
Mobile apps: 96.15% CSAT
WhatsApp: 95.63% CSAT
A call to AI action
With speed and simplicity as governing principles, the Freshworks report delivers a few key strategic takeaways for customer service leaders:
AI adoption is no longer optional. With 32% of practitioners already using AI and another 47% planning implementation in 2025, early movers are seeing measurable advantages like 35% ticket-volume reductions and 20% improvements in response times.
Messaging channels are a competitive battleground. Trendsetters are achieving response times under 20 seconds on platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook while maintaining resolution rates above 95%.
The performance gap between leaders and laggards is stark. Aspirants can take over 36 hours to resolve some tickets while trendsetters manage it in a half-hour. That suggests that incremental improvements won’t be enough to catch up.
The companies that act decisively on these insights will separate themselves from those still debating whether or how to modernize their support operations. The silver lining for companies who lag behind these key benchmarks? AI’s transformative power suggests the gap that may have taken years to evolve can be closed in a matter of months.
