The New Wave of Volatility in Contact Centers: What WFM Leaders Need to Know

One of the secular trends I believe will shape contact centers in the mid-term is increased volatility in both demand and supply. Even established contact centers with long-standing, stable seasonal patterns will begin to experience variability. Below are some thoughts on the forces that will drive these evolving dynamics.

First, the lifecycle of new products and services is accelerating. In the past, bringing a new offering to market often required assembling a team of experts, gathering knowledge, and executing on product development over a relatively long timeline. However, agentic AI—AI that can act autonomously and iteratively—will significantly reduce this friction. Product owners will no longer be bottlenecked by the need to manually recruit expert knowledge. This acceleration means companies can launch new products and services faster and more frequently. Naturally, as the rate of new product introduction rises, so too will customer inquiries, leading to higher and less predictable demand in contact centers.

At the same time, agentic AI will also begin to absorb and resolve low-value customer inquiries related to mature products and services. This automation can reduce overall demand and increase capacity. If a company does not accelerate its own product or service lifecycle, the baseline trend of customer contact volume may even decline. The dual effect of automation absorbing demand while product release cycles speed up will create a more volatile and less predictable demand curve.

Meanwhile, customer service departments will likely shift from being cost centers to strategic functions that actively enhance customer lifetime value (LTV). As low-value tasks are automated, contact center agents will be tasked with deeper, more meaningful interactions. This could take the form of proactively reaching out to customers who are struggling with specific product features, offering workarounds, or suggesting complementary services that enhance the customer’s overall experience. Over time, these efforts can reduce churn and increase the long-term value of the client base.

This evolution in function will also change the hiring profile and operational cadence of contact centers. Instead of prioritizing agents who can follow standard operating procedures, companies will seek out creative, emotionally intelligent professionals capable of building long-term relationships with clients. These roles will likely have longer hiring cycles and require more thoughtful onboarding processes, as the complexity of interactions increases and the stakes in client relationships grow.

Therefore, as workforce management (WFM) professionals, it’s imperative that we rethink how we design, manage, and optimize WFM systems and processes. The traditional methods, which rely heavily on static seasonality and historical demand trends, will no longer suffice. Flexibility, scenario modeling, and adaptive staffing strategies must become core components of any future-proof WFM strategy.