“Please hold” no more: how agentic AI is revolutionising customer service

Agentic AI is revolutionizing customer service, moving beyond traditional chatbots to create highly personalized and efficient interactions. Malte Kosub, Co-founder and CEO of Parloa, a leading AI company, shared insights at Web Summit Lisbon 2025. Parloa recently achieved unicorn status in May, following a Series C funding round that raised an impressive $120 million, highlighting their significant market impact.

Mr. Kosub detailed Parloa’s three key differentiators: 99% AI agent accuracy for regulated enterprises, voice-native development prioritizing this crucial channel, and a platform built specifically for complex enterprise infrastructures. This ensures robust, reliable solutions, making customer interactions as natural as talking to a friend through hyper-personalized, dedicated AI agents that remember context and proactively communicate across channels.

Addressing past frustrations with “bad bots” stemming from older, rigid decision-tree AI, Mr. Kosub explained that Agentic AI reasons in real-time. It leverages company knowledge and backend systems for dynamic conversations, allowing seamless shifts in dialogue. This provides relevant solutions, significantly boosting customer satisfaction (NPS) and reducing customer effort (CES).

For European startups, Mr. Kosub stressed the need for greater ambition and acknowledging the hard work required for global success. He advocated for policymakers to simplify cross-border growth within Europe, creating a market as scalable as the US, and to increase the availability of growth capital, currently more abundant in the US.

Looking five years ahead, Mr. Kosub predicted the end of frustrating bot interactions and a conversational future for every homepage and app. Users will interact directly via voice or chat to accomplish tasks, replacing traditional menus with adaptive, personalized experiences. AI agents will extend into broader app functionalities, like booking a trip by simply stating preferences.

Regarding the “human touch,” Mr. Kosub distinguished between transactional and emotional interactions. AI excels at transactional tasks, where quick problem resolution is key. Emotional topics, however, will continue to require human agents. Gartner forecasts 80% of customer service automation by 2029, handling transactional volume and freeing humans for complex, empathetic engagements. This model is scalable across diverse industries.

Parloa’s current priorities include aggressive global expansion in Europe and the US, and extending AI agent applications beyond customer service into sales, marketing, and broader app functionalities. They continuously deliver cutting-edge infrastructure and actively seek top-tier talent. Ethical AI use and robust guardrails for reliability and accuracy are paramount, navigating diverse global regulations and languages.

Agentic AI: The Future of Customer Service is Personal and Instant