Half of customer service cases to be handled by AI by 2027
According a global study, which includes Portuguese professionals, AI "rose slightly in the list of priorities for service sector leaders in Portugal," from 8th to 6th place in the last year.
Half of all customer service cases in Portugal are expected to be handled by artificial intelligence (AI) by 2027, according to the main findings of the seventh edition of Salesforce’s State of Service, released on Wednesday.
According to the global study, which includes inquiries of Portuguese professionals, AI “rose slightly in the list of priorities for service sector leaders in Portugal,” from 8th to 6th place in the last year, “who estimate that 30% of cases are currently” handled by artificial intelligence.
By 2027, “as AI agents or the digital workforce gain momentum, this figure is expected to reach 50%,” the document reads.
“Improving the customer experience remains the primary goal of service teams, but how we do it is evolving,” said Kishan Chetan, executive vice president and general manager of Salesforce Service Cloud, quoted in a statement.
“AI agents go beyond predictions and automation; they can understand context, act, make decisions and adapt in real time. This change allows human professionals to have more time to focus on what they do best: solving complex, high-risk problems and building trusting relationships with customers,” he adds.
In the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa), which includes Portugal, “professionals who use AI spend 20% less time on routine tasks, freeing up around four hours per week for more complex work.”
This reality “means less time dealing with password resets and status updates and more time making thoughtful decisions and managing complicated exceptions,” according to the study.
Compared to those who do not use AI, “EMEA professionals who use agents are much more likely to mentor colleagues, lead cross-functional projects and improve processes” and “are also more likely to work with high-value clients and take on leadership roles”.
The vast majority of service professionals in the region (85%) who use artificial intelligence say that “it is creating growth opportunities.”
The majority (87%) of Portuguese professionals “have developed new skills, and 84% say their roles have become more specialised as a result of working with AI tools.”
“We are seeing that AI is not only changing the way customer service representatives work, it is expanding their capabilities,” continues Kishan Chetan.
“Representatives who use AI — especially AI agents — report having developed new skills and feel more confident about their careers. This is a strong indication that AI, when applied judiciously, can drive career advancement,” he points out.
About 95% of service leaders in Portugal “say the obstacles they faced were expected and, in many cases, less challenging than anticipated.” Security remains the main concern, with more than half (54%) of Portuguese respondents saying it has delayed or limited their AI initiatives.
The data presented comes from a double-blind inquiry of 6,500 customer service professionals and decision-makers, conducted between 25 April and 6 June 2025.
Respondents are from the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.