We’ve spent this guide looking at what Zendesk AI can do right now. But what’s coming next? Zendesk isn’t standing still they’re rolling out new AI features every few months, and it looks like they’re leaning harder into automation, generative AI, and “AI copilots” to assist agents in real time.

Here’s what’s already public, and what’s likely coming down the road.

Where things are headed for Zendesk

Zendesk recently announced its AI Resolution Platform, which basically bundles all their AI tools under one umbrella. If you’ve been following their product updates, this platform focuses on four main areas:

• AI agents: Bots that can handle simple tickets from start to finish, without an agent touching them.
• Agent copilot: An assistant tool that helps human agents by drafting replies, suggesting actions, and finding related articles while they’re chatting with customers.
• Knowledge graph: A system that connects info from different sources so the AI can pull from more than just Zendesk’s own help center.
• Governance controls: Tools to monitor what the AI is doing, so you don’t end up with rogue automation sending bad answers or violating data policies.

In short, Zendesk wants their AI to do more heavy lifting, not just on the customer side but also inside the agent workspace.

Trends worth paying attention to

If you zoom out beyond Zendesk, a few bigger trends are shaping the future of AI in customer service:

• Generative AI is everywhere: Zendesk isn’t alone, everyone’s adding GPT-based copilots that write drafts, summarize tickets, or fill in missing info. Expect this to become table stakes.
• Multimodal support is growing: AI tools are starting to handle not just text but images, voice, and mixed media. Zendesk hasn’t rolled this out yet in a big way, but it’s probably coming.
• AI ethics and transparency are under the spotlight: Customers and regulators want to know what the AI is doing behind the scenes. Zendesk has started adding more transparency tools, like letting admins audit what the AI suggested or tagged.

Chapter 9.1: Future-proofing your setup 

Look—AI is moving fast. Zendesk’s tools today won’t look the same in two years. But there are a few things you can do now to stay ahead without locking yourself into features that might change.

• Keep your knowledge base clean: The better your content, the better any AI (Zendesk’s or third-party) will work.
• Start small and scale later: Instead of turning on every AI feature at once, focus on automating high-volume, low-risk tasks like refunds or FAQs first.
• Watch your data sources: If Zendesk AI stays tied mostly to Zendesk’s help center, consider adding a third-party AI that can pull from Google Drive, Confluence, or wherever else your info lives.
• Train your agents to work with AI: AI won’t replace them, but it changes the role. Teams that learn to collaborate with AI tools will get more value from them.
• Stay flexible: Don’t build workflows that depend on one specific AI feature. Zendesk could sunset or rebrand features (they’ve done it before). Build your automation in layers you can adjust.