The Future is Scalable Support: Balancing AI, Community, and Human Connection

"Scalable support is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s a necessity."

As organizations strive to meet growing demands efficiently, many have turned to AI and automation to handle routine inquiries. But while AI is a powerful tool, it cannot replace the need for community and meaningful human interactions. The real opportunity lies in combining these elements to create a support model that is both scalable and human-centric.

Community: The Glue of Scalable Support

Traditionally, support was viewed as a 1:1 interaction between a customer and an agent. This ensured support was a personalized help model, but it wasn’t built for scale, and led to support teams growing to thousands and even 10’s of thousands.

Online communities, forums, and peer-to-peer networks have already transformed customer support in industries like software, telecommunications and gaming. Why? Because they provide real-time, crowdsourced solutions while reducing strain on formal support channels. More importantly, they empower users, fostering loyalty and deepening engagement.

This isn’t just a theory. In my own experience, I’ve led community programs that achieved deflection rates of over 20% year over year. This level of self-sufficiency resulted in millions of dollars in bottomline savings while also improving customer satisfaction. When structured correctly, these communities don’t just reduce costs, they create a more sustainable, scalable, and engaged support ecosystem.

The benefits of community-driven support extend beyond the tech industry. Primary education, healthcare, and other sectors reliant on human expertise can benefit from this model. Imagine a network where teachers collaborate on best practices, parents share insights, and students help each other with coursework. When well-structured, these communities become invaluable knowledge hubs that reduce friction and enhance experiences.

Community: The Glue of Scalable Support

AI is often seen as a replacement for human support, but it's more about augmentation. Humans are pretty complex, and as someone that has been on the sharp end of support, I know that the most complex and meaningful interactions need a human. There is a need to listen and interpret, there is a need to show genuine empathy at the right time.

AI chatbots and virtual assistants can efficiently handle repetitive questions, guide users to self-service resources, and even generate knowledge base articles based on real-time interactions.

Industry benchmarks show AI chatbot containment rates ranging from 60% to 80%, meaning that a significant portion of interactions can be resolved without human intervention.

But, whilst AI continues to improve in both how it works and the speed in which it works, there is still a case of "garbage in, garbage out". I.e. if the source material is not there, or not good enough to be referenced and packaged up as an answer, this can be a further frustration for customers.

There is still a degree of 'management by attention' with AI, as you want to make sure customers are not being forced down unhelpful paths and getting stuck in endless loops.

"AI will only become synonymous with the support journey if if is enhancing it, not hindering it."

By having your AI chatbot embedded into your community, you connect those 1:many and automated solutions, removing friction and the number clicks/steps to those answers being sought.

By leveraging AI as the first layer of support, organizations can:

• Reduce response times for common questions.

• Automatically surface relevant resources before a user submits a ticket.

• Identify knowledge gaps and suggest content creation based on trending issues.

• Free up human agents to focus on complex, meaningful and high-value interactions.

Human connection is non-negotiable

While AI and community can handle a significant portion of inquiries, they should never fully replace human interaction. Your customers will always have certain questions that go beyond AI, or beyond peer support, or just require sensitive information that requires more security. The escape path to a human must be obvious and easy. The balance is making community and AI the preference, but acknowledging that need for the human option.

"Don't confuse contact deflection with contact avoidance."

Make sure:

• That escape or escalation path is seamless and easy to find.

• You invest in your support teams. Position your teams as the experts they are, and empower them with the tools and resources to make the right the decisions at the time.

• Keep a focus on accessibility. Technology can help with various accessibility needs, but it can also get in the way. Invest in this and recognize with new technology driven channels, that not everyone has the same level of tech literacy.

So what are you waiting for?

Scalable support isn’t about choosing between AI, community, or human interactions, it’s about building the connected journey for all of them.

• AI can be an a real accelerator.

• Community can drive engagement through support and be your proactive engine.

• Human support should be there for the complex, meaningful interactions and as a place for authenticate empathy.

If you embrace this approach you will scale efficiently and create more meaningful, connected experiences for your customers.