How AI and Data Are Transforming Customer Experience: Insights from Abigail Culver
Share This Post
What first drew you to customer success, and how has your role evolved with the rise of data and AI in CX?
Abigail Culver: Growing up, I was known as the peace maker in my family, so it was only natural to enter into the realm of customer success. I have always thought of this as an umbrella term. CS can cover so many different fields, and can encompass multiple positions – from babysitting, to public service, to office work. I always had the ability to see others’ perspectives, to understand all sides of an argument, and have an inherent desire for everyone to get along. Having this skillset and using it across multiple areas of my life have both shaped who I am as a leader in CS today.
My role has shifted from being primarily reactive and task-oriented to being strategic and enabling. AI handles scale and speed, while I focus on designing the customer experience, training both humans and bots, and ensuring that trust & empathy remain at the core of every interaction. Success has been largely measured on volume, SLA, and escalating issues in a timely manner. Since AI, we can now focus on the entire customer journey – mapping escalation paths so complex issues get to our agents faster, essentially erasing Tier 1 tickets, thus giving everyone their time back.
Each year, I prepare a comprehensive report analyzing customer sentiment through our CSAT scores. This involves reviewing thousands of customer comments, opening tickets, and examining interactions between agents and customers. In the past, the sheer volume and detail made it a months-long project. Now, with AI, much of the manual work has been eliminated—streamlining the process and allowing me to focus more on insights than data crunching. This holds true across my day-to-day work—AI has made my role significantly more efficient in countless ways.
Many businesses collect customer data but fail to use it effectively. How can data truly improve customer experience and success?
Abigail Culver:
“Customer data has made it possible for our company to grow and expand over the last 4 years – our whole business model surrounds data! It plays a huge role in improving the customer experience.”- Abigail Culver, Senior Manager, Attain
The data customers choose to share with us allow us to see on a granular level who our most common user is. What level of education do they have? What kind of work do they do? How often are they paid? Do they have dependents that they are financially responsible for? What’s important to them when it comes to finances and what can we offer to help them succeed? You may be wondering – why do these questions matter? Ultimately, we want to help our customers, not hinder them – and data holds the answers to those questions. It helps us tailor our apps to our customers, and as you know, customer needs often change.
We work closely with our product, engineering, and user research teams to continuously enhance the customer experience based on the data we receive. This approach not only ensures we address customer needs, but also reinforces that we’re truly listening—the feedback they share is meaningful, valued, and put into action.
You use AI-driven tools in operations. Yes? What are the biggest ways AI is reshaping customer support today?
Abigail Culver: Yes, we leverage a range of AI tools, but the most impactful by far are our two customer support bots. Our chat bot and email bot serve as the first line of support, handling quick and straightforward questions by drawing from our Help Center, and seamlessly escalating to an agent when more personalized assistance is needed. Since we’re still relatively new to the bot space, it’s been a valuable learning experience for the entire team. There’s also tremendous room for growth—we have several exciting API integrations in the pipeline that will further elevate the customer experience. AI is transforming customer support by giving us back valuable time each day, allowing our team to focus where it matters most.
Customer support teams often face pressure to scale fast. How can outsourcing, combined with the right data insights, help companies deliver better CX?
Abigail Culver:
“Outsourcing allows support teams to scale quickly during peak demand without overloading internal resources. Using data from previous years, we know when we are busy, and can use this to our advantage with scheduling more help in advance.” – Abigail Culver, Senior Manager, Attain
With clear workflows and strong training, outsourced partners can absorb volume spikes while keeping response times low. Outsourcing also allows an efficient way to hire contract workers that we may only need for a season, saving us money and the effort it takes to hire someone internally for such a short time.
When outsourcing is paired with analytics & data, companies can quickly identify recurring issues, predict demand, and proactively adjust staffing or workflows. This reduces friction for customers and makes the support system more resilient over time. Real-time insights—such as CSAT, ticket categorization, and resolution trends—help leaders like myself monitor performance across both internal and external teams. Data ensures consistency, highlights training needs, and closes feedback loops when used the right way. And when you partner with an outsourcing team you can truly trust, it lifts the burden of having to solve everything on your own or solely within your team.
What do you think is the key to maintaining excellent customer satisfaction with the implementation of AI?
Abigail Culver: The key to maintaining CSAT with AI implementation lies in dedicating the right resources. AI is a powerful tool, but ultimately, it is just that—a tool! To maximize its impact, ongoing monitoring and analysis are essential to understand what’s working, what needs refinement, and where to improve. At its core, AI should simplify the customer experience, not complicate it. Interactions with a bot should feel seamless, and the more natural and human-like the experience, the stronger the overall impact.
This is why aligning AI with your company’s brand voice is critical. For us, empathy, friendliness, and competence are the top three traits that define our bots’ personas. We want our bots to be knowledgeable about our product, have the ability to relate to human situations, and display an inviting demeanor. Because we work with people’s finances—a deeply personal and sensitive area—it’s vital that our bots reflect the same care and sensitivity as our human agents. They must carry that essential human touch.
What are the biggest advantages businesses gain when they outsource customer support to the right partner?
Abigail Culver: The biggest advantages come down to scalability, expertise, and focus. With the right outsourcing partner, businesses can quickly scale support up or down without the heavy overhead of hiring and training internally. A strong partner also brings specialized expertise, things like 24/7 availability and proven ready-made processes, that would take significant time and resources to build in-house.
“Just as importantly, outsourcing relieves pressure on internal teams. Instead of being stretched thin trying to manage every customer touchpoint, the in-house team can focus on higher-value work: refining the customer journey, improving product experiences, and building stronger customer relationships.”- Abigail Culver, Senior Manager, Attain
When the partnership is built on trust and alignment, it’s not just about answering tickets faster. It’s about delivering consistent, empathetic, and high-quality support that strengthens brand loyalty while freeing the business to grow.
AI in customer support is often seen as a threat, but what are the most positive, game-changing impacts you’ve seen it create for both companies and customers?
Abigail Culver: Many customer support professionals worry that AI could replace their jobs, when in reality, it’s designed to complement their work. I have already seen AI create new opportunities for my team, and as we continue to integrate it into our daily work, I’m confident that more opportunities will surface across the department. Erick, who was one of my CX Specialists, recently was promoted to our Automation & Ops Lead. This is the first time we have ever had a role like this open up, and his primary focus is to ensure our AI tools are functioning properly and are provided constant training. It is a full-time job, and it has paved the way for future AI and automation opportunities for him in CS. The growth that I foresee coming from this could mean an entire team dedicated to AI, right here in customer support.
AI has empowered my team to grow in their roles as customer support specialists. By handling many of the tier-1 type inquiries, our bots free up time for our human team to focus on higher-level tasks—troubleshooting, probing deeper into issues, and refining their problem-solving skills. This shift challenges them to think creatively and move beyond repetitive, routine work, allowing their roles to feel more engaging and impactful.
Summary
Abigail Culver, Senior Manager at Attain, shares her perspective on how AI and data are reshaping customer experience (CX) and customer success. She explains how her role has evolved from reactive support to strategic enablement, with AI taking over scale and speed while humans focus on empathy and trust.
Abigail highlights how customer data drives personalization, allowing businesses to tailor products and services to evolving needs. She also discusses the benefits of outsourcing, which enables companies to scale quickly while maintaining quality and consistency. For her, the key to excellent CX lies in aligning AI with brand voice, ensuring interactions feel natural, empathetic, and human. Most importantly, she sees AI as a growth enabler—not a threat—creating new career paths and empowering teams to focus on higher-value, meaningful customer interactions.
About Abigail Culver
Abigail Culver is the Senior Manager of Customer Operations at a leading data company, where she focuses on driving success for a financial wellness app. With a background spanning customer service, start-ups, and leadership, she thrives in dynamic environments and brings creativity, adaptability, and a people-first approach to her work.