AI isn’t just sitting quietly in the background of contact centers anymore, it’s everywhere. Today’s tools listen to calls in real time, transcribe conversations, coach agents with live prompts, flag compliance risks, collect data… and even predict what a customer might need next. That’s exciting, but one thing needs a complete rethink: how you measure performance.

For decades, we’ve leaned on traditional KPIs like average handle time (AHT), customer satisfaction (CSAT), and call volume. There’s a reason for that: they’re simple, widely understood, and easy to track. They gave leaders a quick way to see if the team was ‘doing well’. The problem? They don’t capture the nuances of AI‑augmented customer service. They don’t show the quality of a conversation or whether the outcome was truly right for the customer.

At The49, we help contact centers rethink performance measurement by introducing smarter metrics that show AI’s true value. These metrics give you the insight to improve service, work smarter, and roll out AI with confidence.

The problem: Traditional KPIs and AI’s real impact

Relying on the same KPIs you’ve always used won’t just hide AI’s value, it might even make performance look worse when it’s actually getting better.

Take average handle time (AHT): if AI guides an agent through a more thoughtful conversation, the call might run longer, but lead to fewer callbacks in the whole journey and happier customers. Without a new lens on the data, that looks like a slowdown instead of an improvement.

This gap is even more obvious in health insurance, where conversations are complex and every word matters. AI can boost compliance, improve accuracy, and spot potential issues before they become problems. But none of that shows up in AHT, CSAT, or call volume.

It’s time to rethink how success is measured in an AI-enhanced contact center.

The solution: Smarter metrics for AI-augmented contact centers

To get a true sense of AI’s value in your contact center, it’s essential to measure the right things. But AI doesn’t just demand new metrics, it enables them. 

With live transcription, sentiment analysis, and next‑best‑action prompts, AI generates a stream of insights that simply didn’t exist before. That means you can finally measure things that actually matter to both customers and agents—not just how fast calls end.

Here’s what that shift looks like in practice:

  • Agent engagement with AI: How often are agents using the AI-generated guidance provided to them? Are they embracing next-best-action prompts, and how does their use (or deviation from) these suggestions impact performance?
  • Resolution and escalation trends: How is AI influencing resolution times? Is it preventing escalations—or helping agents resolve cases that would have been escalated before?
  • Compliance and process support: AI can flag risky language or procedural gaps in real time. Tracking this shows whether AI is helping teams stay compliant and consistent.
  • Customer sentiment shifts: Beyond CSAT surveys, AI can measure how a customer’s tone shifts during the call. Are conversations leaving customers calmer, more confident, or more frustrated?

By moving to these AI‑enabled metrics, you get more than just a performance snapshot. You see how AI is changing the quality of service, helping agents deliver better outcomes, and giving leaders the proof they need to scale AI with confidence.

A new era needs new measures

AI is reshaping what’s possible in contact centers, helping agents make faster, more accurate decisions, improving compliance, and transforming the customer experience. But if you’re still using the same metrics you’ve always used, you’re only seeing part of the picture.

Traditional KPIs won’t tell you whether AI is improving decision quality, helping agents stay compliant, or identifying risks early. They might even lead you to believe performance is slipping when, in fact, it’s evolving.

To truly understand what AI is doing for your business, you need metrics that reflect today’s reality, not yesterday’s workflows. That means moving beyond averages and volumes, and towards insight-rich indicators that account for nuance, context, and long-term value.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, but one thing is clear: the organizations that rethink performance now will be better equipped to scale AI successfully, unlock its full potential, and deliver service that’s smarter, safer, and more human.

Now’s the time to ask: are you measuring what really matters?

At The49, we help companies design and implement AI-powered performance metrics that capture the real impact of AI. If you’re ready to make the most of AI, we’re here to help.

Ready to redesign your KPIs to track AI success in your contact center? Get in touch with The49 to find out how we can help you implement smarter metrics and drive better results.