Can AI Improve Customer Service Without Killing Jobs? Crescendo Thinks So

Customer service is one of the industries most impacted by AI — but what if AI alone isn’t the answer? In this episode of The Neuron Podcast, Grant Harvey and Corey Noles sit down with Matt Price, Founder & CEO of Crescendo, to explore how AI and humans working together can outperform automation alone. After spending 13+ years at Zendesk, Matt is now building an AI-native customer experience platform that automates up to 90% of tickets with 99.8% accuracy — without sacrificing empathy, trust, or outcomes. We cover: • Why LLMs are the biggest shift in customer service since the telephone • Why bolting AI onto old CX workflows fails • How Crescendo’s multimodal AI can chat, talk, see images, and control devices in one conversation • Real-world examples (like smart sprinkler troubleshooting via voice + vision + APIs) • Why Crescendo combines AI agents with forward-deployed human experts • How outcome-based pricing aligns incentives around real customer satisfaction • How AI is reshaping (not eliminating) customer service jobs • Why “deflection” is the wrong mindset for CX — and what replaces it • What customer support roles look like in an AI-native future This is a deep dive into the next generation of customer experience, where AI handles scale and speed — and humans deliver judgment, empathy, and innovation. Subscribe for weekly conversations with the builders shaping the future of AI and work. Subscribe to The Neuron newsletter for more interviews with the leaders shaping the future of work and AI: https://theneuron.ai