AI and CX in Brazil: the era of customer service that understands before responding --- This translation maintains the original tone and context, ensuring that the technical and specialized terminology is accurately conveyed. The phrase "IA e CX" refers to "AI and CX," which stands for Artificial Intelligence and Customer Experience, respectively. The phrase "entende antes de responder" is translated as "understands before responding," capturing the essence of the original text.

Over the past eighteen months, artificial intelligence has moved from being a promise to becoming a driver of the transformation of the customer experience. The impact is not just in operational efficiency, but in raising the standard of what the consumer considers acceptable: today, they expect to be able to express themselves in natural language, be understood right from the first interaction, and receive the correct solution – not just an answer – in the channel they prefer to communicate. 

The change in behavior is the result of the popularization of tools like language models, which have accustomed the customer to interact in an intuitive way, without following rigid scripts or navigating through long menus. The Brazilian consumer, in particular, no longer accepts the logic of "press 1, press 2"; they want to order what they desire and receive a concrete, personalized, and contextual action in return.

In this context, Brazil holds a prominent position. The maturity of the market in conversational channels, especially on WhatsApp, places us ahead of other countries in terms of practice and scale. While in many regions this technology is still emerging, here we have accumulated years of learning about what works, where the friction points are, and how to measure business impact. This experience allows us not only to operate more advanced solutions but also to serve as a global reference on how to design more effective journeys.

The key advantage of artificial intelligence applied to the customer experience lies in its ability to reduce friction in a practical way. By accessing data and business rules in real-time, AI can accurately diagnose situations, avoiding common errors of human customer service. 

Often, for example, the customer requests a cancellation not because they want to give up on the purchase, but because they believe the order has been lost. In this case, the real need is not to cancel, but to obtain confirmation that the product is already on its way. AI, by identifying this context, delivers the right information and generates trust. Furthermore, its linguistic flexibility eliminates communication barriers: if a response was not clear, the technology can rephrase it in other terms or even deliver it in voice format, something essential in a country as diverse as Brazil.

Efficiency does not have to mean dehumanization either. On the contrary, when bots handle the so-called "difficult trivial," they free up human agents for more complex, sensitive, and emotional cases. This reduces the cognitive load on the teams, decreases stress, and increases the quality of human service. At the same time, the customer perceives a healthy balance between technology that solves quickly and people who offer support.

Another important point is trust. A few years ago, users were testing the limits of bots almost like a game, always suspicious. Today, upon realizing that AI solutions are more human and, above all, effective, they have started using them naturally. This cultural evolution, combined with already established success stories in the country, such as logistics, direct retail, and even financial collection, helps to consolidate the use of artificial intelligence as the preferred tool in certain situations. When the bot solves faster than a human, it becomes the first choice.

Still, there are common pitfalls. Many AI projects follow the traditional software development logic, with long and closed cycles, when in reality they should be iterative: putting something live quickly, learning from the real data, and making adjustments. Another recurring mistake is believing that an FAQ chatbot is enough. Simply providing information solves a small fraction of the problems. The real transformation happens when the AI is able to execute actions that actually resolve the customer's pain. Furthermore, the difficulty of exposing ready APIs is a frequent obstacle. New standards like MCP servers (Model Context Protocol) tend to reduce this barrier, allowing for more effective bots in less time.

Looking ahead to the coming years, the trend is towards increasingly intelligent conversations from the very first contact. Platforms like Meta and Google are already working to ensure that journey signals are shared, making interactions more accurate and relevant. At the same time, the evolution of generative orchestration will accelerate the pace of development: instead of months to launch a new feature, it will be possible to activate several in a matter of weeks or days. This will make bots more powerful, fast, and useful for customers and businesses.

In the end, the message is clear: artificial intelligence applied to the customer experience does not mean replacing people, but eliminating friction, speaking in a way that the consumer understands, and acting swiftly where they need it most. Brazil, due to its maturity in conversational channels and cultural openness to new technologies, has the chance to lead this transformation globally. Those who know how to take advantage of this moment, combining technology, governance, and the courage to iterate, will define the new standard of excellence in customer service for the next few years.

By Fábio Costa, Senior Director of Artificial Intelligence at Sinch