From Reactive to Agentic: What an AI Native Contact Centre Actually Looks Like - Zendesk

In this CX Today interview, Rob Wilkinson speaks with Jonathan Barouch, GM of Contact Center at Zendesk, about what “AI-native” and “agentic” actually mean in practice, where enterprise teams get stuck (data silos, authentication, brittle infrastructure), and how to roll out automation without betting the whole operation on day one.

The conversation also challenges a common CX metric: containment. Barouch argues leaders should measure resolution, not deflection, and shares how teams can pilot agentic workflows, run A-B tests, and build a learning loop that turns real interactions into better knowledge, self-service, and agent support.