How AI can help close a 40 million-hour service gap in Singapore

Closing the service gap in Singapore: woman smiling and clapping at open laptop in a modern office

Singaporeans—and the service agents helping them—are stuck in a holding pattern, according to the latest ServiceNow Customer Experience Report. In 2024, Singaporeans waited on hold for 40 million hours collectively, a 33% increase over the previous year.

Our research found that service agents spend less than one day per week actively resolving customer issues. The rest of their time is devoted to tasks that don’t directly resolve customers’ needs: administrative duties, waiting for answers, liaising with other departments, and promoting sales or perks.

To better understand why this is happening, ServiceNow and Lonergan polled nearly 1,200 customers and employees in Singapore. The results revealed that disjointed systems and inefficient processes are to blame for the service gap.

AI can help, but bridging the gap will require more than new technology. Organizations must unify systems around an integrated platform to help ensure both AI and human agents work together on customer issues quickly, seamlessly, and satisfactorily.

AI has a growing role to play: 75% of customers prefer to use self-service first before getting on the phone. 76% don't mind if Al replaces customer service positions if the outcome is the same or quicker. 62% of customers say the greatest benefit of Al is after-hours customer service.

Success differs for customers and employees

Long wait times and poor service are symptoms of a greater problem: Employees and customers have different expectations when it comes to issue resolution, according to our research.

Nearly 40% of customer service employees believe their organization’s customer service has improved in the last 12 months. And almost half (46%) believe their organization resolves simple issues in less than 30 minutes and more complex issues in less than two hours.

Customers feel differently, however. They report it takes almost five days on average to resolve an issue. This can be lethal to brands in a market where customers’ top ask is to “serve me quickly.”

Where does this disconnect come from? Different groups define “resolution” differently. Employees may consider a ticket complete once their part is done, whereas customers likely consider their issue resolved only when they’re satisfied with the solution. This results in organizations underestimating the time and effort required to adequately meet customer needs.

To bridge this gap, both companies and agents must understand their customers’ definition of “success” and shift their focus from internal efficiency to customer satisfaction.

Unified processes = happy customers

Customers want to talk to one person from the company they’re having an issue with, according to our research. But fragmented systems and disjointed processes prevent teams from syncing with each other, forcing customers to repeat their issue to multiple people.

For more complex issues that require escalation, this division makes resolution even harder: 44% of employees report a lack of follow-up is the main reason why some escalated issues aren’t resolved.

Frustrated over the disconnect, approximately three out of five employees want greater synergy between internal teams to help them better support customers. They recognize that improved processes are the key to excellent service.

Nearly half (46%) of the employees who saw their companies improve in customer service over the last 12 months attributed the change to investments in processes. Conversely, 23% of those who saw customer service decline attributed the degradation to process investments.

Unified processes that connect teams within an organization can make it much easier to offer the “one-front-door experience” that customers want.

To meet customer expectations, organizations need fully integrated AI tools supported by underlying process flows and data models.

AI can help close the gap

Both employees and customers in Singapore see AI as a way to help bridge the gap between effort and outcome. More than half (62%) of customers say AI has made good customer service more accessible. Similarly, 44% of employees are excited to use generative AI to help them do their jobs better.

While interest in AI is high on both sides, tools are only as good as the platform they’re built into and the people who use them. Organizations need to be thoughtful about how they implement AI.

For customers, the key will be aligning AI experiences and human satisfaction. According to our research, 76% of Singaporeans don’t mind if AI replaces customer service agents—as long as they get the same or better results than they would interacting with a human.

AI agents can help facilitate that. By autonomously interacting with their environment, they can operate 24/7, handling repetitive tasks at scale and continually learning from data to improve their performance.

To meet customer expectations, organizations need fully integrated AI tools supported by underlying process flows and data models. These can help enable customers and customer service agents to solve problems to satisfaction.

For employees, organizations need to ensure that every new technology is integrated seamlessly into existing systems, unifying processes instead of creating more barriers. AI can help shoulder the burden of repetitive tasks, such as information gathering, allowing agents to spend less time waiting and more time helping customers.

Get more insights in our full, complimentary 2025 Customer Experience Report – Singapore.