Call Centre Roundtable March 2026

AI Reshapes Contact Centres

The Australian contact centre industry stands at a transformation point in early 2026. What began as generative AI trials in 2024 and 2025 has evolved into widespread deployment, driven by the federal government's National AI Plan emphasising skills and responsible adoption. Industry reports indicate that 2026 will see AI move beyond small projects to reshape daily operations, automating workflows from self-service to post-call analysis.

This shift carries direct financial pressure. Contact centres that mastered unit economics and validated technology investments will maintain stronger margins, while reactive ones face widening gaps. The industry, valued at around $1.9 billion in 2026, has seen gradual growth but intensifying competition from offshore operators and domestic efficiency demands.

Recent regulatory changes amplify the stakes. Amendments to telecommunications consumer safeguards, including higher penalties for code breaches and updated complaints handling standards effective in 2025, require telcos and related centres to improve outage responses and complaint resolution. With telco complaints still numbering in the hundreds of thousands quarterly, non-compliance risks fines and reputational damage.

AI promises halved wait times and better sentiment analysis, yet it raises non-obvious trade-offs. While routine queries shift to automation—potentially reducing staff needs—complex or emotional issues still demand human agents. Attrition remains high in outsourced centres, exacerbated by poor training and low morale, even as incentives try to retain workers. The broader economy feels the ripple: AI could displace roles in customer support, prompting questions about reskilling as entry-level positions shrink.

Stakeholders clash quietly. Businesses chase cost savings and compliance, customers demand personalisation without friction, and workers confront evolving or disappearing roles. Getting this balance wrong means frustrated customers, unstable teams, or eroded trust in service providers.