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May 14, 2025
How to roll out an AI copilot your support team will actually use
Whitney Rose
Content Marketing
AI copilots promise a lot: faster response times, higher CSAT, and accelerated onboarding for your support team. But rolling out an AI copilot successfully isn’t just about what the tool can do — it’s about how it’s introduced.
If your team doesn’t trust the tool — or the why behind it — those promises fall flat fast.
We’ve seen it happen: copilots rolled out like magic bullets, only to be ignored, resented, or quietly disabled. Not because they didn’t work, but because the rollout failed to address the humans behind the handle time.
The reality is: your agents’ first experience with AI will shape how they use it (or don’t). The good news? With a thoughtful approach to change management, you can turn AI copilots into something your team wants to use — not something they’re told to tolerate.
That’s where change management comes in. The best AI copilot rollouts don’t just focus on the tool’s functionality — they focus on how it’s introduced, how agents experience it, and how trust is built from day one. Below, we’re sharing five tactics that help support leaders roll out AI copilots their teams actually want to use.
1. Don’t ignore the fear. Name it.
Let’s be honest: agents are worried. And they have every right to be.
A new tool that drafts responses, summarizes threads, or automates repetitive work can sound like a replacement plan in disguise. If you pretend that fear doesn’t exist, your team will fill in the blanks — usually in the worst possible way.
Instead, start with transparency. Acknowledge that AI is changing the nature of the job. Then show how your copilot rollout is designed to make agents’ lives easier, not eliminate their roles. Think:
- Helping new hires ramp in weeks, not months
- Giving BPO agents a better grasp of tone and brand voice
- Supporting native Arabic or Spanish speakers with more natural English phrasing
- Cutting the time spent rewriting bullet points into polished paragraphs
A good copilot doesn’t replace agents. It removes friction so they can focus on the high-value, human work that still needs them.
2. Make your pilot team diverse by design
Copilot adoption isn’t one-size-fits-all. Tenured agents might love features like threaded summarization but ignore canned replies. Meanwhile, newer agents may rely heavily on suggested drafts. And BPO partners often appreciate grammar and tone polish the most.
We’ve seen more success when pilot groups include:
- A mix of tenure (new hires to Tier 2s)
- Internal and outsourced agents
- Agents across language regions or time zones
This gives you clearer insight into where copilots deliver the most value — and where you might need better onboarding or customization.
Pro tip: Run a short intake survey before the pilot starts. Ask agents what parts of their workflow feel most time-consuming or frustrating. Then map those pain points to the copilot’s capabilities. It frames the tool as a solution to their actual problems, not a top-down directive.
3. Go beyond training. Run working sessions.
Most AI tools come with documentation and video walkthroughs. That’s a start — but not enough.
We’ve seen better results from teams that run:
- Live Q&As where agents can test the tool and voice concerns
- Roleplay sessions that compare real responses with and without AI support
- "What would you change?" feedback rounds to build co-ownership
These don’t just teach usage. They create buy-in.
One team even hosted informal “lunch and learn” demos led by agents from the pilot group. This resulted in higher adoption, stronger feedback loops, and less of the "Big Brother is watching" vibe that often surrounds AI.
4. Protect voice and autonomy
For a lot of seasoned agents, writing is part of the craft. So if your rollout forces everyone to respond the same way, expect pushback — especially from those who take pride in their personal tone or troubleshooting style.
That’s not to say copilots can’t help. It’s about how you introduce them:
- Frame suggested drafts as a starting point, not a script
- Encourage agents to edit, rephrase, or rewrite — autonomy is a feature, not a bug
- Skip the macros for "are you a robot?" replies (yes, that’s a real example)
The best AI tools adapt to how people work, not the other way around.
5. Measure what matters — to them
Of course you’ll track handle time. But the savviest teams go further. They measure:
- Agent satisfaction, especially pre- and post-pilot
- Confidence levels on complex tickets
- Time-to-autonomy for new hires
- CSAT deltas for BPOs or newer team members
One team we talked to surveyed their agents right before the pilot — and again six weeks later. The biggest gains? “I feel more confident in my answers” and “I spend less time stuck.” Not metrics you’ll find on a dashboard, but signals that your AI rollout is actually doing its job.
What to know before you roll out
Still figuring out how to approach your rollout? Here are a few quick answers to common questions support leaders are asking:
What is an AI copilot in customer support?
An AI copilot is a tool that assists support agents by drafting responses, summarizing threads, adjusting tone, or suggesting next steps. It’s designed to augment human work, not replace it.
Why do AI copilot rollouts fail?
Most failures come from poor change management — not the tool itself. If agents feel the tool is being forced on them, or that it threatens their autonomy, adoption drops.
How can I improve AI adoption in my support team?
Start by involving agents early, running pilot programs with diverse roles, hosting live workshops, and measuring success with both performance and satisfaction data.
It’s not just what you roll out — it’s how
AI copilots aren’t magic. But they can be transformative — if they’re introduced with the same care and clarity you’d use for any major workflow shift.
Want to see adoption? Start with trust. Want to improve performance? Start with empathy. The right copilot rollout doesn’t just change how your team works. It changes how they feel about the future.
And that’s where the real impact starts.
Rolling out a copilot is only half the battle. The other half? Picking one your team actually wants to use. See how Assembled Assist is built for adoption.
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