The customer service space has undoubtedly evolved over the past several years, and the momentum is not expected to slow down as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance. AI-powered voice recognition software—known to the customer service space as the “virtual agent”—has already made its way into many of today’s contact centers, replacing live agents to assist clients with a variety of tasks and inquiries. Coupled with the proliferation of messaging apps, many are also beginning to see the development of chatbots—software programs that use messaging as the interface through which to carry out any number of tasks, from checking an account balance, to making a reservation, to helping users buy a pair of shoes. Virtual assistant startup, Interactions, recently secured an additional $56 million in funding, indicating that the trend is certainly picking up speed.