About the Event

2026 is the proving ground for AI. After years of hype and half-baked integrations, consumers are becoming far more discerning about what’s genuinely useful and what’s just slop. Companies are being judged less on technical ambition and more on whether AI actually works inside messy, real-world interactions. Nowhere is that pressure more visible than in customer service, where expectations around speed, clarity and ease are higher than ever.

Customer service has become one of the clearest places where AI either earns trust or has customers yelling “can I speak to a representative?” after 30 seconds.

Join Tech Brew – alongside industry experts from Bland and elsewhere – to understand how AI is reshaping the customer experience across voice, text and support channels, and why so many interactions still feel stuck in “dial 1 to scream” territory. The discussion will focus on how automated systems show up from a consumer’s POV, how tone alone can influence trust, and how businesses can tell when AI is genuinely helping versus quietly (or not so quietly) getting in the way.

Here’s what you can expect to cover:

• Why customer service still feels broken. A look at how legacy systems, fragmented tools and Jenga-like tech stacks created today’s most common frustrations. If you’re looking for some validation for screaming into the phone, this is your spot.
• What “good” automation feels like from the user side. How context, memory, tone and simple comprehension change whether an interaction feels supportive or dismissive.
• What standards consumers should expect next. How rising expectations are reshaping customer service and what you shouldn’t settle for as AI becomes unavoidable.

Bland is a voice AI platform for deploying production-grade AI agents for phone, SMS, and chat to automate customer interactions and modernize contact center operations. Submit your use case here to get a custom agent and demo.