Designing the handoff from AI to a person

What customers and leaders say

87% of customers say a company using GenAI for service must provide access to a human agent.¹ On the operating side, 85% of service leaders are expanding the responsibilities of human agents.² Gartner does not expect any Fortune 500 company to have fully eliminated human service by 2028.³

When to hand over

• The customer asksEvery time, without making them repeat the request.
• Repeated failureThe agent has not understood after two attempts.
• Signs of distress or vulnerabilityBereavement, financial hardship, complaints and anger.
• High-value or irreversible actionsAbove the limits set for the agent.
• Regulated adviceWhere a licensed person must give the answer.

What to pass across

The person who picks up should see a short summary, the customer’s verified identity, what the agent already tried, the reason for the handoff and the language of the conversation. The customer should never have to start again.

Disclosure

Tell customers when they are talking to an AI and how to reach a person. Singapore’s agentic framework lists transparency for end users as one of its four dimensions.⁴ For customers in the EU, the AI Act’s transparency duties have applied since 2 August 2026.⁵

How to measure it

Track the share of conversations handed over, the time from request to a person, how often the customer had to repeat information, and resolution after handoff. A rising handoff rate is a signal to review the intents involved.