Freshworks launches Freddy AI Agent for service efficiency

Freshworks has announced the release of its latest product, the Freddy AI Agent. This product aims to improve customer and employee experiences by autonomously resolving service requests.

The Freddy AI Agent is promoted as an autonomous service agent that can be deployed in minutes. It helps customer support and IT teams resolve significant portions of their service requests independently. According to Freshworks, customer support can see an average autonomous resolution rate of 45%, with IT support managing around 40%. The tool is designed to facilitate better customer and employee interactions through rapid deployment and operation.

Gartner has projected that by 2028, a significant percentage of enterprise software applications will incorporate such agentic AI, allowing for a notable portion of routine business decisions to be made autonomously. Freshworks claims its Global AI Workplace Report evidences that customer service and IT support managers increasingly recognise AI's value.

Dennis Woodside, Chief Executive Officer and President of Freshworks, remarked, "Over the last six years, we've seen a rise in demand for our uncomplicated, AI-powered service solutions that make the lives of customer service and IT service managers easier and more efficient. Freddy AI Agent is a game-changer for organisations looking to accelerate customer service and employee service, fast. Most other software requires multiple weeks and implementation fees to deploy an AI agent, but we've designed Freddy to be deployed without code or consultants in minutes."

Companies such as Bchex, Porsche eBike, Hobbycraft, and Live Oak Bank are using the Freddy AI Agent in conjunction with Freshworks' Freshdesk and Freshservice, reportedly gaining productivity and efficiency. The agent supports these gains with capabilities that include rapid deployment, autonomous assistance, multilingual and channel-spanning personalised service, and robust security features.

Freshworks stated that by simply pointing the Freddy AI Agent to existing documentation and websites, organisations could prompt the AI to learn from these sources to provide autonomous assistance. The AI tool functions around the clock, engaging users across various channels with a human-like conversational ability and offering personalised dialogues in multiple languages.

The practical implications for customer support teams lie in automating routine tasks, improving customer satisfaction metrics and reducing response times. Amanda Pope, Customer Success Product Manager at Bchex, said, "The best part is how quickly it can be deployed. If you have your FAQ and data ready, you can upload it to the platform and have a new AI agent ready in 20 minutes. Our AI agent takes the load off our customer support team, and the team can now spend their time and resources to address tougher issues to give our customers the care they deserve."

Freddy AI Agent extends benefits similar to those of the employee experience domain by providing near-real-time support for IT teams, enabling them to concentrate on more valuable work. The AI supports employees by working across collaborative tools such as Microsoft Teams and Slack to resolve frequent issues, streamlining IT operations and boosting productivity.

Alexander Wünsch, Chief Financial Officer at Porsche eBike Performance, noted, "Freshservice's AI capabilities are the backbone of our IT operations. With features like conversational support and the solution article generator, we are now able to deliver intelligent and user-centric IT support. Freshservice is simple and easy to understand, even for those without deep technical knowledge or rigorous IT training."

Research Manager at IDC, Snow Tempest, added, "We're seeing promise for how AI agents can enhance the employee experience. Providing these AI-powered tools can reduce the burden of rote work on IT teams while maintaining engagement with internal employees, empowering them to focus on meaningful work, reduce burnout, and foster collaboration. There is a significant opportunity for teams to focus on using AI as a tool to empower workers both in IT and in other roles."

Freshworks Chief Technology Officer Murali Swaminathan highlighted, "We're only just beginning to see the positive impact of agentic AI on the workplace. From advisor to active problem-solver, an orchestrated symphony of specialised agents can thoughtfully handle a large and growing percentage of daily requests and help employees do their jobs more effectively. Copilots also step in to assist the human agent, further automating tasks and workflows that run a business. Freshworks is researching and applying the best of both worlds where people and AI can work together."

Freddy AI Agent is designed to be platform-agnostic and utilises the latest advancements in generative language models. It follows Freshworks' previous AI product launches earlier in the year.