The challenge:
Kobie’s Customer Care (KCC) team set out to answer a tough question: Can AI help elevate the quality of customer service without losing the human touch, especially in highly regulated environments?
The KCC operates in a context where precision and empathy are equally nonnegotiable. Loyalty-trained Tier 1 and Tier 2 agents support millions of loyalty members, including aging or vulnerable populations, across complex, regulated programs.
With that, the KCC faces persistent pressures:
- Consistency: Loyalty rules and redemption logic can be intricate; answers may vary by agent under real-world pressures.
- Compliance & Risk: Fraud and identity verification steps must never be skipped; disclosures must be accurate and timely.
- Emotional Experiences: Members need to feel heard and helped, which requires clarity, reassurance, and accessible language especially for those with hearing or cognitive challenges or financial stress.
As previous winners of multiple Stevie® Awards for Sales and Customer, the KCC was already outperforming industry norms despite the challenges of consistency, compliance, and care. But leadership believed AI could raise the ceiling, not just the floor, if it was designed to assist humans, not replace them.
The solutions:
By deploying a governed, multi-client AI copilot (“Loyalty Coach”) alongside Automated Quality Management (AQM) that evaluates nearly 100% of interactions, the KCC proved that AI could elevate quality without compromising empathy. In doing so, they secured a Gold, Silver and Bronze win in the 2026 Stevie® Awards, marking the third consecutive year being recognized amidst more than 2,100 global business nominations.
Loyalty Coach
KCC embedded a responsible, LLM-powered AI copilot directly into live interactions, not to take over conversations, but to guide agents in the moment. The copilot surfaces real-time prompts that:
- Simplify complex loyalty logic to ensure consistent, contradiction-free answers
- Trigger fraud/ID verification steps at the right moments
- Reinforce required disclosures to reduce risk
- Suggest clear, accessible phrasing tailored for vulnerable members (e.g., aging callers, those under financial stress)
Agents describe the shift simply: “I’m not guessing anymore. The AI helps me say the right thing the first time.”
Automated Quality Management (AQM)
To validate and continuously improve performance, KCC paired the copilot with AQM to analyze nearly 100% of interactions. AQM delivers granular insights across accuracy, disclosure delivery, behavioral cues, and program-specific rules, creating a fast feedback loop for coaching and governance.
Rapid, Governed Scale
After a small pilot showed immediate gains in clarity and confidence, KCC accelerated the AI roadmap by over a year, scaling the governed, multi-client copilot to production in 30 days—one of the first loyalty contact centers to do so at that breadth.
The outcomes:
The KCC scaled from pilot to production across nine clients and 80 agents, sustaining elite service benchmarks (≈96% First Call Resolution, 92–95% CSAT) while driving measurable upside: +16% positive sentiment, +17.9% post-call spend, +2.7 pp QA, and 48% fewer AutoFails.
Industry judges for the Stevie® Awards called this a “benchmark for AI implementation” and “best-in class” during the submission period, consistently highlighting the strength, clarity, and credibility of KCC’s approach and outcomes:
“Great use of new AI technology and understanding the importance of the Governance layer. The ability to execute the new AI technology within the Customer Service space with speed and solid results are impressive.”
“Kobie’s >17.9% increase in post-call spend alone is a brilliant marker that establishes a direct correlation between the quality of service and revenue. The use of AI to support most vulnerable members is also an excellent use of technology.”
“Kobie’s achievement in compressing a multi-year AI roadmap into a 30-day production rollout across nine clients is an exceptional example of technical agility and strategic foresight.”
Why it worked:
Here are some of the design principles the KCC leveraged for responsible AI in CX that can be applied throughout customer care teams and beyond:
- Human-in-the-Loop by Default
The copilot augments vs. replaces agent judgment. This preserves empathy while ensuring consistency and compliance. - Right-Time Intelligence
Guidance appears precisely when it’s needed: verifying identity, clarifying benefits, or reinforcing disclosures. This minimizes cognitive load and risk. - End-to-End Governance
A governed, multi-client deployment plus AQM on nearly all interactions gives leaders broad visibility and granular control over quality, risk, and improvement. - Accessibility First
Prompts nudge agents toward plainer language, steadier pacing, and empathetic phrasing—practical upgrades for aging or vulnerable members navigating complex programs. - Culture of AI Literacy
“Questioning the bot” trains agents to collaborate with AI responsibly, embracing its strengths while remaining vigilant about limitations.
As customer expectations rise and brands push for more innovation, loyalty becomes a core driver in the evolution that is no longer on the horizon; it’s already here. From Kobie’s investment in AI across products and within culture, to the agility required to bring solutions rapidly to market, these award-winning examples from the KCC highlight why Kobie is named a Leader in the loyalty industry. Reach our team to learn more.
