Verizon’s CEO Says AI Could Replace a Large Share of Customer Service Work, as the Carrier Pushes a Customer-First Turnaround

Verizon CEO Dan Schulman said artificial intelligence will replace a “large percentage” of the wireless carrier’s customer service work, using the shift to frame how the company plans to differentiate in a highly competitive telecom market. Speaking in an interview reported after a Bloomberg Tech conference in San Francisco, Schulman described AI as capable of taking on routine, repeatable requests and freeing human employees to handle more complex cases. He also suggested Verizon is already seeing measurable improvements from experiments that use AI agents in customer support.

The CEO drew a clear line between what AI can do quickly and what still requires a human touch. In reported remarks, Schulman said the “rote” parts of customer support can be handled by AI agents, while more complex issues are more likely to be resolved through a combination of AI and human employees working together. He cited everyday tasks such as recovering a lost password or checking a billing amount as examples of customer queries that could be automated, while more intricate problems would require additional handling.

Verizon’s claims were not just directional. In the same coverage, Schulman said the company had been experimenting with AI agents over the prior three months, replacing some customer service representatives. He told the outlet that the AI-assisted agents achieved customer service satisfaction that was 1,280 basis points higher than what Verizon had before. Basis points are a way of expressing small changes in percentages, with 100 basis points equal to 1 percentage point. “CSAT” refers to a customer satisfaction measure commonly collected after service interactions, and the cited improvement was framed as evidence that automation could raise service quality rather than lower it.

Schulman also tied the AI push to an end-to-end customer experience, not just shorter wait times. Reported comments emphasized the need for consistent treatment across channels, from in-store help to phone support and the information customers receive. The CEO pointed to questions such as how quickly customers are helped in Verizon stores, and whether customers calling into service receive empathetic assistance that matches what they see in bills and in the store. He argued that improving the full sequence of interactions is difficult for competitors to copy, and therefore becomes a genuine differentiator.

Verizon has already been rolling out AI-focused customer service initiatives aimed at reducing friction and speeding up resolution. In a June 24, 2025 announcement, the company described a “customer experience transformation” that included a “Customer Champion” model for complex issues. That approach, Verizon said, leverages Google Cloud AI, including Google’s Gemini models, and is designed to ensure customers only need to call once while receiving updates through channels such as the My Verizon app, text messages, or call backs.

The AI messaging aligns with broader internal strategy indicates. In Verizon’s first-quarter 2026 results communication, CEO Dan Schulman said the turnaround effort was “gaining momentum,” and that Verizon is placing the customer at the center of its efforts to reduce friction, increase loyalty, and create value. He also cited lower churn and the first positive first-quarter postpaid phone net adds in over a decade. Separately, Verizon’s 2026 proxy statement said the company is determined to be an “AI-first” organization, deploying AI at scale to optimize operations and fundamentally reshape the customer experience.

Even with those references, key details remain unreported in the coverage that raised questions for customers and investors. Verizon did not disclose the full timeline for scaling AI across contact centers, which service categories will be prioritized, or how many roles could be affected as automation expands. It also did not provide a cost breakdown covering whether AI reduces operating expenses, changes outsourcing, or alters training and oversight needs. In addition, Verizon’s own customer experience commentary has previously highlighted an “empathy gap,” including the frustration consumers feel when a live human agent is not reachable, underscoring that the success criteria for AI may hinge on handoffs and service recovery as much as on automation.

What to watch next is whether Verizon can sustain the early CSAT lift as AI expands beyond limited experiments, and whether the company’s customer-facing experience improves in ways that translate into churn reduction and subscriber momentum. In upcoming earnings and customer experience updates, investors and customers alike will likely look for clearer reporting on AI’s measurable impact by channel, the quality of human-AI collaboration on complex issues, and how Verizon manages risks tied to accuracy, privacy, and service escalations.