Data study ·
Customer service: AI boosts European productivity
Original title, in French: “Service client : l’IA dope la productivité européenne”
- Publication
- Relation Client Mag (France)
- Author
- Jérôme Pouponnot
- Published on
- 14 October 2026 · read in the page structured data · updated on 14 October 2026
Summary
According to the Freshworks Customer Service Benchmark Report 2026, European customer service teams adopt AI more slowly than the rest of the world but get better results when they use it. In Europe, 40.8% of customer service teams have deployed automated tools, compared with 44% globally, and only 33.3% of organisations without such tools plan to invest in the next 12 months, compared with 48.3% worldwide. However, 81% of European customer service teams that have them handle more requests without increasing headcount, compared with a global average of 65.3%. Integration into processes remains a barrier: only 45.2% of European companies using AI have connected it to their core workflows, compared with a rate 16.1 points higher globally. The study draws on 33,889 accounts and 1.2 billion tickets.
Summary based on the full text of the article.
Read the article on Relation Client Mag →Figures cited
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81 %
share of European customer service teams with automated tools that handle a higher volume of requests without increasing headcount
European customer service teams with automated tools, 2026
« En Europe, près de 81 % des services clients dotés d'outils automatisés parviennent à traiter un volume accru de requêtes sans augmentation d'effectifs, alors que la moyenne internationale s'établit à 65,3 %. »
Source: Freshworks Customer Service Benchmark Report 2026
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65.3 %
equivalent global average of customer service teams handling more requests without increasing headcount
global customer service teams with automated tools, 2026
« alors que la moyenne internationale s'établit à 65,3 %. »
Source: Freshworks Customer Service Benchmark Report 2026
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40.8 %
penetration rate of automated tools in European customer service teams
European customer service teams, 2026
« seuls 40,8 % des services clients européens ont déployé ces technologies, contre 44 % à l'échelle du globe. »
Source: Freshworks Customer Service Benchmark Report 2026
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44 %
global penetration rate of automated tools in customer service teams
global customer service teams, 2026
« contre 44 % à l'échelle du globe. »
Source: Freshworks Customer Service Benchmark Report 2026
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33.3 %
share of European organisations without such tools planning to invest in the next 12 months
European organisations without such tools, 2026
« parmi les organisations non encore équipées sur le vieux continent, 33,3 % prévoient d'investir au cours des 12 prochains mois, contre 48,3 % à l'échelle mondiale. »
Source: Freshworks Customer Service Benchmark Report 2026
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48.3 %
share of global organisations without such tools planning to invest in the next 12 months
global organisations without such tools, 2026
« contre 48,3 % à l'échelle mondiale. »
Source: Freshworks Customer Service Benchmark Report 2026
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45.2 %
share of European companies using AI that have connected it to their core workflows
European companies using AI, 2026
« à peine 45,2 % des entreprises européennes utilisant l'IA l'ont véritablement connectée à leurs processus de travail centraux, accusant un retard de 16,1 points de pourcentage sur la moyenne mondiale. »
Source: Freshworks Customer Service Benchmark Report 2026
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16.1 percentage points
gap with the global average in connection to core workflows
Europe/world comparison, 2026
« accusant un retard de 16,1 points de pourcentage sur la moyenne mondiale. »
Source: Freshworks Customer Service Benchmark Report 2026
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32 %
global proportion of support teams using AI in 2025
global support teams, 2025
« Entre 2025 et 2026, la proportion d'équipes de support recourant à ces solutions est passée de 32 % à 43,6 % dans le monde. »
Source: Freshworks Customer Service Benchmark Report 2026
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43.6 %
global proportion of support teams using AI in 2026
global support teams, 2026
« Entre 2025 et 2026, la proportion d'équipes de support recourant à ces solutions est passée de 32 % à 43,6 % dans le monde. »
Source: Freshworks Customer Service Benchmark Report 2026
Classification
- Country
- Worldwide scope
- Company size
- All sizes
- Industries
- All industries, or industry not specified
- Companies
- Freshworks (study author)
- Keywords
- customer service, customer relations, productivity, automation, benchmark study, europe
Entry written by Marsanne Studio from the cited article, with the help of an AI model (claude-sonnet-5). The rights to the article and its illustrations belong to Relation Client Mag and its author. Entry translated from French by Claude Sonnet 5.5.