An AI customer service tool gives a customer the wrong answer about a refund. The customer follows that advice and expects the business to honour it.

Who handles the situation? Who checks why it happened? Who decides whether the tool should keep answering refund questions?

These questions belong in the plan before the tool goes live. They are part of deciding how AI will operate within your business and who will take responsibility for its use.

Be clear about what AI is allowed to do

“Using AI in customer service” can mean several things. It might draft answers for employees to review, answer routine questions directly or take actions within a customer account.

Each use needs a clear boundary.

For example, you might allow the tool to explain a published returns policy, while requests for exceptions go to an employee. If the information is missing or unclear, it should pass the question to someone who can answer it.

Start with the task and its consequences. Agree on where AI can act independently and where a person needs to approve the next step.

Give someone ownership of the business outcome

Several teams may be involved. IT manages the system. Customer service uses it. Senior leaders approve the investment.

Agree on who owns the outcome of that particular use of AI. For a customer service tool, that could be the customer service lead, supported by technical colleagues.

The owner needs to understand the purpose of the tool, review its performance and have the authority to raise problems or request changes. Technical support still matters, but business ownership makes clear who is accountable for the service customers receive.

Decide how problems reach a person

Employees need to know what to do when an answer looks wrong. Customers need a clear route to human support.

Agree on which situations require review, who receives them and how quickly they should respond. Give someone the authority to pause the affected function when necessary.

In the refund example, the team should be able to correct the customer’s information, investigate the answer and decide what needs to change. A clear process prevents the issue from being passed between departments while the customer waits.

Review changes as well as results

AI tools operate within a changing business. Policies are updated, services change and new questions appear.

Decide who approves changes to the information the tool uses and checks that its answers still reflect the business’s offer.

Look at examples of its work, recurring complaints and cases that needed human intervention. Those findings can inform whether to adjust its scope, improve the supporting information or introduce further review.

Make responsibility part of your AI strategy

Before expanding AI use, leaders should be able to explain what it is allowed to do, who owns the outcome and what happens when something goes wrong.

At Wave Advisory, we support leaders in connecting AI strategy with organisational readiness, clear responsibilities and practical oversight. This brings the leadership decisions behind AI into the same conversation as its intended business value.

Explore Wave Advisory to discuss how your business can prepare for wider AI use.