Over the past several years, we’ve watched AI-powered bots transform contact centers. Businesses of all shapes and sizes, from industries across the board, have been able to implement sophisticated bots to cut costs, improve efficiency, and meet rising customer expectations. And as this technology continues to evolve, studies show that 80% of business leaders are planning to invest in generative AI-based systems.
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When properly tested, monitored, and optimized, AI-powered CX systems provide a wide range of benefits. However, businesses that fail to put guardrails in place for their AI usage may become exposed to significant reputational, regulatory, and financial risks. The path to deploy effective AI-based CX channels is littered with obstacles, requiring continuous and thorough oversight and visibility, so you can mitigate risks and protect your brand before disaster strikes.
This is where AI governance is a must. Regardless of how large your organization is, or whether you’re an early adopter of AI or just getting started, any AI usage can leave you exposed to risks. But when you make AI governance a priority within your organization, you can mitigate risk, deliver interactions your customers can trust, and leverage AI to promote your long-term success.
What is AI Governance?
Any organization that uses AI is susceptible to risk. Customers are drawn to brands they can trust, but recent booms in AI usage have made many wary of what organizations are doing with AI behind the curtain. They need assurances that your business is taking precautions to protect them against cybersecurity risks, biases, misinformation, and more.
AI governance is the practice of creating and maintaining guardrails for your organization’s AI-related activities. When you implement AI governance, you’re developing policies that outline how your organization will safely use AI-driven technology and the steps you will take to mitigate risks.
Generally, AI governance helps you contain risk, preserve your brand’s bottom line and reputation, and protect your customers by focusing on four key pillars:
- Accountability: Who is responsible for your AI-based systems? Who is in charge of creating and initiating protocols if a disaster occurs?
- Security: What measures are you taking to follow privacy and security regulations? What is your organization doing to protect privileged data and sensitive information?
- Transparency: How is your organization using AI? What guidelines are in place to dictate how AI and algorithms can (and cannot) be used?
- Organizational values: How does your AI usage align with your organization’s values? Do you trust your bots to represent your brand?
An Example of AI Governance in Practice
For example, a retail brand is exposed to many potential risks when it deploys a chatbot to help customers make purchases and initiate returns. The bot uses data to analyze customers’ purchase history to provide personalized interactions and recommendations, and it gathers sensitive information, including names, addresses, and payment details.
This type of bot leaves the business exposed to reputational, financial, and compliance risks. If the bot experiences a hallucination, it may spread misinformation or generate biased answers to customer queries. Or, if improperly trained, it might store privileged data incorrectly, leaving a vulnerability for bad actors to exploit.
When you implement AI governance, you can curb those risks. You can ensure data is gathered and stored correctly, and that your bot is generating responses that meet customer needs and align with your brand’s values. In turn, you’ll forge stronger customer relationships by promoting trust and transparency. Instead of fearing the unknown of your bot, your customers will rest assured that their data is in good hands, and you’ll reap the true benefits of leveraging AI-powered CX.
Safely Innovate Your CX with AI
Simply put, AI governance is a significant puzzle piece when it comes to safely implementing AI into your CX strategies. AI-powered CX channels are complex and are only continuing to evolve by the day. Many business leaders see the competitive benefits of using AI to deliver personalized, cost-effective, and efficient customer interactions with bots, but there is plenty of room for error.
The example above provides just a sample of issues that may arise when a business doesn’t have the right precautions in place. But the possibilities are endless. An unoptimized chatbot may fail to escalate an issue to a human agent, respond to customer queries with nonsensical answers, or experience downtime during peak traffic. These are all issues that may occur when a business fails to continuously test and monitor its CX channels. And in each instance, the business is putting its reputation and revenue on the line.
It isn’t enough to simply check a box or validate your system’s performance one time. Your journey isn’t over once you’ve deployed your bot. There’s no telling when a sudden issue may arise, and it’s your job to ensure your bots are always following AI governance policies and performing as intended.
The Need for Continuous Testing and Monitoring
At this stage, continuous and thorough CX monitoring is essential, especially in real time. Just as a manager may listen to an agent’s calls to ensure that they are answering customer queries appropriately and meeting company standards, you must have your finger on the pulse of your AI system’s performance to verify that it’s meeting quality standards and delivering quality customer interactions.
AI governance isn’t about stifling innovation or hindering your ability to leverage new technology. Instead, it’s a procedure to innovate safely, so you can reap the benefits of this technology, without falling victim to compliance-related fines or degrading customer trust in your brand.
Discover Cyara’s Automated CX Assurance Solutions
There’s no denying that AI has become pivotal in the contact center ecosystem, allowing you to connect with your customers like never before. But risks lurk behind every corner as soon as you introduce AI-powered systems into your tech stack.
Cyara Botium is the industry’s only conversational AI optimization platform, which helps you accelerate bot development and regain visibility into your AI-powered CX performance. With our comprehensive solution suite, you can verify your bots are built right, thoroughly tested, and continuously improved to meet your business’ goals and customers’ expectations.
Now, Botium includes Cyara AI Trust, a suite of testing modules used to address LLM-related risks that put your brand reputation and revenue at risk. When you choose Cyara, you’ll realize the full value of your AI investments and innovate with confidence, without any unnecessary risks standing in your way.
When you make AI governance a priority within your organization, you can take the necessary steps to regain control and visibility of your customer experience, build trust, and mitigate potential risks. And Cyara is here to help you confirm CX performance and remediate risks with our automated chatbot testing solutions. Contact us today to schedule a personalized demo or visit cyara.com for more information.