The 10 best AI support agents in 2027
- AI support agents understand a customer's intent, resolves tasks across channels on their own, and hands off to a person when necessary
- Pick Cresta for enterprise contact centers running human and AI agents on one platform, Sierra for on-brand consumer experiences, Decagon for autonomous resolution at scale, Fin for fast deployment on an existing helpdesk, and Ada for multilingual automation
- Evaluate AI support agents by testing real resolution on your own conversations first, then check voice and digital coverage, guardrails and oversight, handoffs to people, and how the agent learns from your data
CX teams will increasingly rely on AI to automate their operations.
Case in point: Gartner® predicts that by 2029, agentic AI will autonomously resolve 80% of common customer service issues without human intervention.
To help your team leverage AI for CX successfully, you’ll need to adopt a best-in-class AI support agent platform.
We’ll help you do just that by evaluating the top 10 platforms on the market. But first, let's align on how AI support agents typically work.
Note: This article was updated on 11/02/2026. The information below can change in the future.
What is an AI support agent?
It's software that understands a customer's intent and completes support tasks across channels on its own. It reasons over the whole conversation, uses your systems to take action, and escalates to a person when needed.
How AI support agents work
Most AI agents for customer support follow the same pipeline. Quality comes down to how well each step works and whether the steps share context.
- Understand intent: real customers interrupt, change topics, and describe problems in their own words, so the agent reads the full conversation instead of matching keywords
- Carry context: a customer who starts in chat and calls later expects the agent to remember, so context has to cross channels and AI-to-human handoffs
- Take the resolving action: the agent completes multi-step workflows, such as authenticating a caller and updating an account, through your CRM, telephony, and knowledge sources
- Hand off cleanly: high-emotion and high-complexity issues go to a person, who gets full context the moment the conversation lands
Use our enterprise buyer's workbook to vet your options
How we evaluated the best AI support agents
We evaluated each platform using third-party reviews on G2, analyst research from Gartner®, product documentation, and our own conversations with customers and prospects who’ve used and/or evaluated these platforms.
Using these inputs, we compared each platform on the criteria enterprise buyers weigh most:
- Best for: the team and use case each platform fits
- Channels: voice, chat, and digital messaging coverage
- Platform scope: standalone agent, agent inside a suite, or a unified platform for human and AI agents
- Enterprise fit: guardrails, oversight, integrations, and readiness for regulated, high-volume work
The table below summarizes each platform against these criteria. Best for and enterprise fit reflect Cresta's assessment.
The 10 best AI support agents in 2026
Let’s take a closer look at each of your options.
1. Cresta
Cresta is the AI operating system for CX.
Its AI Agent resolves complete, multi-step workflows across voice and digital, then hands off cleanly to a person. Models are also trained on each customer's own conversations, and behavioral recognition reads intent and context rather than keywords.
It's best for enterprise, regulated, and voice-heavy contact centers running human and AI agents together.
Key AI support agent features
- Autonomous resolution of multi-step workflows, such as authenticating a caller, looking up an account, and taking the resolving action
- Multiple intents handled in one conversation, without making the customer start over
- Omnichannel across voice, chat, and messaging, with context carried across channels and AI-to-human handoffs
- No-code orchestration in Cresta Opera, plus self-serve developer tooling so technical teams can build, test, and deploy their own AI Agents
- Ongoing analysis of every AI agent conversation in Conversation Intelligence, covering containment, transfers, and resolution
- Clean handoffs to Agentic Assist, which augments the receiving representative with full context in real time
What reviewers say
G2 reviewers credit Cresta with real-time guidance and AI conversation insights that lift agent productivity.
Bring your hardest workflows and watch Cresta AI Agent resolve them end to end.
2. Sierra
Sierra is a startup that builds customer service AI agents for enterprises. Its customers use those agents to answer phone calls as well as digital conversations.
It's best for consumer brands that want an on-brand conversational agent across voice and digital channels.
Key AI support agent features
- Chat, SMS, WhatsApp, email, and voice, plus a ChatGPT channel, from a single agent
- Ghostwriter, an agent that builds and updates agents from prompts, SOPs, transcripts, or audio interviews, with changes reviewed before they go live
- Agent Studio for no-code journeys, agent traces, and knowledge gap detection, with 40+ prebuilt integrations and routing to your care team with full context
- Simulations and regression suites, including voice simulations for background noise and speaker variation
- Supervisor models, PII masking, and PCI DSS Level 1 infrastructure, with SOC 2, HIPAA, and FedRAMP High listed
What reviewers say
G2 reviewers describe Sierra as natural and efficient at taking repetitive work off support teams.
The most common complaint is that complex or unusual requests still need human help.
Related: The top alternatives to Sierra
3. Decagon
Decagon builds AI agents for large companies that autonomously resolve customer inquiries using chat, email, and voice.
It's best for large companies that want autonomous resolution across chat, email, and voice.
Key AI support agent features
- One agent across chat, voice, and email, with voice in 70+ languages, automatic language switching, and handoff to humans with a summary
- Agent Operating Procedures that let teams write workflows in natural language, with versioning and reasoning traces
- Duet, which drafts procedures from past transcripts and stages production-driven agent updates for human review
- Simulations that generate tests automatically, run on a schedule, and connect to CI/CD
- Insights and reporting on CSAT and deflection by procedure, plus natural-language questions through Ask AI
What reviewers say
G2 reviewers praise Decagon for fast implementation, integrations with existing support tools, and automation of repetitive tickets.
Criticism centers on missing features and limited customization.
Related: A guide to Decagon alternatives
4. Fin
Fin, formerly known as Intercom, is an AI customer service platform that Salesforce acquired in September 2026. Fin runs natively on the Intercom helpdesk and also works with other helpdesks.
It's best for teams that want a fast-to-deploy AI agent on their existing helpdesk.
Key AI support agent features
- Chat, email, Messenger, Slack, WhatsApp, SMS, Instagram, and API coverage, with voice available to select customers
- Native fit with the Intercom helpdesk, plus support for others such as Salesforce, HubSpot, Freshworks, and Zendesk
- Procedures for multi-step work that read and write to third-party systems, including payments and refunds, through APIs, Data Connectors, or MCP
- Simulations, regression tests, and previews to test changes before they go live
- Outcome-based pricing at $0.99 per outcome, with no charge when a conversation is handed to a person with no outcome
What reviewers say
G2 reviewers praise Fin for being easy to use and responding fast.
Recurring complaints are AI limitations, such as struggles with complex queries, and missing or limited features.
Related: The top Fin AI alternatives
5. Ada
Ada deploys AI agents across voice, messaging, and email in more than 60 languages. Its Playbooks handle multi-step workflows such as refunds, rebookings, and authentication.
It's best for global brands automating high-volume, repeatable questions across many languages.
Key AI support agent features
- One agent across voice, email, chat, Messenger, WhatsApp, SMS, Instagram, and in-app, built on a shared Reasoning Engine
- Playbooks for multi-step workflows that run against live data, plus Coaching on past conversations and Simulations to test changes before launch
- Ada Voice in 42 native languages, with barge-in, background noise suppression, and outbound calls over your own SIP trunk
- Voice escalation with full context to Genesys, NICE CXone, Twilio Flex, Amazon Connect, and Aircall
- API, sandboxed Python, and MCP tools, with each MCP tool off until you enable it
- SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and AIUC-1 certification, with zero data retention at LLM providers
What reviewers say
G2 reviewers highlight Ada's ease of use, smooth setup, and responsive support.
Recurring negatives are usability issues, integration gaps, and usage limits, plus thinner reporting.
Related: The top Ada alternatives
6. Zendesk AI Agents
Zendesk AI Agents are native to the Zendesk suite, so they're the path of least resistance for teams already on Zendesk. The lineup adds co-pilot, admin, voice, and analytics agents.
It's best for existing Zendesk customers who want AI agents inside their current helpdesk.
Key AI support agent features
- Native fit with the Zendesk suite, with AI agents included in every Suite and Support plan and a resolution allowance that varies by plan
- Voice AI agents that replace IVR menus, verify callers, and handle orders, appointments, and refunds within policy, in 50+ languages
- Procedures written in natural language, with knowledge drawn from the help center, Google Drive, and PDFs
- Escalation to the right team with full context, including a transcript and summary on voice calls and a callback option
- A separate Copilot add-on with suggested next steps, admin recommendations, and analytics dashboards
What reviewers say
G2 reviewers of Zendesk's customer service suite praise its ease of use, centralized organization, and automation.
Complaints center on a steep learning curve, setup complexity, and limited customization.
That setup effort matters for AI agents, since they rely on the same workflows and triggers to route and resolve conversations.
7. Salesforce Agentforce
Agentforce builds agents on Salesforce and Service Cloud data, so it's a natural fit for organizations that already run service on Salesforce. Agentforce Voice lets AI agents answer customer service calls.
It's best for Salesforce shops that want agents grounded in their existing CRM data.
Key AI support agent features
- Grounding in Service Cloud and Data 360 (formerly Data Cloud) data, with actions through Flows, Apex, and MuleSoft
- Agentforce Voice over the phone, click-to-talk on web and mobile, and WhatsApp voice messages, reusing the same actions and data as text agents
- Einstein Trust Layer controls, including dynamic grounding, zero data retention, toxicity detection, and an audit trail
- Test case generation and observability, with session tracing, intent clusters, quality scores, and near-real-time alerts
- Handoff to a live agent with the full conversation history
- Usage-based pricing, with Flex Credits at $500 per 100,000 or $2 per conversation
What reviewers say
G2 reviewers value Agentforce's native use of Salesforce CRM data to automate routine work.
The dominant criticism is complex setup and a steep learning curve.
For AI support agents, configuration determines how reliably the agent resolves conversations, so setup effort affects time to value.
8. Kore.ai
Kore.ai is an enterprise conversational AI platform for building your own agents. Its agent platform lets enterprises build and govern AI agents across more than 40 voice and digital channels.
It's best for enterprises that want a configurable platform to build voice and chat agents themselves.
Key AI support agent features
- Agent Studio for visual and code authoring, plus ARCH, an AI architect that turns plain-language intent into agents, workflows, and handoffs
- Multi-agent orchestration, where an orchestrator routes work to specialist agents that run in parallel
- Agent definitions that are independent of the underlying LLM, so teams can swap models without rebuilding
- Governance enforced by the engine outside the LLM, with every session traced and audited
- Integrations with contact center platforms such as NICE CXone, Five9, Talkdesk, Genesys, and Amazon Connect, and with CRMs such as Salesforce and ServiceNow
- Agent assist and auto QA that scores calls against custom criteria
What reviewers say
G2 reviewers praise Kore.ai's low-code ease of use and integrations for building conversational AI.
Recurring negatives are a steep learning curve for advanced features, slower performance, and bugs.
Related: The top Kore.ai alternatives
9. Cognigy
Cognigy builds AI agents for contact centers. Its agents cover intelligent IVR, self-service, and agent assist.
It's best for contact centers that want IVR and self-service automation across voice and chat.
Key AI support agent features
- Voice AI agents that authenticate callers, with a Voice Gateway that handles inbound and outbound calls, barge-in, DTMF, and SIP-header routing
- AI Agent Studio, which combines LLM reasoning with deterministic steps and supports multi-agent orchestration and MCP
- Choice of LLMs and speech providers, including bring-your-own-key and separate speech-to-text and text-to-speech vendors
- 110+ prebuilt integrations, including Genesys, Five9, Amazon Connect, and Avaya, plus a native fit inside NiCE CXone now that Cognigy is part of NiCE
- Agent Copilot for human representatives, with CRM context, mid-call knowledge, real-time sentiment, two-way translation, and automated summaries
- 100+ languages out of the box, including voice and built-in translation, according to Cognigy
What reviewers say
G2 reviewers praise its ease of use, flexibility, and integrations.
The recurring gap is limited analytics and advanced chat flows
Related: The top Cognigy alternatives
10. Forethought
Forethought, which was recently acquired by Zendesk, builds AI agents that automate customer service interactions. Its AI agent product is now listed as "Forethought AI Agents by Zendesk."
It's best for support teams that want to triage and resolve tickets faster within their current helpdesk.
Key AI support agent features
- Solve, an omnichannel agent that resolves issues across chat, email, voice, SMS, Slack, and mobile using Autoflows built from natural-language instructions
- Custom Actions that call your APIs for tasks like refunds and account updates, plus a Browser Agent for legacy tools with no API
- Triage, which tags tickets by intent, sentiment, urgency, language, and product type and routes them, using prebuilt or custom models
- Assist, a copilot overlay for your helpdesk that offers ticket summaries, guided resolution, and suggested responses
- Discover, which surfaces knowledge gaps and trending topics, drafts articles and Autoflows, and scores conversations for empathy and resolution
What reviewers say
G2 reviewers love Forethought's intuitive interface and responsive support team. Recurring negatives are delays, a learning curve, and reporting that could be more robust.
Recurring negatives are delays, a learning curve, and reporting that could be more robust.
How to evaluate the best AI support agents
Once you've narrowed down your shortlist, evaluate each vendor on the criteria below.
Fit to your conversation mix
Start by understanding what's causing conversations, then choose the right approach for each.
Here's how to approach it:
- Conversations that shouldn't happen: fix the root cause so the contacts disappear
- Conversations neither party wants to have: routine, clear-goal interactions where automation is the fastest path
- High-emotion, high-value conversations: moments that need a person, with AI helping behind the scenes
- Conversations that should happen but don't: proactive outreach, reminders, and around-the-clock coverage people can't deliver at scale
Look for a vendor that helps you sort through these before you automate any.
Real customer proof
Look for high-ROI customer stories that show the agent completes multi-step workflows end to end on your own conversations, backed by named-customer results.
For example, Cresta AI Agent is proven in production with a number of enterprise customers:
- Alaska Airlines now contains 44% of chats, up from less than 1% with its previous virtual agent
- Xanterra reached 74% containment across its AI Agents and $3.3M in new revenue
- Windstar Cruises contains 70% of chats and lifted conversion 2%
- Propel Holdings contains 58% of interactions across its AI Agents
Voice and digital coverage
Customers move between voice, chat, and messaging, so an AI support agent should work across all of them.
To that end, look for one agent with a consistent experience on every channel, with context carried between them. And since voice is the hardest to get right (e.g., callers interrupt, change topics, and expect fast turn-taking), test it separately.
Clean handoffs to people
In a Gartner® survey of 3,566 customers, 87% said it's essential for companies using GenAI to offer a way to reach a human agent.
To that end, look for AI agents that knows its limits, routes high-emotion and complex issues to a person, and passes full context so the customer never repeats themselves.
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Learning from your own conversations
An AI agent built on models trained on your own conversations learns how your customers ask for things, how your best AI and human agents resolve them, and which steps your policies require.
That gives it more accurate answers, fewer wrong turns, and handoffs to people only when a case needs one. It also keeps improving, because every new conversation shows where the agent succeeded and where it should change.
Final thoughts
The best AI support agents in 2027 range from enterprise contact center platforms to digital-first helpdesk agents.
Sierra, Decagon, Fin, and Ada fit teams that want a standalone or helpdesk-based AI agent. Zendesk AI Agents, Forethought, and Agentforce fit teams committed to those ecosystems, while Kore.ai and Cognigy fit organizations that want to build their own agents.
Cresta fits enterprises running human and AI agents together. AI Agent handles customer conversations, Agentic Assist augments human agents in real time, and Conversation Intelligence analyzes every conversation. Deputy Agent takes on the operational work behind and beyond those conversations, such as refunds, disputes, claims, and back-office follow-through.
Whichever platform you shortlist, test real resolution on your own conversations first. Then check voice and digital coverage, guardrails, and handoffs, and confirm outcomes in a pilot before you commit.
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