According to Barclays, one of the key emerging use cases for AI could be the automation of customer service requests. At a time when some investors are starting to doubt AI’s momentum, some companies are now experimenting with AI for customer service and consumer-facing features. Analysts at Barclays estimate that for gig economy companies, AI could help generate more than 200 basis points of margin improvement through claims automation. The cost per human interaction for completed service requests is $6, while the cost per AI interaction is just $1 and could drop even lower in the future, Barclays found. “These companies have complex payments, low margins, many customer service issues… and therefore have outsized ‘operating and support’ expenses as a percentage of total business.” [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization]” analyst Ross Sandler wrote in a note Tuesday. He noted that Klarna announced in late February that it had moved two-thirds of its customer service requests to an OpenAI-based assistant, a move the fintech company said could lead to a $40 million profit improvement this year. He cited the names that will benefit most from using AI to handle Tier 2 and Tier 3 customer service requests, including Lyft, Instacart and Roblox. These levels of support involve escalations from resolving simple customer service issues and can lead to problematic- Automating customer service requests could also be an AI revenue boon for hyperscaler technology services, like Microsoft’s Azure, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform, Sandler pointed out, is the biggest beneficiary of AI automating customer service requests, assuming it can pass on just over a third of class-level customer service requests. 2 and 3 based on humans to artificial intelligence. Barclays estimates that AI could boost EBITDA by around 8% for the ride-sharing company, which has significantly high volumes of customer service requests. The stock, which is up about 18% so far this year and more than 100% over the past 12 months, could fall about 10% from current levels, according to analysts polled by FactSet. Meanwhile, GoDaddy could see EBITDA growth of around 4% by using AI automation in operations and support, according to Barclays. During its Investor Day on March 6, GoDaddy said it expects annual revenue growth of 6% to 8% between 2024 and 2026, fueled by the acceleration of its applications and business operations. Shares are up about 10% year to date, and analysts polled by FactSet see a 9% upside. Ultimately, online gaming platform Roblox will also benefit from the technology as it executes microtransactions at a high frequency, Sandler noted. Analysts’ consensus price target implies the stock could gain more than 20%, according to FactSet. Roblox’s fourth-quarter results were better than the Street had hoped for in February. Quarterly bookings reached $1.13 billion, the highest level ever. However, shares are down more than 10% in 2024. To be sure, it’s still early days for companies that could benefit from implementing AI as part of their customer support, Barclays found. Most of these companies likely use AI for only a small percentage of Tier 1 requests, Sandler noted, adding that many Tier 2 and 3 requests are complicated and may not satisfy customers, who would have to abandon them. “We have seen productivity gains among software development teams in the consumer internet, but this type of incremental improvement is harder to quantify in terms of direct P+L benefit,” Sandler said.