What is AI as a service (AIaaS)?

Since the turn of the century, forward-thinking organizations have tried to use some form of AI, be it the first iterations of chatbots or automated ticket routing. Then ChatGPT captivated consumers across the globe with its generative AI model in 2022—and suddenly, AI became a requirement for all businesses to stand out in the marketplace, not just the innovators.

In fact, according to the Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2025, 70 percent of consumers see a clear gap between businesses that use AI effectively and those that don’t. With the right AI as a service (AIaaS) partner, you can delight your customers at every turn and stand head-and-shoulders above the competition. Read on to learn more about AIaaS, how it can improve your customer experience (CX), and some popular providers that are shaking up the AI landscape.

More in this guide:

• Types of AI as a service
• Popular AI as a service vendors
• Benefits and challenges of AIaaS
• Frequently asked questions
• Embrace AIaaS with Zendesk

Types of AI as a service

Businesses can leverage different types of AI services depending on operational needs. Like software as a service (SaaS) business models, companies can subscribe to AIaaS plans that provide them with AI in the workplace. Here are some popular types of AIaaS.

AI agents

AI agents are advanced chatbots that autonomously resolve customer requests, from simple inquiries to complex issues. They operate via conversational AI and generative AI that is trained using a combination of:

• Machine learning (ML) algorithms

• Natural language processing (NLP)

• Large language models (LLMs)

• Various other AI technologies

As you may deduce, the quality of the AI agent depends on the quality of CX data it is trained on—for example, the industry-leading Zendesk AI agents are trained on over 18 billion customer service interactions.

Businesses can enlist AI agents to perform a wide range of tasks. They can provide 24/7 support and order status updates, process returns and refunds, surface help center articles, troubleshoot product problems and technical glitches, and more. When an AI agent comes across a problem that is too complex or nuanced to solve, they can route the customer to the most qualified human support agent.

Agent copilot

Agent copilots are AI-powered second-in-commands that can support agents. When human agents engage with a customer, the agent copilot analyzes the conversation and suggests contextually relevant responses or actions based on the customer’s sentiment and replies. From there, the human agent can approve, modify, or execute these suggestions, resulting in a streamlined ticket resolution process.

As the technology learns from agent interactions, it can work autonomously to resolve specific types of high-volume, routine tickets like order cancellations. Overall, agent copilot blends AI efficiency and human expertise, improving the speed and quality of customer service interactions.

AI-powered quality assurance

AI in customer service quality assurance helps businesses enhance the CX in every interaction. Like AI agents, it uses machine learning algorithms and natural language processing techniques to automatically analyze customer messages and give valuable insight to your team.

Advanced QA models like Zendesk QA can evaluate 100 percent of customer conversations to spotlight top-performing agents and those that need improvement. From here, teams can schedule training modules to ensure everyone gets up to speed.

Not only that, but Zendesk QA can also spotlight churn risk, outliers, and escalations so managers can step in before it’s too late.

Data labeling

Data labeling is a crucial component in developing AI and machine learning models. It involves manually annotating data with specific labels or tags, such as categorizing images, transcribing audio, or identifying entities in text.

The goal is to organize information efficiently, serving as the foundation for training AI models to recognize patterns and make accurate predictions.

Machine learning frameworks

Machine learning frameworks are cloud-based software libraries and tools that allow developers to build custom AI models. AIaaS providers offer pre-built ML frameworks that enable businesses to easily train and deploy these AI models without spending heavily on in-house dev resources. Some popular examples include Google Cloud AI and Microsoft Azure Machine Learning.

Application programming interfaces

Application programming interfaces (APIs) allow different software apps and systems to communicate, interact, and share information. AIaaS vendors provide APIs so businesses can seamlessly connect the systems they currently use with AI-powered tools without building the AI models themselves.

For example, AI can assist fintech businesses with integrating bots and voice assistants with their own live chat software or website without code.

Artificial Intelligence of Things (IoT)

Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of devices connected to the Internet that share data with each other. The devices contain sensors that exchange information in real time. Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) embeds AI technology and machine learning capabilities into IoT, analyzing data to identify patterns, gather operational insights, and detect and fix problems.

AIoT devices can send relevant information to the cloud (with user permission) to assist with a product’s performance. AIaaS providers may offer forecasting services that enable IoT devices to predict when a machine and equipment may need maintenance, helping businesses avoid expensive interruptions.

Popular AI as a service vendors

Choosing the right AIaaS vendor can help you successfully implement the AI tools that fit your business needs. Here are a few of the top AI as a service providers and examples of what they offer.

Zendesk

According to the CX Trends Report 2025, 90 percent of CX Trendsetters think AI will resolve 8 in 10 issues without a human within the next few years. This growing sentiment shows how crucial AI will be in future business strategies and how important partnering with a quality AIaaS vendor will be. Zendesk is a top AI as a Service provider for teams that want to improve their customer experience. Some of our AIaaS capabilities include:

• AI agents that understand and resolve the most sophisticated interactions from end to end.
• Agent copilot that provides support agents insights, suggested replies, and the ability to execute agent-approved actions.
• AI-powered QA that analyzes 100 percent of support interactions to highlight areas of improvement and churn risks.
• AI-powered WFM that empowers teams with AI-powered forecasting and scheduling and real-time performance reporting.

Zendesk AI infuses CX intelligence into every interaction, allowing teams to manage high customer demand, streamline workflows, boost agent performance and productivity, and increase customer loyalty.

Amazon Web Services

Amazon isn’t just an e-commerce marketplace with fast delivery. It’s also a cloud computing provider offering AI and machine learning services. Its AIaaS, Amazon Web Services (AWS), offers tools for businesses to build, train, and deploy AI models. AWS AIaaS offerings include:

• Amazon SageMaker: This service makes it easy for dev and data teams to build, train, and deploy machine learning models.
• Amazon Rekognition: This computer vision service provides image and video analysis capabilities, including object detection and facial recognition.
• Amazon Lex: This offers natural language processing capabilities for building chatbots and conversational interfaces.
• Amazon Polly: This text-to-speech service converts text into life-like speech that is useful for voice-enabled applications.

These services from AWS empower businesses of all sizes to leverage the power of AI to improve their operations.

Google Cloud

Google Cloud offers a suite of AI solutions and ML services that extend from NLP to computer vision. Here are a few cloud services offered in its toolset:

• Google Cloud AI is a set of machine learning tools and AI services for data scientists and dev teams that includes support for TensorFlow (the open-source ML framework that powers most Google products) and scikit-learn (a data analysis and algorithm library).
• Google Cloud Natural Language API is a natural language processing tool for sentiment analysis and content classification.
• Google Cloud Vision AI is a computer vision service for image and video analysis. It features object detection and labeling, as well as facial recognition.
• Google Dialogflow is an advanced AI platform for building conversational interfaces that use ML models, such as chatbots and virtual assistants.

These AI and ML services from Google Cloud provide businesses with the tools and infrastructure to build intelligent applications.

OpenAI

You’ve likely heard of OpenAI’s generative AI tools, ChatGPT and Dall-E, but its AIaaS offers so much more. OpenAI’s cloud-based AI services and models help developers, too. Some examples include:

• GPT-4: This language model uses natural language processes and generative AI. It is available through an API, allowing developers to build custom AI applications.
• OpenAI Codex: An AI model designed for code generation, it assists developers in writing code more efficiently.
• OpenAI DALL-E: This creates unique visual content from text inputs.

From natural language processing to code generation and image creation, OpenAI’s AIaaS empowers developers to leverage the latest advancements in AI.

Benefits and challenges of AIaaS

Like any service, AIaaS comes with its share of pros and cons. Let’s start with a few common benefits of AIaaS to consider.

• Boost team productivity and efficiency: AIaaS allows you to leverage AI-powered features, such as intelligent routing and triage, generative AI, and sentiment analysis. These tools help streamline workflows and improve your team’s skills, resulting in increased productivity without additional headcount.
• Enhance the customer experience: With AIaaS, businesses can implement AI faster to deliver personalized, conversational support and level up their CX.
• Reduce costs: AIaaS is a cost-effective way for businesses to use plug-and-play AI functionality to keep up with evolving business trends and customer expectations—without heavy IT spending.
• Scale faster: AIaaS allows businesses of all sizes—even small businesses and startups—to deploy AI. The right AIaaS provider grows with your company, allowing you to adapt the AI capabilities to your needs and increase scalability.

Feeling uncomfortable with new technology, especially AI, is completely normal. Though AIaaS offers rich benefits, these challenges may be something to consider when picking the right AIaaS solution for your business.

• Risk of biased or unreliable data: If somebody trains an AI model on unreliable, biased, or unethical data, it could result in inaccurate results and decision-making. AIaaS providers should offer tools and services that help businesses ensure datasets are reliable, ethical, and unbiased.
• Concern about data privacy and security: AI-powered software needs access to large amounts of data to learn and personalize the CX. The vendor you choose must have advanced data privacy and protection software to minimize the risk of exposing information during a security breach.
• Compliance with regulatory standards: Regulations governing the use of AI may vary across industries or locations. That means it’s important to make sure your AIaaS vendor meets compliance standards relevant to your business.

Choosing the right AIaaS provider requires a thoughtful balance between leveraging the benefits of AI and addressing potential challenges. By prioritizing trustworthy data, robust security measures, and compliance with regulatory standards, businesses can confidently embrace AI to enhance their customer experience and drive growth.

Frequently asked questions

Lush

Zendesk AI aids Lush in its drive to grow through ethical values and positivity

“KPIs come as standard, but our founders want us to report back and tell them how our customer is feeling. With Zendesk we can do that.”

Naomi Rankin

Global CX Manager

Read customer story

Embrace AIaaS with Zendesk

AI has quickly become a crucial part of enhancing both the customer experience and employee performance. Businesses and customers alike have embraced the technology and understand that the benefits of AIaaS are essential to stay innovative and competitive. Zendesk provides comprehensive AIaaS solutions like AI agents, agent copilot, AI-powered QA, and more that can help you exceed your CX goals.

Learn more about how Zendesk customer service software can make a difference for you.