IBM and Quant AI Deploy Contact Centre Agent That Resolves 84% of Calls
Quant AI, a developer of agentic AI systems, unveiled Ava at the IBM Think Conference on May 29. The AI agent handles customer inquiries across voice and digital chat, managing policy questions, claims, payments and document requests for insurance policyholders.
Ava authenticates customers, processes payments, sends forms and escalates complex cases to human agents while maintaining full conversation context. The system operates in English and Spanish.
The solution is already live with Fortitude Re, a reinsurance provider. Early results show Ava resolving 84% of inbound calls-up from a baseline where human agents handled them. Average call handling time dropped from 11 minutes 30 seconds to 8 minutes 30 seconds. First call resolution rates increased from 71% to 86%.
What This Means for Contact Centre Teams
These metrics matter directly to your work. Fewer escalations mean less repetitive work for your team. Shorter calls free up capacity. Higher first-contact resolution means customers don't call back.
The agent doesn't replace human staff-it handles the volume and context-switching that slows down traditional support. Complex or sensitive issues still go to people.
The Technical Approach
Quant AI CEO Chetan Dube described the system as an "active reasoning conveyor belt" that connects AI agents, human operators and business systems. The key difference, he said, is the "connective tissue" between fragmented tools-the reasoning layer that decides what gets automated and what needs human judgment.
IBM global managing partner Yogi Goyal said the partnership moves beyond "incremental solutions" to what he called exponential improvement in customer experience.
For teams managing contact centre operations, the takeaway is straightforward: AI for Customer Support is moving from pilot projects to production systems with measurable impact on call volumes and resolution rates. Understanding how AI Agents & Automation integrate with existing systems will become standard knowledge in the role.
Your membership also unlocks:
