Australian Consumers Cut 10 Million On-Hold Hours - But Empathy Gap Persists

ServiceNow's March 2026 research across Australian consumers quantified, for the first time, the aggregate time saved by AI customer service improvements: 10 million hours no longer spent on hold across the country.

Fifty-eight percent of Australians have personally experienced the benefit of 24/7 AI support, and four in ten say AI is now meeting their expectation for immediate issue resolution.

The same research surfaces a durable concern: 51% of Australians worry that AI does not understand them, 46% fear a loss of human connection, and 67% say AI falls short on nuanced or complex queries.

Pete Andrew, Group VP for ServiceNow in Australia and New Zealand, noted that businesses failing to meet expectations face real consequences: nearly half of Australian consumers say they will switch to a competitor after poor or slow service. Businesses that combine AI speed with maintained human empathy in escalation flows are the ones positioned to win customer loyalty, not just reduce costs.