Avaya CX service blends AI, robots and human interactions
Avaya has partnered with Avatarin to unify customer interactions among AI, remote human agents and physical spaces. The goal is to improve contextual customer service.
A resident goes into a Tokyo municipal office seeking help. He speaks a language the onsite staff can't speak. Traditionally, that interaction might end with the resident shuffled among departments, leading him to repeat the same information or leave without resolution altogether.
Instead, the resident approaches a human-sized robot displaying the live face of a remote municipal worker, who assists him in real time. That scenario is part of a broader effort by Avaya and Avatarin to rethink customer experience (CX) when expertise is not physically available where it's needed.
Avatarin, a Tokyo-based robotics and AI company, is using Avaya Infinity, Avaya’s CX platform, to orchestrate interactions between AI systems, remote human agents and physical robots across environments, including airports, government offices and retail locations.
Contact center in a physical world
The fresh deployment reflects Avaya's effort to extend the contact center beyond traditional voice and digital channels into physical service environments where organizations face staffing shortages, multilingual demands and fragmented service experiences.
At the center of the initiative is what Avatarin CEO Akira Fukabori calls "unmet presence." These are situations where expertise is required in a physical location, but is not available on-site.
"The trigger is often a situation where the right support or expertise is not available where it is needed," Fukabori told TechTarget.
While enterprises have invested heavily in omnichannel CX systems, physical environments remain a weak point. Customers starting with in-person interactions often face staffing gaps or language barriers, leading to repeated explanations or abandoned interactions.
Closing service gaps in physical environments
Avatarin combines AI agents, remote specialists and physical robots designed as conversational interfaces. When combined with Avaya Infinity, customer context follows users across systems in real time, reducing repetition during handoffs between AI and human agents.
"The biggest friction arises from data silos and handoffs between staff who lack specialized knowledge," Fukabori said.
The deployment is designed to preserve continuity as customers move between AI systems, remote workers and physical environments.
Unlike traditional kiosks or standalone video support tools, Fukabori said, the deployment is designed to preserve continuity as customers move between AI systems, remote workers and physical environments.
The system uses interoperability standards to share customer context across enterprise workflows. Avaya describes its model as "tandem care," where AI systems and human agents collaborate rather than operate independently.
AI handles routine inquiries, translation and data gathering, while complex issues escalate to human specialists.
Tony Lama, senior vice president and general manager of Avaya Software, and David Funck, Avaya CTO, said the platform is designed to unify AI, data and communications across hybrid environments with governance and deployment flexibility.
This hybrid model is necessary, Fukabori said, because AI still lacks human judgment in complex or empathetic situations.
"Agentic AI excels in scalability, responsiveness and task execution," he said. "However, empathy and complex decision-making remain the domain of humans."
In Tokyo municipal pilots, Avatarin's "newme" social robot enables remote specialists to assist residents directly. The robot's face-forward display and physical movement are designed to make interactions feel more natural and conversational.
"When the face on the screen responds naturally and the robot moves deliberately, users quickly adapt to it as a normal interaction," Fukabori said.
Blending AI and human expertise
Analysts note that physical AI deployments will depend less on hardware than on back-end integration and continuity of experience. Enterprises still struggle to connect digital CX systems with real-world service environments, said Jon Arnold, principal of J Arnold & Associates.
Enterprises have spent years unifying digital interactions, but the physical world remains disconnected.
Jon ArnoldPrincipal, J Arnold & Associates
"Enterprises have spent years unifying digital interactions, but the physical world remains disconnected," Arnold said. "The challenge is maintaining continuity as customers move between AI systems, human agents and physical spaces."
That challenge is intensifying as organizations face labor shortages, rising multilingual demand and expectations for faster resolution.
For Avatarin, the goal extends beyond automation. "This model combines AI scalability with human expertise and judgment, and, together, they redefine how customer experience is delivered," Fukabori said.
Avaya and Avatarin emphasize that the aim is not to replace human interaction, but to extend expertise into environments where it's not physically present.
As CX platforms evolve, the Avaya-Avatarin deployment reflects a broader shift toward orchestration models extending beyond the contact center into physical environments where AI systems, human agents and frontline staff operate as a unified workflow.
Moshe Beauford is a writer with nearly a decade of experience covering enterprise technology, including AI, unified communications and customer experience.
