The use of artificial intelligence in customer experience is rapidly increasing worldwide. Global research data suggests that by 2025, over 80% of customer interactions are expected to be conducted through AI-powered tools.
Globally, 60% of companies prioritize proactive customer experience management as a key investment area.
At AWS re:Invent, Amazon Web Services' biggest annual cloud computing conference held in Las Vegas, Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of AWS Applied AI Solutions, offered candid answers to questions spanning the role of AI in customer service, deficiencies in multilingual modeling, organizational change, and innovations in the health care sector.
Aubrey pushed back against the market narrative that AI will completely eliminate customer service teams, arguing that companies must not sever their direct relationship with customers.
Aubrey stated that the idea that companies wouldn't want a direct relationship with their customers seems to be an unusual strategic direction.
At the AWS re:Invent event, as foundational principles for AI projects began to emerge alongside the debut of new products and ecosystem stakeholders, Aubrey outlined the ideal scenario: AI should handle transactional and low-value tasks, leaving people to manage more complex and sensitive issues.
Citing the example of a retirement fund in Australia, she stressed that empathy is essential in sensitive matters such as retirement planning or post-mortem estate discussions, and these types of conversations should not be entrusted to AI.
When asked why 95% of AI initiatives fail, Aubrey pointed to the "last mile" difficulty. She noted that while prototyping is easy, making AI projects operational becomes challenging when factors like regulatory compliance, security, adherence and brand requirements come into play. She stated that AWS is focused on solving this issue through its "Applied AI" group, aiming to make the technology work "out-of-the-box."
Despite the challenges, success stories were also shared.
Aubrey explained that using real-time "sentiment analysis" in customer service allows them to provide instant feedback to representatives, which has helped raise customer satisfaction rates to 97%.
She also mentioned they are working on features that will allow businesses to adjust the AI's "personality" (e.g., sympathetic, empathetic, creative or precise) to match their brand voice.
Discussing the future of user interfaces, Aubrey predicts a shift toward an "agentic" era where interfaces adapt to the user, and people will not have to learn how to use new tools.
Aubrey also announced a health care innovation: a new solution designed to accelerate antibody discovery for biologists, which can be used by scientists without a computational biology background, set to launch in the near future.
One of the most notable moments of the meeting was Aubrey's honest assessment of AI language model performance.
Referring to comparisons made with AWS's "Nova Sonic" team and other models (OpenAI, Gemini, etc.), Aubrey stated that no model provider should be satisfied with the current state.
She said she's not satisfied with the performance of any of the models, highlighting a general industry problem. She emphasized that models still struggle with languages like French and various Indian dialects, stressing that they are still far from the "ideal world" where AI should automatically adapt to the customer’s language, accent and speaking speed.
The use of artificial intelligence in the global customer experience domain is accelerating rapidly, with success rates increasing as AI adoption grows.
Global research data suggests that by 2025, over 80% of customer interactions are expected to take place through AI-supported tools.
One of Türkiye's telecoms and technology companies, Türk Telekom's AI‑powered in-home fixed internet assistant, Wi-Fi Mercek (Wi-Fi Lens), which was launched in 2022, achieved significant success in customer support processes by generating 2.5 million solutions in the first six months of 2025 alone.
Zeynep Özden, deputy general manager in charge of marketing and customer experience at Türk Telekom, stated that new solutions strengthen the company's customer-centric strategy.
“As Türk Telekom, the pioneer of Türkiye's digital transformation, we bring our customers together with next-generation technologies and enrich the internet experience by offering services at global standards. With our customer experience-focused approach, we offer end-to-end digital solutions to our users through our support systems integrated with AI and automation technologies," Özden noted.
"Our support systems, which provide proactive, fast, and effective solutions, elevate the in-home connection experience of our fixed internet subscribers. With Wi-Fi Mercek, we are performing smart home internet management and increasing our operational efficiency.”
Apple on Thursday announced the winners of the 2025 App Store Awards, as it honored 17 apps and games for their technical creativity, quality of user experience and cultural impact.
The winning apps and games were selected by App Store editors from a list of 45 finalists.
The awards once again highlighted the success of developers in bringing innovative ideas to life that add tangible value to people's everyday routines.
"Every year, we're inspired by the ways developers turn their best ideas into innovative experiences that enrich people’s lives," said Apple CEO Tim Cook.
"This year's winners represent the creativity and excellence that define the App Store, and they demonstrate the meaningful impact that world-class apps and games have on people everywhere," Cook added.
Among the applications reflecting the vast capabilities of the Apple ecosystem, several titles stood out: Tiimo, which combines visual planning with AI; Detail, which makes video editing accessible to everyone; Essayist, designed to accelerate academic writing processes; and Explore POV, which takes users on a global discovery tour using Vision Pro's impressive Apple Immersive Video structure.
On the wearable front, Strava took the spotlight on Apple Watch with its real-time segment tracking, while the Apple TV award went to HBO Max, recognized for its sign language support and extensive content catalog.
In the gaming category, Pokémon TCG Pocket offered iPhone users an innovative card battle experience, while on iPad, DREDGE was celebrated for its mysterious yet peaceful atmosphere.
On Mac, Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition drew attention with its visual splendor, while Porta Nubi transported players directly inside puzzles on the Apple Vision Pro. Finally, the winner for Apple Arcade was WHAT THE CLASH?, recognized for its fun and absurd competitions.
Middle East Technical University (METU) has launched Türkiye's first university endowment fund in collaboration with Maxis, a subsidiary of Türkiye's biggest private lender, Işbank.
This initiative introduces a financing model widely used by top global universities to Türkiye for the very first time.
The METU70 Venture Capital Investment Fund, established within the scope of the university's 70th anniversary, aims to reach a structure of $70 million in the first phase, followed by a target of $100 million.
METU Rector professor Ahmet Yozgatlıgil announced ambitious long-term goals, stating that the volume will be expanded by the university's 80th year in 2035, with the ultimate aim of reaching a $1 billion endowment fund by its 100th anniversary.
Yozgatlıgil emphasized that at least 70% of the raised capital will return as investments into the METU ecosystem, noting, "We are talking about a transformation that no university in Türkiye has achieved to date."
Hakan Aran, general manager of Işbank and a METU alumnus, announced that the bank would contribute an additional 10% of whatever total amount is accumulated in the fund.
"If the dream there is to reach $100 million, we will put $10 million on top of it. When institutions moving in the same vision with hearts beating for the same purpose come together, things start to change," Aran said.
Managed in cooperation with Maxis Venture Capital Portfolio Management, the fund acts with a specific allocation strategy: 70% will be directed toward METU ecosystem initiatives, while 30% will target strategic opportunities.
Priority sectors include artificial intelligence, advanced materials, biotechnology, health technologies, defense, mobility, and climate technologies.
The potential for return is significant: Some 11% of all successful exits in Türkiye are realized by METU graduates. Furthermore, of the 524 investments made in 2024, 50 belonged to METU alumni.
