AI Customer Support

The AI customer support is the protocol run on a support product (L350) — the clarify (the users L162, the tickets L350, the SLAs L350, L350), the triage (the ticket's classification: the category L350, the priority L350, the routing L350), the resolution (the grounded answers L337: the RAG L349 with the citations L192, L350), and the handoff (the human L208: the escalation L350 and the approval L324, L350) — the tickets (L350), the escalation (L350), and the handoff (L208), architected (L350).

The one-sentence interview answer: "The AI support is the protocol, run (L350). The clarify (L350): the users (L162) — the customers (L350); the tickets (L350) — the volume (L350) and the types (L350); the SLAs (L350) — the response times (L350). The triage (L350): the ticket's (L350) classification (L350) — the category (L350): the billing, the technical, the refund (L350); the priority (L350): the urgent, the normal (L350); and the routing (L350): the AI (L350) or the human (L208). The resolution (L350): the grounded answers (L337) — the RAG (L349) over the help center (L265) with the citations (L192) — the known issues (L350) resolved automatically (L350). The handoff (L208): the escalation (L350) — the AI's confidence (L139) low (L350) or the ticket (L350) high-priority (L350) → the human (L208); and the approval (L324) — the refund (L324) gated (L324). The AI shape (L173): the support (L350) — the triage (L350), the resolution (L350), and the handoff (L208) — the tickets (L350) and the human (L208), architected (L350)."

Think of the support system as the hospital's emergency room. The ER (the support, L350) receives the patients (the tickets, L350). The intake nurse (the triage, L350): the classification (L350) — the symptoms (the category, L350), the severity (the priority, L350), the routing (L350) — the minor (L350) to the clinic (the AI, L350), the severe (L350) to the specialist (the human, L208). The clinic (the resolution, L350): the reference books (the RAG, L349) — the treatments (the grounded answers, L337) with the citations (L192). The specialist (the handoff, L208): the complex cases (L350) and the approvals (L324) — the refunds (L324). The ER works because the triage sorts, the clinic treats the minor, and the specialist takes the severe (L350).

   the ER (the support, L350)
   ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
   │ the intake (the triage, L350) — the sort and the       │
   │ routing (L350)                                         │
   │ the clinic (the resolution, L350) — the RAG (L349),    │
   │ the citations (L192)                                   │
   │ the specialist (the handoff, L208) — the escalation    │
   │ (L350), the approval (L324)                            │
   └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The mental model is the ER: the intake, the clinic, and the specialist (L350).

   the ticket (L350)
        │
        ▼
   ┌────────────────────── THE TRIAGE (L350) ───────────────────────────┐
   │  the category (L350) · the priority (L350) · the routing (L350)   │
   │  the known → the AI (L350) · the complex → the human (L208)       │
   └──────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┬────────────────┘
                  ▼                                  ▼
   ┌──────────────────────────┐   ┌──────────────────────────────────┐
   │ THE RESOLUTION (L350)    │   │ THE HANDOFF (L208)               │
   │ the RAG (L349) over the  │   │ the human (L208) reviews (L350)  │
   │ help center (L265)       │   │ the approval (L324): the refund  │
   │ the grounded answer (L337)│  │ (L324) gated (L324)              │
   │ with the citations (L192)│   └──────────────────────────────────┘
   └──────────────────────────┘

The flow is the ticket: triage → resolve or handoff (L350).

• The clarify (L350). The users (L162), the tickets (L350), the SLAs (L350) — the volume and the types (L350).
• The triage (L350). The ticket's classification (L350): the category (L350), the priority (L350), the routing (L350).
• The resolution (L350). The grounded answers (L337): the RAG (L349) over the help center (L265) with the citations (L192).
• The handoff (L208). The escalation (L350) — the low confidence (L139) or the high priority (L350) → the human (L208); the approval (L324) — the high-risk (L324).

• A support SaaS (L357). The triage (L350), the resolution (L350), the handoff (L208).
• A help center copilot (L349). The RAG (L349) over the help center (L265) — the grounded answers (L337).
• A refund flow (L324). The approval (L324) — the human gate (L324) on the refund (L350).
• A multi-tenant support (L357). The per-tenant (L320) help centers (L265) and the tickets (L350).
• Anything support (L350). The flow (L350) — the triage, the resolution, the handoff (L350).

The through-line: the flow is the support's — the triage, the resolution, and the handoff (L350).

Say it in four moves:

1. The clarify. "The customers, the tickets, the SLAs (L350)."
2. The triage. "The category, the priority, the routing (L350)."
3. The resolution. "The grounded answers (L337) with the citations (L192)."
4. The handoff. "The escalation (L350) and the human (L208)."

• The triage is the cost's lever (L350). The routing (L350) — the known (L350) to the AI (L350), the complex (L350) to the human (L208) — the human's (L208) time (L350) saved (L350).
• The grounded answer is the trust (L337). The RAG (L349) with the citations (L192) — the customer (L162) verifies (L192) — the L337 grounding (L337), support-shaped (L350).
• The confidence is the handoff's signal (L139). The low confidence (L139) → the human (L208) — the L139 signal (L139), operational (L350).
• The approval is the risk's gate (L324). The refund (L324) and the high-risk (L324) — the L324 control (L324), support-shaped (L350).
• The eval is the support's quality (L341). The resolution rate (L350) and the groundedness (L337) — the L341 suite (L341) (L350).

• The chatbot-only (L350). The AI (L350) without the handoff (L208) — the complex (L350) stuck (L350).
• The un-grounded answers (L337). The free-form (L336) — the hallucinations (L336) — the RAG (L349) and the citations (L192) (L350).
• The triage-less routing (L350). The everything-to-the-human (L208) — the cost (L334) — the triage (L350) sorts (L350).
• The un-approved refund (L324). The refund (L324) automatic (L324) — the L324 gate (L324) (L350).
• The eval-less support (L341). The resolution rate (L350) un-measured (L341) — the suite (L341) (L350).

• Triage the tickets (L350) — the category, the priority, the routing (L350).
• Ground the answers (L337) — the RAG (L349) with the citations (L192).
• Design the handoff (L208) — the confidence (L139) and the priority (L350).
• Gate the approvals (L324) — the refund (L324) and the high-risk (L324).
• Eval the support (L341) — the resolution rate (L350), the groundedness (L337).

Q: Walk me through the AI customer support.

A: The protocol, run (L350). The clarify — the customers, the tickets, the SLAs (L350). The triage — the category, the priority, the routing (L350). The resolution — the grounded answers (L337) with the citations (L192). And the handoff — the escalation (L350) and the human (L208).

Q: How do you design the triage?

A: The classification (L350): the category (L350) — the billing, the technical, the refund (L350); the priority (L350) — the urgent, the normal (L350); and the routing (L350) — the known and the confident (L139) to the AI (L350), the complex and the high-priority (L350) to the human (L208). The triage (L350) is the cost's (L334) lever (L350).

Q: How do you keep the answers grounded?

A: The RAG (L349): the help center (L265) documents (L176) ingested (L349) — the answers (L350) grounded (L337) in the retrieval (L189) with the citations (L192) — the customer (L162) verifies (L192). The low-groundedness (L337) → the handoff (L208) (L350).

Q: When does the human take over?

A: Three signals (L350): the confidence (L139) — the AI's (L139) low (L350); the priority (L350) — the urgent (L350); and the action (L324) — the refund (L324) and the high-risk (L324) gated (L324). The handoff (L208) carries the full context (L350): the ticket (L350), the AI's attempt (L350), the citations (L192).

• What's the clarify (L350)?
• How do you design the triage (L350)?
• How do you keep the answers grounded (L337)?
• When does the human take over (L208)?
• What's the approval (L324)?

The senior read: the AI for the known, the human for the rest — the handoff (L208) between (L350).

// The support flow (L350) — the triage, the resolution, the handoff (L350).
// 1 · THE TRIAGE (L350) — the classification (L350).
async function triage(ticket) {
  const cls = await classify(ticket);           // the category + the priority (L350)
  const confidence = await intentConfidence(ticket);   // the confidence (L139)

  // THE ROUTING (L350): the known and the confident → the AI (L350).
  if (cls.known && confidence > 0.8) return { route: 'ai', cls };
  return { route: 'human', cls };               // the handoff (L208)
}

// 2 · THE RESOLUTION (L350) — the grounded answer (L337).
async function resolve(ticket) {
  const chunks = await retrieve(ticket.tenantId, ticket.text);  // L189
  const answer = await model.invoke({
    ticket: ticket.text,
    context: chunks,                            // the RAG (L349)
  });
  return {
    answer,
    citations: chunks.map((c) => c.source),     // the citations (L192)
    groundedness: await scoreGroundedness(answer, chunks),  // L337
  };
}

// 3 · THE HANDOFF (L208) — the escalation (L350).
async function handle(ticket) {
  const { route } = await triage(ticket);
  if (route === 'human') return escalate(ticket, 'complex');   // L350, L208

  const resolved = await resolve(ticket);
  if (resolved.groundedness < 0.85) return escalate(ticket, 'low-confidence');  // L350

  // THE APPROVAL (L324) — the refund gated (L324).
  if (ticket.type === 'refund') return approvalGate(ticket, resolved);  // L324

  return resolved.answer;
}

What the reader must SEE — the flow, applied:

  classify + confidence      → the triage (L350, L139)
  route: ai vs human         → the routing (L350)
  retrieve + groundedness    → the resolution (L337, L189)
  escalate on the low        → the handoff (L208, L350)
  approvalGate on the refund → the L324 gate (L324)

  The triage sorts, the AI resolves, the human takes the rest (L350).

• The triage is the ticket's latency (L350). The classification (L350) — the sub-second (L350) routing (L350).
• The resolution is the RAG's (L349). The retrieval (L189) and the model (L278) — the TTFT (L145) — the cached (L171) answers (L350).
• The handoff is the human's SLA (L350). The escalation (L350) — the L208 workflow (L208) — the SLA (L350) tracked (L350).
• The eval is the support's cost (L341). The resolution rate (L350) — the tokens (L332) per ticket (L350).

• The AI customer support = the support's design (L350): the clarify, the triage, the resolution, the handoff.
• The clarify: the customers (L162), the tickets (L350), the SLAs (L350).
• The triage: the category, the priority, the routing (L350).
• The resolution: the grounded answers (L337) with the citations (L192).
• The handoff: the escalation (L350) and the human (L208).

AI CUSTOMER SUPPORT = the tickets, the escalation, the handoff

THE CLARIFY (L350)
  the users (L162) — the customers (L350)
  the tickets (L350) — the volume, the types (L350)
  the SLAs (L350) — the response times (L350)

THE TRIAGE (L350)
  the category (L350) — the billing, the technical, the refund (L350)
  the priority (L350) — the urgent, the normal (L350)
  the routing (L350) — the known → the AI (L350),
  the complex → the human (L208)

THE RESOLUTION (L350)
  the grounded answers (L337) — the RAG (L349)
  over the help center (L265) with the citations (L192)
  the known issues (L350) resolved automatically (L350)

THE HANDOFF (L208)
  the escalation (L350) — the low confidence (L139),
  the high priority (L350) → the human (L208)
  the approval (L324) — the refund (L324) gated (L324)

INTERVIEW, 4 MOVES
  1 clarify   "the customers, the tickets, the SLAs (L350)"
  2 triage    "the category, the priority, the routing (L350)"
  3 resolution "the grounded answers with the citations (L337)"
  4 handoff   "the escalation and the human (L208)"

You now hold the design: the triage, the resolution, and the handoff — with the minor treated and the severe escalated. The emergency room sorts — and the specialist takes the complex (L350).

Next: the lead triage, the CRM integration, and the approval-gated outreach — AI Sales Assistant (L351).