A few years ago, I sat down with our sales and operations team and asked a simple question: what do you actually spend your day doing? Their answer was humbling.

It turned out that our experienced relocation professionals were spending close to 70% of their time on emails, documentation, and administrative follow-ups. Only about 30% of time was going towards what they were truly hired to do, which is building relationships, solving problems, and guiding families and executives through a stressful transition of their lives.

This imbalance became the core purpose of every AI integration or initiative we have pursued. We focused on flipping the ratio.

Where We Started: the Website AI

Around two years ago, Globe Moving introduced an AI assistant on our website. The business case was clear: international relocation inquiries come in around the clock, and in multiple languages. It was simply not feasible or sensible to have a human pre-sales team based in Bangalore providing coverage across many languages at 2:00 AM on a Sunday. Or any day.

We saw the advantages immediately. The AI could respond to multilingual queries with ease, address detailed questions regarding customs regulations, documentation requirements, and timelines, and offer prospective customers a meaningful first interaction. Earlier, the first interaction ended with a contact form and a long wait.

However, we quickly learned the downside, too. “Hallucinations” occurred. Responses that sounded confident were incorrect. This led to frustration, which was completely understandable because they were from customers who chose us for our reliability.

We also noticed a clear pattern. There was a segment of customers, often those dealing with complex or emotionally sensitive relocations, who did not want to interact with a bot. They wanted a human. Recognizing that signal early and ensuring a smooth handover became just as critical as improving the accuracy of the AI itself.

Automation in Customer Service: A Genuine Win

We have witnessed clear-cut success within our customer service operations. Automating a significant portion of routine outbound communication such as status updates, document reminders, and milestone confirmations allowed us to meaningfully reduce the volume of daily manual calls our coordinators made.

More importantly, the time saved went back into what mattered the most: our customers. Our teams were able to spend more time on proactive problem-solving, personalized check-ins, and carefully handling exceptions.

This is the kind of AI application I fully support. It does not replace roles. It removes repetitive, low-value tasks, allowing people to operate at a much higher level.

Where We Pulled Back: Video Surveys and Telephonic AI

Not every experiment has delivered the results we hoped for, and there is value in being transparent about that. We evaluated AI-powered video surveys as a tool for conducting pre-move volume assessments remotely. This was promising in theory, but execution fell short. We encountered too many inaccuracies: duplicate counts, missed items in cluttered spaces, and inconsistencies that could easily lead to pricing disputes or packing gaps.

In a business where accuracy directly impacts a family’s belongings, that margin of error is simply not acceptable. For now, manual surveys remain our standard, though we will revisit this viewpoint as the technology matures.

We saw a similar trend when testing telephonic AI for customer interactions. Adoption was uneven, and the customers who resisted it most were often those who needed human support the most. International relocation is not a transactional service. It is a deeply personal experience and the voice on the other end of the line carries real weight.

The Real Goal: Inverting the 70/30

Every AI initiative we are currently exploring, from AI-assisted documentation to more intelligent internal workflows, is evaluated against one simple question: Does this bring us closer to a world where our teams spend 70% of their time with customers and only 30% on administration?

I want to be honest about this. What we have done is start the journey with a clear sense of direction, a willingness to pull back when the technology is not ready, and a firm conviction that AI in our business is a support function. It is not a replacement for the human judgment and human empathy that this industry has always depended on.

Our experience with AI now guides our future endeavors to ensure that our people spend their time where it truly matters.