Meet Your New AI Employee — 5 Ways AI Agents Are Transforming the Service Industry

AI Agents vs. Chatbots: What's the Difference?

The term 'AI agent' has been popping up everywhere lately. But how is it actually different from the chatbots we're already familiar with?

Traditional chatbots work like automated phone menus — they deliver pre-scripted responses to specific inputs. AI agents, on the other hand, are given a goal and figure out how to achieve it on their own. For example, if a customer says, 'I'd like to book a table for two this weekend,' an AI agent will ① check available seating, ② make the reservation, and ③ send a confirmation message — all without any human involvement.

In short: if a chatbot just talks, an AI agent talks and acts.

New Zealand Businesses Are Already On Board

New Zealand telecom company One NZ operates more than 30 AI agents across its business as of late 2025. These agents handle customer service, network management, and marketing automation, among other tasks. Some agents even help prepaid customers find the right plan and switch to it on the spot — no call center required.

IT services firm Datacom has partnered with ServiceNow to hand off repetitive tasks — like password resets, helpdesk queries, and new employee onboarding — to AI agents.

New Zealand's largest supermarket chain, Foodstuffs, rolled out an AI-powered inventory management system that has cut food waste by up to 90%. The AI monitors stock levels in real time and automatically rotates products nearing their expiration dates.

According to research in New Zealand, 82% of Kiwi businesses are now using AI in some form, and 93% report improved employee productivity. That said, analysts note that New Zealand's adoption pace still lags behind global peers.

How South Korean Companies Are Putting AI Agents to Work

In South Korea, both large corporations and startups are moving fast.

LG Uplus has integrated Google's Gemini AI into its AI call agent platform, 'ixi-O.' The agent analyzes the context of ongoing calls, summarizes conversations, and suggests next steps — helping customer service representatives respond faster and more accurately.

Travel platform Yanolja is leveling up its personalized travel recommendation AI through a partnership with Google Cloud. The system analyzes customers' travel history and preferences to suggest tailored packages of accommodations, activities, and restaurants.

Insurer KB Life has rolled out Microsoft 365 Copilot company-wide, automating repetitive tasks like meeting transcription, report summarization, and calendar management.

According to PwC research, 79% of companies worldwide have already adopted AI agents, and 88% have dedicated budgets for them. South Korea is very much part of this wave.

5 Key Use Cases in the Service Industry

① Customer Support Automation: Handle customer inquiries around the clock, resolve simple issues directly, and escalate complex cases to human agents.

② Reservations and Order Processing: Manage restaurant, hotel, and medical appointment bookings through natural conversation in real time.

③ Inventory and Logistics Management: Monitor stock levels in real time, predict shortages, automate reordering, and optimize product rotation on shelves.

④ Internal IT Helpdesk: Automate internal IT tasks like password resets, document searches, and new employee onboarding guides.

⑤ Personalized Recommendations: Analyze customer purchase history and preferences to deliver tailored product and service suggestions on the spot.

Key Takeaways

• Unlike traditional chatbots, AI agents can make independent decisions and carry out actions — they're AI that doesn't just talk, but does.
• New Zealand's One NZ runs more than 30 AI agents in active operation, while Foodstuffs has used AI to slash food waste by 90%.
• In South Korea, major players like LG Uplus, Yanolja, and KB Life are aggressively deploying AI agents in both customer-facing and internal operations.
• 79% of companies globally have adopted AI agents, and the enterprise AI agent market is projected to grow roughly 28x — from $1.5 billion in 2025 to $41.8 billion by 2030.
• The top use cases in the service industry include customer support, reservations and orders, inventory management, internal helpdesks, and personalized recommendations.

Wrapping Up

AI agents aren't some distant future concept — they're already on the job at service businesses across New Zealand and South Korea right now. Even if you consider yourself far removed from the tech world, there's a good chance you've already spoken with an AI agent at a call center or booked a hotel that an AI recommended. Understanding — and embracing — this shift is only going to matter more as time goes on.