How to train your AI in minutes—not months

Let’s be blunt. Most so-called “easy” AI tools for customer service are anything but. If you’re a CX leader, you’ve likely been promised quick wins only to get stuck in technical weeds, IT bottlenecks, and endless delays. That’s why you need an onboarding system or your support team’s AI.

Most brands struggle to make even simple updates to their AI. The bottleneck? The AI software itself.

In fact, there’s a gap between how quickly most businesses want to implement AI, and how willing customers are to use it. A fundamental disconnect exists between the business world's rush to adopt AI and customers' readiness to trust it. Consider the paradox–while 68% of CX leaders are prioritizing generative AI investments, an identical 68% of U.S. consumers fear being scammed or misled by it.

This trust gap is precisely where well-trained, reliable AI becomes critical. It’s why we developed a well-trained, natural language tool like Sidekick Guides. It’s Gladly’s AI onboarding tool for simplifying how teams build, manage, and improve our native AI agent, Sidekick.

If you’re in the market for easier, customer-centric AI, keep reading. We’ll show you how your team can use natural language and familiar support logic to train your newest AI agent—just like how they’d train any new team member.

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Yes, AI requires training

AI has the potential to transform customer service, but most businesses struggle to maximize its value. Without the technical expertise and resources to configure, maintain, and refine AI, you end up with tools that underperform and fail to meet expectations.

CX leaders are realizing that a "set it and forget it" approach to AI leads to inefficiencies, higher costs, and frustration for both customers and agents. AI can enhance customer experiences and streamline operations, but its effectiveness depends on continuous monitoring and refinement, which many teams struggle to manage.

That said, many tools for managing AI require technical expertise to make updates. Even when teams have the necessary knowledge, cumbersome systems make it difficult to make improvements quickly and independently.

But, you can’t take months to train your AI

You want your CX team to keep up with ever-updating AI strategies. According to Gartner, more than 75% of customer service leaders feel pressure to implement generative AI in some capacity. And 64% say they plan to spend more time learning about technology in 2025. With Sidekick Guides, the pressure to learn is off.

You don’t need to submit a ticket to IT or wait weeks for a developer to tweak a workflow. And you definitely don’t have to learn how to code. You can literally train your AI in minutes, using the same plain English you’d use to coach a new support hero. If you can write a support doc, you can build a sophisticated AI workflow. It’s that simple.

And in today’s market, time-savings isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a competitive necessity. So using the skills you currently have will keep you moving fast and prevent your CX team from falling behind.

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Easy AI onboarding is here to help

Forget the old model where AI was a black box only engineers could touch. Sidekick Guides puts the power where it belongs, in the hands of the people who know your customers best—your CX team. Here’s how to train your AI to get up and running, fast:

• Natural language setup. Just tell Sidekick what to do, how to respond, and when to escalate, using everyday language. No code, no confusion—just clarity and control.

• Cross-channel magic. Build a workflow once, and it works everywhere—chat, voice, SMS, email. No need to duplicate effort or reinvent the wheel every time you add a new channel.

• Instant updates. Need to change your return policy or shift your brand tone? Update your AI in minutes, not months. No more waiting for IT or risking outdated answers.

And here’s the game changer: Guides reduces AI deployment timelines from months to hours. That’s not fluff—teams are launching and optimizing AI faster than ever, seeing immediate operational impact and ROI.

Empowering CX leaders to own AI—finally

Sidekick Guides isn’t just about speed. It’s about putting CX leaders in the driver’s seat. You get full ownership of your AI strategy, with the autonomy to make changes on the fly. That means you can respond to business shifts, product launches, or seasonal spikes instantly—without ever touching a line of code.

• Full control, zero technical barriers. Your team manages Sidekick’s behavior, escalation rules, and even integrations with platforms like Shopify or your CRM—all without technical headaches.

• Real-time testing. Preview and refine Sidekick’s responses before going live, ensuring every answer is on-brand and accurate.

• Continuous improvement. With Sidekick Journeys, you see exactly how your AI is performing in real conversations. Spot gaps, make improvements, and watch your resolution rates climb.

It’s no surprise that CX leaders struggle to fully utilize AI tools. They face challenges with data integration, quality control, and overly technical AI training. In fact, 86% of CX leaders cite those reasons as major barriers to successfully rolling out AI with their CX team. Guides solves this pain point directly, making AI optimization a breeze.

Why settle for slow, when you can have smart?

Let’s talk about results. Businesses using AI-powered support have seen an 11-30% reduction in agent-assisted conversations. That’s not just more efficient—it’s a direct hit to your bottom line, cutting operational costs while boosting customer satisfaction.

And it doesn’t stop there. AI-trained workflows allow agents to resolve cases 44% faster, freeing them to focus on complex, high-value interactions instead of repetitive questions. Companies using AI alongside customer journey analytics see higher CSAT and lower service costs, as they can pinpoint and address areas for improvement in real time.

But here’s the reality check: 64% of customers prefer that companies do not use AI for customer service unless it is highly accurate and helpful. This means accurate, easily updateable AI is essential for customer trust and satisfaction.

Guides brings easy AI onboarding to CX

Guides transforms how businesses build and improve Sidekick, the AI agent powered by Gladly Customer AI. It makes setup and optimization intuitive, fast, and accessible to everyone, not just technical experts.

Instead of relying on complex programming, CX teams use natural language to train Sidekick just like they would onboard a new support hero—using familiar documentation, brand voice, and real-world processes.

With Guides, teams define how Sidekick responds, retrieves information, takes action, and escalates when needed. It feels less like configuring software and more like extending your team.

This creates a continuous cycle of training your AI, monitoring it, and optimizing its behavior. As you get access to new insights, your team can update Guides immediately to keep Sidekick aligned with evolving customer needs.

AI that works at your speed

Sidekick Guides isn’t just another tool. It’s a declaration that AI should work for you, not the other way around. It gives you the power to train, optimize, and own your AI—without technical gatekeeping, without delays, and without compromise. If you’re ready to move fast, stay agile, and deliver radically efficient and radically personal customer experiences, then get ready.

It’s training time.

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