Every company is figuring out AI in customer support right now. The teams that move first aren’t just solving today’s workload problems – they’re setting themselves up to deliver customer experiences (at scale) that surpass what’s possible with only a human team.
That’s why a key new role is emerging: the CX Automation Specialist. I first saw it at Eucalyptus, a global healthtech company with 500K+ patients and 1M+ telehealth consultations where I was managing a 50-person support team. We were exploring AI support, and it quickly became clear this couldn’t just be a side project. We needed someone dedicated – someone who could obsess over the customer experience, build AI workflows, and get technical enough to make the systems hum.
The result? Eucalyptus now automates 80% of first-response emails with AI while keeping customer satisfaction high. That shift didn’t come from throwing more engineers or more managers at the problem – it came from putting the right kind of person in this new role.
In this post I’ll explain:
Why the application of AI to CX requires a different skillset
What skills and attitude you should look for in an automation specialist
Common hiring mistakes I’ve seen
Where you should look for great candidates
Ultimately it’s about finding someone with a growth mindset, and who bridges customer obsession with technical curiosity.
Why this role exists
AI support doesn’t neatly fit into existing roles. Support managers excel at leading people and processes, but they rarely have the bandwidth (or technical depth) to run AI experiments. Developers can wire up integrations, but they’re often missing the customer empathy needed to design a great experience.
The CX Automation Specialist bridges that gap. They combine customer obsession with technical curiosity, and they treat automation as an ongoing project – not a one-time set and forget. This is what makes the role distinct from Support Ops or Engineering, and why it’s becoming indispensable.
What makes someone successful in this role
The best CX automation specialists share a distinct combination of mindset and adaptable skills:
Customer-centric + Process-minded: They're obsessed with improving customer experience and can break down complex support workflows into logical, automatable steps. They review tickets not just to close them, but to identify patterns and improve the AI's training.
Technical curiosity without being a developer: They get excited about learning prompt engineering, understanding data flows, reading JSON logs, and grasping how APIs and webhooks connect. As one successful specialist put it: "I want to understand why an API call failed so I can fix it, even if I'm not the one writing the code."
Comfortable with ambiguity: AI capabilities change rapidly, and customer needs evolve constantly. The best people in this role see continuous testing and iteration as exciting, not exhausting.
Natural project leadership: They can coordinate across Engineering (for integrations), Product (for feature requests), and Operations (for process changes) while managing up effectively to secure resources and report on ROI.
The most common hiring mistakes
Taking too long to resource it: The least successful implementations we've seen have no dedicated owner. Rolling out AI requires alignment between tech and support teams, and you need someone who can "herd the cats" across the business.
Assuming it's "set and forget": Unlike traditional support tools, AI agents require ongoing optimization. The underlying models change, customer needs evolve, and processes need constant refinement. Companies that treat this as a one-time setup project inevitably struggle.
Underestimating the technical requirements: The "no engineering needed" pitch is way too simplistic. Getting AI to work well requires access to the same data and systems your human agents use to give great customer support. That means API integrations, data mapping, and ongoing technical partnerships.
Hiring pure tech people without customer empathy: We've seen companies assign this to developers who build technically impressive systems that miss the mark on customer experience. The best implementations come from people who can translate between technical capabilities and customer needs.
Where to find CX Automation Specialists
Great candidates often come from unexpected backgrounds:
High performing and technically curious customer support team members who already have a proven track record of delivering exceptional support outcomes, and are eager to learn new skills
Support Operations Managers who've implemented new tools or built automated workflows
Technical Support Engineers who've created their own process improvements
Implementation Consultants from SaaS companies who configure complex systems for clients
Solutions Engineers who work closely with customer success teams
Former Zendesk/Intercom/Salesforce Admins who understand ticketing systems deeply
A listing on the Lorikeet CX+AI jobs board
The common thread: look for people who are customer-centric, can solve problems naturally gravitate toward improving processes and have self-taught technical skills.
The bottom line
The CX Automation Specialist is one of the most exciting new roles to emerge in customer support. Getting this right isn’t about avoiding mistakes—it’s about putting your team at the front of the curve. The companies who embrace this role early are already seeing what’s possible: higher automation rates, faster scaling, and a better experience for their customers.
If you’re experimenting with AI in support, this is your chance to build the muscle before it becomes table stakes. Hire someone who gets energy from helping customers and tinkering with AI tools, and give them the mandate to own it.
Your customers will notice. Your support team will thank you. And you’ll be one of the first in your industry with a dedicated automation function, a capability that will only compound in value over time.
Looking to hire a CX Automation Specialist? We've helped dozens of companies think through this role. See here for our sample job description here.
