Q3 2025 Update What’s Next for Zendesk AI?
Zendesk has made clear its commitment to becoming an AI-first customer experience platform, and the roadmap for late 2025 reflects just that. The focus is squarely on expanding automation, improving knowledge access, and giving businesses more control over how AI is deployed.
AI Agents for Email
Coming in Q3 2025, Zendesk is launching AI Agents specifically for the email channel. These agents will be able to read and fully respond to customer emails with complete, brand-aligned replies — not just article suggestions. With configurable "Instructions for AI Agents," companies can ensure the AI adheres to tone, language, and policy. Zendesk anticipates this capability will automate more than 50% of email interactions, a significant efficiency gain for one of the slowest support channels.
Expanded Knowledge Sources
Soon, Zendesk’s AI agents won’t be limited to your help center. They’ll be able to tap into multiple content sources like your website or internal documentation to find answers. Even if something isn’t published in your Zendesk Guide, the AI will be able to resolve the query if the information exists elsewhere in your ecosystem. This opens the door to broader, smarter automation without requiring every piece of content to live in Zendesk.
Intelligent Use Case Suggestions
To help teams scale their automation efforts, Zendesk is rolling out a new recommendation engine that analyzes your incoming ticket trends and suggests areas that are ripe for automation. Think of it as a data-driven assistant for your admin team, identifying high-volume topics like "order status" or "password reset" and prompting you to create bot flows or self-service articles around them.
Generative Content with Knowledge Builder
One of the most anticipated updates is the full release of Zendesk’s Knowledge Builder tool. Using generative AI, it allows teams to create help center articles in minutes by feeding in existing documentation or support tickets. It’s a major time-saver for content teams and helps build out a knowledge base quickly. Zendesk is also developing instant article translations, making it easier to support multilingual audiences with minimal effort.
Real-Time Monitoring and Natural Language Reporting
Expect new dashboards and reporting tools powered by AI, including real-time service performance monitoring across channels and natural language-based queries. Managers will be able to ask the system things like “Which macros have the lowest usage?” or “Where are we seeing the most handoffs from bot to human?” and get instant insights or visualizations. No spreadsheet wrangling required.
Custom QA and AI Governance
Zendesk is putting more power in the hands of admins to shape how AI behaves. A new feature called Custom QA allows teams to define specific criteria for how AI interactions should be evaluated, like spotting upsell opportunities or checking for tone of voice. Alongside this, governance features like redaction tools, brand tone enforcement, and data masking help companies stay compliant while confidently deploying AI across customer channels.
General Release of Early Access Features
Several innovations currently in Early Access are set to become generally available by the end of 2025. These include no-code builders for actions and apps, advanced approval workflows, and enhanced data masking features. As they go live, businesses across all Suite tiers will gain broader access to automation and AI customization tools.
The Bottom Line:
Zendesk’s AI roadmap is centered on three themes: deeper automation (email and beyond), smarter self-service (through broader knowledge access and content creation), and tighter control (via governance and insights).
With these updates, Zendesk continues to evolve from a support platform into an intelligent resolution engine — one that’s designed to deliver fast, personalized service whether handled by humans, AI, or both.