+14%About 1 in 10more customer issues resolved per hour by support agents with a generative AI assistant, and +34% for novice and low-skilled agents
+14% more customer issues resolved per hour by support agents with a generative AI assistant, and +34% for novice and low-skilled agents (2020-2021 data, National Bureau of Economic Research, NBER working papers)
StudyChecked at source, 23 Oct 2026LargeGlobalAI · Work
Issues resolved per hour with a generative AI assistant
Group
Productivity gain
All support agents
14%
Novice and low-skilled agents
34%
Source: National Bureau of Economic Research, NBER working papersNBER w31161: 5,179 support agents at one firm.digitaltreed.com/statistics
In plain words
What this number really says
+14% more customer issues resolved per hour by support agents with a generative AI assistant, and +34% for novice and low-skilled agents (2020-2021 data).
+14%
the latest figure (2020-2021 data)
Large
company size covered
Study
type of source
Why you can trust it. National Bureau of Economic Research, NBER working papers: study, experiment or academic paper. 5,179 customer support agents at one US software firm; 89% worked outside the US, mostly in the Philippines.
National Bureau of Economic Research, NBER working papers
Source type
Study: Experiment or academic paper
What it measures
+14% more customer issues resolved per hour by support agents with a generative AI assistant, and +34% for novice and low-skilled agents
Data period
2020-2021 data (ends 31 Dec 2021)
Published by the source
1 Apr 2023
Who is counted
5,179 customer support agents at one US software firm; 89% worked outside the US, mostly in the Philippines.
In the source's words
Access to the tool increases productivity, as measured by issues resolved per hour, by 14% on average, including a 34% improvement for novice and low-skilled workers
Checked at source
23 Oct 2026: Read on nber.org (w31161, Brynjolfsson, Li and Raymond; issued April 2023, revised November 2023) on 2026-10-23. One large software firm's support team.
Reuse
Working paper; quote with credit. Working papers are not peer reviewed.
Next expected update
One-off (National Bureau of Economic Research, one-off)
23 Oct 2026CorrectionWording corrected to match the source: agents were mostly outside the US, so region is Global
Cite this number
APA
National Bureau of Economic Research. (2023). +14% more customer issues resolved per hour by support agents with a generative AI assistant, and +34% for novice and low-skilled agents. Via digitaltreed, https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/ai/ai-assistant-support-productivity
MLA
"+14% more customer issues resolved per hour by support agents with a generative AI assistant, and +34% for novice and low-skilled agents." National Bureau of Economic Research, NBER working papers, 2020-2021 data. digitaltreed, https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/ai/ai-assistant-support-productivity.
HTML link
<a href="https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/ai/ai-assistant-support-productivity">+14% more customer issues resolved per hour by support agents with a generative AI assistant, and +34% for novice and low-skilled agents</a> (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2020-2021 data)
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<p>Source: <a href="https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/ai/ai-assistant-support-productivity">+14% more customer issues resolved per hour by support agents with a generative AI assistant, and +34% for novice and low-skilled agents, digitaltreed</a></p>
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FAQ
Questions about this number
What is the latest figure for work (Global)?
+14% more customer issues resolved per hour by support agents with a generative AI assistant, and +34% for novice and low-skilled agents, for 2020-2021 data, according to National Bureau of Economic Research, NBER working papers. We checked it at the source on 23 Oct 2026.
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