Are you still employing humans in your call center in 2026?

My phone rang at 08:30 on a Friday. I was being called by a bank's call center.

“Don't you conduct calls during business hours?” I asked.

The agent on the other end replied quite naturally:

“My shift has started, and you were the first person I called.”

“Please forward this conversation to your supervisor,” I replied. Because I had some idea of how call centers operate. Under normal circumstances, they shouldn't have been calling at that hour. And even if they did, they shouldn't have given such an answer.

My introduction to call centers was years ago while I was working as a CTO at MediaSA. One day, I was given the task: “We are going to set up a call center.” To be honest, I didn't fully grasp the operational burden of this business at the time. Just as I was thinking, “How are we going to do this?”, my dear friend Yaman Alpata introduced me to Gökhan Çakmak, who was truly very experienced in this field.

The interesting thing is that Gökhan and I had worked together before on the D-Smart project. But that period was so intense and fast-paced that we didn't even remember each other.

Gökhan, bless him, took the whole burden upon himself. If I remember correctly, we set up a structure of about 30 seats. But I still cannot forget the operations that stretched nights into mornings, the shift problems, the human management, the device issues, and the reporting crises. I even remember very clearly that towards the end of the project, Gökhan's nerves were seriously frayed. Because managing people is a truly difficult job.

The Human Problem

Looking back today, I ask the main question differently:

Why do banks, insurance companies, and brands that sell remotely still continue with a human-heavy call center model in 2026?

Even an average manager can see that the current model is losing money by the second. Moreover, this loss is not just salary costs. You need three shifts for one seat. That means effectively three employees. A significant portion of these employees consists of young people. There is constant turnover. You provide training, and a few months later, the employee leaves. A new one comes in. The process starts all over again.

The fundamental problem of call centers is not technology, but human nature.

An employee might have had a fight with their partner in the morning. They might have experienced something that ruined their mood during a smoke break. They might have gotten angry at a customer. That anger is carried over to the next call. The brand's tone changes. The quality changes. Consistency is lost.

The Side We Don't See

Videos of couriers spitting on food orders circulate frequently on social media. Moreover, a significant portion of these couriers don't even know the customer. Sometimes they are just annoyed that the customer is sitting at home and ordering food. We can see these because there are security cameras. But how will we see how call center employees take revenge on the customer or the brand? We can't. And no one can say with certainty that “nothing happens there.”

Why is Artificial Intelligence Inevitable?

This is exactly where artificial intelligence comes into play.

Because a well-trained artificial intelligence call center does not get tired, does not act emotionally, does not go out for smoke breaks, and its performance does not change throughout the day. Once trained, it can provide the same quality at every seat.

Moreover, it is incredibly easy to scale.

In human-staffed systems, going from 10 seats to 1000 seats creates a massive organizational problem. On the artificial intelligence side, most of the time, you only need to increase the concurrent line capacity on the operator side. Reporting is cleaner. Control is easier. Auditing is more transparent.

The issue of hardware costs was a disaster area all on its own. Anyone who has managed a call center for years knows this. Headsets, computers, IP phones, switches, maintenance costs, malfunctions, licenses… Artificial intelligence eliminates a huge part of this burden.

Reputation Crisis

Moreover, the issue is no longer just about cost.

Call centers have turned into structures that directly damage the reputation of brands today. People remember a brand not by its commercial, but by their call center experience. A bad conversation can sometimes throw a million-dollar advertising campaign into the trash.

Therefore, the issue is no longer the question of “Will artificial intelligence come to call centers?”

The issue is this:

Why does a company still insist on maintaining the old model?

Because every second lost today means not only money but also a loss of the future.

In Brief

* A social media content creator shared a very interesting list titled “Startup ideas that haven't been done yet in the age of artificial intelligence.” The remarkable part of the list is this: A significant portion of the ideas revolves not around technology, but around human behavior and attention management. Honestly, looking at the list, it wouldn't surprise me if some of these turn into billion-dollar companies in the next few years.

1. Personal AI Chief of Staff — A personal AI system that manages life organization, from daily tasks to meetings.

2. Digital Clutter Cleaning Service — A service that simplifies mailboxes, files, and digital chaos.

3. Internet Just for Focus — A structure that offers work-oriented internet by automatically blocking distracting content.

4. Skill-Based Hiring Platform — A career system that hires by testing real skills instead of diplomas.

5. Goal-Based Social Network — A social platform that connects people with similar life goals.

6. Life System Designer — A service that establishes a daily routine and discipline system according to the user's psychology.

7. Reputation Scoring Platform — A system that measures reliability and professionalism with digital scores.

8. Deep Work Cafes — Work spaces specially designed for silence and concentration.

9. Decision Simulator — A system that simulates the future effects of decisions to be made using artificial intelligence.

10. Subscription-Based Skill Schools — Platforms that offer continuously updated skill training with a membership model.

11. Burnout-Preventing Productivity System — A productivity tool that adjusts work pace according to stress and energy levels.

12. Social Battery Tracker — A digital tracking system that analyzes social and mental energy levels.

13. AI Personal Brand Creator — A tool that automatically converts the user's ideas into content and brand language.

14. Environment Optimization Service — A service that reorganizes work and living spaces for productivity.

15. Reality-Based Goal Planner — A system that creates goals based on real behavioral data instead of motivation.

16. Self-Confidence Training App — An application that develops self-confidence by analyzing speech patterns and body language.

17. Digital Boundary Manager — A system that creates digital life boundaries by filtering notifications and messages.

18. Life Audit Platform — A life dashboard that analyzes where time and energy are being lost.

19. Offline Experience Marketplace — A platform that organizes real-world events and experiences.

20. Habit Environment Kits — Systems that develop physical environment and tool sets that support good habits.