Inside KeyBank’s Approach to Customer Experience and AI

AI is often deployed to improve efficiency, but its impact ultimately depends on how work is structured and delivered.

At KeyBank, one of the largest U.S. financial services companies, AI sits alongside a strong focus on service culture, shaping how customer experience is delivered.

In this episode of The Modern Customer Podcast, Dean Kontul, EVP and CIO of Intelligent Automation, Contact Center, and Investment Operations at KeyBank, describes an approach to AI as an enabler of broader efforts to improve how work gets done.

The work begins with closer integration across functions. Data, product, technology, and operations are brought together, allowing customer behavior, product decisions, and service delivery to inform one another.

Early results include high agent retention and NPS scores estimated to be in the top 30% among industry peers.

KeyBank is working toward a model where AI supports interactions in real time—navigating systems and surfacing relevant actions.

This reduces system effort, allowing employees to focus on judgment, empathy, and problem-solving—and deliver more consistent customer interactions.

This model does not eliminate human interaction. In high-stakes environments, customers still prefer to engage with a person—making AI an enabler that equips employees with the context and speed to deliver more effective interactions.

Key highlights from the conversation:

• Why AI is treated as an enabler rather than a standalone strategy
• The role of service culture in reinforcing empathy and consistency across customer interactions
• How closer alignment across data, product, technology, and operations improves execution
• Where AI is reducing employee effort while supporting better customer outcomes