At this year’s Zendesk Relate, Zendesk unveiled a range of new AI features and tools designed to make customer service more automated, intelligent, and seamless. With new AI Agents, copilots, and workflows, the company is taking another step toward what it calls an “Autonomous Service Workforce.”
At the center of this initiative is the Zendesk Resolution Platform, where AI agents, copilots, knowledge, actions, governance, and insights work together in one system.
Instead of switching between systems, manually updating tickets, and building complex integrations, Zendesk aims to bring everything together in one solution, helping support teams spend less time on administration and more time resolving issues.
AI Agents that do more than answer questions
One of the biggest themes at Relate was the development of new AI Agents. According to Zendesk, the best AI solutions don’t just answer questions, they understand complex issues and take action across systems.
The new Zendesk AI Agents are now available across:
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messaging
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email
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voice
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backend systems
Zendesk is also continuing to build on its acquisition of Forethought, making it possible to extend these AI Agents into the platforms businesses already use.
Specialized AI agents
Zendesk also introduced Agent Builder, which allows companies to build their own AI Agents using natural language, without the need for heavy development or complicated code.
These agents can, among other things:
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navigate complex workflows
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collaborate with other AI Agents
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delegate tasks
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work side-by-side with human agents
Zendesk also demonstrated how AI Agents can handle more advanced workflows while collaborating with both human teams and other agents.
Copilots that help both agents and administrators
Zendesk introduced several new copilots designed to support different roles across the service organization.
The new Agent Copilot helps agents with procedures and recommendations based on internal knowledge sources. The goal is to help new agents ramp up faster while ensuring more consistent responses.
For administrators, Zendesk introduced Admin Copilot, which provides more than 70 proactive recommendations for improving workflows and configurations. The idea is to reduce manual work and make it easier to optimize support operations over time.
Zendesk also showcased:
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Knowledge Copilot, which identifies gaps in the knowledge base
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Analyst Copilot and the new Agentic Analytics, which analyzes trends and finds root causes behind issues
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an upcoming Quality Score, which automatically analyzes both AI and human interactions
The goal is to give support teams better insight into what's actually working and what should be improved.
Analyst Copilot
Automation across systems
For AI Agents to be able to solve tasks autonomously, they also need to be able to work across systems and data sources.
That's why Zendesk is now introducing Action Flows for AI Agents, built in Action Builder, a visual no-code tool for automating workflows.
Businesses can create flows that:
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retrieve information
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update tickets
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perform actions
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connect different systems
Zendesk also introduced its new Model Context Protocol (MCP), designed to help AI Agents automatically choose the right tools and integrations.
Action flows for AI agents
At the same time, Zendesk is expanding its Knowledge Connectors, which now support:
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Notion
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SharePoint
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Google Drive
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PDF import
This gives AI Agents access to even more of a company’s existing knowledge directly within Zendesk.
Employee Service gets a bigger focus
Zendesk also spent significant time showing how AI can improve internal employee support.
The company introduced new Employee Service AI Agents built for internal support, designed to help IT teams provide faster and more secure assistance directly within employees’ workflows.
Employee Service AI agents
Zendesk is simultaneously launching an updated Zendesk ITSM solution, which includes:
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Employee Service AI Agents
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built-in IT Asset Management
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new integrations for IT workflows
The goal is to reduce the complexity many organizations experience with traditional ITSM systems.
A new unified contact center
Zendesk also announced a new native contact center built directly into the Zendesk Agent Workspace.
By bringing telephony, AI, and support into one solution, Zendesk aims to make true omnichannel support easier to deliver – without complicated third-party setups.
Built together with AWS, the solution is designed to create more seamless collaboration between AI Agents and human agents across channels.
Unified contact center
One platform built for smarter resolution
One of the clearest messages from Zendesk Relate 2026 was that this is about more than just adding new AI features.
Zendesk wants to build a platform where AI Agents, copilots, workflows, knowledge, and insights work together in one connected system.
According to Zendesk, the goal is not just more automation, but continuous improvement – with AI learning from every interaction over time.
The result is intended to be faster resolutions, smarter scaling, and better experiences for both employees and customers.
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