Automating Customer Engagement: How AI-Supported Technologies Promote Optimized Collaborative Value Creation in the After-Sales Service

Mechanical and plant engineering, a key industry in the German economy, is facing challenges such as a shortage of skilled workers, international competitive pressure as well as increasing customer requirements. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in this sector are therefore showing a growing interest in AI-supported technologies in service intending to improve customer engagement (CE) and ensure the long-term success of the company. Based on interviews with professionals and leaders from SMEs in the mechanical and plant engineering sector, this study examines their approaches to exploiting AI-based digitalization potential in after-sales service. The aim is to analyse and evaluate how these technologies promote CE and to identify the possible impact on value creation and corporate success. The focus is on questions relating to the transfer of performance factors to the customer, increasing demands on service quality, and the role of AI-based applications in after-sales service to ensure the success of the company. The findings highlight the positive impact of using AI software solutions on service quality, for example, and therefore on customer satisfaction. In addition, there is a shift of tasks from the company to the customer, relieving internal processes and changing interaction. The customer is actively involved in the service process, e.g. through self-service platforms and real-time data access. This co-creation approach creates a positive synergy, where the customer’s continuous use of platforms and access to data increases value on both sides and deepens CE. Despite the limited spread of AI solutions to date, companies are increasingly recognizing the strategic benefits of these technologies but face technological and organizational challenges that affect implementation.