Success

Automate

Best AI Agent Platforms for 2025 (Hands-On Guide)

Contributing Author

12 min read

Aug 28, 2025

TL;DR: Support teams can’t hire their way out of rising demand. AI agents are the next step beyond chatbots — resolving issues, scaling 24/7, and freeing humans for complex work. The question is which platform fits your team best.

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Managing customer service in 2025 is harder than ever: requests pile up, teams feel stretched, and leaders can’t keep hiring their way out.

The answer many are turning to is AI agents — not just chatbots, but systems that actually solve problems.

In this guide, you’ll find a shortlist of the top AI agent platforms, when each makes sense, and a simple framework to help you choose.

Why AI agents matter now

Over the last decade, customer service tools evolved from static FAQ pages to chatbots that could answer basic questions. But in 2025, the stakes are different. Customers expect instant, 24/7 support across every channel. At the same time, support costs keep climbing, and many teams are under pressure to do more with less.

AI agents mark the next shift. Unlike simple bots, they don’t just chat — they resolve. Trained on your business knowledge and customer data, they can reset a password, check an order, or recommend the right product, all without human intervention. That frees up your team to focus on complex cases that build real loyalty.

Recent surveys show that more than 70% of customers expect a business to offer real-time support, and most will leave after a single poor service experience. For support leaders, that urgency makes AI agents less of a nice-to-have and more of a survival strategy.

Quick answer: top AI agent platforms at a glance

If you don’t have time to read the full analysis, here’s the shortlist. These platforms stand out in 2025 for how they balance automation, human handoff, and scalability. 

The table below highlights what each does best, when to choose it, and what to keep in mind before you commit.

Platform positioning summaries

• Text App – The AI-first customer service platform. Built from the ground up with automation at its core, it’s best for teams that want to scale high-volume support without sacrificing personalization.

• Zendesk AI – The enterprise safety net. Known for reliability and deep workflows, Zendesk suits organizations with complex support operations that require consistency across teams.

• Salesforce Service Cloud – The ecosystem powerhouse. Best for companies already using Salesforce who want AI tightly integrated into their CRM and sales processes.

• Intercom Fin AI – The fast mover. Designed for SaaS and growth-stage startups that want quick deployment and a polished customer experience without heavy setup.

• Forethought – The intelligent searcher. Strong in AI-powered knowledge retrieval and automation, ideal for teams that need accurate answers surfaced across multiple channels.

• Ada – The no-code builder. Lets non-technical teams create and manage AI agents, making it appealing for mid-sized businesses that want agility and control.

• Freshworks Freddy AI – The cost-conscious suite. Affordable and bundled into Freshdesk, it’s well-suited for SMBs looking for AI support without breaking budgets.

• Genesys AI – The contact center workhorse. Built for scale and omnichannel coverage (voice + chat), it’s a fit for large organizations running dedicated customer service operations.

1. Text App

Most platforms talk about AI as an add-on. Text App was built with it at the center. Its agents learn directly from your knowledge base and customer data, which means they don’t just answer FAQs — they can troubleshoot, process requests, and even suggest next steps for customers.

The real strength is cohesion. Live chat, ticketing, and automation all run through a single workspace. That means no hopping between dashboards, no fragmented history, and far less duplication of work. For support leaders, this unification translates into shorter resolution times and a team that spends its energy on complex cases, not repetitive ones.

If your priority is scaling service without inflating headcount, Text delivers an AI-first approach that feels seamless rather than bolted on.

2. Zendesk

Zendesk has long been the enterprise anchor in customer support. Its AI tools now extend that legacy, helping large teams route tickets, detect intent, and automate repetitive workflows. These features are particularly valuable for organizations managing high volumes of structured, process-heavy requests.

Where Zendesk shines is in infrastructure. It offers advanced reporting, compliance-ready processes, and an extensive app marketplace. But because AI came later, it can sometimes feel like a layer on top of an already complex system, rather than the core engine. That trade-off is the price of stability: you get reliability and scalability, but with less of the agility you’d see in AI-native tools.

For global enterprises running regulated, multi-team operations, Zendesk remains the dependable choice.

3. Salesforce Service Cloud

Salesforce has always been the ecosystem play — and its Service Cloud is no different. The biggest advantage is how deeply it ties into your existing CRM. Your AI agents don’t operate in isolation; they draw on sales, marketing, and customer history to provide highly contextual responses.

The AI tools here focus on case classification, intent prediction, and next-best-action recommendations. For companies already invested in Salesforce, this feels seamless. The flip side is complexity: rolling it out requires significant configuration, ongoing admin, and usually a dedicated Salesforce team.

If you’re already a Salesforce shop, Service Cloud is the logical step. For anyone else, it can feel like too much machinery for the job.

4. Intercom Fin AI

Intercom built its reputation on sleek design and ease of use, and its Fin AI agent continues that tradition. The appeal is speed: you can go from sign-up to live AI-powered support in hours, not weeks. The AI is trained on your help center and website, so it quickly starts resolving common queries without complex setup.

What makes Intercom stand out is the customer experience. The messenger interface feels natural to end users, and the automation blends smoothly with human support. Where it falls short is depth — if your workflows span multiple systems or require heavy customization, Fin AI might hit its limits.

For SaaS startups and growth-stage companies, it’s the go-to for fast, polished AI support.

5. Forethought

Forethought takes a different tack: it positions itself as the “AI for answers.” Its strength lies in semantic search and retrieval, pulling accurate responses from your knowledge base, ticket history, and even product docs. The AI doesn’t just guess — it ranks the best possible answer and delivers it instantly to customers or agents.

This makes Forethought powerful in environments where knowledge is abundant but scattered. The trade-off is ecosystem breadth: it lacks some of the all-in-one capabilities of larger platforms. Instead, it’s designed to slot into your existing stack and elevate it.

For teams that struggle with repetitive “where do I find X?” questions, Forethought delivers quick wins in resolution time and customer satisfaction.

6. Ada

Ada has carved out its place as the “build your own AI agent” platform. The draw is its no-code environment: support managers and ops teams can design conversational flows, automate FAQs, and train agents without relying on developers. That makes Ada especially appealing for mid-sized businesses that want control but lack engineering bandwidth.

The platform is flexible enough to support customer-facing automation, proactive engagement, and even upselling scenarios. The flip side: you’ll often need integrations with your CRM, commerce platform, or analytics tools to get the most value. Out of the box, it’s a strong self-service engine — but it becomes much more powerful when connected to your broader stack.

For companies that want to empower their support team to experiment and iterate quickly, Ada offers freedom and speed.

7. Freshworks Freddy AI

Freshworks built its reputation on affordable, all-in-one software, and Freddy AI follows that playbook. Bundled into Freshdesk, it handles the basics: suggesting replies, classifying tickets, and deflecting common questions. For small and medium-sized businesses, that’s often all that’s needed to get a meaningful productivity boost.

The biggest advantage is cost. Compared to enterprise platforms, Freddy AI comes in at a fraction of the price, without requiring months of setup. That makes it accessible to lean teams that can’t justify a major investment but still want to modernize their support.

The trade-off is depth. Freddy AI isn’t as advanced as AI-first platforms when it comes to personalization or complex task resolution. Still, for SMBs that want AI without complexity, it’s a practical choice.

8. Genesys AI

Genesys has long been the backbone of large-scale contact centers, and its AI features extend that heritage. The platform supports everything from voice bots to digital agents, unified under one orchestration layer. This makes it especially strong for organizations that need to handle millions of interactions across phone, chat, and social channels.

Its AI capabilities cover routing, sentiment analysis, and predictive engagement. In practice, that means a customer with a billing issue can be directed to the right agent instantly, while routine balance checks or password resets are resolved by bots. The system is designed for scale, with resilience and compliance built in.

The downside is complexity: Genesys AI is overkill for smaller teams, requiring enterprise resources and specialized expertise to implement fully. But for global contact centers running around the clock, it remains one of the most robust solutions available.

Checklist: how to evaluate AI agent platforms

Choosing an AI agent isn’t just about picking the flashiest demo. The right fit depends on how well the platform aligns with your workflows, data, and team capacity. Here’s a simple checklist to stress-test your options:

• Integration with your stack. Does it connect smoothly with your CRM, ecommerce, and analytics tools — or will your team spend months wiring it together?

• Training on your knowledge base. Can the AI agents learn directly from your help center, product docs, and ticket history? Accuracy depends on how well the system adapts to your content, not generic models.

• Human handoff quality. When the AI reaches its limit, does the conversation escalate cleanly to a person with context intact? Dropped handoffs are where customer trust is lost.

• Analytics and improvement loop. Does the platform give you visibility into what the AI is resolving, where it’s failing, and how to improve over time? Look for actionable reporting, not just vanity metrics.

• Scalability under pressure. Can the system handle spikes — a product launch, a holiday surge — without slowing down response times or overwhelming human agents?

• Total cost of ownership. Beyond licensing, factor in setup, integrations, and ongoing maintenance. Some tools look inexpensive until you add up the real effort required to keep them running.

This framework helps cut through vendor marketing and focus on what matters: a system that actually reduces workload while improving customer experience.

What success looks like

Picture a support team at the start of a product launch. The inbox is flooding, customers are anxious, and every second feels like firefighting. Before AI agents, this would have meant late nights and long wait times.

Now imagine the same moment with an AI-first platform in place. Routine questions — “Where’s my order?” “How do I reset my password?” — are handled instantly by trained agents. More complex cases land on a human’s desk with full context already attached. Instead of scrambling, the team can focus on high-value conversations: onboarding new accounts, resolving tricky billing issues, and calming VIP customers.

The numbers tell the story. Companies adopting AI agents often report:

• Resolution rates climbing as automation handles a growing share of tickets.

• Customer satisfaction improvement, since wait times shrink to seconds.

• Agent burnout dropping, because teams spend more time problem-solving and less time copy-pasting.

The payoff isn’t just efficiency — it’s confidence. Customers feel heard, agents feel supported, and leaders know they can scale without the constant pressure to add headcount. That’s the promise AI agents deliver when they’re implemented well.

Bringing it all together

Support leaders don’t need another dashboard or a smarter FAQ. What they need is breathing room — a way to handle rising demand without burning out their team. AI agents deliver that by taking on the repetitive work, surfacing answers instantly, and letting humans focus where it matters.

The decision now is choosing the right platform. Some excel at scale, others at speed or customization. The checklist above gives you a lens to cut through the noise.

If you’re ready to see what an AI-first approach looks like, try a platform built with automation at its core. Text App offers a free trial that shows how AI agents can resolve issues, deflect repetitive tickets, and keep your team focused on real customer relationships.

The best time to experiment isn’t six months from now — it’s before the next surge hits your inbox.

Frequently asked questions

What is an AI agent platform?

An AI agent platform is software that uses artificial intelligence to resolve customer issues autonomously, not just chat. It can handle tasks like answering questions, updating orders, or escalating cases to humans when needed.

How is an AI agent different from a chatbot?

Chatbots follow scripts. AI agents learn from your knowledge base, ticket history, and customer data to deliver contextual, accurate answers. They don’t just simulate conversation — they complete actions.

Which AI agent platform is best for small businesses?

Text App and Intercom are often the easiest to adopt for small or growing teams. They provide quick wins without heavy setup or cost.

Which platform is best for large enterprises?

Zendesk, Text App, and Genesys AI are better suited for enterprises that need complex workflows, compliance features, and global scalability.

Do AI agents replace human support teams?

No. The best systems complement humans by handling repetitive issues and handing off complex or sensitive cases with full context. The goal is balance, not replacement.

How do I evaluate which AI agent platform is right for me?

Look at five factors: integration with your systems, training on your data, quality of handoff to humans, analytics, and total cost of ownership.