Autonomous Service Delivery Systems with Agentic AI: A Conceptual Exploration
摘要
This chapter provides a conceptual exploration of autonomous service delivery systems (ASDS) enabled by agentic AI, marking a paradigm shift from traditional reactive AI tools. Unlike conventional rule-based automation that relies on human oversight, agentic AI possesses autonomy, adaptability, goal orientation, contextual reasoning, and proactive action, allowing ASDS to operate with minimal human intervention. Drawing on five theoretical lenses, namely, Service-Dominant Logic, Socio-Technical Systems Theory, Actor–Network Theory, Customer Experience & Relationship Marketing, and Dynamic Capabilities Theory, the research conceptualizes ASDS as a socio-technical system where AI acts as an active value co-creator, collaborative partner, nonhuman actor, customer interface, and strategic organizational capability. The research uncovers key insights such as the reconfiguration of service ecosystems via human–AI resource integration, the need to balance technological autonomy with human-centered design, shifts in power dynamics within service networks, challenges in building customer trust without human interaction, and ASDS’s role in enhancing firm agility and innovation. An integrative framework is also developed to provide theoretical contributions to marketing and service scholarship as well as managerial guidance for AI-driven autonomous service system implementation. Overall, the emergence of ASDS signifies a paradigm shift in marketing and service theory, redefining the boundaries between human and technological agency.