The role of EI in engaging customer during an automated service provisioning and in the subsequent value co-creation processes will be highlighted. In doing so, the contribution of AI in the recognition customers’ emotions during automated service encounters will be analysed, focusing on the way by which firms should manage the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in frontline interactions to sustain customer engagement, value co-creation if in customer service an AI technology detects customer emotions. In this context, the paper supports the logic of human–machine complement rather than substitution of human operators by AI (i.e. chatbots).