Announcing expanded access to AI agent capabilities for all Zendesk customers

Announced on | Rollout starts | Rollout ends
March 30, 2026 | May 11, 2026 | June 12, 2026*

Starting in May, Zendesk will expand access to our most advanced AI agent capabilities for all Zendesk customers and introduce streamlined onboarding designed to help you get up and running faster.

This announcement answers the following questions:

What’s changing?

Why is Zendesk making this change?

What do I need to do?

What’s changing?

Zendesk is simplifying AI agents packaging and expanding access to our most advanced, agentic capabilities across all Zendesk Suite and Support plans.

Beginning May 11, 2026, Zendesk will initiate a phased rollout of our new AI agent packaging model. Key changes include:

Removal of plan distinctions: The distinction between "Essential" and "Advanced" AI agent plans is being removed. All customers will transition to a single offering.

Unlocked agentic capabilities: Advanced features—previously restricted to the AI agents - Advanced add-on—are now included across Zendesk Suite and Support plans. This includes features like agentic reasoning, multi-step procedures, and external API integrations.

Streamlined onboarding experience: The initial setup and configuration of AI agents is moving to a guided, self-service setup flow for simpler use cases across email and messaging.

Unified cross-channel management: AI agent configuration and management now follow a consistent experience across messaging, email, and voice (in EAP) channels.

AI Expert services: While customers can now get started through guided self-service for simpler use cases, expert guidance remains critical for successful deployment at scale for more complex implementations.

This update helps customers adopt and scale AI agents without the complexity, with streamlined onboarding and a more consistent experience across channels, all powered by the Resolution Platform.

As part of this evolution, we remain committed to aligning our pricing with the value customers receive. We'll share more details separately about how outcome-based pricing will evolve to reflect the range of outcomes AI agents deliver.

Why is Zendesk making this change?

We’re making this change to help you deliver more resolutions to your customers with less effort as expectations continue to rise. By expanding access to agentic capabilities and simplifying onboarding, more customers can deploy AI agents faster, scale automation over time, and deliver a more consistent experience across channels.

What do I need to do?

No immediate action is required. This is a phased update starting rollout on May 11, 2026. Read below for specific guidance based on the functionality you use today.

For new customers and trial accounts:

The new experience rolls out between May 11-15. See Getting started with AI agents.

For existing customers who have never created an AI agent or who are currently using essential AI agents or legacy AI agent functionality:

The new experience rolls out between May 25 and June 12, 2026. Once your account has access, you can begin exploring it right away. See Getting started with AI agents.

While no immediate action is required, Zendesk will stop technical development (except critical bug fixes and supporting breaking changes) for AI agents - Essential and legacy functionality (including bot builder) by August 31, 2026. End-of-life and full service shut-off for these products will be December 10, 2026.

In the coming months, we’ll share detailed timelines, transition plans, and guidance to help you transition to the upgraded AI agent experience. We recommend that all customers plan to complete their migration by August 31, so you may avoid any potential disruptions to your support.

For more information, see Migrating to the new AI agents experience.

*For existing customers using advanced AI agents:

The streamlined onboarding experience mentioned above will roll out on a future timeline.

In the meantime, your current AI agent experience remains unchanged and no immediate action is required. This investment strengthens our AI agent platform for the future—so as automation continues accelerating, you will benefit from AI agents that can scale seamlessly, operate with greater reliability, and deliver consistently exceptional service, even at peak demand.

If you have feedback or questions related to this announcement, visit our community forum where we collect and manage customer product feedback. For general assistance with your Zendesk products, contact Zendesk customer support.