Announcing AI-based predictive routing for omnichannel routing

Announced on | Rollout starts | Rollout ends
June 15, 2026 | June 15, 2026 | June 22, 2026

Zendesk is excited to introduce predictive routing for omnichannel routing. This is the first release in the AI transformation journey toward intelligent routing that goes beyond traditional rules-based assignment.

This announcement includes the following topics:

What is changing?

Why is Zendesk making this change?

What do I need to do?

What is changing?

Predictive routing is an AI-based ticket assignment model that works with your existing routing configuration and queues to improve the way messaging tickets are routed. It works by predicting how long each eligible agent would take to handle the ticket in the context of their other assigned work, and then assigns it to the agent predicted to resolve it the fastest.

Without predictive routing, agent assignment primarily relies on the agent's availability and, when configured, skill matching. In most cases, tickets are assigned to agents with the highest spare capacity, which leaves room for smarter optimizations.

Now, with predictive routing, Zendesk can evaluate the known performance of available eligible agents and their currently assigned work, and then assign work based on the prediction.

The predictive routing model is designed to improve ticket resolution times and agent efficiency. To measure your efficiency gains when you turn on predictive routing, there is a new agent-focused metric—Agent Engagement Time—in the Customer Wait Time dashboard. This metric tracks the total time an agent spends reading and responding to end user messages from the moment a ticket is assigned to an agent until the ticket is closed. This data will also be available as a historical report, so you can monitor it over specific time periods.

For more information, see Using predictive routing in queues.

Why is Zendesk making this change?

AI transformations are occurring broadly across Zendesk products, and omnichannel routing is no exception. Predictive routing is the first step towards AI-driven routing. It is a shift away from systems that require constant manual upkeep and toward systems that get smarter over time.

The goal with the release of predictive routing and future AI-based routing features, is to deliver a seamless, smart routing experience that sets a new standard for routing efficiency and service quality.

What do I need to do?

Predictive routing is available to all accounts with access to custom queues in omnichannel routing. No add-ons are required.

To turn on predictive routing, you must create or edit custom omnichannel routing queues and configure predictive routing for the entire queue or subqueues. See Using predictive routing in queues and Using subqueues to evaluate predictive routing.

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.