Once upon a time, customer service meant walking into a building.
If you needed to pay a bill, change a booking or renew your licence, you went to the branch down the road.
Banks, shops, post offices, council offices — all ran on face-to-face chats and paper forms.
It worked, but it came with queues, short hours, and a long drive if you lived out in the wop wops.

Then came the phone.
In the 80s and 90s, private companies jumped on 0800 numbers and central call centres so you did not have to show up in person.
Government got on board too, but it was slower going.
Often you still had to ring the right regional office, and sometimes that meant calling three different numbers.
For private businesses, the phone was a way to win customers.
For government, it was more about easing the pressure on the counter.

The late 90s brought the internet.
Airlines let you book tickets at midnight.
Banks rolled out internet banking.
Government set up portals like govt.nz which were useful, but many forms still needed printing and posting.
Private companies chased speed and convenience.
Public services focused on making sure everyone could still access things, even if it meant keeping some paper in the mix.

The 2010s put services in your pocket.
Smartphones meant your bank, supermarket and even your taxi ride all moved into an app.
APIs allowed these apps to talk to each other, so you could top up your bus card while sitting on the bus.
Government agencies launched some apps too, like rego reminders, but the coverage was patchy and often less slick than the private sector.
While private firms focused on sleek design, government had to juggle apps with rules, security and budgets.

Now we are heading into the AI era.
Banks can approve loans while you make a coffee.
Online stores can fix orders before you even know something went wrong.
Government is experimenting with chatbots for FAQs and AI sorting documents, but is not yet letting AI make the final decision.
Private companies move fast and learn on the fly.
Government tests the water carefully and slowly.

Despite all this progress, no channel has truly disappeared.
Businesses still keep people in branches for the big important conversations.
Government still keeps counters and phone lines because not everyone is online.
Both offer a buffet of options, but for very different reasons.

Looking ahead, the private sector will probably go AI first in most customer journeys.
Government might leap forward in certain areas if the political stars align, but it will always keep a safety net for those who cannot or will not go digital.
New Zealand is often one of the last places to feel the full impact of new technology.
With AI, that might be a good thing.
It gives us the chance to see what works elsewhere, avoid the mistakes, and bring in solutions that fit our people, our culture and our pace.
This time, taking our time might just put us ahead.

Written for KiwiGPT.co.nz — Generated, Published and Tinkered with AI by a Kiwi