What should your AI do when it doesn’t have the answer?

As a founder, I’ve learned this the hard way.

We expect AI in customer support to always know the answer.

Faster replies. Fewer tickets. Lower costs. Reality is different.

No AI knows everything. And pretending it does is how support breaks trust.

The real question isn’t “How do we make AI answer more?”

It’s “What happens when AI doesn’t know?”

That’s where escalation workflows matter.

A good workflow tells AI exactly what to do the moment confidence drops:

1. Escalate immediately and log a ticket.

2. Ask for missing details before escalation.

3. Forward the full context to email.

4. Close the conversation with a clear handoff.

When this is defined, customers don’t hit dead ends. Agents don’t lose context. Support stays consistent.

Curious how others handle this.

When your AI can’t answer, what should it do next?

Escalate fast, ask follow-up questions, or step out quietly?

Would love to hear how you’re solving this.