From Phone Calls to AI Oversight: How One Company is Creating Higher-Paying Jobs in the AI Economy

Real stories of hourly workers earning 30-40% more by partnering with AI instead of fearing it.

The headlines are everywhere: "AI Will Replace Your Job." But what if the real story is more nuanced and more hopeful than the fearmongering suggests?

At Abby Connect, a Las Vegas-based customer service company, Nathan Strum is proving that AI doesn't have to mean job losses. Instead, his company is creating a new category of higher-paying positions by training customer service representatives to manage AI agents rather than replacing them entirely.

"I have an employee, a mother of five boys, a single mother in Las Vegas," Strum explains. "She started as a receptionist, couldn't make her rent payment, and had a hard time. She's now been promoted to tech support and is learning AI. She's going to make 30 to 40% more money working in AI at our company than she was just a year ago."

Her journey? From $16 per hour answering phones to $22-24 per hour supervising AI agents and ensuring quality customer interactions.

The Human-AI Partnership Model That's Actually Working

For 20 years, Abby Connect provided traditional human-powered customer service. Two years ago, recognizing the AI wave coming, Strum made a crucial decision: instead of laying off workers, the company would "bring our staff with us" into the AI era.

The result? Employment at Abby Connect has grown from 30 people in 2010 to 80 in 2020, and now stands at 100, with plans to add another 100 AI-integrated roles over the next two years.

"We realized that if we're truly going to become an AI company, we needed to bring our staff with us," Strum says. "We've been offering free learning opportunities for our staff—customer service representatives learning AI, learning tech support."

But here's the key insight: these aren't completely new jobs requiring computer science degrees. They're evolved versions of existing roles that leverage workers' existing strengths while adding new capabilities.

What AI Supervision Looks Like

The daily work has undergone fascinating transformations. Instead of spending eight hours on the phone with customers, these AI supervisors spend their time:

• Monitoring AI conversations in real-time

• Grading AI performance on calls

• Providing feedback to improve AI responses

• Stepping in when situations require human judgment

"They're both listening," Strum notes, comparing traditional customer service to AI oversight. "The day-to-day difference is that you're compiling a lot of information through forms, and you're grading calls. It's more similar to a job we've had for 20 years—QA-ing customer service calls—except now you're QA-ing the bot rather than the person on the phone."

The human element remains crucial. When I asked Strum about AI failures, he shared a memorable example: "My favorite story is when the AI started talking Chinese during our beta phase." These moments highlight why human oversight isn't just helpful—it's essential.

The Skills That Transfer and Pay Off

What makes this transition work isn't technical expertise—it's the soft skills that customer service professionals already possess. The ability to understand customer needs, recognize when conversations are going well or poorly, and maintain quality standards translates directly to AI supervision.

"They're still focused on the core competency of customer service," Strum explains. "Now their core job is to give feedback to the developers instead of actually talking to the customer over the phone."

The career progression path is clear: receptionist → AI technician → AI setup specialist for clients → AI engineer. It's a natural evolution that builds on existing skills while opening doors to higher compensation and more strategic work.

Beyond Customer Service: A Model for Every Industry

While Strum's focus is customer service, the principles apply broadly. The key traits for success in AI collaboration aren't technical—they're human:

• Open-mindedness: "You have to have an open mind. We've been programmed to think one thing about technology since we were born."

• Adaptability: Being willing to learn and evolve with changing tools

• Quality focus: Understanding what good outcomes look like in your field

Your Action Plan for the AI Economy

Strum's advice for anyone concerned about AI's impact on their career is refreshingly practical: "Learn as much as possible, and use it in your personal life. The mindset shift comes from using this in your personal life."

He's right. When you use AI to help plan meals, troubleshoot problems, or research purchases, you begin to understand its capabilities and limitations. You stop seeing it as a mysterious threat and start recognizing it as a powerful tool.

Here's how to start:

1. Replace Google with AI: Try using Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity for everyday questions

2. Experiment with work tasks: Use AI to draft emails, summarize documents, or brainstorm solutions

3. Focus on quality control: Learn to evaluate and improve AI outputs

4. Think partnership, not replacement: Look for ways AI can handle routine tasks while you focus on strategy and relationships

The Real Future of Work

Strum's message counters the doom-and-gloom narrative: "Not only are we replacing customer service jobs, we're replacing those jobs with higher-paying jobs. We've got sales teams who are more motivated, making more money, focusing on higher-value work because AI has taken the crap they don't like to do away from them." Strum has clients in professional services and home services, who were initially skeptical of having an AI agent answer their phones. These clients' concerns were eliminated in just a few weeks.

The companies thriving in the AI economy aren't those avoiding the technology; they're the ones embracing it thoughtfully. They're using AI to eliminate tedious tasks while empowering their employees to do more meaningful and strategic work.

As I've learned from watching companies like Abby Connect, AI isn't coming to steal jobs—it's coming to transform them. The question isn't whether AI will change your work; it's whether you'll be part of shaping that change or watching it happen to you.

The opportunity is there. The tools are available. The only question is: Are you ready to start exploring?