In 2025, a quiet revolution is reshaping global business—not from executive suites but from the front lines, where sales and customer service employees engage customers daily. These frontline employees (FLEs) are proving to be powerful catalysts for innovation by leveraging networks within and across firms. My research, Frontline Knowledge Networks in Open Collaboration Models for Service Innovations, provides a predictive framework to understand this phenomenon. It posits that FLEs drive service innovation through customer-facing and internal-facing network domains, facilitating resource flows of new knowledge and self-governance activities. While these networks unlock creativity, they also risk a “dark side” like overload if mismanaged. Through three hypothetical scenarios, explained by this framework, we’ll explore how FLEs are innovating in 2025, with firms like Salesforce, Haier, and Klarna poised to lead.
The Framework: FLE Networks as Innovation Engines
My research outlines two network domains: FLE-customer networks, where frontline workers gather insights from direct interactions, and FLE-internal facing employee (IFE) networks, where they collaborate with colleagues to refine ideas. These domains enable two resource flows: new knowledge (novel ideas from customer feedback) and self-governance activities (autonomous actions to innovate). High connectivity in FLE-customer networks sparks creativity through real-time idea testing, while FLE-IFE networks ensure cross-departmental validation. However, challenges like cognitive overload or misaligned goals can hinder progress, necessitating structured management. In 2025, with AI and connectivity surging, this framework illuminates how FLEs collaborate across firms, as seen in the following scenarios.
Scenario 1: AI-Enhanced Customer Onboarding
Imagine a sales representative at a tech firm noticing that customers struggle with software onboarding. Through an AI-powered community platform, she connects with service reps from other tech companies, forming a cross-firm FLE-IFE network. Using generative AI to analyze customer queries, she proposes a gamified onboarding tutorial, reducing setup time by 25%. This reflects the framework’s FLE-customer network, where customer pain points generate new knowledge, and the FLE-IFE network, where cross-firm collaboration refines the solution. To mitigate overload, AI filters prioritize relevant discussions, ensuring focus—a practice Salesforce could adopt with its Trailblazer Community, known for AI-driven innovation in 2025.
Scenario 2: IoT-Driven Product Enhancements
Consider a customer service rep at an appliance manufacturer who identifies a demand for smart device alerts. Via a blockchain-based innovation platform, he collaborates with sales reps from partnering firms, creating a cross-firm FLE-IFE network. Together, they develop a predictive maintenance app, boosting customer satisfaction by 20%. This aligns with the framework’s self-governance flow, as the rep autonomously leads the project, and the FLE-customer network provides insights from user feedback. Blockchain ensures secure idea-sharing, while project-specific channels prevent data overwhelm—Haier, with its Rendanheyi model, is well-suited to implement such ecosystems in 2025.
Scenario 3: Streamlined Payment Solutions
Picture a fintech customer service rep observing delays in payment approvals. Through an AI-supported network, she connects with sales teams at retail partners, forming a vibrant FLE-IFE network. They co-create a real-time credit scoring tool, cutting approval times by 35%. This showcases the framework’s new knowledge flow from FLE-customer interactions and cross-firm collaboration via FLE-IFE networks. AI-driven prioritization curbs notification overload, keeping efforts focused—a strategy Klarna could leverage with its Creator Network, relaunched in 2025 to foster social commerce innovation.
Firms Leading the Way
These scenarios highlight practices that leading firms are well-positioned to adopt:
- Salesforce (USA): Its Trailblazer Community, enhanced with AI tools like Einstein GPT in 2025, connects FLEs across client firms, making it ideal for AI-driven knowledge-sharing networks.
- Haier (China): The Rendanheyi model, expanded in 2025 with blockchain platforms, empowers FLEs as microenterprise owners, perfect for cross-firm innovation ecosystems.
- Klarna (Sweden): The relaunched Creator Network uses AI to link FLEs with retail partners, fostering collaborative service enhancements in fintech.
Why This Matters in 2025
These scenarios illustrate how FLE networks are driving service innovation in 2025, fueled by a global push for digital transformation. According to a recent Deloitte study, 74% of workers, managers, and executives say prioritizing human capabilities, which drive innovation, is very or critically important. My framework explains their potential: FLE-customer networks generate actionable insights, while cross-firm FLE-IFE networks amplify collaboration. AI and blockchain ensure scalability, but structured tools, like AI filters or secure channels, prevent the “dark side” of overload. For businesses, this shifts FLEs from executors to co-creators, enhancing competitiveness. For employees, it’s empowering— many report higher job satisfaction when contributing to innovation in 2025. As firms like Salesforce, Haier, and Klarna pave the way, they offer a blueprint for harnessing FLE networks, turning everyday interactions into breakthroughs. In a connected world, these frontline innovators prove that collaboration, not competition, is the future of service.
About the author:
Dr. Ozlem Doull is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Rennes School of Business, France, with a PhD from the University of Melbourne, Australia and over a decade of industry experience in customer service, e-commerce, and marketing communications. Her research focuses on frontline employee networks, AI in customer service, and social network analysis, driving insights into service innovation and employee-driven creativity.
