Skip to main content
Your AI is built to know its limits. Escalation is the moment it steps back and hands a conversation to a person on your team — so customers always reach a human when they need one. This article explains when escalation happens and how to set it up. The goal is simple: the AI handles the routine, and your team is there for everything else.

​
What escalation is

Escalation is the AI flagging a conversation for a human. It’s different from a handoff or take over, where you choose to step in. With escalation, the AI itself decides it shouldn’t keep replying and passes the conversation on. When a conversation is escalated, the AI stops replying so a person can take it from there.

​
When the AI escalates

The AI hands off automatically when:
  • A customer asks for a human — “Can I speak to someone?”
  • It can’t help — the question is outside what it knows or can do.
  • Something goes wrong — an error means it can’t complete the task reliably.
You can add your own triggers on top of these in the Escalation & handoff field of Advanced AI instructions — for example, escalating when a customer is upset or asks about a refund.

​
Set up who receives escalations

So escalations reach the right person, set a designated team member to handle them.
1

Open your workspace settings

  • Open the workspace and find its Escalation settings.
2

Choose who handles escalations

  • Pick the team member who should receive escalated conversations. They’ll be the point of contact when the AI hands off.
Choosing the escalation contact in Cura's organization settings
Escalations now route to the right person, so nothing slips through the cracks.
3

Add your own escalation triggers

  • In Advanced AI instructions, use the Escalation & handoff field to describe extra situations that should always go to a human.
Be specific about when to escalate. “Hand off if the customer mentions a complication or asks for a refund” works far better than “escalate difficult cases.”
A multi-location business may need the customer to choose a branch before the AI can escalate — it’ll ask which location they want first, then hand off.

​
Troubleshooting

  • No one is receiving escalations. Confirm a team member is set as the escalation contact in the workspace settings.
  • The AI escalates too often. Tighten your Escalation & handoff instructions, and make sure your Knowledge Base, FAQs, and Services cover the questions it’s giving up on.
  • The AI keeps replying when it should stop. Once escalated, the AI stops; if it didn’t escalate, check whether the trigger you expected is described clearly in your instructions.