Root Cause Assist
Functionality, configuration, and reporting module support for the Root Cause Assist feature for Medallia Experience Cloud
Root Cause Assist uses generative artificial intelligence for root cause analysis of reporting data for topics, themes, and metrics.
Root Cause Assist pinpoints which factors most strongly correlate with score changes, ranks contributing drivers by impact across segments, and connects structured operational data to unstructured feedback signals.
Root Cause Assist does not replace controlled experiments or A/B testing, nor does it prescribe the next best action that should follow its analysis; rather, it provides clear, explainable reporting insights and accelerates time to action.
- Key drivers of NPS and other experience metrics by line of business, segment, or region
- Key drivers of operational metrics such as contact center resolution rate or average handling time
- Best and worst performing topics or themes by impact score or net sentiment
- Score changes by time period, like current vs. previous month, to understand underlying trends
To engage Root Cause Assist, click a data point or link on a reporting module or cell within a module in Medallia Web reporting or Medallia Mobile. Where end users click in a module varies by module type and configuration. For example, the following image shows the Root Cause Assist option on a Dial module.
Selecting the Root Cause Assist option opens a side panel with the question sent to Medallia AI, a paragraph summary of the answer to the question, and the data the AI model used to generate its answer. The data presented varies by module and whether the analysis is for metrics, topics, or themes. For example, the following image shows a Root Cause Assist side panel with an answer summary about a metric and the option to display the data used to generate that summary.
Expanding the More details dropdown shows the categories of data used to generate the answer. These categories can be expanded to view more details about the data, as in the following image.
The answer provided uses the filters enabled on the source dashboard when the user engages Root Cause Assist. To change the filters used in answer data, modify the filters on the dashboard and use Root Cause Assist again.
For table data with time period columns, the first time column does not support Root Cause Assist. Reference modules displayed after the summary inherit the source module's time period, score field, and benchmark.
After the summary, Root Cause Assist displays reference modules using the source module's time period and score field, and using a benchmark that varies by column. When the clicked cell is in a time column other than the first, the benchmark comparison is Same Period Prior to Current Selection. When the clicked cell is in the Total or Benchmark columns, the benchmark comparison is inherited from the source module.
Root Cause Assist results feedback
When its original data sources are displayed, AI-generated content includes a feedback prompt for the user asking whether the generated content is helpful. Only one feedback response can be submitted per user per session for each unique piece of AI-generated content.
Summary feedback provides Medallia with examples of accurate and inaccurate records for future model training. Ratings and feedback affect neither the summary itself nor the system that generated it.
Export Root Cause Assist responses and modules
Users viewing Root Cause Assist analysis of reporting data in the side panel can export offline copies of those reports.
To export a Root Cause Assist response, use the Export icon on the side panel to open a menu with export options. Root Cause Assist response exports include the generated question, answer, and all module data used to support the answer.
To export individual Root Cause Assist modules in the More details section, use the Export Options icon at the top of the module.
PDF, Powerpoint, and image exports include the data shown for the selected module. Excel exports include more details about that data.
Export options vary by configuration. For more information, see Export reports, modules, and action plans.
Configuration, role permissions, data eligibility, and languages
To view and access Root Cause Assist features, the Shared configuration feature must be enabled and configured on your Experience Cloud instance, and the Access Root Cause Assist role-level reporting permission must be applied to the user’s role. To manage and configure Root Cause Assist, admins must have the Manage Reports and Controls administrative permission.
Create or manage the shared configuration used to enable Root Cause Assist from the Admin Suite > Reporting > Shared Configuration screen. For more information, see Shared configuration.
Add the user role permission from the Admin Suite > Organizations > Users screen. For more information about role permissions, see Roles, permissions, and capabilities.
- Root Cause of a Metric
- Root Cause of a Topic
- Root Cause of a Metric Change
Once the shared configuration is published, users with the specified role can access the Root Cause Assist option on supported modules.
Records must be in a supported language and processed by Text Analytics to be included in Root Cause Assist's analysis. Most data supported by reporting can be processed by Root Cause Assist, including surveys, transcript, digital, and social data. Any records not processed by Text Analytics are not evaluated.
To engage Root Cause Assist and see the results, user roles must have access to Text Analytics and topics or themes in a supported language, the reporting application language must be set to a supported language, and the user's role must have the Access Root Cause Assist reporting permission.
Supported languages include English, Spanish, French, and German. Results are displayed in the user's locale, or in English if the user's locale is not supported. For more information about language support with genAI features, see Language support for generative AI.
Supported reporting modules
The following modules can be configured to use Root Cause Assist in Medallia Web reporting and Medallia Mobile. Only modules in a main dashboard support Root Cause Assist; modules displayed in side panels are not supported.
This feature can be disabled for individual modules in module configurations; the Disable Root Cause Assist module configuration overrides the shared configuration and hides the Root Cause Assist option.
- Big Number
- Users can click on a link in the module to engage Root Cause Assist for metric data.
- Dashboard Ranking
- Users can engage Root Cause Assist from linked table cells and on linked line and bar chart data points for root cause analysis of changes in metric data over time, or to view the linked report.
- Dial and Grouped Dials
- Users can click on a link in the module to engage Root Cause Assist for metric data.
- Metric Comparison
- Users can engage Root Cause Assist from linked table cells and on linked line and bar chart data points for root cause analysis of changes in metric data over time, or to view the linked report.
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Important: Root Cause Assist is only supported when the Metrics Comparison module shows trend over time.
- Scores by Segments Snapshot
- Users can engage Root Cause Assist from linked table cells and on linked line and bar chart data points for root cause analysis of changes in metric data over time, or to view the linked report.
- Scores Over Time
- Users can engage Root Cause Assist from linked table cells and on linked line and bar chart data points for root cause analysis of changes in metric data over time, or to view the linked report.
- Scores Snapshot
- Users can engage Root Cause Assist from linked table cells and on linked line and bar chart data points for root cause analysis of changes in metric data over time, or to view the linked report.
- TA Topics/Themes Snapshot and TA Topics/Themes Top and Bottom
- Users can engage Root Cause Assist from the action menu
for root cause analysis of topic or theme data, or to view the linked report. Time view is not available when using Root Cause Assist for the Top and Bottom module.
Root Cause Assist with metrics
With Root Cause Assist enabled and configured, the action menus on Big Number and Dial modules include the Root Cause Assist option, which displays AI-generated root cause analysis of the module's metric data.
Side panel layout and supporting data vary slightly by use case. Supporting data for metric analysis includes:
- Topics and key drivers
- Segments
- Units and unit groups
Supporting data components in the side panel can be linked to Topic Deep Dive modules that provide more detailed information about the underlying data.
Root Cause Assist with Text Analytics
With Root Cause Assist enabled and configured, the action menu on TA Topics/Themes Snapshot and TA Topics/Themes Top and Bottom modules include an option to prompt Medallia AI for root cause analysis of the module's topic, tag, or theme data.
Side panel layout and supporting data vary slightly by use case. Supporting data for topic and tag analysis includes:
- Metrics
- Themes
- Segments
- Units and unit groups
Supporting data components in the side panel can be linked to Topic Deep Dive modules that provide more detailed information about the underlying data.
