Is artificial intelligence (AI) the end of human connection, or will it spark more meaningful customer relationships? We’ve identified four opportunities for customer experience leaders to tap into the benefits of AI—without sacrificing human connection.
Building on the insights gathered from our conversations with workforce experience leaders, we collaborated with Natter and the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA) to examine the other side of the experience coin: customer experience. Our research shows that customer experience (CX) leaders expect AI to positively impact the overall customer experience. At the same time, they express concern about balancing AI-generated improvements in experience with maintaining human connection and trust.
We gathered 30 CX leaders who serve more than one billion customers across sectors to discuss the future of AI for the customer experience. While almost all of those leaders expect AI to improve customer experiences, only slightly over half believe it will increase the quality of human connections. They recognize the massive potential that AI offers, while contending with the complexity of integrating it into customer experiences.
CX leaders balance their excitement about AI with the need to protect customer trust. The most successful CX leaders will likely be those who can use AI to enhance a human-centered customer experience.
Four insights and opportunities for AI in customer experience
During our roundtable discussion and one-on-one conversations, four insights and opportunities for AI in customer experience emerged.
Display an optimism gap
Nearly all CX leaders in our study were confident that AI has the potential to improve customer experience, but only three in ten said AI is often used within the customer experience today. So, what’s driving the gap between optimism and adoption? Leaders may not know where to start.
Leaders can move forward by setting clear AI objectives to unify the organization around a common goal, experimenting with potential use cases, and activating AI features and applications slowly—with a focused, incremental approach.
See AI’s potential to expand the scope and quality of human experience
Predictably, one of CX leaders’ top hopes for AI and Generative AI is streamlining routine tasks, but the other most-cited hope is in enhancing a human-centered service experience. While the initial instinct may be to promote efficiency gains achieved via bypassing human involvement, this perspective discounts the broader potential of AI as an enabler of richer experiences.
CX leaders also acknowledge that integrating AI more heavily could result in losing customer trust, a concern consistent with our chief experience officer (CXO) survey results. Protecting trust and empathy emerged as the most frequently mentioned concern with AI.
Leaders can move forward by using AI to equip customer-facing professionals with the data they need to provide more human interactions, personalizing service interactions, and being transparent with customers about AI use.
Recognize employee engagement as central to infusing AI into the customer experience
As CX leaders plan for a future with AI, they recognize that activating AI for customer experience starts with employees. Streamlining routine tasks, enabling a focus on high-value work, and enhancing creative design processes were three of the benefits leaders cited most when discussing their hopes for AI technology.
Furthermore, CX leaders are aware that employees may need more support with the new technology or may worry about being replaced or overtaken by AI in their roles. In a 2023 TrustID™ survey, we found that employees view their employers as 188% less empathetic and human when AI tools are offered. Though this apprehension may evolve over time, it’s something that leaders should keep at the forefront of all AI implementation discussions.
Leaders can move forward by maintaining a top-tier workforce experience (WX) and considering the perspective and participation of the workforce as they implement AI in customer experience.
Share similar perspectives with WX leaders on AI's promise but differ in their adoption of the technology
CX and WX leaders share closely aligned perspectives on the opportunities and challenges around AI in experience. The biggest difference is that CX leaders show higher rates of adopting AI in their internal decision-making than WX leaders. One explanation for this divergence is that CX leaders typically serve a customer audience that has more choices than the workforce audience. With more competition and less time to make an impression, CX leaders may feel greater pressure to innovate by engaging with new technologies like AI and Generative AI.
Leaders can move forward by creating a shared internal structure, operating model, and experience-wide strategy, and by establishing an organization-wide culture of AI iteration and learning.
Expanding possibilities for AI in CX
AI capabilities are still rapidly evolving, as are the corresponding possibilities for customer experience. While CX leaders are optimistic about the enormous potential of AI in customer experience, they grapple with concern over the risk of losing human connection if they misstep. As adoption accelerates, maintaining a focus on humanity throughout the customer experience will be critical.
How is your organization preparing to use AI to enhance the customer experience? Or do you already have successful use cases? If you’d like to share your experiences, join a future roundtable discussion, or want to learn more, reach out and say hello.
If you’d like to dive deeper into our insights on GenAI and human experience, explore our HX resource hub.
THE AI PARADOX
How technology can enhance humanity in the customer experience
As Chief Experience Officer at Deloitte Digital, Amelia Dunlop helps companies develop winning strategies that combine innovation, creativity, and digital strategy. She was recognized as one of the Top 50 Women Leaders of Massachusetts for 2023 by Women We Admire! and received Consulting Magazine’s 2020 Top Women in Technology Award for Excellence in Innovation. Amelia leads a team of problem solvers who use human-centered design and customer insights strategy to help businesses shift their focus from the customer experience to the human experience. As marketers, she says we have an opportunity to create more human experiences—earning long-term loyalty and trust in the process. Author of Elevating the Human Experience and co-author of The Four Factors of Trust, both national bestsellers, Amelia writes and speaks regularly about human experience, trust, creativity, and customer strategy.
