Why predictable AI will finally fix customer experience

"For years, the customer experience playbook has been treated like a technology problem. Add another tool. Deploy another bot. Automate another workflow. And yet here we are, heading into 2026 with customer satisfaction in freefall. Forrester's 2025 CX Index shows scores hitting a new low for the fourth consecutive year. This isn't a failure of ambition or innovation. It's a failure of how we define success."

"Leaders have been optimizing for activity instead of outcomes. In the rush to scale digital engagement, many organizations fell into a bit of a containment trap, measuring success by how many customer interactions never reach a human. On paper, it looks efficient. In reality, it's often a false economy. If a customer gets stuck in a bot loop or a bot that can't answer a straightforward question predictably, you haven't saved money. You've lost trust. And very often, you've lost the customer."

"Containment, deflection, and average handle time tell you how efficiently you move customers away. They tell you very little about whether you actually solved a problem, built loyalty, or created value. The companies that rise to the top are shifting to a hybrid model that treats AI and humans as complementary assets. AI agents handle what they're best at: instant answers, routine transactions, and scale. Humans step in where judgment, empathy, and nuance matter."

Organizations have treated customer experience as a technology problem—adding tools, bots, and automation—while customer satisfaction declines. Massive investments stall because firms optimize containment, deflection, and average handle time instead of resolution, loyalty, and value. Automation that traps customers in bot loops erodes trust and increases churn. Leading teams adopt hybrid models: AI for instant answers and routine transactions; humans for judgment, empathy, and nuance. Metrics must shift from cost avoidance to value creation, prioritizing personalization, resolution quality, and revenue impact. Precision in measuring outcomes will determine who recovers from the CX recession.

Read at Fast Company