The second half of 2025 saw a sharp acceleration in conversations about AI. While AI dominated the conversation at our roundtable, one theme cut through consistently: a growing disconnect between business ambition, technological momentum and the real needs of customers.
Boards are often pushing for rapid returns or exercising extreme caution. Technology vendors are promising transformation. Yet CX metrics still struggle to reward loyalty and long-term value, leaving CX leaders to reconcile competing pressures with limited levers.
Against this backdrop of uneven readiness for next-generation CX, we also heard clear examples of organisations making progress. Those succeeding are addressing these tensions through stronger governance, better-aligned metrics and more collaborative partner models.
This paper draws directly on those discussions to surface the CX challenges that matter most in 2026 and beyond, and to share practical experience on how to address them.
When AI holds up a mirror to CX
AI is revealing the true state of customer experience. Where journeys are well designed, data is connected and governance is clear, automation delivers value. Where those foundations are weak, AI simply scales existing problems faster.
Leaders shared examples of blanket automation strategies being rolled back, CX teams managing downstream fallout from decisions they did not own, and metrics that reward efficiency while quietly destroying long-term value. At the same time, we also heard from organisations getting it right, moving quickly but thoughtfully through clear ownership, outcome-based metrics and strong change management.
Why alignment now matters more than ever
As CX becomes increasingly hybrid, with human and AI blended across journeys, legacy thinking starts to break down. Traditional operational metrics struggle to explain value. Governance models lag behind technology. Cyber and data risks grow quietly in the background. And CX leaders are often held accountable without the authority to influence decisions upstream.
The organisations that will win in the next phase of CX are those that:
- Put strategy and use cases before technology
- Treat CX as a value multiplier, not just a cost centre
- Align boards, technology, CX and partners around shared outcomes
- Build solid data and security foundations before scaling AI
- Measure what truly matters to customers and the business
From fast adoption to sustainable advantage
This whitepaper explores the real decision gaps holding organisations back and offers practical guidance on how to close them. Drawing directly from practitioner insight, it covers governance, metrics, partner models, change management and cyber security, alongside seven practical steps CX leaders can take now.
Transformation is not optional. But speed alone is not success. The real inflection point is whether organisations can align people, metrics and leadership quickly enough to make AI work for customers and commercial outcomes alike.
The whitepaper is free to download and available below.
We would love to continue the conversation. Follow us on LinkedIn and share your experiences.
