Artificial intelligence is changing the competitive landscape at an unprecedented rate. It’s easy to get the impression that if an organisation isn’t using AI, it is already falling behind. And that may well be true.
A survey by Medallia claims that 90% of CX practitioners are already using gen AI in some capacity. In a poll of 820 CX pros, 42% claimed they frequently used gen AI tools like ChatGPT for work.
Medallia’s research released in February, revealed enthusiastic support for AI. An overwhelming 86% predicted that AI would change what their organisation was able to achieve from a CX perspective.
Of those working with AI, 60% reported it had exceeded their expectations, while over a third said it delivered ‘exactly as promised.’
Early adoption falls short
While few would argue about the potential for AI to transform CX, adoption has fallen short. Early AI chatbots, for example, were often basic and failed to deliver a satisfactory customer experience.
“Companies need to design better [AI] chatbots,” Joana de Quintaniha, VP principal analyst, customer experience, Forrester Research, told Customer Experience Magazine.
“Some chatbots are helpful for a handful of tasks at best, but most are mediocre. Too often, they don’t understand or, worse, misunderstand users’ intent.” she added
With hindsight, gen AI-powered chatbots were never well suited to delivering great CX. According to de Quintaniha, the technology’s habit of making inaccurate assertions makes it a poor fit in most business cases.
The potential of gen AI
But gen AI’s capability to transform journey mapping, analytics and orchestration is enormous.
“It promises to connect humans to complex data in more natural ways and generate hyper personalised recommendations for people, and systems working with customers,” de Quintaniha predicted.
That promise has firms scrambling to invest in AI. In the Medallia survey, 42% of high-growth firms claimed they planned ‘very high’ investments in AI over the next year.
The majority of businesses in the Medallia survey also claimed they had a clear AI roadmap. A third even claimed they were ahead of their competition when adopting AI. Just over half (53%) said they were on par with their rivals.
Lingering concerns
Despite apparently fervent support for AI among CX practitioners, the report also registered lingering concerns among CX practitioners surrounding issues like data protection, accuracy, bias and — the elephant in the room — job losses.
With AI automating dozens of research tasks, content creation, and basic customer service tasks, job losses are inevitable. According to the Medallia report, 43% of senior executives said they were worried about the implications of AI in their organisations, specifically regarding ‘job displacement’.
Realistically, few organisations will turn down potentially millions of dollars in operational savings if they believe AI can fulfill the role.
The AI opportunity
Although AI inevitably brings disruption and change, it also presents CX professionals with an opportunity. Wholesale automation of basic tasks will free up resources to focus on higher value, more fulfilling, CX work.
“AI is here to augment your ability to be your best selves and raise that collective bar of what employees can deliver,” Michael Mallet, VP product, Medallia, told Customer Experience Magazine.
This is “a lean in moment in the world. AI might replace us, which is still a very selective application. In my personal opinion, we’re not there yet. That requires a lot more training, continuous feedback, and a world of autonomous actioning,” he added.
Leadership opportunity
Rather than hide from the impact of AI, CX professionals can drive the next phase of corporate transformation and “experience management revolution”, predicted Mallet.
Senior CX professionals that have strong corporate experience, and a deep understanding of customer and employee needs, are in a great position to steward the use of AI within the organisation.
“There is an opportunity to create AI for good, where it is used to activate and augment, not replace. [CX practitioners] can steward that world. There’s an opportunity to ensure that AI is meeting all of these needs,” commented Mallet.
Join the tech conversation
But historically, CX pros have been slow to embrace technology leadership. They are rarely present in the room when organisations are make tech investment decisions. But the situation needs to change as data collection and analysis of customer feedback and sentiment is increasingly automated.
“The opportunity exists now for operational professionals to bring business knowledge to the IT professionals,” explained Mallet.
“The CX team has to be a bridge between those working with customers and technologists,” he added.
The nervousness about just how AI will play out within organisations is also reflected in the Medallia report. The top two drivers of AI investment were security and data privacy concerns, “ahead of ROI”, said Mallet.
“The report says that everybody is incredibly excited, and many people [organisations] are testing it, but primarily they are seeking safety,” he added.