October 10, 2025
Medallia Research Talks Up Conversational Intelligence as the Future of CX
In a blizzard of research and reports this week, Medallia keeps up the pace of industry chatter with a new insight into “Conversational Intelligence: The New CX Advantage.” The report highlights how businesses are missing out on growth opportunities by underutilising their customer conversation data.
The report’s highlights show while those using Conversational Intelligence (a product feature picking up pace over the year) are seeing measurable gains, most CX and contact centre teams are still failing to tap into its full potential.
The Word on the Street on Conversational Intelligence
Conversational Intelligence is defined as the use of artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing, and analytics to transform customer conversations into actionable insights.
The report better defines it as “Powered by AI, NLP, and analytics, conversational intelligence transforms unstructured data from conversations between customers and organizations across channels like voice, chat, email, and messaging into insights designed to improve the customer experience—shaping 1:1 real-time customer interactions and guiding broader strategic changes that elevate the business.”
It equips organisations with real-time intelligence that can improve customer interactions and inform strategic decisions. Yet despite its clear value, adoption remains inconsistent.
Key findings from Medallia’s 37-page Conversational Intelligence report include:
- 75 percent of customer experience (CX) practitioners say surveys alone are insufficient to understand customer experiences
- Contact centre leaders estimate 68 percent of customer communication is missed by relying only on surveys
- 90 percent of CX teams using Conversational Intelligence rate it as valuable, with 87 percent saying it improves service interactions in real time
- 64 percent expect investment in Conversational Intelligence to grow in the next year, rising to 73 percent among high-growth companies.
The Rising Volume of Conversational Intelligence
According to the study of CX and contact centre professionals, only one in three organisations use Conversational Intelligence frequently, while nearly half are not using it at all. At the same time, those that have embraced the technology report tangible returns: 85 percent of CX practitioners say their organisations would make better decisions if they collected and analysed more conversational data.
Investment momentum is also gathering pace. Some 64%of CX practitioners expect their organisation to increase Conversational Intelligence spend over the next year, with AI advances cited as the leading driver. High-growth firms are especially bullish, with nearly three-quarters planning to expand adoption. The business case for adoption is also clear, with the research also showing that organisations with leading CX programmes are six times more likely than laggards to be heavy Conversational Intelligence users.
“Conversational Intelligence represents one of the most significant opportunities for businesses to transform customer engagement,” said Andrew Custage, Head of Research Insights at Medallia. “The conversations are happening every day: on calls, in chats, across every digital touchpoint. But too often, those signals stay hidden in silos. When companies bring them into the light, the impact on customer experience is immediate and measurable. Companies that succeed in integrating Conversational Intelligence will make smarter decisions, and measurable business gains.”
Conversational Intelligence as a feature of smartphones makes it a natural adaption for businesses in customer support and service. Google’s recently unveiled Conversational Commerce Agent is just one example that businesses can take as a source of inspiration.
