71% of brands cite customer trust as AI adoption barrier
Although 84 per cent of brands say they’re using artificial intelligence (AI) for customer support purposes, disconnected tools and data could be standing in the way of delivering seamless customer experiences, according to research published by Infobip.
The Croatia-based provider of cloud-based communications software surveyed more than 200 senior decision-makers across six countries, multiple industries, and companies ranging from 500 to over 5,000 employees to produce its report, The CX Maturity Gap: Why Doing More Doesn’t Mean Doing Better.
Infobip found more than half (52 per cent) of those surveyed have AI chatbots handling most customer enquiries, with humans only intervening for complex cases. However customer trust concerns, followed by data privacy and tech integration challenges, are the biggest barriers to further adoption.
The integration problem was a key theme in Infobip’s research: 58 per cent of brands said their digital channels are already well-connected, but the company pointed out that this means customers may be experiencing friction every time they switch channels in 42 per cent of cases.
Similarly, 60 per cent of brands said they had unified customer data, but Infobip argued this leaves a significant number of organizations where AI and other forms of automation may be prone to error.
“Our research . . . reveals a fundamental disconnect between CX ambition and CX reality,” the report’s authors wrote. “Widespread adoption, but shallow implementation. Channels switched on, but not connected. Automation that scratches the surface of what’s possible. Most notably, brands rushing to adopt AI without the proper software and system sophistication to support it.”
360 Magazine Insight
Infobip is not simply sharing statistics but making a strong argument in this research about “CX maturity” really means. The report breaks it down into three core areas: the depth to which the journey has been automated, the sophistication of the automation involved and the potential for systems to be further enhanced.
There are a number of cross-industry comparisons here, but it’s doubtful many retailers will care how they benchmark against a telecom provider. The real value here is in how the report illustrates simple deployments vs. those that will make a meaningful difference for customers.
“Switching it on is not the same as making it work” is a great chapter title (and possibly a CX bumper sticker?), but the report goes further by sketching out a really basic way to automate complaint resolution and one where an AI agent will fully resolve an issue and leave the customer fully satisfied.
This gated 23-page study is worth downloading and reading before brands launch their next CX automation project, warning against the simply urgency to show you’ve launched something and putting the foundations in place for a more sustainable path that offers greater return on investment (ROI).
