6 out of 7 CX functions delivered by humans with AI assistance
Sixty-one per cent of enterprises have artificial intelligence (AI) tools of some kind helping employees deliver technical support and focus on customer retention, according to research published by Telus Digital.
The provider of customer care outsourcing and related solutions worked with Ryan Strategic Advisory to survey more than 800 business leaders across 19 different industries to produce its Enterprise CX AI: 2026 Global survey: Optimized or just deployed?
Other CX functions where AI is playing an increasingly larger role include customer onboarding, billing/payments and concierge services, all of which represented more than half of those surveyed.
That said, there was no clear frontrunner in terms of how AI is being implemented in enterprise contact centers. More than a quarter said they were implementing AI features within their existing platforms, while 23 per cent said they were evaluating their options and have not yet implemented anything.
Over the next one to two years, 56 per cent said they would be investing in AI copilots for real-time agent assistance. This was closely followed by customer-facing chatbots, while 51 per cent were interested in offering customers more intelligent search capabilities.
“Enterprises have correctly identified what they need, but have not moved fast
enough to build it,” the report’s authors wrote. “And in the meantime, the AI investments they’ve made elsewhere in the customer journey are operating without the scaffolding needed for optimal delivery.”
360 Magazine Insight
There’s something almost chiding in the disappointed and irritated tone of some market research reports, especially if the focus is on AI adoption. While Telus Digital acknowledges its data shows there is firm commitment by large organizations to use AI in some way, they’re still not deploying it fast enough or well enough.
What actually comes across from this research is that most enterprises are by no means ready to have AI replace their human employees. There was no breakdown of whether the AI tools they favor are primarily generative vs. agentic AI, but I’d suspect the former, where reps are being given greater insights to do their job versus having an AI agent handle tasks on their behalf.
Maybe these companies are, in fact, moving at a pace that makes sense given AI’s well-known hallucinations and other risks. Also, what would “moving fast enough” really look like — deciding to invest and then having a solution in place within a month? That’s not how proper procurement and due diligence works.
This 12-page gated report is worth a look for some of the non-AI areas it touches upon, including some interesting stats on CX budgets, and what kind of outcomes they’re shooting for with the money they’re investing.
