TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT
BY GREG SALVATO, TOUCHPOINT ONE
ILLUSTRATION PROVIDED BY ADOBE STOCK
REPAIRING THE CX( AND AI) INVESTMENTS
HOW TO REALIGN THEM WITH SOUGHT-AFTER RESULTS.
The contact center industry is facing a customer experience( CX) breakdown that can no longer be dismissed.
The data tells a clear story:
• Forrester ' s“ Global Customer Experience Index( CX Index™) Rankings, 2025” shows that " in the US, for the second year in a row, 25 % of brands’ customer experience rankings declined in 2025, compared to only 7 % that improved. Additionally, in most US industries, CX quality declined across all three dimensions: effectiveness, ease, and emotion."
• McKinsey finds that only 15 % have fully integrated CX strategies.
• The American Customer Satisfaction Index( ACSI) notes that satisfaction levels have fallen across multiple sectors, especially in industries like cell phones, apparel, and postal services. These highlight the continued erosion of customer relationships despite significant corporate investment in experience improvement.
It is clear that this trend warrants serious attention.
So, what’ s behind the CX stagnationand decline? In many cases, it ' s not a lack of effort or funding. It ' s a mismatch between intention and execution.
Organizations are investing heavily in AI, along with automation and data systems. But too often, those investments don ' t translate into better outcomes because they ' re not anchored in the realities of the human systems they ' re meant to support.
SO, WHAT’ S BEHIND THE CX STAGNATION AND DECLINE? IN MANY CASES... IT ' S A MISMATCH BETWEEN INTENTION AND EXECUTION.
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