WHEN INVESTMENT OUTPACES ALIGNMENT
Consider three persistent gaps:
1. AI and human preferences. 80 % of organizations are projected to have deployed AI for CX( Gartner). But 55( Genesys via No Jitter) to 75 %( Five9) of customers prefer human support.
2. Data quality versus data ambition. Many firms continue investing in AI while struggling with data silos and inconsistencies that directly undermine AI effectiveness.
3. Trust deficits. Edelman ' s“ Edelman 2025 Trust Barometer” finds employer trust declining globally for the first time. Gallup’ s 2025 data reinforces this picture. Only 20 % of U. S. employees strongly agree that they trust their organization’ s leadership, down from 24 % a few years ago.
In contact centers specifically, high attrition and employee burnout persist. The result is a fragmented workforce and a CX that mirrors the internal disconnect.
ROOT CAUSES THAT DEMAND ATTENTION
Four structural problems lie at the heart of the issue:
1. Misaligned metrics. Organizations often focus on efficiency or productivity indicators like average handle time( AHT) or calls per hour while neglecting drivers like trust, leader routines and effectiveness, engagement, and employee satisfaction or wellbeing.
Even when these metrics are tracked, they often fail to reach the full range of stakeholders who need them, from frontline agents to supervisors, managers, and executives.
2. Disconnected data. Performance metrics, feedback, interaction data, and quality scores are often scattered across systems. This fragmentation makes it difficult for frontline leaders to make informed decisions and undermines trust across the organization.
42 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE
3. Remote work disagreement. Agents largely feel hybrid work improves their ability to serve customers, but many managers disagree, according to industry accounts and studies. This misalignment and the isolation inherent in work-from-home( WFH) or hybrid operations contributes to friction and weakens collaborative culture.
4. Technology overload. Employees are fatigued by repeated waves of " transformative " technology that often create disruption without improvement. AI, in particular, is seen by many not as an enabler, but as a looming threat.
... THE HUMANS WHO REMAIN WILL HANDLE THE MOST SENSITIVE AND COMPLEX INTERACTIONS AND WILL BE CENTRAL TO SUCCESSFUL AI DEPLOYMENT.
WHY TRADITIONAL APPROACH- ES ARE FALLING SHORT
Despite significant investments in technology and transformation, as I noted in the beginning, CX continues to decline in many organizations.
The problem isn’ t just the technology itself. It’ s the assumptions about how it ' s introduced and integrated.
Executives are understandably eager for breakthroughs. But in pursuing the next big solution- and AI clearly falls in that category- many overlook the underlying issues that have derailed earlier efforts. AI will struggle in environments where trust is low, data is fragmented, and employees feel excluded from the process.
Even industry forecasts reflect this uncertainty. In 2025, Gartner projected that agentic AI would resolve 80 % of customer service issues by 2029. A few months later, it reported that half of organizations would abandon plans to reduce headcount due to AI-related implementation challenges.
While future outcomes remain unclear, one thing is certain: the humans who remain will handle the most sensitive and complex interactions and will be central to successful AI deployment.
THREE PRINCIPLES THAT DRIVE RESULTS
The organizations that are gaining ground aren’ t waiting for perfect conditions. They’ re applying three proven principles to realign their approach:
1. Strategic engagement frameworks. These are structured, repeatable processes that foster shared accountability and participation across all roles. Performance reviews, coaching systems, team huddles, and quality assurance( QA) workflows are not just operational necessities. They’ re opportunities to build connection, alignment, and recognition.
Key examples include:
• Agent-led ratings of support interactions. Agents anonymously rate coaching sessions via quick 1 – 5-star prompts, generating a real-time metric known as“ Touch Quality.” This gives agents a voice and provides supervisors with feedback they can act on.
• Huddles with peer recognition and team metrics. Daily or weekly meetings that include highlights of top performers or recent wins build alignment and morale while reinforcing shared objectives.
• Supervisor coaching with built-in accountability. Documented follow-ups and agent feedback loops transform coaching into a mutual development process.