Editorial
The Gist
- AI is missing the CX mark. Nearly one in five consumers see no benefit from AI-powered customer service, revealing a growing gap between automation goals and real customer outcomes.
- Experience drives loyalty more than price. Consumers who stay for great service report higher trust and satisfaction than those motivated by cost — signaling that value alone won’t sustain relationships.
- Personalization needs trust first. Although most customers want tailored experiences, fewer than 40% trust brands with their personal data, creating a major barrier to effective personalization.
- AI should augment, not replace, humans. Leaders are urged to focus AI efforts on supporting human agents, enhancing service quality and solving genuine customer problems.
- Trust and transparency are the new differentiators. Rebuilding confidence in data use and focusing on human connection can transform fragile gains into durable customer loyalty.
Despite consumers having an increased comfort level with AI, there is a missed opportunity when businesses deploy increase automation without thinking holistically about both cost-cutting and the customer experience. The Qualtrics 2026 Consumer Experience Trends Report reveals that AI-powered customer service is failing at an alarming rate, with nearly one in five consumers experiencing no benefit from the service. This failure is occurring even as the overall customer experience has improved across industries, suggesting that these gains are fragile.
Let’s examine some key findings from the report and how they can be applied to the customer experience to inform the right prioritization decisions in their AI strategy for 2026 and beyond.
Table of Contents
- AI-Powered Customer Service Is Falling Short of Its Promise
- Experience, Not Price, Is the Bedrock of Long-Term Customer Loyalty
- A Deepening Customer Trust Deficit Is Hindering Personalization
- Some Next Best CX Actions Brands Can Take
- The Path to Customer-Centricity Is Still There
AI-Powered Customer Service Is Falling Short of Its Promise
Despite mandates from leadership to cut costs, increase efficiencies and adopt artificial intelligence where possible, this rush to implement AI in customer service is missing the mark in many cases. While 73% of consumers now use AI for daily tasks, its application in customer support leaves a lot to be desired.
That said, some of the CX findings in the study point to marked improvements, though they can be misleading when not read in context. As Qualtrics’ Isabelle Zdatny states, "On the surface, the CX improvements paint a surprisingly rosy picture, but when we dug into the numbers, we found a more complex reality. The gains are concentrated in industries where customers can easily switch between brands, like retail and streaming services.”
In other words, the gains are primarily in highly transactional industries, whereas in sectors with higher switching costs, such as utilities and healthcare, the progress was much slower. Zdatny continues, “What particularly struck me this year is that these traditionally protected industries now have more sales at risk from bad experiences (6.1%) than easy-to-switch industries (4.0%), suggesting that even their historical advantages are weakening as new competitors emerge and digital alternatives proliferate.”
No Benefits at all With AI in Customer Service?
According to the research, nearly one in five consumers who used AI for customer service reported receiving no benefits at all. To put this in context, this is a failure rate almost four times higher than for AI use in general. In fact, consumers ranked AI applications for customer service among the worst for convenience, time savings, and usefulness.
While the root causes may vary, one thing is clear: businesses are deploying AI with the wrong goal in mind. To move things back in the right direction, a course correction is needed. An AI strategy focused solely on efficiency is damaging the customer experience and eroding customer trust. As pressure mounts to show a tangible return on AI investments, these failures represent a significant missed opportunity to scale service excellence successfully.
Related Article: Building Customer Trust — Statistics in the US for 2025
Experience, Not Price, Is the Bedrock of Long-Term Customer Loyalty
In an uncertain economy, price sensitivity is high, but competing on price alone is a losing strategy for building lasting relationships.
While "good value for money" is the most cited reason for choosing a brand (46%), it does not create the strongest bond between companies and customers. Instead, consumers who choose to do business with an organization for its "good customer service" report significantly higher customer satisfaction (92% vs. 87%) and trust (89% vs. 83%) than those who prioritize value.
This means that a more valuable, lasting loyalty is built on meaningful connections and the trust that an organization will deliver quality and provide support when things go wrong. The caution here for leaders is that a race to the bottom on prices may win customers in the short term but is not a sustainable business model. To build durable growth, brands need investment in the products and services that make up the experience to create customers who value the relationship beyond price and are more resistant to competitive offers.
A Deepening Customer Trust Deficit Is Hindering Personalization
Many have assumed that consumers are more than willing to trade their data for more personalized experiences, as long as the benefits are clear. That may be changing, as customers seem to be growing more skeptical.
While 64% of consumers responding to the Qualtrics study want companies to cater to their individual experiences, only 39% actually trust companies to use their personal data responsibly. The trust deficit is growing, not shrinking, with misuse of personal data the top consumer concern about AI, rising eight points in the past year. In fact, nearly one-third of consumers surveyed are uncomfortable with personalization in any form.
This means that despite the potential benefits of personalization being advertised clearly, there is a fundamental lack of trust, and most consumers do not believe the benefits of personalization justify the privacy cost. Without first establishing trust, attempts at personalization are likely to fail and may even damage the brand relationship. To earn the right to personalize and build deeper connections, leaders must prioritize rebuilding that trust through transparency and giving customers control.
Related Article: Personalization Nation: How CX Leaders in the US Define Success
Key Takeaways from the Qualtrics 2026 Consumer Experience Trends Report
This table summarizes the main findings and recommended actions for CX leaders seeking to balance AI efficiency with human experience and customer trust.
| Theme | Insight | Action for CX Leaders |
|---|---|---|
| AI-Powered Service Shortfalls | Nearly one in five consumers report no benefit from AI customer service — a failure rate four times higher than other AI applications. | Redefine AI goals around customer outcomes, not just efficiency; deploy AI to enhance human support rather than replace it. |
| Experience Over Price | Consumers citing “good customer service” show higher satisfaction (92%) and trust (89%) than those driven by price alone. | Invest in service quality and employee empowerment to build durable loyalty that withstands economic pressures. |
| Trust Deficit in Personalization | Only 39% of consumers trust brands to handle data responsibly, and nearly one-third are uncomfortable with personalization altogether. | Be transparent about data use and provide user control; show customers how data improves their experiences to rebuild trust. |
| Human-AI Collaboration | AI should handle simple, transactional tasks, freeing human agents for complex issues that require empathy and judgment. | Design hybrid service models where AI supports humans with insights, context and suggested solutions. |
| Listening Beyond Surveys | Only 29% of customers complain after a bad experience, leaving many insights untapped. | Integrate experience, operational and behavioral data — including reviews, calls, and chats — to understand churn and sentiment. |
| Building Trust and Loyalty | Consumers reward brands that balance technology with empathy and transparency. | Adopt an AI strategy that enhances service quality and human connection to sustain long-term growth. |
Some Next Best CX Actions Brands Can Take
Keeping these points in mind, the good news is that there are actions that can be taken to build customer trust and customer loyalty, while enabling the exponential gains offered by AI-powered solutions.
Ensure Your AI Approach Enhances the Human Experience
- Use AI to augment, not to replace, your human agents.
- Deploy AI-based solutions for simple, transactional tasks, freeing up human agents to solve more complex customer problems. This can include AI-powered assistance like relevant background details and suggested solutions.
Zdatny summarizes it as “when AI serves genuine customer needs, rather than just reducing costs, it will build the trust and loyalty that are essential in the current highly transactional environment. AI should enhance service quality on the journey towards operational efficiency, not compromise it.”
Invest in Experience to Build Lasting Relationships
- Shift your focus from competing on price to differentiating through superior customer service and product quality. These are more strongly correlated with customer satisfaction and trust.
- Invest in building meaningful, long-term relationships that will make customers more resistant to competitive offers when economy shifts happen.
Rebuild Trust to Earn the Right to Personalize
- Be transparent about your data collection and give customers control over how it is used and when it is deleted. The research shows that nearly half of consumers would share more data if these conditions were met.
- Stop collecting data just to have more…data. Instead, focus on understanding customer context to address their immediate needs, and show them how their data improved their experience to build a foundation of trust.
Zdatny adds, “While most customers want tailored experiences, they still don't trust companies with the data required for deep personalization. Rather than building detailed profiles, focus on understanding the customer's current context and intent to help them achieve their goals.“
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Understand Churn Better by Diversifying Your Listening Channels
- Recognize that direct feedback is at an all-time low, with only 29% of customers complaining after a bad experience.
- To avoid flying blind, leaders must combine experience, operational and behavioral data from diverse sources, such as social media, reviews, calls and chats, to understand customer sentiment and the reasons for churn.
The Path to Customer-Centricity Is Still There
While the statistics don’t sound reassuring, there is an opportunity here for customer-centric organizations to gain a competitive edge. The data is clear: consumers reward brands that provide excellent service, and they are increasingly wary of companies that misuse their data or replace human connection with inefficient bots.
By prioritizing trust, investing in the customer experience, and leveraging AI to enhance human connection, businesses can foster the lasting loyalty that drives sustainable growth.
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