Over half (55%) of leaders in Customer Experience Management (CXM) are gearing up for large investments in GenAI, with 16% anticipating expenditures exceeding $10 million within the next 12-18 months, according to a survey by Everest Group in collaboration with TELUS International.
“The opportunities that GenAI presents for augmenting and enhancing customer experience is undeniable as this diverse group of leaders, across various industries and geographies, have highlighted its potential to streamline processes, reduce costs and improve the overall customer experience. As leaders progress their GenAI journey in this new year, it is imperative they are detailed and thoughtful about how they inform and incorporate these tools within their organizations. Collaborating with an external partner can help leaders ensure GenAI is applied responsibly, with best practices and evolving regulations in mind, to ensure successful implementation of the technology,” said Steve Nemzer, Senior Director of AI, Innovation & Growth at TELUS International.
Zendesk's latest survey also sheds light on the impact of generative AI, highlighting that 83% of CX leaders report positive ROI of GenAI.
Why generative AI?
The primary driver for considering GenAI solutions in CXM operations, as identified by the majority of respondents, is the desire to personalize and customize customer interactions. Following closely are objectives like cost reduction, efficiency enhancement, automation improvement in CXM processes, and deriving actionable insights from customer data. Text generation is perceived as having the highest potential for CXM applications by 53% of leaders, followed by code generation (33%), audio generation (29%), and image generation (24%).
Additional insights from the report reveal that only 7% of surveyed CXM leaders believe their GenAI solutions have reached a steady state in their organizations. Progress is more apparent in text generation, with 46% in either the piloting or deploying stage and 21% scaling up. Almost half (47%) expressed plans to pilot or deploy GenAI solutions within their customer support operations for non-voice channels in the next 6-12 months.
What are the main concerns?
Concerns around GenAI implementation include worries about public solutions exposing companies to risks (22%), data security and privacy (20%), and compliance with regulations (16%). In addressing these challenges, 76% of CXM leaders plan to leverage outsourcing partnerships, citing limited internal resources and expertise, cost considerations, budget constraints, and time-to-market requirements as key factors.
TELUS International is poised to support this trend with its recently launched Fuel iX—a solution infused with the power of generative AI for end-to-end CX innovation and AI-driven intelligent experiences (iX). Additionally, TELUS International offers the Experts Engine, a fully managed, tech-enabled solution for on-demand access to generative AI model builders.
