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Last year, my team asked a group of leading CX analysts to look ahead in our 12 Days of CX Predictions series. This year, we invited them back to share what they got right, what they missed, and what they see coming next.
This month’s newsletter pulls together the biggest themes from their reflections. For the full, unedited takes, visit our LinkedIn page, where we’ve been publishing their reflections and insights.
In one sentence: 2025 proved that AI isn’t replacing human-led CX; it’s strengthening it through smarter workforce support and human-AI execution, while connected data and orchestration emerged as differentiators. That sets up 2026 as the year agentic AI scales, with trust and journey-wide intelligence becoming critical.
The Fastest Takeaways (for Busy Leaders)
GenAI reality check: The “AI replaces all agents” myth is dead. The winning model in 2025 was human + AI.
Data is the blocker: Predictive CX and personalization depend on clean, unified data, still the biggest bottleneck.
Agent-assist is now table stakes: AI copilots proved their value, but only with governance, design, and continuous tuning.
Employee readiness matters: 2025 showed AI works best when it supports people. Upskilling rose, and CX gains followed tools that strengthen coaching and reduce agent and manager effort.
Channels aren’t the strategy: Omnichannel and unified channel language keeps changing, but the real issue is legacy infrastructure and a lack of customer-first redesign.
Community surged: Customers leaned harder on peer-to-peer support (Reddit, YouTube, etc.), reshaping how trust and resolution happen.
2026 theme: Agentic AI, orchestration, and cross-functional convergence will redefine how CX gets delivered and measured.
What Analysts Say 2025 Actually Became
Reality 1: The “AI will automate everything” myth collapsed
Chhandak Biswas (Everest Group) called it: in 2025, organizations learned that GenAI doesn’t eliminate the need for humans. It amplifies humans when paired with empathy and judgment. The best results came from blending automation with empathy and complex human decision-making.
Shep Hyken reinforced the same reality. AI can’t do it all, and empowered employees remain a differentiator. Convenience and friction removal matter even more than friendly service, and AI’s role in helping employees is rising as fast as its role in helping customers.
My take: If your 2025 strategy was “automate to reduce headcount,” you probably stalled. If your strategy was “augment humans to reduce friction,” you likely improved outcomes.
Reality 2: Agent-assist proved value, but governance and design decided the winners
Judi Bolden (COPC) framed 2025’s biggest shift as AI Agent-Assist, but with a sharp qualifier. It worked only when supported by strong design and governance. Teams that treated agent-assist as a “set it and forget it” tool didn’t see consistent gains.
My take: Agent-assist is no longer an experiment. In 2026, every service role is expected to have it. The competitive edge will come from how well you tune it.
Reality 3: Predictive CX didn’t scale as fast as the hype
Biswas admitted a miss: he overestimated how quickly AI-driven predictive analytics would scale. The inhibitor wasn’t ideas. It was fragmented data, legacy stacks, and operational silos.
Chad McDaniel (Execs In The Know) reinforced the same theme: clean, connected data became the real divider in 2025. The organizations that progressed were the ones who treated data as the foundation of CX.
My take: Predictive CX maturity is less about AI sophistication and more about data cleanup, integration, and ownership.
Reality 4: Channel labels kept changing, but the problems stayed the same
Judi Bolden said it bluntly: “omnichannel” may be fading, but “unified channel” hasn’t delivered either. Legacy systems still force teams to fight uphill, and the industry continues to rename the promise instead of rebuilding the infrastructure around the customer.
Shep Hyken added a reality check on jargon. Most customers have no idea what omnichannel means, and they shouldn’t have to. It should just be easy and effective.
My take: Stop chasing taxonomy. Fix continuity, ease, and journey design.
Reality 5: Upskilling and EX investments accelerated
Ankita Singh (Frost & Sullivan) saw 2025 as a year of serious agent upskilling investment, directly tied to improving EX and CX. Vendors also shifted from knowledge management as a standalone category toward data integration across stacks.
My take: The people side of transformation is no longer optional. It’s a prerequisite for AI success.
Reality 6: Community became a primary CX channel
Nate Brown (Metric Sherpa) was right about 2025 being the year of community-based support. Customers increasingly trust other customers for answers and head to Reddit for their peers’ opinions on tools and solutions. That changes how brands influence perception, resolution, and loyalty.
He also flagged a miss: surveys lost relevance faster than expected due to AI personas and digital twins, which enabled rapid, synthetic feedback loops and better centralized VoC programs.
❝My take: Your CX ecosystem now includes customer communities you don’t control. Your feedback systems must evolve beyond traditional surveys and cover a wider range of sources.
The Big Predictions for 2026 (and Where They Overlap)
Prediction 1: Agentic AI moves from pilots to ecosystems
Multiple analysts converged on this. Here’s the gist of what they shared:
Biswas: CX heads toward autonomous ecosystems (agentic AI) that not only assist, but learn, reason, and act in real time. The next leap will be about self-optimizing customer journeys, not just efficiency.
Aishwarya Barjatya (Everest Group): agentic AI went from concept to early reality. CXM and BPO providers are running real pilots where AI agents handle live interactions. Enterprises aren’t scaling yet, but rapid adoption is likely next.
Michael Rochelle (Brandon Hall Group): agentic AI will enable systems that proactively solve problems, automatically processing returns or rescheduling appointments without human intervention. These agents will learn from real-time feedback and continuously improve.
My take: Agentic AI won’t matter if your data and governance can’t support it. Autonomy without reliability just scales mistakes.
Prediction 2: Orchestration becomes the race
Barjatya called it the new obsession. Everyone wants to be the orchestrator of experiences, connecting data, humans, and AI models into one intelligent CX ecosystem.
McDaniel described a parallel future: “connected intelligence” across the customer journey, treating intelligence as an ecosystem rather than a tool.
Dan Smitley also made the case for the importance of human-centered AI, an approach that accounts for the human impact of automation.
My take: Orchestration isn’t a feature. It’s a redesign of operating models, ownership, and tech architecture.
Prediction 3: Workforce and coaching go autonomous and proactive
Ankita Singh expects vendors to accelerate R&D so that workforce scheduling and agent coaching become autonomous and proactive, shifting WFM from reactive planning to proactive performance.
My take: Autonomous WFM will expose outdated coaching cultures and performance metrics.
Prediction 4: Trust becomes a top-tier CX differentiator
Shep Hyken: trust rises to the top of customer priorities. What a company stands for, how it protects customer information, and the integrity it demonstrates will influence loyalty.
Barjatya: AI governance has moved from compliance checklists to boardroom strategy. Trust and transparency are key differentiators.
McDaniel: CX measurement must move beyond satisfaction to quantify trust, connection, and the quality of human plus AI interactions.
My take: Trust is the new ROI lever. If customers doubt your intent or data stewardship, automation won’t save you.
Prediction 5: The Great Experience Convergence
Nate Brown sees 2026 as the start of CX blending into marketing, customer success, and IT service management. Unified objectives, similar agentic technology needs, and a common mentality centered on generating strategic value are bringing these teams together.
My take: Titles and org charts will lag. The brands that win will redesign outcomes and accountability, not just workflows.
What I’d Do Now Heading into 2026
Audit your human plus AI model.
Where is AI removing friction without removing empathy? Where is it enabling agents to do higher judgment work?Treat data as a CX product.
Unify systems and signals across the journey. Assign owners. Measure data health. You can’t scale predictive or agentic CX otherwise.Operationalize intelligence at the frontline.
Deliver timely guidance, reskilling, and manager-led coaching in the flow of work to lift performance.Stop debating channels. Fix continuity.
Customers want journeys that work, not labels that sound smart.Build with trust as a metric.
Start tracking trust, not just satisfaction. Tie AI decisions to transparency, consent, and values.Prepare for cross-functional convergence.
Align service, CX, marketing, success, and IT around shared customer outcomes and shared AI capability roadmaps.
The bottom line: A year later, the picture is clearer. AI is strengthening human-led CX, not replacing it. But the organizations that pull ahead will be the ones who connect intelligence across the journey, invest in frontline readiness, and make trust a measurable outcome.
If you want the full, unedited perspectives behind these themes, we’re sharing each analyst’s take on LinkedIn throughout the month. Follow Centrical to catch every reflection and prediction as it drops.
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