2024 digital transformation pulse check: A snapshot of trends, challenges and opportunities from CX leaders

Change can happen fast. Priorities outlined at the start of the year can quickly move to the wayside in favor of new objectives that address the latest technology, economic shifts or differing consumer expectations. As enterprises navigate today’s rapidly changing customer experience (CX) landscape, their strategies and priorities are evolving in response to new challenges and opportunities.

To better understand this progression, Everest Group surveyed 71 global enterprises of varying sizes across a range of industries — including automotive, banking, ecommerce, technology and more. The research findings, in combination with perspectives shared by CX leaders and analysts in recent webinars, provide a snapshot into how organizations are refining their CX strategies.

Read on to learn where companies are investing and how the human role in CX is shifting to keep up with advancements in technology.

Where are enterprises making technology investments?

According to the survey, organizations have prioritized foundational CX technologies such as Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS), agent-assist solutions and workforce management, with leaders indicating that they have already made significant investments in these tools. In contrast, investment in generative AI (GenAI) and AI-powered language translation are still in their early phases, but with a strong appetite for growth. Nearly 90% of companies surveyed said that they have made initial investments or plan to invest in GenAI-powered CX solutions in the next two years.

The indication that GenAI investment is on the upswing underscores the anticipated role of AI-driven personalization in future CX strategies. Sharang Sharma, vice president of Everest Group, spoke about generative AI's potential during the recent TELUS Digital webinar,

. “Everyone’s really excited about it, specifically within the CXM domain because of the huge kind of impact it promises for this area,” said Sharma.

Additionally, the survey results reveal that AI-powered language translation and knowledge management platforms are on the radar for 77% and 76% of enterprises, respectively.

“Knowledge management is becoming key, and it's going to be very key to GenAI being effective in the contact center,” said Jeremy Tamm, vice president, sales and marketing at TELUS Digital, during the webinar,

. He emphasized that while having the right data and foundational technology is important, organizations should be focusing heavily on knowledge management to support agents working beyond standardized scripts and traditional desktops — ensuring they can handle complex and unique customer needs effectively.

Brands are looking to GenAI to elevate CX

As investment in GenAI-powered CX solutions grows, organizations are focused on leveraging its capabilities to drive meaningful transformation. According to Everest Group’s survey results, leaders anticipate GenAI’s greatest impact will be on improving resolution times and freeing up staff to focus on higher-level tasks (61%), gaining actionable customer insights (61%) and enabling a higher level of self-service options (48%).

These insights align with the analysis shared by Sharma, who — in the aforementioned webinar, '

— emphasized the significant impact GenAI is expected to have on core CX performance metrics. “Some of the primary KPIs that are so extensively used in contact centers, things like average handle time or quality service levers […] there’s an expectation that generative AI will actually be able to influence that number by up to 40%.”

As organizations adopt GenAI solutions, expectations vary on what types of interactions can be fully automated. While GenAI effectively manages low-complexity interactions and repetitive tasks, leaders express less confidence in its ability to handle those that are more complex.

These findings are in line with what Jim Mitchell, vice president, customer experience innovation at TELUS Digital, anticipated the contact center of the future will look like during the '

webinar. Mitchell warns that an over-reliance on technology could have a negative impact on customer satisfaction. He emphasizes that the future of the contact center involves a “combination of human and AI collaboration,” where technology manages simple tasks and agents are more focused on those critical customer interactions where empathy and complex problem solving are essential.

Roles are changing, but keeping humans-in-the-loop remains key

As customer experience operations transform, the role of humans in CX is evolving in tandem. With the vast array of AI-driven tools now available to enhance efficiency and streamline routine tasks, technology is fundamentally changing the way agents interact with customers and handle day-to-day tasks. And the evolving nature of the CX market is also anticipated to impact the types of skills organizations will be looking for when sourcing CX talent.

In an AI-enabled contact center, keeping humans-in-the-loop ensures that agents bring empathy and nuanced decision-making to each interaction they have with a customer — qualities that are essential in building and maintaining customer loyalty. According to the survey results, decision-making rooted in GenAI insights has been identified as the most crucial role for agents, where they are required to apply data-driven recommendations with their own expertise to address customer needs effectively. Additionally, enterprises acknowledged that agents play a key role in providing feedback that supports continuous improvement and accurate model tuning, ensuring the technology becomes smarter and more responsive over time.

Ambitions for scaling CX meet real-world constraints

For those businesses looking to scale, CX leaders have noted a number of key challenges. Limited budgets and resources emerged as the top hurdle in Everest Group’s survey, reflecting the reality that while the ambition to scale exists, it must be balanced with cost constraints.

The second-ranked top hurdle identified by enterprises was lack of executive buy-in, pointing to an opportunity for CX leaders to better communicate the strategic value of customer experience, linking it to broader business goals like customer retention and revenue growth.

Tied for third are limited cross-department alignment and fragmented customer data. Without coordinated efforts and unified customer data, teams may face difficulties in delivering consistent, personalized interactions.

Enterprises are leveraging partnerships for successful CX transformations

CX transformation is a marathon, not a sprint, said Rajiv M. Dhand, regional vice president for Asia Pacific and Africa at TELUS Digital, in the '

webinar. And implementing new technologies such as GenAI is complex. “As in any marathon, it takes a whole lot of steps taken at the right pace, in the right direction and in collaboration with the team backing the runner, which spells success,” added Dhand.

The complex nature of CX transformation is driving many organizations to seek outsourcing partners who can effectively guide them through this journey and provide access to the specialized talent and expertise needed for transformative CX initiatives. In fact, 70-80% of companies are opting for this approach, according to David Rickard, partner at Everest Group, in the '

webinar.

Partnerships also help solve the talent gap in CX and AI by offering a multifunctional skill set that covers technology, analytics and business processes, ensuring solutions are not only technically sound but aligned with CX goals, shared Rickard. “You don't get that if you just go and hire some really smart IT consultants. They don't have the rest of the domain knowledge,” he emphasized.

While there may be a shortage of talent, the CX space offers a wealth of tools, accelerators and pre-built, enterprise-ready solutions. By leveraging the partnerships of their chosen transformation providers, companies can eliminate the need to build everything from scratch, ultimately saving time and reducing costs, said Rickard — a clear advantage in the race for effective CX transformation.

Supercharge your CX transformation

In the rapidly evolving landscape of CX, the right strategic partnership can be a crucial asset for achieving meaningful transformation. From addressing talent gaps and providing industry insights to offering access to the latest tools, a partnership-driven approach empowers organizations to implement effective, sustainable solutions that elevate customer experience.

Our team of CX experts have over two decades of experience supporting leading global brands in crafting end-to-end digital CX solutions. Spanning contact center outsourcing, generative AI implementation, CCaaS, intelligent automation and more, our leading solutions support a range of customer experience needs. Reach out today to see how we can help you achieve your CX transformation goals.