CXFocus Newsletter

The AI customer service market is projected to skyrocket to a staggering USD 117.87 billion by 2034. According to the latest data from Polaris Market Research & Consulting, Inc. Research, the sector is growing at a strong CAGR of 25.6%. This isn't just a minor shift in technology—it’s a massive overhaul of global customer experience (CX). Modern consumers expect instant, 24/7, omnichannel responses. Traditional customer support models simply can't keep pace with peak demand volumes. By integrating machine learning, NLP, and #GenerativeAI, forward-thinking organisations are successfully automating repetitive tasks, freeing up human agents to focus on complex issues that require genuine empathy and critical thinking. https://lnkd.in/gKKZ72ea #CustomerExperience #ArtificialIntelligence #GenerativeAI #CX #DigitalTransformation #TechTrends

The 'AI testing' phase is over. It’s time for the enterprise mandate. In 2026, Australian CX has hit a critical inflection point. While we saw a massive 119% surge in AI agent adoption just a year ago, the real challenge has shifted: How do we move from a successful pilot to full-scale production? Our latest report with Nexon Asia Pacific, From AI pilot to enterprise strategy - Addressing the realities of AI driven CX, breaks down the realities of AI-driven CX. We’re moving beyond cost-cutting to a more sophisticated metric: The Empathy Dividend. Success today means: - Measuring reinvested human capacity. - Moving from fragmented tools to unified, "plug and play" architecture. - Treating AI agents as a digital workforce, not just a software script. Huge thanks to leaders like Jessica Dawson (NAB), David Russell (Nexon Asia Pacific) Andrew Dome (Uniting), Michael Buttsworth (Charles Sturt University), Anthony Gebbie (Nexon) and Tyler Mason (El Jannah) for sharing their insights. Download the full report. https://lnkd.in/gx_73jVi #CustomerExperience #GenerativeAI #DigitalTransformation #AustralianBusiness Michael Gwilliam Ilonka Coombes Eirene Sidiropoulos

In the rush to deploy new Customer Experience (CX) technologies and AI tools, many organisations inadvertently introduce a new layer of friction - architectural fragmentation. When digital tools don't talk to each other, it is the frontline employees who are forced to manually bridge the gaps—acting as human 'middleware' to copy-paste data, navigate siloed applications, and reconcile broken customer journeys. In his latest op-ed, When disconnected CX turns people into middleware, David Russell, General Manager of CX, Nexon Asia Pacific, explores why a technology-first approach often backfires without a unified strategy. Read the full perspective by David Russell here: https://lnkd.in/gj2GmYeR #CustomerExperience #DigitalTransformation #EnterpriseStrategy #GenerativeAI #Operations #BusinessArchitecture Ilonka Coombes Eirene Sidiropoulos Michael Gwilliam Kristie Weaver

Would you trust an employee who routinely lies and hallucinates to your customers? Imagine being in a high-stakes meeting with a valued client, only for your team member to randomly interrupt, misunderstand basic questions, and completely invent false answers. When challenged, they deny any wrongdoing. You would likely never hire someone so unreliable. Not if you wanted to keep your customers. Yet, this is the exact risk many organisations face by rushing to deploy fully agentic AI in contact centres before the technology—or the organisation—is truly ready. As Dr. Mike Banbrook, CEO of Convai, points out in his latest op-ed, contact centres are messy, human environments. Real customers don't speak in scripts or follow neat, deterministic patterns. They use phrases full of nuance, context, and emotion that require judgment and negotiation. https://lnkd.in/gkqaDMc6 #CustomerExperience #ArtificialIntelligence #ContactCentres #GenerativeAI #TechLeadership Alice Wilson Michael Gwilliam

How do you keep customers engaged when the inbox is more crowded than ever? Email fatigue is a very real challenge. When consumers are inundated with generic messages, they don’t just unsubscribe—they disengage entirely. Faced with this hurdle TravelOnline.com recognised the need for a shift. Instead of blasting their audience with standard promotions, the company completely overhauled its customer journey. By transitioning from generic email blasts to highly personalised, data-driven touchpoints, TravelOnline successfully revitalised its communication strategy. The results highlight a crucial lesson for marketers: relevance always wins over volume. By mapping content to the specific stages of the traveller's lifecycle, TravelOnline didn’t just beat email fatigue—they built a more meaningful, high-converting connection with their audience. Read the full breakdown of how they transformed their digital strategy: https://lnkd.in/gex6Uf-g #CustomerJourney #EmailMarketing #DigitalTransformation #TravelIndustry #MarketingStrategy #CustomerRetention Sheri Adamson Anthony Capano Michael Gwilliam Sarah Philippe

60% efficiency gains. 330 recruiter hours reclaimed. 0% candidate ghosting. Convai and Probe CX have launched AVA AI Agent (AVA), a bespoke AI assistant designed to re-engineer the candidate screening process. The rapid deployment of AVA eliminated a 30% candidate non-engagement rate, ensuring top talent is secured before moving to competitors. https://lnkd.in/g64n9DfG #RecruitmentTech #ConversationalAI #HRTech #BusinessAutomation #EmployeeExperience #OperationalEfficiency Lyle Smith Mike Banbrook Annie Collison Michael Gwilliam

On May 18, 2026, experience management (XM) software provider Qualtrics officially finalised its acquisition of healthcare data analytics firm Press Ganey Forsta. This merger combines Qualtrics' enterprise-scale customer and employee experience platforms with Press Ganey Forsta’s specialised healthcare benchmarks and patient feedback infrastructure. The consolidated entity aims to leverage this expanded dataset to advance predictive, AI-driven analytics across healthcare, financial services, retail, and the public sector. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gVKfUATY #MergersAndAcquisitions #TechNews #ExperienceManagement #HealthcareAnalytics #EnterpriseSoftware Qualtrics Graham White Tahra De Souza Lane

While the pressure to adopt AI technologies is growing—and the potential value is enormous—organisations must remember that technology alone cannot solve every customer experience challenge. When implemented strategically, AI is reshaping the way contact centres function. It allows organisations to analyse vast amounts of customer interactions and uncover patterns that would have been impossible to identify manually at scale. However, achieving true CX excellence requires a balance between advanced data analytics and the human touch. Read the full op-ed by Matt McConnell ✟ from Intradiem: https://lnkd.in/gFvQhrFM #CustomerExperience #AI #ContactCenter #CX #DataAnalytics #CustomerService Laura Mercer Meredith (Rideout) Schmidt Michael Gwilliam

Historically, the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and the Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) platform operated as two distinct silos. When CRM and CCaaS merge into a unified ecosystem, the boundary between ‘customer data’ and ‘live interaction’ disappears. This integration delivers three critical advantages for the modern enterprise: - Instant contextual awareness: By syncing data in real-time, systems recognise callers immediately. - Reduced effort, increased velocity: Eliminating the need to switch between applications significantly helps agents to assist customers - Predictive routing: Integrated data allows for sophisticated AI routing. Rather than connecting to the first available agent, customers can be directed to the specific specialist best suited to handle their enquiries. To explore this evolution, CXFocus sat down with industry experts Audrey William, Dannielle Pearson, Jonathan Barouch, and Nigel Lindsay-Smith to discuss why this convergence is reshaping the market. https://lnkd.in/gD_jHzeG #CustomerExperience #CX #CCaaS #CRM #DigitalTransformation #ContactCenter #AI #CustomerSuccess Natalie Carter Michael Gwilliam

Celonis has officially announced the acquisition of Ikigai Labs, a leader in AI-driven decision intelligence. The move is designed to expand the platform's capabilities in enterprise-level prediction, simulation, and decision optimisation. A central component of this acquisition is the integration of Ikigai Labs’ advanced planning and forecasting technology into the Celonis Context Model (CCM). Celonis identifies the CCM as a critical layer in the modern enterprise stack, providing AI agents with the operational context required to move beyond simple automation toward reliable, large-scale reasoning. https://lnkd.in/gwE64EHm Carsten Thoma Devavrat Shah Grant Titmus #EnterpriseAI #ProcessMining #DecisionIntelligence #DigitalTransformation #DataAnalytics