Nextiva, the leading unified customer experience management (UCXM) platform, announced the results of its recent survey of customer experience (CX) decision-makers, providing insight into the success and challenges businesses are facing and revealing CX trends for the year ahead.

“Customer experience is recognized as a strategic investment on the c-suite agenda”

The survey, which collected feedback from more than 1,000 in-house customer experience leaders across the US, UK, and Canada in November of 2024, found that CX has transitioned away from being thought of as a cost center, and is now considered a revenue driver for businesses and a leading indicator of business performance. Further survey results indicate what CX leaders and the businesses they manage are planning to do to retain and grow revenue in an increasingly competitive digital economy.

For the survey, Nextiva partnered with market research firm Dimensional Research to understand the biggest challenges and opportunities faced by CX practitioners. Six clear trends emerged:

1. CX reputation rises in the c-suite and shines as a revenue generator
CX is no longer just a cost center — 96% of CX leaders report that company leadership sees CX as a key driver of business outcomes and 79% say their corporate leadership now view CX as a crucial revenue driver. This shifting perspective is making it easier to get CX investments approved, with 67% of respondents reporting increased ease in securing funding compared to five years ago.

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2. Tech, culture and ROI have shifted CX’s perception over the years
Technology advances and cultural adaptations have iteratively moved CX’s reputation over the years. Nearly half (47%) now cite the increased ability to track the impact of their CX investments (using metrics like CLTV, CAC, and retention rate) as a notable reason for its perception change. Additional factors cited by leaders were the ability to implement new technologies (43%), general changes in attitude across the industry (42%) and better ROI metrics (35%).

3. Tech-debt stalls CX progress as teams struggle with tool overload
On average, CX teams juggle more than six different tools to interact with customers. This can make delivering consistent, personalized service a challenge. 81% of CX professionals believe consolidating customer data into a single system would improve CX. Shredding tech debt and consolidating into a single CX platform is a trend to watch as companies strive for better and more efficient customer experiences.

4. 92% of businesses embrace AI for CX, but only 9% lead with mature adoption
To truly impact customers and win in the field of CX, businesses need to embrace AI to help streamline operations and enhance customer interactions. That necessity was reflected in the survey responses, with 92% of CX leaders reporting they have adopted AI. 24% characterize themselves as “early stage,” 31% as “in process” and 28% as “established.” Just 9% called themselves “mature” in their adoption.

5. Revenue generation was the top AI investment driver, with curiosity motivating a quarter
54% of CX leaders cited revenue generation as their primary reason to invest in AI, with process improvements/efficiency gains (46%), customer demand (40%) and competitive pressure (39%) following. Demonstrating innovation (35%) and curiosity (26%) were also cited. Organizations reported a dozen different current and future use cases; using gen AI to write to customers (64%), agent assist tools (60%), self-service (57%) and quality assurance (53%) were the most common use cases.

6. AI-related CX challenges evolve with maturity: data issues drop, complexity rises
Challenges shift as companies mature in their AI journey. Data issues peak among “in-process” companies (43%) before dropping among “mature” organizations (31%). “Early stage” companies are far less worried about the regulatory landscape than their “mature” counterparts (24% vs. 35%). Also common among the least mature organizations: a lack of time and resources for experimenting and learning (24%).

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7. Out of kilter human-to-AI handoffs hold back nine in ten CX organizations
Almost all CX decision makers (98%) say a smooth handoff between AI interactions and human agents is essential. Yet, most (90%) CX decision-makers using AI for CX report struggling to reduce friction. Employee resistance tops the list of barriers (36%), followed by customer resistance (29%). Technology issues are also a factor, with the lack of integration (29%) and legacy technology (27%) cited as issues. To resolve the hand-off issues, CX decision-makers say their company would benefit if human agents could oversee AI interactions and assist as needed (51%).

“Customer experience is recognized as a strategic investment on the c-suite agenda,” said Tomas Gorny, CEO and co-founder of Nextiva. “But to truly capitalize on CX as a revenue driver, businesses need to overcome tech-debt, accelerate AI adoption and focus on harmonizing AI and the human touch. The emphasis should be on simplifying operations, consolidating technologies and creating seamless, personalized experiences for customers. Companies that embrace these trends will be rewarded with the loyalty of customers whose expectations continue to rise.”