Generative and agentic AI are no longer experiments for most customer experience (CX) leaders.

According to CallMiner’s 2025 CX Landscape Report, 96% of global customer experience and contact centre leaders believe implementing artificial intelligence (including generative and agentic AI) is key to their CX and contact centre strategies, up from 87% in 2024. That said, while AI adoption is making quick gains, this year’s report also reveals that organisations are still struggling to manage those investments with proper governance structures.

Further, nearly half (42%) of organisations still rely on manual processes to analyse CX data, and 62% admit they don’t often use their CX data to their best advantage. As a result, despite significant investments, enormous potential remains untapped.

AI adoption matures, but governance and readiness lag

AI implementation is quickly becoming more widespread as organisations look to streamline CX improvement strategies. Eight in 10 organisations (80%) report they’ve at least partially implemented AI, compared to just 62% last year. Much of this progress is driven by partnerships with software vendors – 51% of organisations say they rely entirely on third-party AI solutions, which offer faster, more scalable deployment than in-house built solutions.

But adoption is still outpacing readiness. Despite 71% of respondents reporting dedicated AI governance resources, 67% are still implementing AI without adequate governance structures in place. And even among organisations with formalised governance teams, less than half (43%) are focused on defining an AI strategy. The result is a fragile foundation where risk management, return on investment measurement and cross-departmental alignment remain inconsistent.

Security and inaccuracy concerns also persist. More than half of CX leaders (52%) worry about AI spreading misinformation, up from 44% in 2024. Nearly half (49%) also express fears about compliance and security risks, reversing last year’s trend of declining concern.

The CX data paradox: more collection, less clarity

As organisations expand the use of AI and automation, they’re capturing more data than ever before. Yet, more doesn’t always mean better. The 2025 report shows 98% of organisations struggle to align CX data and feedback across departments, limiting their ability to turn customer insights into action.

Top challenges include:

Lack of effective communication between departments (48%)
Lack of understanding of how to analyse CX data (47%)
Lack of clarity around how to act on data insights (45%)

The result is a data paradox. Organisations collect more feedback than ever, but they fail to maximise its value. Without well designed processes, purpose-fit technology and intuitive workflows for both frontline agents and analysts, raw data risks becoming a cost concern instead of a catalyst for CX transformation.

AI as a productivity and workforce enabler

Despite these challenges, leaders remain optimistic about AI’s potential. In fact, the same percentage of organisations (96%) believe AI is key to unlocking employee potential as those that see it as essential for optimising CX strategies under financial strain.

That optimism is playing out today in real-world use cases. Nearly half (47%) of organisations use AI to provide agents with real-time guidance during customer interactions. Another 43% use AI to free up frontline staff by automating repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on strategic, high-value work.

Customers also benefit from smarter automation. Organisations are increasingly deploying AI to personalise customer outreach (43%) and enable self-service resolution (40%). The most effective companies are finding balance – using AI to handle routine contact centre and quality assurance processes, while augmenting human interactions to elevate overall CX.