The coming year had higher be about improving customer experience because customers will not be joyful CX immediately. They’re experiencing more problems and having a harder time getting help. And they will not be keeping quiet about it.
There is a “National Customer Rage Survey,” and just the proven fact that it exists should let you know so much. In the latest one, 77% of shoppers said they’d a services or products issue in the past 12 months. That’s the highest number the survey has recorded because it began — up from 74% in 2023 and way up from 66% in 2020. By comparison, in 1976, it was 32%.
But it’s not only more problems — it’s the experience of solving them that’s breaking down. In the same survey, 68% of shoppers reported that the technique of complaining required “high” or “very high” effort. Their top frustrations? Long recorded messages and determining how to contact someone in the first place.
Meanwhile, the Customer Experience and Communications Consumer Insights survey found that 71% of U.S. and Canadian consumers think most corporations need to improve their customer experience — a record high. The survey, by Broadridge Financial Solutions, reported that average CX scores have dropped for the fourth consecutive year, reaching a low of 68.3 out of 100.
Dig deeper: Why today’s buyer journey not matches the funnel
And here’s where it gets much more complicated: Companies think AI is helping, but customers don’t.
A 2025 Kinsta and Propeller Insights study found that 93.4% of U.S. consumers prefer interacting with a human over AI for customer service, and nearly 50% would cancel a service if AI-only support was their only option. Add to that the 80.6% who consider AI is getting used mainly to save corporations money — not to improve their experience — and you could have a growing trust gap between what brands are doing and the way customers feel about it.
Strangely enough, the solution could also be more AI.
From fixing issues to getting ahead of them
Artificial intelligence is moving beyond support bots and chat scripts. It’s now getting used to anticipate friction, interpret signals and take motion before the customer even knows there’s an issue.
“In 2026, AI stops observing and starts operating,” said Glenn Nethercutt, CTO at Genesys. “The next generation of AI will change state before friction emerges… the leaders might be the organizations whose intelligence anticipates reality faster than it arrives.”
That’s a large shift — from reacting to what went incorrect to shaping experiences so things go right the first time.
Think about the number of shoppers who never complain in any respect — they simply leave. Or the ones who try to solve an issue and hit a wall. A proactive approach doesn’t just improve experience — it prevents churn.
Orchestrating CX in real time
What’s making this shift possible isn’t just higher AI — it’s smarter orchestration. AI agents at the moment are coordinating the customer journey across marketing, service and operations.
“Every interaction will change into a part of a dynamic journey, shaped in real time by a catalog of specialised AI agents,” said Olivier Jouve, chief product officer at Genesys.
These agents don’t just answer questions — they connect systems, route actions and adjust experiences based on live data. When working right, they make the entire experience feel smoother and more intuitive.
Dig deeper: Consumers want less digital, more real world from brands in 2026
That’s especially essential in a climate where customers are fed up with friction — and never having the ability to reach a human is their biggest frustration with automated systems.
Customers expect things to connect
Here’s the thing: customers don’t think when it comes to workflows or architecture. They expect experiences to just work. If they talked to a chatbot yesterday, they don’t want to repeat themselves today. If they’re trying to check a loyalty reward or complete a return, they expect the brand to recognize them and keep context.
“Consumers will expect every touchpoint — onboarding, payments, loyalty, tipping, rewards — to operate as one seamless journey,” said Jenn Reichenbacher, chief marketing and customer experience officer at Genesys.
But that’s not happening often enough. According to Verizon’s 2025 CX Annual Insights report, 88% of consumers are satisfied with mostly human-led interactions, but only 60% say the same about AI-led interactions.
That doesn’t mean customers don’t see any value in AI. It means they don’t trust AI to own the experience. They want the technology to assist — not replace — the human connection.
Real-time data is the engine behind proactive CX
So, how do you progress from reactive to proactive? It starts with real-time, contextual data. Knowing when a customer is stuck, what their intent is and the way to take the next step immediately is what turns AI from an automation tool into an experience engine.
“In 2026… every interaction delivers clear, measurable value,” said Rob Giglio, chief customer officer at Canva. “Data becomes embedded directly into workflows, prompting immediate actions, closing loops in real time and enabling predictive customer success.”
Dig deeper: AI is turning personalization right into a two-way conversation
And yet, a growing disconnect exists between what corporations consider AI is delivering and the way customers actually experience it. While 75% of marketers say AI is more critical to their strategy than ever, only 19% of consumers say they feel enthusiastic about it, according to the Kinsta and Propeller Insights study.
The warning signs are clear: if brands don’t fix the trust gap, the tech itself won’t matter.
What this implies for marketers and CX teams
If you’re working on CX today, you’re not only fighting for attention — you’re fighting for trust. Customers aren’t any longer impressed by chatbot popups or AI assistants that sound vaguely human but can’t solve their problems.
They want transparency. They want empathy. And they need to feel like the experience is built for them — not for internal efficiency charts.
That’s why the smartest brands aren’t using AI as a gatekeeper. They’re using it as infrastructure: something that routes, summarizes and supports human agents in order that customers get what they need faster — with less friction.
“If you simply take a look at your survey scores, you’ll think the bots are doing nice,” said Anirudh Agarwal, CEO of digital PR agency OutreachX. “The real damage is in the customers you never hear from — the ones who drop off mid-chat and quietly resolve not to come back.”
Bottom line
AI can absolutely improve CX — but provided that it’s built to support the customer, not wall them off. That means designing for continuity, context and clarity. It means letting customers reach a human after they need to. And it means using AI to anticipate needs, not only deflect tickets.
In 2026, corporations that get this right will earn greater than those who deal with efficiency. They’ll earn trust.
The post Why 2026 is the year customer experience has to change appeared first on MarTech.
Read the full article here
