Survey: 96% of CX Organizations View AI as a Key Strategy, but Governance Structures Lag Behind Implementation

CallMiner's annual CX Landscape Report reveals organizations are scaling AI implementation while still grappling with organizational challenges, such as analyzing data and acting on insights

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, CallMiner released its annual CX Landscape Report in partnership with Vanson Bourne, revealing that the majority (96%*) of global contact center and customer experience (CX) leaders view AI implementation, including generative AI and agentic AI, as a key strategy, up from 87% in 2024.

AI investment and implementation are widespread at organizations. However, many find themselves caught between AI's strategic promise and the challenges of deployment. The report, which surveyed leaders across healthcare, financial services, technology, retail, and business process outsourcing industries, found that even with growing investments and implementation, many organizations remain hindered by inefficient execution, with 42% still relying on manual processes to analyze CX data. Further, despite 71% of respondents having dedicated AI governance resources, 67% are implementing AI without adequate governance structures to manage associated risks. And of those with formalized governance teams, only 43% are focused on defining AI strategy.

"While AI adoption is becoming more mainstream, many organizations are still finding their footing when it comes to readiness," said Jeff Gallino, CEO and founder, CallMiner. "There continues to be a disconnect between AI ambition and execution. Organizations are investing in the necessary infrastructure, but it doesn’t always translate into value or outcomes. In fact, nearly a quarter of organizations said failure to prove ROI from tech investments is a CX challenge. The leaders of tomorrow will be those who bridge this gap by connecting AI investments directly to CX improvements, ultimately turning insights into enterprise-wide action.”

AI adoption matures, but outpaces organizational readiness

Despite the disconnect between AI governance resources and organizations’ perceived ability to manage risk, AI adoption has rapidly advanced in the past year. According to the report, 80%* of organizations have at least partially implemented AI, up from 62% in 2024.

This increase is fueled, in part, by organizations partnering with software vendors for the right AI solutions. In fact, 51%* of organizations said they rely entirely on third-party AI software. This approach delivers a faster, more scalable path to implementation, with organizations that leverage third-party software more likely to have at least partially implemented AI (85%) than those developing solutions in house (71%).

And as the AI market continues to evolve, there are renewed concerns around security. More than half of CX leaders (52%*) worry about AI spreading misinformation (compared to 44% in 2024; 43% in 2023), and nearly half (49%*) of those same leaders have fears around security and compliance risks (compared to 38% in 2024; 45% in 2023).

As challenges persist, organizations struggle to maximize CX data

Even as technology advances, organizations find themselves in a data paradox that threatens to undermine their CX transformation efforts. Many continue to struggle to translate CX data into valuable insights. In fact, 62%* of respondents acknowledged they don’t often use CX data to their best advantage (up from 59% in 2024), and 98% reported difficulties aligning CX data and feedback across departments.

Some of the top challenges organizations face when aligning on CX data include: lack of effective communication between departments (48%); lack of understanding on how to analyze data (47%); and lack of clarity on how to act on data insights (45%).

Gallino added: “Without clear communication and the ability to interpret what the data is really saying, technology alone falls short. Organizations must focus on purpose-fit technology and well-designed processes to transform simple data collection into meaningful action.”

AI unlocks human potential while revealing automation opportunities

According to the report, the same number of organizations (96%*) believe that AI will be key to unlocking the full potential of employees, as those that believe AI will help them be more efficient when optimizing CX strategy under financial strain.

This suggests that more organizations are aware of the multi-faceted benefits that AI can deliver, enabling exceptional CX when it matters the most. For frontline employees, many organizations are using AI to assist agents with real-time assistance during customer interactions (47%) and free up their time to focus on more strategic tasks (43%). For customers, organizations are focused on using AI to personalize outreach (43%) and enabling them to resolve issues independently (40%).

"The organizations effectively using AI are those that understand the right places to automate and the right places to augment," says Gallino. "Success comes from finding the sweet spot where technology handles routine tasks, while providing support during human interactions that elevates the customer experience.”

The 2025 CX Landscape Report highlights AI’s increasingly pivotal role in CX operations, delivering clear benefits in operational efficiency and in elevating customer and employee experiences. However, many organizations are still held back by challenges across governance, data utilization and cross-departmental collaboration. These gaps limit their ability to capitalize on AI’s potential. Bridging them will be critical for translating AI adoption into measurable outcomes, and unlocking AI’s full value across the CX lifecycle.

For more information on CallMiner's 2025 CX Landscape Report, please download the full report here.

Survey Methodology
A total of 700 senior decision makers from contact center and CX departments were interviewed in May and June 2025, with interviews in the US (250), UK/Ireland (125), France (125), Germany (125), and South Africa (75). This matches the interview profile from previous years’ reports. Respondents had to be from organizations that had a contact center, with 100 or more employees in total globally and be part of the healthcare, financial services, technology, retail, or business process outsourcing (BPO) sectors. The addition of BPOs is new for 2025. Where historical data and comparisons are discussed, BPO data is excluded for comparability. These statistics will be highlighted using an asterisk*. The interviews were conducted online and were undertaken using a rigorous multi-level screening process to ensure that only suitable candidates were given the opportunity to participate.

About CallMiner
CallMiner is the global leader in AI-powered conversation intelligence and customer experience (CX) automation. CallMiner captures and analyzes 100% of omnichannel customer interactions, delivering deep intelligence to optimize processes, enhance agent performance, and automate workflows and conversations at scale. With advanced AI and industry-leading analytics, CallMiner helps organizations transform customer insights into operational efficiency, cost reductions, and faster, data-driven business decisions. CallMiner is trusted to improve CX for leading brands across technology, media and telecom, retail, manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, and travel & hospitality. To learn more, visit CallMiner.com, read the CallMiner blog, or follow us on LinkedIn, X and Facebook.

About Vanson Bourne
Vanson Bourne is an independent specialist in market research for the technology sector. Their reputation for robust and credible research-based analysis is founded upon rigorous research principles and their ability to seek the opinions of senior decision makers across technical and business functions, in all business sectors and all major markets. For more information, visit www.vansonbourne.com.

* Where historical data and comparisons are discussed, business process outsourcing industries data are excluded, to ensure the data points are comparable to previous years.