A new study finds that AI is being used by businesses primarily
as an efficiency driver—to cut costs and streamline operations.
And the study, from Stagwell’s Code and Theory and The Wall Street Journal, also concludes that
companies are missing out on a major opportunity to reshape their customer experiences (CX) and relationships.
The report is based on a survey of 800 US-based C-suite executives that was
conducted in June.
“This execution gap is bleeding customers, revenue and competitive advantage,” the report states.
“Most companies are
just automating their existing mistakes faster,” Dan Gardner, co-founder and executive chairman of Code and Theory, states in the report. “They’re bolting AI onto
broken customer journeys instead of reimagining what customer engagement could become.”
As for what companies should be doing, Gardner says they should “stop looking for
the playbook. There isn’t one and that’s exactly why the opportunity is massive. The companies winning with AI aren’t following
best practices, they’re inventing new categories of customer value by connecting data, services and experiences in ways that seemed impossible two years
ago.”
The report asserts that “the next evolution of AI goes beyond reactive customer service to predictive, emotionally attuned systems
that anticipate needs and build relationships proactively and autonomously.”
AI agents, it adds, “are already making decisions on behalf of customers, potentially disrupting
traditional customer relationships entirely. These systems don’t just respond to queries — they actively advocate for customer interests, compare options and
negotiate terms.”
“The companies that win will use agentic AI to eliminate the organizational friction customers experience but can’t see,” the
report concludes.
“Success doesn’t come from automating existing processes. It comes from understanding what motivates customers and building
organizations capable of delivering those experiences consistently.”
The full report can be downloaded here.