Observed Signal · Aug 13, 2026 · Report Release · Source: https://martechseries.com/feed/ · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
CX AI Adoption Nears 70%; Only 2% Reach CoE
Forethought AI Agents by Zendesk published the third annual State of AI in CX Report, surveying more than 600 CX leaders and practitioners. The study finds AI adoption in customer experience rose from 54% in 2024 to nearly 70% in 2026, but only 2% of AI-using organizations meet the report’s Center of Excellence (CoE) standard while 70% remain in an “Experimental” tier. Forethought’s 100-point AI for CX Center of Excellence Index measures five dimensions of program maturity. The report highlights that action-taking and agentic AI deliver stronger resolution, satisfaction, and cost outcomes than assistive or DIY implementations, and calls out a voice-channel AI gap (71% use voice for support, but only 20% have live AI on that channel). Quotes come from Antoine Nasr (Forethought) and Jessie Roberts (Clair).
The report documents rising AI adoption in CX and quantifies maturity gaps and channel blind spots that matter to MarTech and CX operations, but it is a vendor/industry report rather than a platform policy or major industry-shifting announcement.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Forethought AI Agents by Zendesk released the State of AI in CX Report, the company’s third annual study of over 600 CX leaders and practitioners.
- AI adoption in customer experience rose from 54% in 2024 to nearly 70% in 2026.
- Only 2% of AI-using organizations meet the report’s Center of Excellence standard, while 70% of organizations score in the lowest “Experimental” tier.
- Forethought’s 100-point AI for CX Center of Excellence Index evaluates programs across five dimensions: measured outcomes, operating maturity, training sophistication, production trust and control, and ROI discipline.
- Action-taking and agentic AI programs report stronger outcomes (examples: 56% of organizations using AI report improved resolution rates vs. 19% without AI; 74% of action-taking programs report improved resolution vs. 43% at the assistive stage); voice shows a deployment gap (71% of organizations use voice for support, but only 20% have live AI on the channel).
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Ontology Mapping & Concepts
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