75% of business executives are using artificial intelligence for customer experience (AI for CX), but only 20% of business executives rate their own contact centre as delivering industry-leading CX, according to the latest research by Davies Hickman for Odigo, a leading global provider of Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solutions. The findings also reveal that European executives see investing in cloud and AI as becoming central to CX strategy.
 
Providing personalised support as part of an excellent CX is more than ever the goal for all companies. With digital channels now critically important, technology is key to the remaining forefront of delivering the best CX.
 
The results come from the third edition of the research, which surveyed 1,035 business executives across five major European markets. The survey highlights the trends and evolution in the market, which will be published across three eBooks, analysing: How AI is changing European contact centres, the Natural Language Processing (NLP) challenges in the contact centre industry, and ways contact centres can improve CX using AI.
 
Whereas only 20% think they deliver a great customer experience, the study reveals that 79% of businesses would like to offer more support to customers (up from 70% in 2021). Three quarters (75%) said efficiency is optimised when AI supports human agents (up from 69% in 2021). Further, 68% see investing in cloud and AI as becoming central to CX strategy, compared to 62% last year.
 
In the last 12 months, European organisations have acted on the need to increase AI deployment in CX. In 2021, 41% of executives said AI was vital and 48% said it was important to the success of their business. Fast forward to 2022, 75% of businesses have now invested in AI for CX and 9 out of 10 say this investment was a success in improving their customer experience. The biggest adopters are Spain (81%) and the UK (76%).
 
The survey further reveals leaders see a range of benefits from investing in AI, depending on their organisation’s use of the technology. Although improvements in customer experience rank number one, decreasing operational costs is an added expected benefit. Of those that have invested in AI for CX, 96% plan on investing more in the next two years, of which 42% label it as ‘business critical and vital to the success of our business’.
 
Even for those who haven’t yet invested in AI, the road ahead is clear. Six out of ten are convinced AI for customer experience will have an important impact on the success of their business and plan to invest in the next two years.
 

Jean-Denis Garo, Head of Product Marketing, Odigo comments “AI is now recognised as a key component of any digital transformation strategy, especially in the customer experience sector. It helps to open up the organisation and to reinvent business processes. The Davies Hickman 2022 survey reveals how innovation in AI has become mature, and actionable with a proven ROI, assisting and empowering agents to better serve their customers.
 
“The aim of AI is to improve both customers' and agents’ experiences. It puts people back at the centre of all businesses, and we firmly believe that the AI revolution should be embraced, not feared.”