Build the next-generation customer experience with GenAI

Customer expectations have never been higher. Today’s consumers demand instant access to information, seamless product experiences and rapid resolution of issues. When organisations fall short, customers don’t just get frustrated; they leave. Every interaction either strengthens or damages brand reputation.

Generative AI (GenAI) is rapidly emerging as a game changer for customer experience (CX). Unlike traditional automation, GenAI engages customers in natural, human-like dialogue, anticipates needs and delivers personalised guidance. From onboarding new users and summarising interactions to providing contextual advice and information, GenAI turns routine exchanges into moments of genuine value.

The cross-functional nature of CX, spanning data, workflows and touchpoints across the organisation, means GenAI can deliver far-reaching impact compared to use cases limited to a single department. Organisations that hesitate to explore GenAI’s potential, risk losing ground to competitors that leverage the technology to deliver superior experiences and capture customer loyalty.

In a Gartner webinar poll, 38% of leaders identified improving CX and retention as the primary purpose of initiatives to deploy applications trained on large language models (LLMs), while 26% highlighted revenue growth.

As GenAI advances and becomes more deeply embedded in CX strategies, organisations face new opportunities and responsibilities. Understanding where this technology can deliver the greatest impact, while safeguarding customer trust and brand reputation, is essential.

Deeper customer insights

GenAI is changing how organisations understand and respond to customers. With the ability to rapidly query and analyse massive volumes of feedback and research data, GenAI tools are unlocking faster, more accurate paths to customer insights than ever before.

A great example is voice of the customer (VoC) platforms, which now use GenAI to search large, aggregated datasets from vendor-led studies, internal research and real-time customer feedback. This can be filtered by segment, data source or time frame to identify themes and patterns. This accelerates the discovery of what matters most to customers, while empowering teams to respond proactively. This leads to smarter decisions and more personalised customer experiences.

Organisations should explore and adopt GenAI features already available in their current VoC and CX platforms. They should then prioritise solutions that deliver unique, highly contextualised customer insights to ensure the CX strategy stands out — rather than just keeping up with market movements.

Strategic advantage with GenAI

GenAI can dramatically accelerate how organisations execute and scale their CX strategies. Its influence extends to how technology is leveraged, requiring a shift in how investments are approached as part of the broader CX vision.

For instance, GenAI injects a new level of creativity into customer experience, enabling organisations to design innovative interactions that move beyond the limits of traditional processes. By analysing more datasets than humans can manage alone, GenAI helps overcome human limitations and biases, generating a broader range of ideas for CX improvement.

This empowers teams to imagine and refine customer journeys that might otherwise be overlooked, while still aligning with practical business constraints. Additionally, GenAI can augment human judgement — helping prioritise CX initiatives and guide investment decisions with greater confidence.

It’s important to identify areas where GenAI will deliver the greatest benefit and focus efforts on those that directly support the CX vision and outcomes. This harnesses GenAI’s transformative power while maintaining a customer-centric approach.

Governing opportunity and risk

As GenAI becomes more deeply embedded in CX strategies, strong governance and cross-functional collaboration are critical. Organisations play a key role in ensuring the responsible adoption of GenAI, balancing its potential to unlock deeper customer insights and more creative interactions, with the risks of poor data quality, untested outputs and loss of customer trust.

The journey to GenAI-enabled CX maturity involves more than just quick wins or isolated pilots. It starts with productivity gains, then moves towards the creation of differentiated, enterprise-wide customer experiences.

As organisations advance, the ability to democratise customer data, foster teamwork across business units, and empower employees to act on insights becomes increasingly important. At every stage, strong governance must underpin technology investments and innovation, ensuring new capabilities are deployed responsibly and in line with strategic CX objectives.

Organisations should align CX governance with enterprise AI policies, encourage cross-functional collaboration, and invest in data discipline and employee training. This approach unlocks GenAI’s potential while staying customer focused and safeguarding long-term value.

*Don Scheibenreif is a distinguished VP analyst at Gartner. Don will be presenting on the future of autonomous business at Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo on the Gold Coast, 8–10 September.

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