Why Voice AI Fails When It Leaves the Demo Room
Voice AI can appear polished in a controlled demo, then unravel when customers call from noisy, low-bandwidth, or high-volume environments. Klearcom’s Neil Weldon explains why contact centers must test call quality, handoffs, and failure routes before scaling automation.
Rhys Fisher · 11h
AI Can Spot the Signal. Can It Deliver the Promise?
Customer engagement AI can now identify intent, choose a next step, and personalize a response in real time. This week’s news from ServiceNow, Coforge, Pacsun, and Orange France shows the harder test is whether the business can follow through when the customer acts.
Rhys Fisher · 3 Nov 2026
Gartner Unveils Inaugural Magic Quadrant for AI Agent Management
As enterprises scramble to govern an increasingly unruly AI agent workforce, Gartner’s inaugural Magic Quadrant for AI Agent Management Platforms puts Microsoft, IBM, and ServiceNow in the Leader quadrant, while AWS, ServiceNow, OneReach.ai, and Gravitee are named Challengers.
Rhys Fisher · 2 Nov 2026
Amazon Wants Alexa to Become Your Default Shopping Agent
Amazon has reported that more than 400 million customers have used Alexa for Shopping in the past 12 months. The company sees the assistant as the future front door to its platform, but higher spend alone will not prove the customer journey is improving.
Rhys Fisher · 2 Nov 2026
Can AI Make Shopping Easier Without Taking Control?
AI-assisted shopping can help customers turn product discovery into a more confident purchase decision. But TikTok product designer Zhengyang Yang argues that the technology must reduce uncertainty, show its evidence, and know when to step aside and allow customers to move forward without it.
Rhys Fisher · 30 Oct 2026
AI Isn’t a CX Strategy. Diabolocom’s CEO on What Is
Diabolocom founder and CEO Frédéric Durand tells CX Today why chasing the empty contact center misses the point. With 89% of CX leaders still expecting humans to play a key role, he argues AI should remove the friction between agents and customers, not the agents themselves.
Rhys Fisher · 29 Oct 2026
Salesforce, Braze, and the Battle for Customer Signals
Salesforce’s planned Braze acquisition, Databricks’ campaign agents, Optimove’s zero-copy audiences, and Adobe’s Alpine F1 partnership all point to the same fight: who gets to turn trusted customer data into the next action, without losing speed, relevance, or control.
Rhys Fisher · 27 Oct 2026
Why AI Handoffs Still Make Customers Repeat Themselves
We all know that AI can make customer service quicker, but too many customers still have to repeat information when a conversation moves from a bot to an agent. Twilio’s Sam Richardson explains why context, identity, and reassurance must travel with the customer.
Rhys Fisher · 26 Oct 2026
Why The Best Contact Center AI Gets Out of the Way
Attention, not automation, is the scarce resource in customer service. Diabolocom’s Rémi Guinier explains why the most effective contact center AI works quietly in the background, removing friction so agents can focus on what matters most: the customer in front of them
Rhys Fisher · 23 Oct 2026
Has Salesforce Bought Its Missing Engagement Engine?
Salesforce has agreed to acquire Braze for $5.66B, adding real-time customer engagement to its CRM, data, AI, and content stack. But Constellation Research’s Liz Miller argues the deal is really about one missing piece: the execution engine that turns customer insight into action.
Rhys Fisher · 21 Oct 2026
Zoom Targets CX’s Broken Context With Its New AI Layer
Zoom has unveiled a Unified Context Layer at Zoomtopia 2026, giving virtual and human agents a shared, real-time view of customer history. The move could reduce repeated explanations, while pushing Zoom further into the race to make AI agents genuinely useful.
Rhys Fisher · 20 Oct 2026
AI Can Spot the Signal, Who Decides What Happens Next?
Amperity, Treasure AI, and Adobe are giving customer engagement teams more capable AI agents to investigate signals, personalize journeys, and speed up decisions. The catch is that brands remain responsible when an automated next step is poorly timed, irrelevant, or simply wrong.
Rhys Fisher · 20 Oct 2026
Salesforce's Native Contact Center is Global: How to Get Connected
With Salesforce's native Contact Center going global, Salesforce is playing to each market’s strengths to get deployed faster. But what does it take to go live across multiple markets while juggling demands for numbers, migration, call quality, and accountability? It may be easier than you think.
Rhys Fisher · 20 Oct 2026
Touchless Resolution: 5 Steps to Turn AI Pilots into Outcomes
A successful AI pilot proves very little. Tata Communications’ Gaurav Anand explains why touchless resolution depends on repeatable operating models, not isolated use cases, and sets out five steps to handle exceptions, preserve customer context, and scale AI across the enterprise
Rhys Fisher · 20 Oct 2026
Why Contact Center Efficiency Can Be a False Win
Deflection, containment, and shorter calls can make a contact center look more efficient. But if customers have to call back, switch channels, or give up, Natalie Beckerman argues that businesses have not removed effort. They have simply moved it somewhere else.
Rhys Fisher · 19 Oct 2026
Why Customer Engagement Is Still Too Slow to Be Personal
Brands have more customer data, dashboards, and campaign tools than ever. Yet turning a useful signal into the right response can still take days, multiple systems, and several teams. Amperity’s new AI agent, Pér, highlights the challenge of acting faster without losing context, control, or trust.
Rhys Fisher · 16 Oct 2026
Can Enterprises Trust AI to Do the Work, Not Just the Demo?
Tata Communications' Gaurav Anand explains how to tell when an AI pilot is ready for production, what touchless resolution looks like in practice, how to make AI-to-human handoffs truly seamless, and where enterprises should start when scaling AI without breaking what already works
Rhys Fisher · 14 Oct 2026
Salesforce Loops Deal Targets CX Problems Before They Hit
Salesforce’s latest acquisition points to a bigger ambition for Tableau and Agentforce. The vendor is helping businesses identify the causes of customer experience failures, rather than simply measuring their effects. But can enterprises trust AI to recommend the next move?
Rhys Fisher · 13 Oct 2026
AI Agents Are Becoming the New Customer Front Door
Meta, Sierra, Stripe, Shopify, and Walmart are setting rules for personal AI agents, while Adobe, Hightouch, and Smart Communications tackle the systems behind the journey. The challenge is no longer just AI adoption, but deciding who controls the customer relationship.
Rhys Fisher · 13 Oct 2026
Is Contact Center AI for Augmentation Missing the Opportunity?
89% of contact center leaders expect humans to remain central to customer support. So why are employee training and workforce readiness consistently ranked as the lowest priorities in AI investment decisions? The gap between stated intention and operational reality is striking.
Rhys Fisher · 13 Oct 2026
Why Churn is a Customer Experience Warning, Not a Metric
Churn is often treated as a retention metric to manage at the end of the customer journey. But as NRG’s Suzie Dieth explains, it can actually be an early warning that trust, clarity, or value broke down much earlier, long before a customer decides to leave.
Rhys Fisher · 12 Oct 2026
Retailers Cannot Allow WhatsApp to Become a Spam Channel
Retailers are moving toward WhatsApp and other rich messaging channels to support shopping, service, and customer loyalty. But as brands gain more ways to reach customers, the real challenge is making every message feel timely, useful, and worth opening.
Rhys Fisher · 9 Oct 2026
HubSpot Cuts 660 Jobs as AI Strategy Reshapes Business
The layoffs are part of HubSpot's strategy to reorganize around AI-powered customer outcomes. The vendor insists the move is not driven by AI efficiencies, but the distinction between AI efficiency and AI-led reorganization may not mean much to employees whose roles have been eliminated.
Rhys Fisher · 7 Oct 2026
AI Is Starting to Run Customer Journeys, Not Just Shape Them
SAP, Braze, Cisco Webex, and Lola are pushing AI from recommendations into customer actions, campaign decisions, and client conversations. But Walmart’s stance on personalized pricing shows why the next engagement battle will be fought over trust, control, and consent.
Rhys Fisher · 6 Oct 2026
World CX Day: Five CX Lessons Beyond the AI Hype in 2026
AI has dominated customer experience conversations this year, but the interviews that stood out pointed to a tougher reality. Better CX will depend on governance, context, trust, employee confidence, and whether automation actually helps customers reach a meaningful outcome.
Rhys Fisher · 6 Oct 2026
What Is Touchless Resolution? How AI Moves Beyond Automation
AI can answer a customer question in seconds, but completing the task, updating the right system and leaving no hidden cleanup for an employee is a much harder test. Tata Communications' Gaurav Anand explains why touchless resolution is the new standard for AI in CX
Rhys Fisher · 6 Oct 2026
Why 100% Interaction Analysis is the New Contact Center Standard
Bluecrest moved beyond sampled calls and manual dispositions to analyze every customer interaction. Its experience shows how contact centers can use AI to uncover customer intent, challenge internal assumptions, improve service journeys, and build a stronger foundation for automation.
Rhys Fisher · 5 Oct 2026
AI Owns the First Interaction, But Brands Run the Customer Journey
The customer journey is evolving. Is your brand adequately prepared? As shoppers increasingly turn to AI assistants to discover and compare products, retailers cannot afford a disconnected experience once customers reach their own digital properties.
Rhys Fisher · 2 Oct 2026
AI Moves Customer Engagement Closer to the Customer Moment
Microsoft is putting CRM context into a proactive Copilot, Adobe is bringing real-time personalization to NHL fans, and Forrester has released its latest customer engagement Wave Report. The question is whether vendors can make customer engagement more useful without making it feel automated.
Rhys Fisher · 29 Sept 2026
Ofcom Probes Vonage and Voxbone Over Phone Scam Risks
Ofcom’s investigations into Vonage and Voxbone shine a light on the issue of phone-number misuse. While neither company has been found to have broken the rules, the probes raise a wider question for CPaaS providers and enterprises around who is accountable when a trusted voice channel is exploited
Rhys Fisher · 29 Sept 2026
AI Is Taking the Easy Calls. Can It Make Voice More Human?
As AI agents handle more routine customer service and experience queries, voice is becoming the channel for urgent and complex issues. Zendesk’s new real-time translation feature could remove language barriers, but accuracy and trust remain the real test.
Rhys Fisher · 29 Sept 2026
When AI Agents Ignore “No,” Security Gets Real
AI agent security risks are rising as Medicare, Gemini testing, Manchester Airport, and CISA highlight access and identity threats.
Rhys Fisher · 24 Sept 2026
CRM’s Great Escape: Salesforce, HubSpot, Zeotap, and Zendesk Redraw the Data Battle
This week’s CRM news covers Salesforce’s Dreamforce vision, HubSpot’s Smart CRM, Zeotap’s Open CDP, and Zendesk AI agents.
Rhys Fisher · 21 Sept 2026
Can Adobe’s New CEO Put CX Orchestration at the Center of Its AI Era?
Adobe CEO Anil Chakravarthy comes from CX orchestration. Here’s what his appointment could mean for Adobe’s AI, data, and CX strategy
Rhys Fisher · 17 Sept 2026
Customer Engagement Weekly Roundup: Sprinklr Chases the Action Layer as AI Agents Demand Better Context
This week’s customer engagement news covers Sprinklr, Tealium, LivePerson, and Monte Carlo’s latest AI and journey updates
Rhys Fisher · 15 Sept 2026
Contact Center Weekly Roundup: Zendesk Targets Language Barriers as AI Control Wars Heat Up
This week’s contact center news includes Zendesk voice translation, Genesys AI orchestration, RingCentral’s Mets deal, and Verint research
Rhys Fisher · 10 Sept 2026
Can Zendesk Cut Multilingual Contact Center Costs With AI?
Zendesk Real-Time Voice Translation promises lower multilingual contact center costs, but latency and escalation limits remain
Rhys Fisher · 10 Sept 2026
Genesys Unveils AI Control Plane and Agentic Orchestration Stack at Xperience 2026
Genesys launches its AI Control Plane, Navigator, and Orchestrator to connect AI agents, customer data, and service workflows
Rhys Fisher · 3 Sept 2026
Could Your Contact Center’s Sentiment Tool Break EU Rules?
Could your contact center emotion AI break EU rules? Learn how sentiment tools create risks for agents, customers, and compliance
Rhys Fisher · 2 Sept 2026
Avaya’s AI Strategy Warning: CX Vendors Are Splitting Fast
Zeus Kerravala of ZK Research joins CX Today to discuss which CX vendors are leading on AI, where Avaya stands, and what buyers should watch next.
Rhys Fisher · 31 Aug 2026
Why AI-Only QA Still Leaves Support Leaders Doing the Heavy Lifting
Ty Givens, Founder and CEO at CX Collective, explains how Quality as a Service helps support teams improve QA, coaching, and customer experience.
Rhys Fisher · 28 Aug 2026
Google Cloud and Verizon Double Down on AI-Powered Customer Experience
Google Cloud and Verizon are expanding Gemini Enterprise to automate customer service, strengthen network operations, and scale enterprise AI
Rhys Fisher · 25 Aug 2026
Delta’s AI Ambition Puts Dynamic Pricing Back Under Scrutiny
Delta AI pricing could boost profits and improve operations, but dynamic fares are raising fresh questions around fairness and customer trust
Rhys Fisher · 24 Aug 2026
Big CX News from Salesforce, Stripe, OpenAI & Anthropic
The latest news and insights from the biggest vendors in the CX and customer service space, including Salesforce, Stripe, OpenAI, Anthropic
Rhys Fisher · 21 Aug 2026
When Customer Service Doesn’t Go Swimmingly: Amazon’s Drone Delivery Blunder
Amazon’s drone delivery mishap highlights customer service technology failures, from AI drive-thrus to chatbots that get it wrong.
Rhys Fisher · 20 Aug 2026
The Ultimate Guide to CX AI Pricing: Which Model is Right for Your Contact Center?
Explore six CX AI pricing models, from per-seat and usage billing to credits and outcomes, and find the best fit for your contact center.
Rhys Fisher · 20 Aug 2026
Is Microsoft’s AI Workforce Forecasting Enough for Contact Centers?
Microsoft AI workforce forecasting brings human and AI capacity planning together. But can its WEM stack improve contact center CX?
Rhys Fisher · 19 Aug 2026
Has ServiceNow’s Autonomous Workforce Changed the CX Staffing Equation?
ServiceNow Autonomous Workforce is reshaping CX staffing, forcing contact centers to manage AI capacity, escalations, and agent workloads.
Rhys Fisher · 18 Aug 2026
What Anthropic’s Decart Deal Could Mean for Retail
Anthropic’s reported Decart deal could bring real-time video AI closer to retail CX, virtual try-on, and visual customer service.
Rhys Fisher · 17 Aug 2026
Stripe’s OpenRouter Deal Could Reshape AI Agent Pricing
Stripe’s reported OpenRouter deal could reshape AI agent pricing, usage metering, and cost visibility for contact centers
Rhys Fisher · 17 Aug 2026Big CX News from Five9, Cisco, Meta & More
The latest and greatest news stories from the biggest vendors in the customer experience and service space, including: Five9, Cisco & Meta
Rhys Fisher · 14 Aug 2026
Your Customer Journey Analytics Are Broken – And Buying More AI Won't Fix It
Givens and Kara explain why end-to-end journey visibility keeps failing, and why buying more AI before fixing the foundations won't help.
Rhys Fisher · 13 Aug 2026
Gartner Magic Quadrant for CRM Sales Platforms 2026: The Rundown
Gartner’s 2026 Magic Quadrant for CRM Sales Platforms ranks Salesforce and Microsoft as Leaders, while others shift position.
Rhys Fisher · 12 Aug 2026
Genesys Puts AI Trust at the Center of Its Agentic CX Strategy
Genesys is putting AI governance, transparency, and cloud resilience at the heart of its agentic AI strategy for contact centers.
Rhys Fisher · 11 Aug 2026
Five9 Wins $100M Financial Services CCaaS Contract
Five9 has won a $100M CCaaS contract with a Fortune 100 financial services firm through Google Cloud Marketplace.
Rhys Fisher · 10 Aug 2026
The AI Race Has a Customer Experience Problem
RocketPhone.ai CEO Muj Choudhry explains why AI customer experience projects need trusted data, human oversight, and clear business outcomes.
Rhys Fisher · 10 Aug 2026Big CX News from Avaya, ServiceNow, NiCE & HubSpot
The latest and greatest news and insights from the biggest vendors in the space, including Avaya, ServiceNow, NiCE & HubSpot
Rhys Fisher · 7 Aug 2026
NiCE Wins Big CX AI Deals, But Enterprise Adoption Takes Time
NiCE secured major HMRC and healthcare CX AI deals, but its Q2 call revealed the data, governance, and deployment hurdles facing enterprises.
Rhys Fisher · 6 Aug 2026
The Inaugural Gartner Magic Quadrant for Customer Service Knowledge Management Systems 2026: The Rundown
Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Customer Service Knowledge Management Systems is here. Meet the Leaders, Challengers, Visionaries & Niche Players
Rhys Fisher · 5 Aug 2026
HubSpot Got the Blame, But Does the Whole Industry Have the Same Problem?
Acoustic CMO Alexi Hatch on "signal debt," the opt-in line brands keep crossing, and why borrowed enrichment data is a major CX problem.
Rhys Fisher · 4 Aug 2026