Executives see AI gaps & cultural barriers in customer experience

New research from WSJ Intelligence and Code and Theory indicates that most business executives see significant deficiencies in their current customer experience strategies and that businesses are failing to harness artificial intelligence effectively to improve customer relationships.

The report, titled "The Experience Gap: AI's Imminent Impact on CX," is based on a survey of 800 senior executives from US-based companies with annual revenues of at least USD $500 million. The respondents were evenly distributed by job title, including chief executive officers, chief technology or information officers, and chief marketing officers.

According to the findings, 93% of the executives described their current customer experience as "broken" despite near unanimity (94%) in recognising that customer experience strategy directly contributes to business success. Only 28% of those surveyed said their organisations are leveraging new technologies to deliver digital customer experiences they would classify as "innovative or adaptive." The report suggests that this lack of digital progress is costing companies financially, as industry leaders in digital customer experience are reportedly generating 30% more revenue - an average of USD $1.4 billion - than businesses lagging in customer experience.

When asked about the most pressing issues, executives identified organisational and cultural barriers as the primary impediments to effective customer experience transformation, rather than technological constraints. Leadership misalignment was noted by 49%, creative talent shortages by 44%, and organisational silos by 43% of respondents. Among industry leaders, 56% cited cultural dysfunction as a primary barrier to progress.

AI transformation challenges

The report found that 76% of C-suite respondents believe their companies are behind on AI transformation efforts. Furthermore, 88% said the potential for AI-driven personalisation has not yet been realised, indicating a widespread perception that available technologies are not yet being used to their full potential. Only 44% of executives claimed an advanced understanding of AI's potential to drive emotional engagement with customers.

The data also show that investment in customer experience is expected to become more important over time, with 86% of executives forecasting that customer experience will become a top-tier investment priority for their businesses.

Barriers to progress

Although 53% of surveyed executives said their organisations are "very ready" for transformation efforts, the report highlights a gap between this perceived readiness and actual capability. The primary obstacles identified were mostly internal: leadership misalignment, creative talent shortages, and the existence of organisational silos. These concerns reflect a view that existing processes and corporate culture are inhibiting the adoption of new technologies and strategies.

Don McGuire, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Qualcomm, said: "When you're integrating AI tools into your workflows, you have to take a human-centric approach and plan for that as the outcome. Think about your customer interactions. Can they be improved? Can an interaction with an AI be better than one with a human? That's not easy and it takes a lot of planning. The companies taking leadership roles will be the ones that vault ahead."

Dan Gardner, Co-Founder of Code and Theory, added: "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. Find the spaces where your customers are underserved, frustrated or forced to cobble together solutions from multiple providers. Then use AI to own that entire experience. The question isn't what AI can do; it's what only your brand can do with AI that no one else can replicate."

Survey methodology

The survey sample consisted of 800 senior executives from US-based companies with annual revenues of at least USD $500 million. The distribution of roles covered chief executive officers, chief technology and information officers, and chief marketing officers in roughly equal proportions.

Overall, the research suggests that while executives acknowledge both the importance of customer experience and the potential for AI to transform it, organisational and cultural challenges remain significant hurdles. The findings indicate a strong consensus that customer experience transformation should be a key priority, but highlight persistent gaps in readiness and execution capacity.