How to Navigate the Path to CX AI Maturity

Getting started with AI can be overwhelming, especially when the media hype can set expectations sky high before you’ve even had your budget approved.

Thankfully, you don’t have to go it alone, as there are already trailblazers out there lighting the way on where to start, how to move forward at pace, and the pitfalls to look out for along the way – all to help you get the very best out of your AI deployment for your agents and customers alike.

Time to get moving? Here we share the top tips and advice we heard at the recent Route 101 Annual Conference on successfully navigating the path to CX AI maturity.

Personalization Is About Far More Than Customer Demographics

The morning was jam-packed with insights, kicking off with Stephen Yap from the CCMA on “Customer Contact Personas Shaping Service Expectations”, where he challenged the long-held assumption that customer experience can be designed around an “average” customer by sharing his latest research.

The CCMA research, supported by Route 101, identifies 5 distinct customer contact personas – Efficiency Optimisers, Knowledge Gatherers, Experience Enthusiasts, Simplicity Seekers, and Tradition Maintainers – each with very different expectations.

Crucially, it shows that behaviour and mindset shape customer needs far more than age or demographics alone. These differences are most evident in how actively people engage with organizations.

Knowledge Gatherers are the most frequent and confident users of customer service, with 49% having contacted a bank in the last six months, compared with just 28% of Simplicity Seekers.

Experience Enthusiasts, meanwhile, stand out not for frequency but for visibility: 74% have shared positive experiences online and 76% have proactively contacted organizations to give praise.

In contrast, Simplicity Seekers and Tradition Maintainers are far less likely to engage unless something goes wrong.

Attitudes to technology, AI, channel preferences, and preferred times for customer contact further underline the divide. All helping to raise awareness of just how out of date a one-size-fits-all strategy is when it comes to delivering a great customer experience.

As Stephen Yap explains in this interview:

Reaching AI Maturity Doesn’t Happen Overnight

Luke Cuthbertson, Head of CX Consulting at Route 101, spoke around  “Developing AI Maturity”, where he put the spotlight on just how far we’ve come on our AI journey so far – dating as far back as the Turing Test in the 1950s and the AI Winter of the 1980s, right through to the birth of the internet, the focus on big data, and subsequent deep learning explosion – all of which paved the way for the accelerated rate of change we’re all experiencing right now.

So much so that even talking about Generative AI emerging in the 2020s feels like “old news”.

So where are we now? We’re finally – finally – entering an era where contact centres can operate in a world free of constraints (around time zones, languages, capacity, and more), where we’re not just extending the contact centre but redefining what service means.

But AI maturity doesn’t happen overnight and there’s a clear pathway to follow – from starting out with auto-summaries and customer insight to adding in auto-QA and real-time assist.

All of which ultimately creates the strong foundations to reach full AI maturity – with AI conversations as the cherry on top. And this isn’t a crazy pipedream either, as Luke concluded, “There are real-life examples out there! This is happening today!”.

The conversation then continued off stage with this interview:

“Better Understanding of Customers” and “Handling More Enquiries Through Self-Service” Are the No#1 Drivers for Implementing AI

Then Steve Morrell from ContactBabel took to the stage for his session on “How & Why Businesses Are Implementing AI”.

What was particularly interesting to see was the AI outcomes CX leaders considered critically important – from better understanding of customers (52%), and handling more enquiries, through self-service (52%), to improving accuracy of responses (45%).

Interestingly, only 16% said that reducing agent headcount was critically important, yet a significant amount still cited this as important

AI Efficiency Savings Pose a Very Real Threat to Agent Wellbeing

He also put the spotlight on the average cost per call right now (sitting at £6.17) and explored key opportunities for reducing call handling time to help improve this figure – from addressing bad audio quality that could shave off 15 seconds per call, to the difference AI auto-summaries can make to post-call time.

However, this doesn’t come without its risks and there’s a delicate balance to strike, as he warned, “There are lots of ways that CX leaders can shorten call handling times and ultimately reduce cost per call, but if you’re cutting call length down from 7 minutes to 5 minutes, then consider your agents – who will typically be losing their micro-moments of decompression in the process.

Particularly so where auto-summaries are resulting in less recovery time, at a point when cognitive load is rising. Quite frankly, it’s never been more important to keep an eye out for signs of agent burnout!”

The conversation continued off stage with this interview:

Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Taking Your People on the AI Journey

After lunch, representatives from Blackcircles, NHS Professionals, and Vp plc came together for an in-depth panel discussion on “Inside the AI Shift: Customers in Conversation”.

Led by Richard Simpson, Chief Solutions Officer at Route 101, the panel shared some of the most poignant learnings from their AI journeys so far and put the spotlight on an often-overlooked element of AI – bringing your people with you, by:

Giving Your AI a Name and Making It a Member of Your Team

“One of the biggest challenges was trying to make sure our agents understood that AI was there to assist and support them – not replace them.

To help, we gave our AI a name to make it seem more human, so our AI is now called “Max” because he maximizes the agent experience.

We really had some fun with it too, first introducing him as a baby, then as a toddler as he was learning to speak, and now regularly talk about him growing up with us as part of the team. It’s been a really effective approach.” – Lisa Lewis from NHS Professionals

Talking About AI as a “Change With Your People” – Not Just a New Tool

“We decided to treat our AI roll-out as a change with our people – not just as the introduction of a new tool. We had a full 8-week communication plan with various touchpoints – including Q&A and buzz sessions.

Beyond this, we also identified key influencers to work with to help share the excitement of the journey with the wider team – but we didn’t just do this with our most enthusiastic colleagues, we also invited our sceptics to get involved.

This was the best thing we ever did, as when people could see “Hang on, even Dave thinks this is a good thing,” it really helped everyone to engage and come on that journey together.” – Natalie MacIntyre from Blackcircles

Appreciating Just How Resilient Your People Are

“One of the things that surprised us most was just how resilient our people are. We forget how much they are used to change, but you still need to make a conscious effort to bring your people with you on that journey.

After all, it’s about collaboration! That’s why, for us, one of the most effective things we did was appoint AI Champions right at the very start of the project.” – Helen Davies from Vp plc.

Define Who You Are, Before AI Defines You!

As the day came to a close, what was clear was just how much potential there is to embrace AI to make a real difference in CX, but it’s not going to happen overnight!

Leaders still need to plan carefully about how and where they implement this technology for the best and biggest impact.

From tailoring experiences to what customers really need, and following established pathways to AI maturity, to making sure to take their people on the journey and protect their wellbeing along the way.

Whilst, of course, never forgetting to always stay true to yourself, as Natalie MacIntyre from Blackcircles so aptly said, “It’s so important to define who you are, before AI defines you!”.

Author: Megan Jones
Reviewed by: Jo Robinson