CX Network’s Global State of CX 2025 report found that 76 percent of practitioners believe that data analytics is boosting profit. However, data remains a major challenge for organizations, with siloed and insufficient customer data proving difficult to manage and translate into action.
At this year’s All Access: Customer Insights & Data Analytics webinar series, one theme came through loud and clear: As technology continues to advance at breakneck speed, human factors of trust and empathy remain critical. Against this backdrop, the speakers shared practical lessons about reframing artificial intelligence (AI) as an evolution rather than a revolution, embedding customer obsession into operations and scaling data literacy programs that change organizational culture for the better.
The evolution of CX insights and analytics
In the first session, Dawn Cummins, global business intelligence at Alliance Pharma and Stefanie Zammit, global director of analytics and insight at Bang & Olufsen agreed that while the core purpose of using consumer insights to drive decision-making remains constant, the demand for data, and thus the speed and frequency of data-driven decisions, have increased.
While AI and technology platforms for gathering feedback have existed for years, the true challenge remains in the human elements: Framing business questions clearly and driving organizational decisions with insights.
AI in CX analytics: Evolution, not revolution
CX Network’s Global State of CX 2025 report found that 35 percent of practitioners listed "AI for operations" as the trend most impacting their role at present. While AI dominates current business discussions, many "revolutionary" AI applications in customer experience have actually existed for years under different terminology. Text analytics, sentiment coding and large language models have been staples of CX programs for more than a decade, though they've been refined and improved. On this, Zammit said “Even back in 2011 we were using large language models and automation. The terms AI weren’t talked about back then, but the principles were the same. What’s different now is awareness – stakeholders are asking us for data instead of us having to sell it in.”
The true innovation in AI for CX lies less in the core technology and more in its accessibility and automation potential. Today's most valuable approach remains focused on translating data into actionable insights rather than being distracted by trendy AI terminology.
Building organizational relationships is the critical foundation for CX success. We polled our audience about where human’s can add the most value in insights, especially in the age of AI. The results were varied.
In response to the same question, Zammit said “My instinct was to talk about interpreting data and storytelling, because that is critical. You can’t get very far without it. But actually, building organizational relationships… especially in CX, is even more important.”
CX insights programs require broader stakeholder engagement than almost any other analytics function. Cummins summed this up, saying: “When you’re bringing new insight or capability into the organization, you’re essentially doing a change management job. It’s not just people - it’s processes and forums that enable decisions.”
The infrastructure needed to collect meaningful customer data requires cooperation from multiple teams, while the application of insights depends on stakeholder trust. As Zammit noted: "If stakeholders don't trust the insights coming from your program or the methodology you've used, the program won't have traction no matter how fantastic it is."
Building these relationships requires genuine empathy for stakeholders' concerns, from job security fears to performance pressures.
Watch the panel discussion on-demand here.
Frontline worker experience and CX
Christina Lewis, formerly global head of operations at Bolt and head of global rider experience at Deliveroo, emphasized the importance of centering customers in scale-ups, saying “you have to be really obsessed with your customers… [in the world of Deliveroo] consumers, couriers and restaurants are all customer types.” She noted that when approaching customer insights, businesses should think big from the start, noting that “the more you can think as if you’re a large company when you’re really a small one, the more meaningful it is.”
On the practical side of things, integrating insights seamlessly into operations is essential. Lewis used the example of Deliveroo, where they used the time spent by couriers waiting for food to deliver was the perfect time to get insights: “When couriers or drivers have stopped, but they’re still online… that is a perfect time to get insight.”
Customer-facing EX directly impacts CSAT
The connection between frontline employee experience (EX) and CX is undeniable. Even with sophisticated analytics and technology, the people who interact with customers daily ultimately determine whether carefully designed experiences succeed or fail.
“Those people who are face-to-face with your customers every day make or break your experience," said Lewis.
She noted that improving operational processes for frontline workers can simultaneously enhance efficiency while improving both worker satisfaction and customer outcomes.
Measuring inclusion-driven changes requires both quantitative and values-based metrics. With CX Network’s Global State of CX 2025 research finding that 65 percent of CX practitioners agree that customers are more conscious of sustainability, centering it is not only the ethical thing to do, but the wise thing to do.
When implementing sustainability and inclusion initiatives (like providing free sanitary products for couriers, which Lewis spearheaded), measurement requires a multi-faceted approach. “One is, are more people from the group being retained? And the second is, are they giving a higher sentiment as a result?” Lewis said. Finally, organizations must make values-based decisions about what they believe is right, beyond just quantifiable metrics, recognizing that some changes align with company values even when ROI is less straightforward.
Watch the fireside chat on-demand here.
Data literacy is the missing link in data-driven culture
CX Network Global State of CX report found that four data-related issues ranked among the top 10 challenges in CX 2025:
- Creating actionable insights
- Siloed data
- Insufficient customer data
- Managing customer data
While many organizations are investing heavily in data infrastructure, many also are failing to adequately prepare their people to use these tools effectively.
At IKEA, Olivier Maugain, data governance and activation manager, is seeking to change this. Maugain opened his presentation with the stark fact that, while 82 percent of business decision-makers believe data literacy gives them stronger professional credibility, only 24 percent feel confident in their own data literacy skills. This skills gap needs to be closed through structured programs that bring both "data to the people" (through accessible platforms) and "people to the data" (through education and capability building).
A multi-layered approach to building data literacy
Maugain has employed different levels of training and engagement options to build data literacy across the organization. The Reskilling Programs, for a targeted few, tech critical thinking, basic data literacy, Power BI, SQL and basic Python. Once an employee completes this program, they return to operations to lead by example and disseminate the new skills further.
Maugain and his team are also running “light data and AI literacy courses,” for the many. These are “short trainings between 20 minutes and an hour… covering basics like metadata, master data, visualization and storytelling, so co-workers are better positioned to have conversations about data.”
Finally, a community of practice approach is employed, in which data champions are selected to spread the good word. These can be “anyone interested in data… mentors supporting others on topics like SQL… or case studies like moving from Excel to Power BI, with more than 140 employees engaging in discussion.”
Executive sponsorship and exclusive access drive data literacy program success
IKEA's approach to building data literacy demonstrates that executive sponsorship is essential for program success. Finding senior leaders to champion data literacy efforts creates organizational momentum, especially when the leaders stand to gain from the sponsorship:
“Find a senior leader and have them be the spokesperson for your data literacy program… and do everything to make them look good by means of increased data literacy,” said Maugain.
In addition, creating a sense of exclusivity around data literacy training programs, starting with small cohorts of eight to 10 participants, selected from more than one hundred applicants, generates excitement and competition to participate, ultimately helping to scale the programs as more people want to get involved.