To say artificial intelligence (AI) is transformative is an understatement. Pre-2022 AI had the power to turn an organization into a digital powerhouse through automation, new workflows and better data utilization, to name a few key areas. We knew AI was changing organizational culture as well as capability, but few knew what would come next.
Now, with generative and agentic AI in the mix, we’re seeing hierarchies decimated as agents become the managers of highly-sophisticated and powerful technology, while leaders can make strategic decisions based on real-time and highly granular data. We’re seeing customer journeys start with generative AI search and AI browsers. We’re seeing organizations reimagine what they’re capable of when it comes to delivering for the customer.
As we prepare for 2026, CX Network asked 10 experts from our Advisory Board, contributor panel and wider community, how they believe generative and agentic AI will change CX in 2026, the role consumers will play in this transformation and what it all means for brands across the B2C and B2B space. Their responses? AI will make net promoter score (NPS) obsolete, journey maps will become outdated and purchase decisions will be shaped by LLMs.
1. Empathetic AI and visible AI consent are now essential foundations
Ashlea Atigolo, co-founder of INATIGO and managing partner at Consult Venture Partners, says CX’s continued transformation at the hands of generative and agentic AI will advance the drive from assistance to autonomy. However, ethics, consent and respect must be embedded in these systems.
“Agentic systems will manage end-to-end interactions with context and intent, while humans focus on empathy and judgment,” she says. “I believe that generative AI will drive hyper-personalization, using real-time data to shape language, tone and timing for each customer. Empathetic AI and visible AI consent will be essential foundations, making automation feel transparent and trustworthy. The real progress in 2026 will come from systems that not only understand people, but also respect their permission.”
2. AI is not your assistant, it’s part of the operating system
According to CX specialist and author Tim Thijsse, generative and agentic AI are transforming CX from observation to orchestration and the skills this demands will not focus on writing prompts, but on imagining AI-ready systems.
He says: “Generative and agentic AI are changing customer experience from observation to orchestration. We’re moving beyond dashboards that describe what happened, toward systems that decide and act in real time. But that only works when the organization itself is ready to be automated or ‘agentified’ with clear priorities, feedback loops and performance rules that AI can safely operate within.
“Otherwise, you don’t scale intelligence, you scale disorganization.”
This means the “real shift for CX leaders” in 2026 won’t be about writing prompts or deploying models, but about designing AI-ready systems where customer signals flow seamlessly into action. “The winners will be those who see AI not as an assistant, but as part of their operating system for experience performance,” he says.
3. CX can shift from reactive to proactive
Yvette Mihellic, MBA, GAICD, CCXP, director of CX at John Holland, agrees that generative and agentic AI are enabling hyper-personalization at scale and real-time responsiveness. “Both options empower organizations to anticipate customer needs, automate complex interactions, and deliver seamless, emotionally intelligent service across channels,” she says.
“Agentic AI, in particular, introduces autonomous decision-making that can optimize journeys without human intervention. Together, they shift CX from reactive to proactive – transforming how we design, deliver and evolve experiences,” Mihellic adds.
In short, this means: “The game is changing, and the customer is firmly at the center.”
4. Intelligence is now the heart of business design not its byproduct
As a result, Raluca Berchiu, founder and CEO of CXM, says we’re now at a turning point in how value is created, “where intelligence becomes the core of business design, not its byproduct”.
“Agentic AI is redefining enterprise intelligence moving beyond automation toward orchestration, where systems sense, decide and act autonomously across every function.
It transforms organizations into adaptive ecosystems that learn continuously, integrating creativity, operations and decision-making into one coherent architecture. In sectors like healthcare, finance and government, it is already driving predictive decisions, seamless experience and measurable performance at scale. This evolution marks a turning point in how value is created where intelligence becomes the core of business design not its byproduct.”
Further change will happen when customers start using these technologies. At the point where two AIs start talking Berchiu says, customer journey maps will become outdated.
“The next customer journey organizations need to design isn’t human-to-human. It’s machine-to-machine,” she explains.
She isn’t the first to see this shift on the horizon. Sirte Pihlaja, head of team at CXPA Finland and CEO of Shirute, wrote about machine customers in the 2024 book, Customer Experience 5.
“Every time an AI approves a claim, reroutes a request or personalizes an offer, it’s shaping how your brand feels. That’s the new frontier of CX. The smartest organizations are already redesigning their customer journeys for AI-to-AI interactions,” Berchiu says.
5. Brands need to re-think discoverability and influence
Julia Ahfeldt, customer experience and AI strategy advisor, agrees that 2026 will make a “seismic shift” in consumer adoption of generative and agentic AI.
“With over 800 million weekly ChatGPT users – of whom more than 50 percent are women with the fastest growth coming from developing markets – AI is rapidly moving from novelty to everyday utility,” she says. “As platforms like OpenAI roll out integrations with Gmail, Slack, Shopify and Booking.com, consumers will increasingly use AI to search, compare and make purchase decisions inside conversational interfaces rather than traditional Google searches.”
This, Ahfeldt says, changes how journeys start and means brands need to re-think their discoverability and influence.
“We’ll also see brands embed generative search within their own ecosystems, as US Grocery chain Albertsons has done with its in-app generative AI chat, to keep customers engaged within owned channels. The era of generative AI-driven discovery has begun, and few brands are truly ready for it,” Ahfeldt says.
“I also believe we'll see a gradual consumer uptake of agentic capabilities within the LLMs they start using more regularly, think ChatGPT's agent builder for routine tasks and agent-mode things like booking travel. I suspect that consumer uptake will begin to ramp up during the latter half of 2026,” she adds.
6. Consumers using AI must learn to balance convenience with agency
Peter Aitken, head of customer strategy and insights, Kantar, says widespread adoption of AI among consumers risks that these technologies will become “experience brokers,” managing our lives so seamlessly “that we, as consumers, lose direct engagement with brands, services and even decision-making,” he says.
“This shift could erode brand perception, reduce critical thinking and encourage passive consumption patterns, depending on how content is curated for us. Companies like Wendy’s, ING, Verizon and Samsung are already using AI to deliver more inclusive, emotionally intelligent and predictive customer experiences. The challenge ahead is to balance convenience with agency, ensuring AI enhances our lives without narrowing our perspectives,” Aitken says.
However, he maintains that generative and agentic AI can unlock “powerful benefits” for CX across five key areas: translation, personalisation, empathy, proactivity and insights, “with potentially dramatic impact on customer service and business responsiveness”.
7. Practitioners must learn whether to use agentic AI, virtual agents or voice bots
Meanwhile, back on the corporate side, Nick Glimsdahl, CX expert and host of the podcast Press 1 For Nick, says practitioners must learn which new-age technologies are most appropriate for the job at hand and apply them accordingly.
“Generative and agentic AI are redefining what service means. In 2026, these systems won’t just answer, they’ll act, anticipate and adapt,” Glimsdahl says. “But not every use case needs Agentic AI. Some challenges can be solved more effectively with virtual agents or even simple voice bots. The real opportunity is knowing when to apply each tool, using AI to handle complexity while humans focus on connection.
“The best CX leaders will blend precision and understanding, using technology not to replace the human touch, but to scale it responsibly,” he says.
8. CX will continue to evolve from operational support to strategic growth driver
Ebrahim Hyder, VP of Customer Care for Michael Kors, says generative and agentic AI are transforming customer experience by shifting from task automation to autonomous decision-making, particularly in the call center, where AI resolves low- to medium-complexity inquiries end-to-end.
“These technologies enable hyper-personalized, brand-aligned interactions at scale, while agent-assist tools CSRs with real-time guidance. They’re also reshaping service workflows, reducing seasonal staffing needs and unifying fragmented systems,” he says.
This means that, as CX leaders, “we’re witnessing AI elevate our function from operational support to strategic growth driver, while at the same time delivering emotionally intelligent, frictionless experiences that build loyalty and efficiency”, Hyder says.
9. AI-native CX will enable systems to self-diagnose
Rekha Weerasooriya, VP of CX and people development at Dialog Axiata PLC, says AI-native CX will enable systems to self-diagnose and proactively resolve customer issues, reducing the need for human intervention. “This will speed up the level one resolution and service delivery process, resulting in high satisfaction at a time when patience is rare and gratification requires speed,” she explains.
However, this isn’t the only change afoot. Weerasooriya adds that connected intelligence will unify front- and back-office operations, “ensuring consistent and efficient service delivery and giving us real-time insight for decision making at lower cost to make faster decisions for customers and business”
Meanwhile, AI-empowered employees will benefit from real-time coaching and decision support, enhancing productivity and service quality. “This is where we need to work in change management for employees and be ready to change the approach of thinking and working with AI at their fingertips,” she says.
Specifically in the telco space, she also believes hyper-personalization will allow the sector to overcome its established challenge around delivering tailored experiences at scale and adapting in real time to individual customer behaviors.
10. The secret to success is skill, not scale
Not one to mince his words, Zack Hamilton, host of the podcast Unf*cking Your CX, says: “Let’s be clear: 2026 won’t be about who has the most AI agents. It’ll be about who knows how to deploy them inside a performance system that can actually make decisions, act and learn. We’re about to hit a wall of brands bragging about ‘AI-powered CX’, but most will still be running 2021 playbooks: surveys, dashboards and a glorified chatbot pretending to be intelligent.”
He adds: "The truth? Agentic AI without decision capability is just automation with better PR."
The bottom line, Hamilton says is, “agentic CX isn’t about deploying AI agents”. Instead, it is about training the business “to decide and perform through them”. He adds: “Without a performance system to govern decisions, AI is just noise at scale.”
Here are five specific ways Hamilton says these new technologies will change CX in 2026:
>>The death of reaction: CX moves from listening to doing
Generative and agentic AI will end the era of “we heard you.” The new game is “we fixed it before you felt it.” Agents will detect behavioral friction and act autonomously in real time. But, only if the organization has the decision architecture to support that speed.
>>The rise of the experience performance system
The real trend is not AI tools. It’s the systems they plug into. By 2026, the best brands will be running AI-enabled performance systems that tie customer friction to P&L impact. Every agent will have a business objective – such as reducing lapse rate by three percent, or increasing repeat purchase velocity – not a sentiment metric.
>>From content machine to journey designer
The use cases for generative AI will evolve. We’ll see agents that build and adapt customer journeys live using natural-language inputs to prototype, simulate and deploy experiences on the fly. The brands that win will treat AI as a creative director and operator, not just a writer.
>>The human+machine team becomes your CX org chart
CX leaders won’t manage programs; they’ll orchestrate ecosystems of human and agent teams working toward shared outcomes. You’ll see roles like friction strategist, agent coach, and performance architect replace survey manager and insights analyst.
>>Outcome metrics replace opinion metrics
AI will make NPS and CSAT obsolete because we’ll finally be able to measure the real performance impact of experience actions: revenue retained, lifetime value expanded, cost to serve reduced. The brands that thrive will translate experience directly to financial outcomes.