The technologies shaping the conversation around customer experience continue to change. Once, it was the march of the metaverse, while today, it’s the era of artificial intelligence. What remains at the heart of effectively acquiring and retaining customers, however, is understanding and engaging with the individual – the human being.
Striking a balance between technology-led and human-led brand experiences is one of the key trends explored in Acxiom’s 2025 CX trends report. We surveyed 200 brands and more than 2,000 consumers across the U.S. and U.K. to compare views from both sides of the equation. Results revealed that while 77% of consumers appreciate AI-driven conveniences, they still seek and appreciate real human interaction.
So how can companies ensure technological innovation doesn’t go to waste without taking it too far by erasing the human element of brand interactions? What’s the ideal role of AI in CX – and what shouldn’t it be?
Customer service with an AI smile?
One of the greatest areas of AI promise that businesses report is customer service. Almost three-quarters (72%) of businesses say they see an increase in positive customer feedback as a result of using AI in this area. Consumers are warming to the idea, with 41% saying they’re entirely comfortable with AI handling customer service, outweighing the 35% who still feel uneasy. In fact, our report shows that brands that skillfully integrate AI with personalized touchpoints can boost customer satisfaction fourfold.
But there’s not yet a mandate for a wholesale AI rollout. There’s still considerable reticence on the consumer side – around a third (31%) say they’re more likely to have a negative perception of brands that use AI. One of the starkest disparities is between brands’ and consumers’ views on AI’s role in resolving complex issues. Just 7% of consumers prefer AI to play a part here, while almost four times more businesses (27%) think it’s essential.
Trust is at stake if brands hand over the reins entirely to AI during consumers’ time of need. When consumers want answers to their most complicated questions, they want them to come from a real person. Our report indicates that customer service that balances AI and a human connection is one of brands’ best opportunities to create deep and distinctly personal connections with people.
Prizing the personal touch
Probe consumers’ concerns about AI a little further, and it all comes down to maintaining these personal connections. For customer service specifically, two-thirds (65%) of consumers believe AI involvement can sometimes feel a little impersonal. But across brand interactions more widely, 50% of consumers fear a loss of the personal touch, while 49% worry that AI will not be able to understand their unique situation.
However, technology doesn’t have to be the enemy of personalization. As our report reveals, brands simply need to understand when AI is appropriate and when a personal touch is irreplaceable. Rather than coming at the cost of personal brand interactions, AI can be used to generate insights into how to deliver the in-person experience consumers expect. And it can do so with greater efficiency, accuracy, and precision than humans alone are capable of.
Take loyalty programs as an example. A brand might develop a broad, rich program of rewards for people to redeem, but AI can pinpoint which of them are likely to resonate most with specific groups, based on their needs and behavior. The same is true of personalizing brand communications with customers. AI can analyze content and determine what’s most likely to engage a customer while at the same time conveying that the brand understands them.
As one director of customer marketing at a leading retailer explains: “AI speeds up decision-making, like personalizing promotions for customers. Instead of giving everyone the same discount, we can target the right offers, which improves both customer satisfaction and how we manage profits.”
Leaving a human in the loop
What this all calls for, then, is human-in-the-loop solutions: technology powering the engine but humans at the wheel. The majority (71%) of businesses agree that human representatives will remain a crucial part of their CX strategies. That’s great news for the 78% of consumers who believe some form of human interaction is essential for a good customer service experience.
AI can tailor in-store product recommendations to customers, for example, but these interactions should be fronted by human advisors and product experts. This only becomes more important with high-value purchases, which businesses and consumers align on as their top use of in-person support.
With a hybrid CX approach, brands can truly achieve the best of both worlds. The human face of the brand helps consumers feel connected while using insights from technology that works in the background to enhance interactions.
Data brings the two together
Brands will only be able to balance technology and in-person experiences with a strong foundation of data and advanced analytics from which AI and technology can draw insights into customer behavior, needs, and preferences.
Not only does this data foundation allow brands to leverage tailored product and service recommendations, but it also enables companies to understand how and where AI is best used for each customer. With a robust data strategy, brands can continuously monitor trends and patterns to adapt their customer experiences as their preferences change.
And it’s not a journey brands need to undertake alone. Trusted martech services partners can support a brand’s CX strategy with experience and best practices for implementing an effective human-in-the-loop solution.
Read Acxiom’s 2025 CX Predictions Report, A Human-Centered Approach to Customer Experience, for more views from senior marketing professionals and consumers, along with expert guidance on how brands can use these insights to grow their business.
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