CX Insights
How AI helps scale qualitative customer research
Qualitative research is the most valuable but the most time consuming and expensive to conduct. Harvard Business Review shares that with the rise of AI, brands are turning to “digital twins” of customers and conducting synthetic research. Others are using AI to expedite research with real human subjects.
Some key wins: AI-powered verbal interviews generated responses 7x longer than typed ones, in part because the AI tools were able to ask follow-up questions to probe the issues. Sweetgreen cut research costs to one-third while quintupling response volume. A men’s health provider found that subjects preferred the AI interviewers, which allowed them to discuss sensitive topics more anonymously.
Separately, T-Mobile shared how it cut survey length from 10 to 2 minutes by pairing survey data with existing customer behavioral data, which boosted response rates.
AI will reshape how CX teams run voice-of-customer research at scale. If you’re not already conducting it, consider how AI tools can help make it more accessible. This is a great way to redirect freed-up capacity if you’re seeing efficiency gains from implementing AI.
AI won't replace your team — and cutting headcount early could cost you more
More than half of customer service teams will double their technology spend by 2028, according to new Gartner research. The kicker? That investment won't come with a headcount reduction to match.
The math that seems obvious — AI in, humans out — doesn't hold up under scrutiny. Beyond the technology itself, leaders need to budget for licensing, integration, training, new roles (think data analysts and knowledge managers), and modernizing infrastructure that, in many cases, is years out of date. Cut staff before that foundation is in place and you're setting yourself up for expensive rehires and operational chaos. Klarna learned this the hard way.
Gartner also flags a longer-term risk: organizations that slash headcount quickly have no guarantee they can keep it low. The pressure to move fast on AI cost-cutting is real — but premature cuts can undermine your ability to build the function you actually want.
The smarter play is a crawl-walk-run approach to AI adoption that treats automation and human agents as complements, not substitutes.
What do the Oracle layoffs mean for CX teams?
Oracle cut 30,000 employees — nearly 19% of its workforce — which sent a chilling message to contact center teams everywhere. Employees received termination emails from an unfamiliar address and lost system access within minutes. This is a critical moment for CX leaders, because "employees are the product" in customer-facing roles, and how Oracle treated its departing workers is already creating anxiety among those who remain.
CX leaders should take three concrete actions: acknowledge the headlines internally rather than hoping employees won't notice, provide role-specific transparency about how AI will affect individual positions, and monitor employee sentiment closely — because eroding employee experience directly erodes customer experience.
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AI Headlines
Microsoft takes on AI rivals with three new foundational models. While still maintaining its partnership with OpenAI, Microsoft releases new models focused on voice transcription and audio and visual generation. It hopes to offer more cost-effective models than OpenAI and Google.
AI use as a shopping tool gains traction. 12% of consumers are using AI shopping tools with that figure expected to rise in 2026.
An Inside Look at OpenAI and Anthropic’s Finances Ahead of Their IPOs. Leading AI firms are facing massive training and inference costs, with profitability still years out despite rapid revenue growth.
Stony Brook University and the Long Island Association Launch Google-Funded AI Academy. Google.org is funding a free artificial intelligence training program to help businesses with 20 or fewer employees scale with AI.
