Analysis

In-depth examination of trends, technologies, and shifts in customer experience and AI

AI Strategy

AI Customer Service Analytics: How AI Turns Conversations into Customer Intelligence

Oct 23, 2026

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4 min read

AI Customer Service Analytics: How AI Turns Conversations into Customer Intelligence

How to turn customer conversations into evidence, validate what they reveal and change what customers experience

James Stephen

Chatbots & Virtual Agents

+11

The RealReal Launches AI Shopping Agent Built with Google Cloud to 45 Million Members

Oct 9, 2026

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2 min read

The RealReal Launches AI Shopping Agent Built with Google Cloud to 45 Million Members

The luxury resale marketplace is using conversational AI to help shoppers navigate one-of-a-kind inventory, but the announcement offers no results showing whether it improves the shopping experience

James Stephen

AI Strategy

+14

Salesforce's Listen Labs Deal Shows How AI Could Change Customer Research

Oct 1, 2026

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3 min read

Salesforce's Listen Labs Deal Shows How AI Could Change Customer Research

Salesforce is buying a platform that uses AI agents to interview real customers, synthesise their feedback and simulate how they might respond. The harder question is how much those simulations can really tell businesses

James Stephen

Chatbots & Virtual Agents

+10

AI Customer Service Quality Assurance: How to Measure AI Performance

Sep 22, 2026

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4 min read

AI Customer Service Quality Assurance: How to Measure AI Performance

Why AI customer service needs to be measured by accuracy, outcomes and decisions, not just automation

James Stephen

AI Strategy

Salesforce Wants Its CRM to Run the Agentic Enterprise

Sep 18, 2026

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3 min read

Salesforce Wants Its CRM to Run the Agentic Enterprise

AIforce, Koa, Claudeforce and new customer deployments show Salesforce moving beyond AI-powered CRM towards a platform where agents can access enterprise data and act on business processes wherever work happens

James Stephen

AI Strategy

SupportNinja Takes AI Transformation Inside the CX Operation

Sep 16, 2026

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2 min read

SupportNinja Takes AI Transformation Inside the CX Operation

MomentumLabs combines AI, workflow redesign and human oversight to rethink how customer service operations work

James Stephen

AI Strategy

+10

The AI-Native Customer Service Operating Model: How Service Teams Need to Change

Sep 14, 2026

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4 min read

The AI-Native Customer Service Operating Model: How Service Teams Need to Change

As AI moves from assisting agents to performing service work, the operating model behind customer service has to change with it

James Stephen

AI Strategy

AI is Reshaping the Economics of Customer Service

Sep 9, 2026

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2 min read

AI is Reshaping the Economics of Customer Service

Bain & Company estimates AI will put $4.7 trillion of corporate profit at stake between 2025 and 2035, more than triple the profit impact of the internet in half the time

James Stephen

AI Strategy

Genesys Unveils Agentic Orchestration Strategy at Xperience 2026

Sep 3, 2026

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2 min read

Genesys Unveils Agentic Orchestration Strategy at Xperience 2026

New orchestration, contextual intelligence and governance capabilities position Genesys Cloud as the layer connecting AI agents, people and enterprise systems

James Stephen

AI Strategy

+15

Tealium Pushes AI Agents Beyond Data Access to Platform Configuration

Sep 1, 2026

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2 min read

Tealium Pushes AI Agents Beyond Data Access to Platform Configuration

New MCP capabilities give AI systems access to governed customer context while allowing users to configure parts of Tealium's platform through natural language

James Stephen

Voice of the Customer

Crescendo Bets on an AI-Native Operating System for CX

Aug 26, 2026

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2 min read

Crescendo Bets on an AI-Native Operating System for CX

Crescendo is bringing AI agents, customer service, knowledge, quality and workforce management into a single platform as CX technology increasingly moves towards AI-native operating models

James Stephen

AI Strategy

+10

Salesforce is Turning the Headless Enterprise Into Platform-Wide Infrastructure

Aug 21, 2026

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2 min read

Salesforce is Turning the Headless Enterprise Into Platform-Wide Infrastructure

Salesforce is expanding Headless 360 across its platform, giving AI agents governed access to customer data, workflows and business capabilities without requiring them to operate inside traditional applications

James Stephen

AI Strategy

+11

Pega Brings AI Governance Into the Customer Engagement Workflow

Aug 19, 2026

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2 min read

Pega Brings AI Governance Into the Customer Engagement Workflow

Pega's latest customer engagement AI capabilities suggest governance is moving closer to the point where AI decisions become customer actions

James Stephen

Customer Intelligence

+10

NiCE Puts Hard Numbers on CX AI's Business Case at Bluecrest

Aug 18, 2026

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2 min read

NiCE Puts Hard Numbers on CX AI's Business Case at Bluecrest

As AI buyers demand clearer proof of value, NiCE's Bluecrest case puts specific numbers behind the business case

James Stephen

AI Strategy

+12

HubSpot Earnings Show How AI is Changing CRM Performance Metrics

Aug 7, 2026

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2 min read

HubSpot Earnings Show How AI is Changing CRM Performance Metrics

HubSpot's latest earnings suggest AI adoption and operational outcomes are becoming key measures of performance for CRM vendors, alongside revenue and customer growth

James Stephen

AI Strategy

+11

8x8 Reports Record Revenue as Enterprise AI Adoption More Than Doubles

Aug 6, 2026

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2 min read

8x8 Reports Record Revenue as Enterprise AI Adoption More Than Doubles

Behind the record quarter, customers were deploying AI at scale, signalling a shift from experimentation to operational use

James Stephen

Chatbots & Virtual Agents

+13

Customer-Facing AI in the UK. Which Laws Apply?

Aug 5, 2026

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7 min read

Customer-Facing AI in the UK. Which Laws Apply?

A guide to the laws and guidance shaping customer-facing AI in the UK

James Stephen

News

Wayy Targets Solopreneurs with AI That Automates LinkedIn Sales Prospecting

Aug 4, 2026

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2 min read

Wayy Targets Solopreneurs with AI That Automates LinkedIn Sales Prospecting

Wayy’s AI platform automates LinkedIn prospecting for solo founders, reflecting a broader trend towards autonomous customer acquisition tools for small businesses

James Stephen

Explainer

Aug 3, 2026

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6 min read

What is Customer Data Intelligence?

How AI transforms disconnected customer data into the insights and decisions that power modern customer experience

James Stephen

AI Strategy

+12

Microsoft's Results Suggest AI Investment is Paying Off

Jul 30, 2026

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3 min read

Microsoft's Results Suggest AI Investment is Paying Off

Strong growth in Azure and Microsoft 365 Copilot demonstrate enterprise customers are increasingly willing to pay for AI, easing concerns about the scale of Microsoft's infrastructure spending

James Stephen

AI Strategy

+12

Can AI Transform Customer Service Without Layoffs? Noem.ai Thinks So

Jul 29, 2026

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2 min read

Can AI Transform Customer Service Without Layoffs? Noem.ai Thinks So

Vendor case studies suggest AI can automate routine customer enquiries without cutting staff, adding to evidence that layoffs are a leadership choice rather than an inevitable outcome

James Stephen

AI Strategy

+11

Why OpenAI's Presence Signals New Competition for Customer Operations

Jul 28, 2026

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3 min read

Why OpenAI's Presence Signals New Competition for Customer Operations

As OpenAI, Anthropic and Google move beyond foundation models, customer operations are emerging as one of the first areas where frontier AI companies and established CX platforms increasingly overlap

James Stephen

AI Strategy

+14

Context Engineering for Customer Experience Explained

Jul 27, 2026

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6 min read

Context Engineering for Customer Experience Explained

Enterprise AI is entering a new phase where success hinges on giving AI a better understanding of customers, business processes and operational knowledge

James Stephen

AI Strategy

+11

SAP's Latest Results Reinforce Enterprise AI's Shift Towards Business Context

Jul 24, 2026

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3 min read

SAP's Latest Results Reinforce Enterprise AI's Shift Towards Business Context

CEO Christian Klein says enterprise AI must be grounded in trusted business data, reflecting a broader industry move beyond generic AI tools.

James Stephen

AI Strategy

+15

What is Customer Journey Intelligence? A Complete Guide

Jul 21, 2026

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4 min read

What is Customer Journey Intelligence? A Complete Guide

How AI connects data from across every channel to reveal, predict and improve the journeys customers actually take

James Stephen

Analysis

AI Customer Service Analytics: How AI Turns Conversations into Customer Intelligence

The RealReal Launches AI Shopping Agent Built with Google Cloud to 45 Million Members

Salesforce's Listen Labs Deal Shows How AI Could Change Customer Research

AI Customer Service Quality Assurance: How to Measure AI Performance

Salesforce Wants Its CRM to Run the Agentic Enterprise

SupportNinja Takes AI Transformation Inside the CX Operation

The AI-Native Customer Service Operating Model: How Service Teams Need to Change

AI is Reshaping the Economics of Customer Service

Genesys Unveils Agentic Orchestration Strategy at Xperience 2026

Tealium Pushes AI Agents Beyond Data Access to Platform Configuration

Crescendo Bets on an AI-Native Operating System for CX

Salesforce is Turning the Headless Enterprise Into Platform-Wide Infrastructure

Pega Brings AI Governance Into the Customer Engagement Workflow

NiCE Puts Hard Numbers on CX AI's Business Case at Bluecrest

HubSpot Earnings Show How AI is Changing CRM Performance Metrics

8x8 Reports Record Revenue as Enterprise AI Adoption More Than Doubles

Customer-Facing AI in the UK. Which Laws Apply?

Wayy Targets Solopreneurs with AI That Automates LinkedIn Sales Prospecting

What is Customer Data Intelligence?

Microsoft's Results Suggest AI Investment is Paying Off

Can AI Transform Customer Service Without Layoffs? Noem.ai Thinks So

Why OpenAI's Presence Signals New Competition for Customer Operations

Context Engineering for Customer Experience Explained

SAP's Latest Results Reinforce Enterprise AI's Shift Towards Business Context

What is Customer Journey Intelligence? A Complete Guide

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