Roughly one-third of customer experience leaders say they fear artificial intelligence could damage their brand, and 42% report they are focused on reassuring employees and customers that humans still play a central role, according to research released by PolyAI.
Consumer responses, however, ran ahead of executive caution. About 51% of consumers said they would be delighted if AI resolved their problems quickly even if the system sounded like a toaster. Two-thirds said they treat AI agents the same as human agents. Twenty-one percent said they would rather clean a toilet than wait on hold.
The survey also recorded a gap between how leaders and customers assess human performance. While 77% of CX leaders said they trust human agents to complete work without mistakes, 63.5% of consumers said agents are only half-listening, and 15% described their conversations as talking to a brick wall.
Repetition surfaced as a dominant complaint. Seventy-four percent of consumers called repeating themselves extremely frustrating, and 51% identified having to restate an issue to multiple agents as their single biggest trigger. A separate June survey from Parloa found a majority of customers will repeat themselves only once before abandoning an automated service attempt.
Metrics diverge as well. Forty percent of CX leaders said they prioritize cost per resolution when evaluating AI success, 35% cited CSAT or NPS scores and 14% pointed to deflection rate. Among consumers, 86% said fast and accurate resolution influences whether they buy from a brand.
On deployment status, 22% of leaders reported AI fully integrated to handle customer contact or assist human agents, 32% said they are in pilot or beta phases, 28% are researching vendors and building a business case, 12% are watching without a timeline and 6% remain unsold on the benefits.
Sixty-five percent of business leaders said they are comfortable having AI participate in difficult conversations such as bereavement claims or fraud crises. Thirty-two percent cited burnout as the primary reason they lose top-performing contact center employees, and only 24% said their middle management is very prepared to manage AI-augmented teams.
