Supported by WNS, Everest Group has launched a report titled ‘GenAI in CXM: Assessing Enterprise Readiness for this Disruptive Transformation.’ To gauge enterprise readiness to implement GenAI within CXM operations, it surveyed CXM, digital transformation, and innovation leaders from 200 companies across North America, UK and Europe, and Asia Pacific with annual revenues of over US$ 500 million. The responses were gathered from global enterprises primarily in the telecom & media, Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI), healthcare, retail, and technology and fast growth technology (FGT) / Hi-Tech industries.
The findings analyse the transformative potential of GenAI for Customer Experience (CX) and the associated challenges to its adoption including robust technology infrastructure, cultural inertia, data privacy and security concerns, and regulatory ambiguity, among other factors. It explores the ability of GenAI to foster innovation, increase productivity, and deliver better experiences to customers – ultimately driving business growth.
GenAI – Potential & key drivers
The report found that there is a significant awareness of GenAI and its applications across text (75%), code (62%), and image generation (52%) capabilities. Notably, even less-aware enterprises acknowledge its transformative potential despite a preference for familiar applications. More than 90% of businesses recognize its high potential in text generation, with approximately 70% expressing confidence in its capabilities for code and image generation in CXM.
Beyond these creative applications, the technology equips enterprises with valuable insights for informed decision-making, product enhancements, and service improvements. Around 80% of enterprises are confident that using GenAI applications in CXM will improve operational efficiency and CSAT scores, with 70% foreseeing potential cost reductions. 75% are actively piloting, deploying, or scaling up solutions that leverage text generation capabilities.
GenAI deployment roadmap
Enterprises around the globe are strategically investing substantial resources in GenAI initiatives, engaging in pilot projects, and prioritising workforce upskilling to leverage its full potential. A notable trend emerges as 14% of enterprises intend to allocate between US$ 5-10 million for GenAI technology within the next 12-18 months. The significance of third-party providers facilitating and supporting GenAI initiatives are paramount. Enterprises seek crucial support from providers that ranges from aiding in-house technical teams in specific tasks to shaping the overall GenAI adoption roadmap.
Nearly 60% of surveyed enterprises say that the main areas of help they expect from third-party providers are supporting in-house technical teams, aiding maintenance and troubleshooting activities, and supervising the functioning of GenAI solutions.
They also note technical support areas such as enhancing technological capabilities, training GenAI models on enterprise data, customising foundational models, and creating necessary bridges with other technologies to integrate GenAI with existing business intelligence tools to provide a more comprehensive view of customer interactions. Furthermore, about 58% of surveyed enterprises say they need significant strategic support from third-party providers in activities such as designing the GenAI adoption strategy and redesigning CXM processes and customer journeys to incorporate GenAI solutions, while 52 percent say they leverage third-party providers to help implement privacy, security, and regulatory compliance measures.
Enterprise readiness to adopt GenAI solutions in CXM
In terms of technology readiness, at least half of surveyed enterprises believe they are ready for GenAI across parameters including availability of adequate computing power, ability to scale, and cloud-based infrastructure capacity. They attribute their readiness to either internal investments or collaborations with third-party partners.
Yet, more than 45% of enterprises say a shortage of internal technical expertise is the foremost challenge in the people part of GenAI solution implementation. enterprises currently fall short in preparedness across these technical domains. Less than half of the surveyed enterprises feel they possess adequate present capabilities for these roles, with the most significant gap observed in the case of AI/ML engineers and data scientists.
